Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Help with Gilbert & Barker oil drum

Please help with ID to this oil container. This oil container has a tag which reads Gilbert & Barker self measuring pump Type33 Model 1B The dipstick reads up to 33 (gallons?) On the front of the container is Use Polarine The Perfect Motor Oil. Thank You for your help.

First of all, welcome to Oldgas. Your oil drum, is an oil dispenser. Back in the day, oil didnt come in cans. It was dispensed into one quart bottles. The bottle tops, were shaped like funnels. They had a small cap to keep the dirt out. The bottles, were sometimes displayed on racks, out on the pump island. While the dispesers, like yours, were kept out of the way.

So the answer to your question is, you have a 33 gallon, G&B, Type 33, oil dispenser, that was used to pump, Polarine oil.

Here is a pic of some oil bottles.



A few of these, displayed with your drum, would make a nice display. Reproduction bottles are available, as are the decals. However, original bottles can still be found.

What you have is a round version of the G&B 33-C. It dates from around 1915 and to correct something Thunder said above, it was not originally used to fill oil bottles. Oil bottles, as shown above, were not invented until 1922. Prior to that time, most oil was dispensed into a metal can, mostly cans with a spout.

The information I have on the 33-C does not state what size tanks were available with that pump, but I have never heard of a 33 gallon tank. Most tanks were either 35 or 65 gallon tanks.

At the time your tank was made, G&B was partially owned by the Standard Oil Co. G&B made many items with a Standard logo on them. Your unit was possibly made for them.



Jack Sim