Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Pennzoil Bell

About when did Pennzoil change the color of the bell in the center from brown to red, or are the brown ones faded?

Thanks

...no, the early ones were brown...

Any idea of when they changed?

...I'm not sure...

I'm not either, picture of brown bell & picture
of full red bell- what pacific year did they change
the full red bell for the half red bell? late 50's
early 60's?..

Mine is different yet. Solid brown bell, black letter with red borders.

Ernest,
would you post a picture of the sign of topic?..

I will try Randy.

OK, it worked see above.

I think the one you have pictured would fall between
the 2 I have posted as for age- moved your picture down
so we don't have to scroll up for comparison.
need more opinions..

It's a toss-up between the Gray Bell and brown bell. Both have very heavy shelving.

I only see brown bells & red bells & I have my
reading glasses on..

The coloring on your brown bell doesn't appear to be solid brown, it makes it look grey, I think.

those 2 signs are the same signs
one just has a little more of a base too it..

I wish I had the piece that connected mine to the pole. I have the base and the pole.

Here's a pic of a different version of an original Pennzoil curb sign I have. Not to difficult to make the top piece for your base and vertical pipe.

Way Different

How about when they are green?

how about when there die cut...

Thanks for the pictures, now I am more confused than ever..LOL

Holy ***** !!! Lots of cool pics, but I still don't know when they used the different colors.

Randy, My sign and Cameo's are the gray bell version. They're are the harder version to find.

Can you please post pics of grey versions?

As to the original post, I've asked this quesiton myself some time back. Outside of maybe late 20's to early 30's, I dont think anyone has nailed it down any closer than that. If anyone does think they know, please let us in on it. Also only black and white picture from the era dont make it any easier to figure out. And from what I know, few if any Pennzoil signs from the era are dated.

Here's some info.
This picture is 1929.
The sign on the door is still round.
So fair to say no oval sign would predate 1929??

Also, the logo graphic on the back of the truck looks like the more artistic type graphic logo on the brown sign that Randy posted and the green one that Paul posted.
So fair to say that in 1929 the bell must still be brown?? So to answer the OP's question, it must be early 30's?

Just kicking it a little further down the road.

BTW, this picture is awesome!! Look at he visible behind the truck.

Per B & H Oil company signs book, for the porc. oval curb sign 15"x30" 1928-1930 white bell, 1930-1936 red bell.

well....we've had a brown- red- green now a white bell,
I agree with you...

You left out the grey bell.
I would like to see pics of white and grey. Never seen these.

Very interesting!! Thanks for posting!!

Here an old one…

Ok, one more try. The first photo is a 42" with the brown bell. Second photo is the oval with the gray bell. No way that this bell looks brown.

never seen the 42" size in this sign, nice...

Little more confusion for you. This is a red Bell sign off a bottle rack. Has to date way back.

Hi! I've enjoyed all the posts in this thread and am hoping somebody has some insight on this porcelain sign of mine. It's the oval popsicle in it's original frame measuring 32" X 19". I've tried for about 2 years to come up with data on when this was made but have a big goose egg to show for my efforts! It has many unique characteristics that I've never seen on an oval Pennzoil before. They are: 1) The 100% pure Pennsylvania and the Safe Lubrication are horizontal and do not curve with the perimeter of the sign. 2) A true "full bell" with no separation between the lettering and the red of the bell. 3) The P and the O in Pennzoil are round without the normal straight sides with chamfered corners. 4) There's no "registered" symbol after the Property of the Pennzoil Co. written below the bell.
Any help would surely be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

^^^ I have never seen that exact Pennzoil sign..

Timeandabottle,
That is just a rare bird I would have to guess.

Not a ton of help, but here is a rectangular sign with round O & P. Maybe the car and/or pumps can date this feature a bit. Probably 20's.

Cool thing about this rectangular curb sign is it spins in the wind. Or at least that's what it looks like.

Thanks Steve, my best luck has been looking at old advertisements. I've found several bells that look very similar in those adds but no rounded P's and O's like those shown in your picture! That one in scarce but always has the round o and p. Still can't find an add or picture anywhere like this one though! Another wrinkle in the past life of Pennzoil and the multiple forms they used!

Found a 2 pics with the exact sign with the straight text. Maybe someone can date this first pic for us?

This is awesome Steve! Where did you find the picture?! I'm excited now because those pumps and cars are early which means the sign is early! You are da man! Hopefully after I respond somebody will be able to date the old cars. You made my day--THANKS!!!

Is this a 1929 Hudson Model L or Super 6?

I notice on the second photo that the wheels are spokes, and the rear door is a suicide door. Nice 35 cents quart glass oil bottles. Those pumps look like an early 1920's Hayes, possibly a Butler model 61.

there's one in this picture of CTO..

Scott,
Dont put much thought into the second picture. I put that in there just to show you that there are others out there. Maybe I'm wrong, but something makes me believe that is a modern staged picture of someones collection and not an authentic photo.
I dont recall where I got the pictures. Somewhere on the net.

Thanks Steve and Randy! You wouldn't believe how many hours I've spent trying to find an old photo showing that type of sign. Verification of dating a piece is a wonderful feeling and I'm all giddy thanks to you guys!

Pumps are Neither HAYES or BUTLER.
Pump behind sign in Steve's last pictures is a B & D #54/56 made from 1915 thru 1928.
UNION OIL adopted the 76 in Late 1931 & did a large Promotion in January 1932.

Apparantly that was the Octane rating of their gasoline at the time also. Thanks to all again, I can now close the issue as to the approximate age of that particular sign. It's been a challenge for a novice such as myself and I couldn't have done it without the wonderful help from guys like you on this site!

Here it is installed next to my old school bell which has the crack in the same spot as the sign. Love 'em both.

Most Banners didn't last 6 months outside, IMO the photo is Early 1932.
Yes, 76 was the Octane at the time.

Anyone ever notice that the price of a qt of Oil was almost unchanged from the 30's till the oil embargo of the late 70's & Gasoline was all over the board?

No , I owned a 29 Hudson for many years. The year is probably correct , 28-29 , But I would say a larger car , the hood ornament would help id it.
I can't enlarge it to get a clear photo.
At least the photo is 1928 or later. In 1930 the radiators became thinner,
but that car may be 10 years old in the photo.

If anybody is interested I have lots of answers! The photo was taken in 1931 at the Biltmore Garage in Los Angeles. The car is a 1929 Packard. Many photos at the site I found that are VERY COOL showing old gas and oil subjects that can be searched for by brand (Pennzoil, Mobil, etc.. Google and go to the USC Libraries Archives and conduct your search there. It seems that at least in the LA area, the Round P and Round O with straight text was used quite a bit in those early years as I found many photos showing that design. Great site to visit for research!

This site http://theoldmotor.com/?p=115919 (you'll have to copy and paste) is another fantastic research website!

Late 1931.
Do you have any other views of the pumps?

No sir I don't-sorry-Steve C. posted that photo and I couldn't find it. The two sites above have hundreds of great photos though.

In the past, I have spent Hours looking there.
I USE to have lots of Odd Ball pump images from ebay pictures, BUT with computer Crashes they're gone.

I knew I cropped that second pic out of a larger picture. Just couldn't remember from where. Well there it is.
Like I said, that looks like a modern staged picture.

With the full image in link posted, pump behind the sign is a B&D #56 air operated AERO [pg 109 in The Book].

Here is a PENNZOIL oval w/ Black lettering w/ split bell
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/131221085409