Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Patch Real or Repop

This patch has this waxy type back. Does this tell us anything about it's authenticity?
The yellow clothe is what first cause me to wonder. Looks like a piece of material cut out and then just an embroidered border added.

The waxy back is iron on glue, as a means to attach to a uniform. It looks right but is of newer circa. Probably relatively new? Paul www.severngaspumps.com

Have you considered collecting Scrap Iron?

Steve, as Paul said... Iron on patch... Thankfully a good number of the newly made patches are iron on...

A few years ago (maybe longer?) there were some comments about how to possibly tell the difference between original era patches and patches made "now"...

The biggest "tell" of course is the "Iron On" patch; Especially if the Oil Company one collects, was not in business, in the late 1970s..... Yet, one's "original" patch; is an iron on version....

I'll tell you it would be easier some times!! And I would probably find a lot of Oil & Gas stuff!!


So Bob, do you think this is authentic?

Embroidery machines are very common in the sporting clothes industry. Especially, for patches that need only a few colors of thread. A machine with minimal number of heads can do it. They are, as easy to use as a vinyl decal cutting machine. Get an image, load it into the program and hit the start button.

Most nos patches being offered for sale are not old but rather newly made including the ones with the cloth backing.

Like with anything out there, have to do your homework. As the demand and value grows and exceeds what it costs to make an item. Fakes will be made, which means just about everything is faked.

Steve, I am not "up" on the different variants of SUNOCO logos... If the patch you are asking about, is a variation of the logo that was used before the late 1970s... Then no, there is no possibility that the patch could be original... If this logo was used during/after the late 1970s, then there is a possibility that it could be original...

As Dave, so rightly points out, a lot of fakes out there... I now look at all patches with a somewhat jaundice eye.. Just too many fakes out there!....

Gotcha!! Thanks!!

It doesn't take a $4,000 machine anymore for these to be made, most can be done on home sewing machines sold in the last 20-30 years.

I believe the pattern of the material of the yellow background is the tell tell indication that the patch is newer.The material just does not look period .Looks a lot like the background material pattern of the later Hastings Piston ring patches. 1960s or later.
Just my opinion though.

Many of the patches we see are modern but some were made by the uniform companies. Some of them were poor copies others were there own art work.
I think the variations came more from rental companies than the companies that sold the uniforms like Wearguard or Lion.

Dave

Sunoco has really grown their market in the Midwest in the last 15 years after almost disappearing 25 years ago. So newer versions of patches will be showing up.

Personally, I will pay more for a patch that shows genuine wear than one that looks NOS, unless I know the source.

Today, companies that make our uniforms for sale usually embroider the logo right into the uniform and don't use patches. The Rental companies do still use patches and like Dave said there is a variation of the logo from one uniform company to another.

During the 80's and 90's most of our patches were an iron on version with a clear thread stitching. I destroy the shirt getting them off. The Marathon/Ashland versions are the hardest to remove.

I know this doesn't really answer your question specifically but most of the repops I have seen don't go the extra cost of adding the glue to the back.
Chuck

If you can tell the difference between cotton/rayon thread and polyester thread, that would be the proof. I can't tell without feeling the thread, and sadly, I can't explain the way I can tell. It's something that comes from many years of handling cloth and thread.
Personally, I'd assume it's repro.