I purchased a few documents online that were printed by great west distributors (red head) that states they were selling 5 gal lithograph press-a-top cans stencilled Red Head motor Red Head Tractor Reliance motor and Reliance Tractor. The cans were 18c per gallon and not returnable. There was a spout in the lid that pulls up for easy pouring.

My question is, did Red Head or Great west distributors also own a Canadian company Reliance? I have seen a few Reliance cans in the past,Reliance Vitalube motor oil, Reliance Vitalube Heavy Duty oil, the logo was a oval with the word Reliance in the middle and the Classic Reliance red Antifreeze can with the robot on it. Am I thinking of the correct Reliance?

Thanks!

Just received the January issue of PCM (Petroleum Collectibles Monthly) magazine and in it was an article on Red Hat. There was no mention of any affiliation with Reliance...

Red Hat or Red Head?

The January 2020 PCM article is on Red Head. There is no indication of any connection to Reliance.

My bad - Jim is correct - the article in PCM is on Red Head - sorry for the confusion!

Reliance was an eastern Canadian company and likely had nothing to do with Great West Distributors.

Hope this Clears up the Reliance part of your question. Both are different companies and as far as I know has nothing to do with Great West Distributors .

1. Reliance antifreeze cans with the robots was.. Reliance Chemicals Limited. Montreal,Toronto,Winnipeg and Manitoba. Was sold all over Canada.

2. Reliance motor oil can. In 1949 Supertest bought out Crown Dominion Oils, Thayers Oil and Red Star Oil all from South Western Ontario and formed a new company called "RELIANCE". In 1959 Supertest absorbed all the station and rebranded them Supertest. As far as I know Reliance never made it out of SW Ontario and Supertest was only ever in Ontario and Quebec.