Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion White eagle gas statues are the aluminum ones repo

Got these two about a month ago at a business liquidation sale. Concrete and about 250 pounds. I believe the mold was sold also....they sold the molds before I realized these eagles were there....they had hundreds of different molds.

No comment otherwise.

Jim

dick, you're full of it. There is no deception in that eBay listing.

Checking auction prices I see that when one of these aluminum ones do come up for auction (one about every 2 years?) they have sold for around $1500.00 most likely to a *dealer who will mark it up accordingly. The last one went for $1200.00 + $240.00 buyers premium + tax + shipping = $2000.00?

*dealer, or as one member on this thread describe us (evil) "profiteer"!(lol)

Thanks to you who provided useful information. All the best, John

I will be revising the eBay listing as facts are provided to support the eagle's history. But as of this post a 1970s Mexican recast is the most likely theory. Sorry dick that this so horribly offends you but as of this post that where this stands. But its only been a few days, maybe something will come to light that can put this to rest.

ebay is full of deceptive descriptions w/ sellers selling damaged/chipped/curved Repop & Fantasy signs. Your not the 1st nor will you be the last. History is full of Hear Say & not Facts [White Eagle Mall most likely had Eagles cast in Alum for their own use as even in the 80's the Original Cast Iron Eagles were selling for $500-800+].

Shame on vendor that sold it to you stating Originals were made in Iron & ALUM.

the vendor did not say that originals were cast in both. The vendor provided papers showing the originals were cast iron, period! The aluminum castings were later, but still have age, as per the papers provided by the vendor. As an antiques dealer I could see it had age. I immediately assessed it at circa 1970s. It was only after I got home and found the Kansas article that I questioned that it could be much older. The papers provided by the vendor included past auction records so I knew the value of the piece before I bought it. That the White Eagle Mall had these cast is a very good theory and I have already made inquiries about that but have not yet heard back. Take a breath dick, relax! The piece was just found this weekend and its only tuesday! what 4 days!

I'll reluctantly add my two cents. I bought this original concrete white eagle out of a front yard in Kansas. It's weathered but you can tell two things 1.) the pedestal design is different 2.) it matches the "blunt nose " version of the globe.

I'm of the opinion that Wadhams MAY be a modern concrete repro of a cast iron original. I say this simply because I believe only the cast versions had the stair stepped base. And if the auction location had 100s of molds, they probably made a mold of an original cast iron one at some time...

Only a guess, the history of this company is pretty murky. No offense if I'm mistaken...

Last year I visited a Rest Home & there were 3 seniors that swore they survived the Titanic Sinking of 15 April 1912, & None are older than 94!

so this is day 4 of researching this aluminum statue. I am not a petroleum collector or expert. I bought my statue cause it was super cool. But after 4 days of online research the first & original statue seems to be concrete with a flat base (as seen above). All others seem to have come after this concrete version? The eagle statues vary with at least 3 different bases, 3 noses, thigh shapes, feather details, etc...they come in concrete, hollow & solid cast iron and hollow & solid aluminum. One or 2 of these shapes/statues are likely connected to White Eagle Gas but as it turns out, there have been many 100s of "eagle" companies in America over the last century. 99.99% have nothing to do with oil or gas. "White Eagle" companies alone are seemingly endless. Isn't it most likely that most of these statues have nothing to do with the White Eagle Gas Co.? And just because its painted white, made of concrete or cast iron doesn't mean its a gas mascot. It isn't that these different shapes and materials are repros, it's that they belong to companies other than WEGas? People are just being told they are from white eagle gas and are painting them white? Over the last century, there are & have been, red eagle, blue eagle, green eagle, golden eagle, bald eagle and countless other "eagle" companies. I think that's why there are so many shapes & variations? Most are not gas statues?!

It looks like there are about 10 different century-old eagle molds, all about 33-34" tall. WEGas was only in business for about 20yrs. Why would they make 10 variations of their mascot? They wouldn't. It is most likely that 8 or 9 of these molds have no connection to WEGas. They belong to the other, many 100s, of eagle companies that were out there.

The White Eagle Antique mall closed in the 1990s but this statue did not originate there. The current mall's petro expert has weighed in and is aware of only one white eagle statue selling in his area in the last several decades. Almost certainly the aluminum statue mentioned in the Kansas newspaper article. Other than the petro guy, the antique folks down there were not aware of White Eagle Gas and told me the entire area is called white eagle, there's a white eagle bank, etc. And they are not alone, there are many other areas in the U.S. that identify themselves as "white eagle". Anyway, that's what I'm thinking tonight. I'll work on this some more.

I for one am glad to see you have done some searching. The shape of yours is within the design of W. E. Oil Company, BUT W. E. NEVER had/used an Alum. Cast Multi pcs welded together as that process didn't come into use till 1941, W.E. Sold Out/Merged in 1930's w/ SOCONY VACUUM.

I've never seen/heard of any W.E. being Solid Cast Iron.

By the way, EAGLES/Birds have BEAKS, not Noses!

WHITE EAGLE (ca. 1840-1914). White Eagle was the hereditary chief of the Ponca Indians

My cast iron one is hollow.

Feels solid as a rock tho

I hope future generations read this topic for a reference point.

And aluminum originals don't exist period!

I'm out.

Thank you! very helpful!

For reference here are pictures of an original cast iron eagle, as stated it has three mounting holes, is hollow, and weighs at least 150-175 lbs.

This thread will be online for many years. It would be nice if those of you that have ORIGINAL gas station photos that include an eagle to post them on this thread. The photos would have to be 1930 or earlier (and not of a newer restoration project etc). Those photos should reveal 2 or 3 eagle styles. Even if 100yrs old, painted white and made of cast iron or concrete: if the style does not appear in those photos they would not be White Eagle Gas mascots. They would belong to some other century-old eagle-related company or building project.

Here is a blurb on "Worthpoint"; dated Nov. 2010...

In this article, is an example of a White Eagle statue and also an image of a White Eagle Station in Osage City, Kansas:

http://www.worthpoint.com/blog-entry/collectors-minute-white-eagle-statue

White Eagle was not a Regional Oil Company in the PNW... So my knowledge is somewhat lacking...

Another site, with a short History:

http://examineeverything.org/2011/01/19/white-eagle-gas-history/