I've never seen a black Havoline sign before this one. Or I should say if I have, I've never noticed a black one before. Is this a rare version? When/where was black used? I like it but I really dont follow Havoline stuff. I acquired it with a bunch of other stuff I bought at the same time.




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Jim

The sign is not black just a faded dark blue. Here is my vertical.

It suppose to be a Havoline blue, it appears they tinted and fired this one a little darker (different manufactures).

Here is a picture of the one I just bought. I think these signs date to the 20's.

I'm not arguing but its definitely a black sign. Not dark blue. Appears to have been made that way. Not faded or stained. It does appear to be the same sign as Jamie's only black.

you can see the black one laying next to a blue one just in the background and you can see the difference. I would have to agree it is black from the pic

I agree- faded cobalt blue-
IMO never made in black..

There is a lot of stuff out there, just because a few people have not seen something...does not mean it does not exist.

I just went through the "A Tour With Texaco" by Rick Pease and there is a picture of that sign on page 150. It looks dark, but the picture is not great. I think Havoline was primarily blue (I am going to look through some other books). I would tend to lean toward the fact it is a washed out blue, but i also agree with porcelain-neon........

Why would the blue fade all the way to black evenly???
Ive seen tons of faded signs and there is fluctuation in the fading! I dont see that here!
Also why is the red crisp and NOT faded???
Usually the red is first to fade out...
I have never seen this sign before either BUT Im looking at it now! LOL
I have seen companies use different colors for different states and perhaps thats the case here?(ie mobil, standard,etc)
Just my 2 cents Later!
PS: Killer sign JIM!!!

I think this falls back to variance in colors. Firestone is a good example because they used two shades of blue. I have seen some Firestone signs that were faded out to the point they look black but every other color on the sign looks great. IMO this sign was the darker blue and has faded to a black look.

Tom: you say you have never seen a sign fade evenly and leave the other colors. I had a situation with a Ford truck from the 80s. I can't remember all the details, it had to do with a bunch of damaged hoods (don't know if it was how they were shipped or manufacturing flaw) but it involved many thousands of trucks. Ford repaired/repainted or replaced the hoods and front quarter panels and replaced them without telling of the issue and it turned into a class action law suit.

Long story short, the hood and the tops of the front quarter panels (not the sides) totally faded out evenly (they were chalky) and the quarter panels below and the back panels still looked factory fresh. The panels were red and white. Ford paid to repaint the entire truck.

It might be black...I don't know...some close up quality pictures might help too.

ok...black or blue faded perfectly to black....

i think you have a very unique sign either way....

how many other blue signs exist that faded perfectly to black?(if that is what happened) or how many black signs exist?

NOT MANY!!!! ENJOY THE HECK OUT OF IT....IT IS RARE IN ITS CONDITION...NO MATTER THE ARGUEMENT....IMO!

put a little baby oil in one corner & see if that brings out the true color..

why?

u have a unique sign...

plz leave it unique...imo

Alex, your talking paint. This is porcelain!!!
Lets compare apples to apples...

YOU SAID "Tom: you say you have never seen a sign fade evenly and leave the other colors."

^^^^^^^ When did I say that?????? ^^^^^^

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I simply said
Ive seen tons of faded signs and there is fluctuation in the fading! I dont see that here!
Also why is the red crisp and NOT faded???
Usually the red is first to fade out...
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Now back to Jim's sign!!!
I'd like to see close ups of the chips and back of sign Jim. Is it black also??? Kinda hard for the sun to fade the back when its mounted!!! LOL
AGAIN just my 2 cents so please dont twist my words.... Thanks!