|
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157
Petro Enthusiast
|
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157 |
Here's my very long winded story but it is a story that's more about the person that I got these things from than the stuff itself . I was a long ways away just outside of a little town called La Barge Wyoming and found a Wayne 515 which I was able to purchase and load up . Anyways I always ask the people if they know anyone who has some of these things that I collect . So he gave me the number to a guy in town named Don Studt , Don ran the service station in town called Valley service which had been closed down for a long time . So I called Don and told him what I collected which he replied that he probable had a few things but for me to meet him at the only restaurant in town that he always has breakfast there in the morning at that time . So sure I met him there we talked had a great breakfast always the food tasted better in those little towns , super nice down to earth guy . So we get done walk across the street to his Station which the property was covered with old tractors . I asked if there were any signs cans gas pumps around , He said that he had a sign in the shed close to the building so we go there he opens the door and this is what I see 6' Mobile sign . Now keep in mind if you are a collector in Utah anything Wasatch is top of the list and almost impossible to find but next in line is Mobile . Turns out his station was a Mobile station that changed to Sinclair when they were bought out . I'm so excited how much money would it take to buy the sign I asked ? So he says I'm sorry but I don't want to sell it I was crushed are you sure you can name your price ? Then he says you know money is a renewable resource I can always go out and make more money but if I sell you that sign I will never have another one . Bummed out we go thru the station I get a few cans there was a Visible pump in there that he didn't want to sell either . So anything else and he says there is a few things in my house , so we go over there and meet his wife a nice lady and he takes me into his office and there sits a Wasatch globe teetering on a little T.V ok this is killing me Don how about the globe ? sorry again I can't sell it because it was a gift from a truck driver friend of mine a long time ago . So I told him thanks and drove the long trip back to Salt Lake totally dejected. I couldn't give up so I called him back in a couple of weeks practically begging, Don is there anyway I can get that Mobile sign ? He thought for a minute then said I need a 25 horse power Honda boat motor or it was a 20 horse power can't remember , he wanted electric start and remote control . So I said let me see what I can do, okay now we are getting somewhere . I called all around and the best price I could get one for was up in Ogden 30 miles away and that best price was $4,200.00 now at that time that was all the money for that Mobile sign and maybe more but I had to have it . So I go get the motor call him up and he seemed surprised it was a big leap of faith but I knew I could trust him do what he said he would do . He told me to bring my trailer that in the field behind his station there was a pole without a sign and a pole with a sign in it . I asked what the sign in the pole said and he told me LARCO which meant Little America Refining company , I had never heard of that sign . I said I would be glad to bring more money to buy them . So I get up there give him the motor he was happy we go behind the station and it turns out that LARCO was painted over another Mobile sign and I showed him , he never knew . I said ok Don I brought up $3000.00 will that buy these ? He said I'm going to give you these that it was to much for the other sign I said no it wasn't and I can't have you give me these for free , he said nicely you will either take them as a gift or you won't take them at all . probably the best trip I ever had . I would keep in touch with him ask about the Wasatch Globe offer more and more money but he never would sell it because it was a gift . Then one time I called and his wife answered and said sadly Don had passed away from brain cancer I said how sorry I was and then good by . a couple of months later she called me back and said if I wanted the Wasatch Globe for what my last offer to Don was I could have it . So I went back up there and got it but it wasn't much fun . What a great guy he was that's a picture of him by the poles on the trailer, they don't make them like they used to . That's my son in the picture by the trailer he will be 22 in a couple of months .
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157
Petro Enthusiast
|
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,217 Likes: 75
Veteran Member
|
OP
Veteran Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,217 Likes: 75 |
Great story Peter...curious if you got the 2 ethyl lenses on the wall also....
Wanted early tin litho signage. petro, farm, auto, etc.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 17,429 Likes: 616
Veteran Member
|
Veteran Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 17,429 Likes: 616 |
Looking for photos of 60s era Shell-A-Rama gas station Rt. 17 Mahwah,NJ (opposite Pal's Diner) Support the hobby- attend your local petroliana shows
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157
Petro Enthusiast
|
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157 |
Great story Peter...curious if you got the 2 ethyl lenses on the wall also.... No Kim I'm ashamed to say I didn't even ask about them , at the time I was so zoned in on the Wasatch globe that they didn't even grab my attention . And then when I went back up there a year or so later the Wasatch globe was out of the office and on the dining room table , I just was in La La land over the Wasatch that I never thought about them . One of those I wish I could do over moments .
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,217 Likes: 75
Veteran Member
|
OP
Veteran Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,217 Likes: 75 |
Yes I can remember some of the stuff I stepped over and left behind to get to a 20.00 oil can....lol Crazy!!
Wanted early tin litho signage. petro, farm, auto, etc.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,331 Likes: 106
Veteran Member
|
Veteran Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,331 Likes: 106 |
Love the story. I have things people try to buy, but it has not price because of the story and the people. It was special to them, and I am in possession of it now. Thanks Peter for the story.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 973 Likes: 14
Petro Enthusiast
|
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 973 Likes: 14 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 199 Likes: 37
Petro Enthusiast
|
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 199 Likes: 37 |
Love the story, the photos to back up the story, and the history. I'm with Clifton......way more value (to me) to the items I own that have known history. I try to write things like this on paper and put in a file. Sometimes I wire a tag with the history to the piece. Otherwise, that info gets lost forever.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,331 Likes: 106
Veteran Member
|
Veteran Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,331 Likes: 106 |
Great idea Eric. I think I will start doing that also.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,174 Likes: 46
Veteran Member
|
Veteran Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,174 Likes: 46 |
Great story . It’s all about the hunt and the people you meet along the way .
Wanted TEXACO related items & SUNOCO related items .Signs -Globes et'c. Oil Cans - Grease cans .
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157
Petro Enthusiast
|
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 631 Likes: 157 |
I wish we could get this going again . Here is some expensive Coca Cola shed siding I found out in the boonies a long time ago .
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,016 Likes: 61
Veteran Member
|
Veteran Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,016 Likes: 61 |
Well its tough doesn't require painting and its good to look at. Great finish for a shack!
|
|
|
|
|