Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Loosing sight of the term "Survivor" pumps.

I have noted a trend where rusty pumps are being referred to as survivor pumps.

I fail to see how, these rusty decrepit pumps can be considered "excellent survivors". They have far more loss of paint, surface rust and overall wear then what I would consider a survivor, let alone an excellent survivor. In my opinion survivor is an over used term and the standard used to judge survivor pumps is constantly being degraded to fit peoples budget rather then accurately reflect a pumps condition. Every ones desire to believe they have a survivor pump is creating a misconception of what actually is a survivor.

A survivor is a pump that has survived in as close to near perfect condition as can be expected for a used pump due to minimal use and maintenance/storage that was superior than what the average pump received.

Rustoration or restoration is simply a matter of economics's. A pump that has to be repainted, decals have to be doctored up is not a survivor. It just has a lower or substandard restoration. People not wanting to spend $1000-$2000 to restore a pump elect to spend a couple hundred dollars. Let's not cheapen the term survivor.

What are your thoughts?

While I completely agree with you, you are beating a dead horse. Once these terms get used, it is impossible to change things. Look at the years I spent trying to stop people from using "lubster."
Look at the word "classic" when it comes to automobiles, it used to mean certain cars made before the war, now it means any cars regardless of how old they are.
Also, the word "restored." This has more meanings than Trump has billions of dollars.

While I have feelings such as yours when I see these words used, I just tell myself, live with it.

Jack Sim

I agree Dave. If you like old rusty pumps, that's fine but they have all "survived" since new, regardless of their present condition, or we wouldn't have them. The only pump I have that will stay as found with some cleanup is my all porcelain A38 and that is only if it looks presentable after stripping off the layers of paint and seeing how many ugly rusty spots there are where the porcelain has been chipped off. I've never been a fan of the rustoration, but that's just me and I don't really care if others like to do them that way. Like everything we collect , it's personal preference, but call it what it is.....GB

Displayed as found would be a better word or words. Pumps from CA.will more likely fall into this term than pumps around here as they don't seem rust.

Survivor pump is one that was produced before WW II and dodged the metal drive.

its a matter of opinion... there is nothing that specifies what survivor pump truly means.

To me...

Survivor Pump = A pump that has not been modified and that contains enough original paint/decals to clearly distinguish the scheme & what it was branded when it was removed from use.

Without a universally agreed upon set of criteria, it really doesn't matter what one calls anything. If it is critical to a situation, then an examination of the article would determine what the person to whom the label is important will call it.

Dave Gill, you are right with your analysis, in my opinion...

Dave Richey, there were "universally agreed upon criteria"... But, to know what they were? One has/had to have been in the Hobby for decades...

As Loyd noted: "Survivor Pumps" were pumps made before 1952, that survived the scrap drives of WWII and Korea...

Rusty Pumps were known as: "pumps in the wild" in the Hobby; from the late 1940s up until a few years ago...

Hobbyists who actually worked at Stations anytime from the 1930s to the late 1970s. Know/knew that NO Oil Company Owned/Leased Station would allow rusty pumps to be presented to the Buying Public... I know of Stations that lost their "Ownership/Lease/Product Line" because they didn't keep their Station up to the Standards that were set up by the controlling Oil Company (I worked at one of those Stations in the mid 1960s)...

There is a new influx of blood in the Petro Hobby; as there also, is a great exodus of that same "new blood" that found out it wasn't as easy to flip items as the "nose pickers' on the small screen made/makes it seem...

I must admit, I do enjoy many of the different "in the wild", looks. Living for awhile in the Barstow/Mojave area.. There is/was an abundance of such pumps, still in their natural habitat... And it always was a joy to discover such a pump while we were exploring the desert...

Here is a link to a thread Don Sherwood(oltoydoc) did back in 2013: http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=458220

Great link Bob, I never seen that posting before. I like Shell.

I'm in my fifties, don't always look so hot, but I'm still here.

I think I might be a survivor.

Don't get hung up in all the terminology boys...this is all supposed to be fun.

My thoughts exactly.

my thoughts also.

I like this thread.
Terms that get morphed into whatever the person writing it wants it to be, usually ending up pretty far from the original meaning.

Two of my favorites are "authentic reproduction" and "tribute" car (just a fancy name for a fake or clone, such as a tribute Yenko). Even "antique" has strayed far from it's original meaning.

At the end of the day they're just words.