Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion WHEN YOU WERE A NEWBIE

Topics seem to have dried up lately, only four posts today, so let try something different. At one time we were all newbies, what was it like, how many mistakes did you make, what was it like to go to your first petro swap meet, you get the idea, here is my story.

The year was 1988, in the spring I had purchased a 100 gas pumps, a ton of signs, more cans filled with oil and grease than I knew existed, it was like petro heaven. About that time I heard about a petro swap meet in Des Moines in August. So I picked out a pump I thought would look good restored, and attacked it. At that time the only book was Scott Anderson's "Check the Oil." I got that but the pump I picked out wasn't in there, but to me the pump looked great. (I'll find the picture of it unrestored and restored and post it tomorrow).
It probably took me the month of July to fill and sand all the pits, but I got it done.
Cindy and I left St. Louis about 9:00 pm heading to Des Moines. We had the pump in the back of the pick-up along with a ton of stuff we had no idea what it was selling for at a swap meet.
We arrived around 6 in the morning, and there were guys all over the place, and at that time everyone was waiting for the next guy to pull in and would all follow the trucks to the spaces. We were pulling a small trailer and while I was trying to back it into a space (a feat I am still not good at) a guy comes up and asks me what I want for the pump. I told him that Cindy and I had decided we wanted $1000 for it, he offered me $800 and I politely told him I would rather let it stand in front of our stuff then take less than a grand. He asked me, "Does it look as good on the back as it does on the side I see?" (it was laying down) and I said it was, he reached in his pocket and gave me 10 big ones. Now keep in mind the engine was still running and the trailer still wasn't where I wanted it and I had a grand. I walked back to Cindy, flashed the money, told her we had sold the pump, and said "Isn't this a great country?"
Actually, that isn't all, about this trip, we still didn't know what anything else we had was worth.
After getting everything set up, I told Cindy to unload what she could, I would be back in a while. This didn't go over too well, but I told her I needed to find out what this stuff was worth.
I know we sold things cheap, but we didn't know, there wasn't any books. One thing Cindy remembers most was we had some fancy hangers for signs, still in the original boxes, two per box. A guy comes up and asks Cindy what was the price of the hangers, pointing at the box. She said $35.00, he handed her $70.00 for the pair, she thinking she would get $35.00 for the box, that is how we learned what to charge.
Of all the over 100 petro & auto shows we have attended, we both remember more about this first one at Des Moines.
Let's here about your beginings.
By the way, the pump I had restored was a Wayne 60 Display case pump, I didn't know anything about it, it just looked neat.

Jack Sim

neat story! thanks

Compared to most on here I am sill kinda a Newbie only been collecting seriously for about 6 or 7 years.

My addiction started when I built a Garage for my Mustang. I had seen garages decorated with signs and I thought it looked really cool so I went on a sign Buying spree but the problem was I really didn't know much about them and was also buying alot of Repo signs which I kick myself for now. I have a few buddies that have since taken most of them off my hands since they don't care if they are real or not. Then I wanted 1 Gas Pump and a Oil Can Rack next to it that held 20 quart cans then I was gonna be done. But I got Bit By the Petro Bug I picked up my 7th pump yesterday and allready have it tore apart to start restoring, and my Idea of having 20 oil cans has turned into about 250-300 and that number fluctuates alot as I am buying Better cans all the time and selling off the lower end cans that I bought early in my collecting. I never would have thought that there would be 1000's of Different Oil cans. And I would have never thought in a million years early on in my collecting of $10 oil cans that I would get to the point of Paying well over $100 for a single Oil Can. This year was my first Trip to Iowa Gas and I was just amazed at all the cool stuff there and all the Great People in this hobby that I had the oppertunity to meet. I have been going to a couple big car shows in my area that allways have a good assortment of Petro since the beginning of my collecting but no comparison to Iowa Gas.

Great Idea for a Topic Jack.

I went to a small local swap meet. This was probably 2001/2002. One of the vendors had a 35mm 4x6 picture on his table of four pumps marked for sale, $125. I asked him if the price was for all four, he replied, "yes". Next weekend, I had the pumps in my father-in-laws backyard. I don't remember what pumps they were, but one was an A.O. Smith, a Wayne (robot looking) pump, a tall Erie (kind of rounded) and an Erie from the 30s. I ended up selling the first three pumps and kept the Erie from the 30s. I sold one on eBay to a guy in Phoenix. I sold another pump to a local collector/restorer and the third pump to a guy in Sacramento. I don't think that I sold either of the pumps over $100. At the time, I had no clue about their value, nor did I have Jack's book, but I didn't care. I made close a few hundred bucks and still was able to keep a pump out of the four. Now I wish I kept all four.

I then started buying other petro related items and figuring out what the stuff was worth.

MY ADDICTION STARTED YEARS AGO WITH LICENSE PLATES AND ROAD MAPS PROBABLY BACK IN THE 60'S AND 70'S WHEN I WAS JUST A KID. WHAT REALLY GOT ME HOOKED WAS WHEN I STARTED TO GO TO CARLISLE, PA SHOWS (FALL AND SPRING) AND LOOK FOR MOSTLY COCA-COLA STUFF. I THINK IT WAS IN THE FALL OF 1985 I FOUND TWO HUGE COCA-COLA PORC SIGNS FROM THE 30'S. ONE WAS 4X8'
AND THE OTHER 4.5X8' GOT THE BOTH OF THEM FOR $200 BUT THEY HAD THEIR FAIR SHARE OF CHIPS AND I WAS GONNA TOUCH THEM UP AT WORK. ANYWAY, I HAD TO OBTAIN PERMISSION TO DRIVE INTO THE VENDOR AREA TO LOAD THESE UP. AFTER WE DID, I STILL HAD ABOUT $100 OF SPENDING CASH BURNING A HOLE IN MY POCKET AND WHILE DRIVING BACK OUT TO HEAD HOME I SPOTTED A FAIRLY NICE LOOKING D/S 42" 1930 TEXACO SIGN FOR $85. I LOADED THAT UP TOO AND STILL HAD GAS MONEY FOR THE DRIVE HOME! LOL!
I ALMOST SOLD THAT TEXACO IN 1994 FOR $250 BUT THE GUY NEVER CAME TO BUY AND PAY...SO I STILL HAVE IT....SOMEPLACE. FROM THEN ON THE REASON TO GO TO CARLISLE (AND EVENTUALLY HERSHEY AS WELL) WAS FOR PETRO ITEMS. NOT THAT I DIDN'T PICK UP A SCARCE COKE BARGAIN HERE AND THERE! LOL!

I WENT BACK INTO MY PHOTO ARCHIVES (THE ONES FROM 24 YEARS AGO TAKEN WITH REAL FILM LOL) AND FOUND THESE IMAGES HAVING MY FALL 1985 CARLISLE PURCHASES!

HERE ARE THE HUGE 1930'S COKE SIGNS I BOUGHT ALONG WITH A SMALLER LOLLIPOP SIGN. CHEAP BUT OBVIOUSLY QUITE CHIPPED...HENCE THE PRICES.


THE BIGGER OF THE TWO SIGNS ENDED UP IN MY BASEMENT AFTER THE TOUCH-UP RESTO:


UNFORT THIS IS THE ONLY PIC OF THE TEXACO SIGN I COULD FIND FROM AROUND THAT SAME TIME ERA. IT WAS TAKEN DURING SPRING OF 1986 WHEN I WAS DOING MY MOTHER'S GARAGE WITH PANELLING THAT I BOUGHT AT A LOCAL SALVAGE PLACE:


I EVENTUALLY PICKED UP ANOTHER 4X8' FRENCH PORC COKE SIGN AND THEY BOTH ENDED UP ALONG THAT WALL. I KEPT SAYING TO MYSELF "I PANEL THE WALL AND THEN COVER IT WITH SIGNS...DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!" LOL!

I'm still kind've a newbie too. I starting collecting bottles and license plates when I was about 9 years old. Probably by the time I was an early teen I had hundreds of both. My Dad had his own business(garage) and he had all kinds of signs and old car displays in there. When I was about 14 or so my Grandmother took me to an antique shop near where she lived and there was a 1942 Illinois license plate with a Mobil California World's Fair topper on it for a total of $25. She bought it for me and I guess that would be my first petro item I got. I've always liked the Mobil stuff and then later started collecting the Gulf stuff along with Coke and RC Cola items. My first big item was a lubester that my Mom bought me for Christmas a few years ago at an auction. I went to my first swap meet last year to Dixie Gas. I didn't buy anything but really liked looking around. Plus my wife appreciates when I look more than I buy, ha, ha. So far I've got a small collection of Gulf and Mobil items and always looking for the new item to put in it. My wife and I had our first child a couple years ago and since then my priorities have really changed naturally and would rather buy him $100 worth of toys or clothes then spending that on a sign but I save those expensive petro purchases to give my wife some ideas for around Christmas. Mostly now I just buy some smalls. I've enjoyed the new friendships I've made on here and really appreciate everybody on here that has been patient and helped me with my buying/selling.

Brian

Jack , Ive been collecting different things since I was a teenager . I'm pretty near 60 and Iv'e yet to actually own my own pump. Still, Ive rebuilt pumps for several others as I simply could not and still can not afford the real thing . I was the photographer for Anderson's book even though Mr Anderson gavve total credit to the late Mitch Stenzler of Webber's . Mitch was a friend of mine also . We wouls often disscuss Model A ford restoration projects when ever I was at the pawn shop he owned . I would also look to see what neat reproduction pieces he had gotten in also . Anyway , thats my story , so here I am trying to make scale model pumps these days ! Ed Shaver

I stopped at a yard sale around 1990 near Newport Washington and saw the new found second love of my life. A dang gas pump! The pump wasnt a part of the sale but I asked and bought a short Tokhiem I think a model 39 or something. I think around $50.00 or $100.00 I still have the pump plates Texaco Sky Chief Su-Preme. I was hoooooked. I dont think I ever have had a original globe and never have had much for signs but I always felt I had a extra sense that helped me sniff out pumps.This was the back of our house a couple of years later.I have had some nice pumps but they all went away when I started our business to survive. I still have a couple of bennetts though. My favorite. One comment that always ***** me of was when some one would come over and ask why I have gas TANKS. Their not tanks their ART and history

Oh man I HATE it when they call them "tanks" I have to tell everyone that the tanks were underground and these are PUMPS.

I hate that also!!! I can't figure out why they call them tanks. Drives me nuts and they do not look like tanks. Would you say "Pull up to the gas tank?"

I didn't start out as a collector of anything. I was buying and selling old trucks and tractors and just wanted a few pumps and signs to accent my other stuff. For a few years thats all I did. I wasn't acollector, I was a dealer. My motto was "everything is for sale but my disobedient dog".

Before long I discovered what I really liked was restored pumps and items related to the pumps; globes,ad glass and pump plates. I stopped selling them started collecting them. That led into collecting other brand associated things like signs, cans,maps and smalls and laying out coordinated brand displays.Thats what I'm doing now, but most displays don't include a pump. Too many brands!

Mistakes? More than I care to remember. The most costly was having no idea of value and particularly the relationship between value and grade. The most lasting mistake was early on buying without a real focus. I'm still working my way out of the hole I dug for myself on that one after 8 years of collecting.

I mentioned above I would post pictures of the first pump I restored, it took a while to find them, but here they are:


Unrestored


Restored

Jack Sim

When I first got into this stuff I met and traded often w/ Wayne Henderson....I didn't stay green for very long.

I started off when I was 12 or 13. My folks had a place in the outer banks in NC at the time and the drive down there used to take us through all kinds of country roads that still had abandoned stores, etc with old pumps still standing guard (long gone now!). I thought this was really neat, and we used to always drive by this "junk shop" piled full of old pumps, signs, coke machines, you name it in the yard. The place turned out to be Wayne Story's place, though I didn't know him at the time. One evening on the way home I convinced my parents to stop there and Wayne was still open. I bought a 1930s Texaco Gasoline/Motor Oil sign from him for $70. Still have that sign and I'm still friends with Wayne. I'm 28 now, I still look in awe at the kind of stuff a lot of you guys are lucky to find on a seemingly weekly basis but I've managed to get some neat things here and there and now have 13 pumps, 7 coke machines, lots of signs, cans etc. Still being on a budget, I don't mind some dings here and there on a sign, as long as it'll look good on my wall. My problem is I like it all!

i was always into old cars.decided i wanted to put an old pump out by the garage.well,there is a lady in richmond il,"mildred the pump lady" and 1 day i stoped in and looked at what she had.her husband ,who had passed away,had been selling pumps for years before i ever even saw the place.all kind of pumps around and other old cool stuff.well on day i went and bought my first pump from her.it was a rapid dayton 1510.a few weeks later while on a trip to ky with my son,i found 2 fry 17 that i bought for 75.00.then i found oldgas,and since that time i havent turned back.since then i have had a few great finds,and it has become my main hobby.only have 1 car left,but now i would rather go lookin for pumps than wrench on a car.have met the greatest people in this hobby than anything i have ever been into before.

HIi oldfuelish,

Good post. Sounds a lot like me except that I have a few trucks left but no tractors. What I found out is that I don't bleed as much collecting gas and oil! I'm probably just inept, or maybe those bigger bolts were just rusty?

Perhaps some people considering entering our hobby are reading these posts. Can't help but to promote the hobby if they know how we got here and what we are doing now.

Any comments from newbies or anyone considering our hobby?

OK--Since DB called me a newbie, I might be qualified!
About 3 1/2 years ago, I entered retirement full time and moved off the farm and into a nice lake house with the most WONDERFUL shop building setting beside the house. Since I had always been into old muscle cars, I decided that I needed a few decorations for my new shop, that would compliment my couple of cars!
I was discussing it with a high school buddy and he told me that he had some old pumps at his place that he had gathered and he was sick of them and would sell very reasonable. I made the 5 mile trip and bought a Wayne 60, Wayne 70, and 3 MS 80 shells!
I was on ebay about the same time and ran across an ad from Oslo Steve on a couple of gas pumps and I managed to get him on the phone and because he was so close, I took the drive over to see what he was talking about!
I was floored by his display and promptly loaded up my Wayne 60 and took it to him to restore for me! By the time he finished it, I was hooked and set out to do my own restorations! With some encouragement and advice from Steve, I was able to restore a great old 36B that I found at a farm sale and I haven't stopped since!
I have refined my direction and upped my quality standards on things that I intend to keep but I'm constantly amazed by the new things I find out about this great old industry! If only I had paid more attention when I was 16 and working at those old stations and hanging around at all of them because my friends worked at different ones!
This web site continues to educate me every day and I'm thankful I was directed here because it has helped me to keep from making some mistakes that would have been costly, had I not known!
You're right DB--Newbie-Newbie-Newbie---But not for long! Thanks to all of you that have befriended me on this site and helped me with different things! You're the greatest!