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I enjoy the stories on Old Gas about the road trips to get a load of pumps or the background on a new found sign. T Buckles and Kevin can spin a good yarn about their recent finds. It lets others sort of take part in the Thrill of the Hunt. I got this United States Tires sign about five years ago from my brother. It is not a Sinclair sign that I normally collect but it has great color, shine/ gloss to it with heavy shelving. There is also a vertical version of this sign. This signs story, as I recall it...

My brother has a friend that is a fellow collector. He knew a guy that had a "Shed made of signs". I think we all heard stories like this before and a lot of time, that's all they are, stories. Supposedly, back in the day when the Beach Company was making porcelain signs, they had a pile out back that were seconds, overruns or not sold for what ever reason. The story also goes that it was cheaper to sell the signs to the local farmers than it would be to try to remove the porcelain and reuse the metal. The farmers would then use the signs to patch a hole in the barn or fix a fence or any of a hundred other uses for cheap metal during the depression era. This sign supposedly was on the roof of the "Shed made of signs" until the wind blew it off back when. My brothers friend gave they guy $50 for it and he then kept it several years until my brother bought it. I then bought it from him.



The letters are actually deep blue but the camera flash changed the colors. My brother and his friend both said they saw this shed of signs but the owner all of a sudden got an attitude and would not sell any more. My brother would go by about once a year to check up and keep his name on the list for the day the guy decided to sell. I got a nice sign out of the deal and it has an interesting story to go with it.


US Air Force Retired, 1981-2007
Value Questions and Showcase forums

Please - NO offers to Buy or Sell in this forum category

Statements such as, "I'm thinking about selling this." are considered an offer to sell.
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good story, as well a good sign.. cool


RANDY
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Interesting to read, thanks for sharing a cool story.


Ron Gordon
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And of course, every good story should have, The Rest Of The Story.

My brother happened to be passing by the place a few days ago. The owner of the shed was out and was in a good mood! "Hey remember me, want to sell some signs today?" "Sure"! My brother did some looking and figuring and came up with the "Offer Number". To low, no deal. To high, not much if any profit. The guy liked the number, took a down payment and sent along home two more signs that fell off the roof. The plan was to get the signs this morning and as part of the deal, we had to tear down the shed and haul it off. All week we were worried the deal would fall through but when we pulled up this morning, he had his hand out and we had a deal. I had trouble sleeping last night, I kept thinking about what kind of signs were on the roof. The walls you could see but the ones on the roof were face up covered in shingles and tin. We pulled in and there it was, the Legendary Shed of Signs!!



A couple more about ready to fall off







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Y
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Very nice sign , and great story , I have same sign I bought in killbuck a few years back not as nice , good history to these signs !

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We could see parts of some but not everything. The Thill of the Hunt level was high!



Some on the roof



Pulling off the tin and shingles, it was like looking for Easter Eggs



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These signs were probably on this roof since the 1920-1930 time frame? First time they saw the light of day in a long time.







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Finding five at once



Dirty with some stains and extra nail holes.




Group shot



Last edited by Wes Maxwell; Fri Apr 18 2014 07:43 PM.

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neat story wes, I wish I would have taken pictures of where I went this week.


collecting standard oil items
Tim Flannery
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Another before picture




Pulling tin



We had to brace it so it wouldn't fall over



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That must have been a blast!great story


Looking for gas,oil related clocks,especially neon and spinners .clock repair available. Mick
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Wes,
What a great story and pics to go with.I am sure you and your brother were pumped!Persistance does pay off at times.Congrats to you both!


Robert

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WOW! Good for you guys! That had to be thrilling. SO did you guys get to buy them all or did the guy keep most?

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Wow!!!

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My brother bought every sign the guy had, as far as we know. I have a few more pictures to post. Took a break because photo bucket and Old Gas didn't want to run At the same time. Great Day, a day we will remember for a long time.


US Air Force Retired, 1981-2007
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