Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Veedol 10 gallon barrel

I got this Veedol barrel a few months ago and finally got around to cleaning it up. It`s the first 10 gallon Veedol barrel that I have come across.

It cleaned up very nicely and the bottom of the barrel is stamped 1955. It`s beginning to grow on me and I think I`ll be keeping it.

Does this can date to 1955 or is that a manufacturing code rather then a date code? Can is in excellent condition for being 57 years old.

Don't know but if it has a 55 date, then I know a car and another nice can it would look good next to Dave. Mine...lol



I think this 5 gallon was dated 55 also, but know for sure that my car is a 55. Great year!

IMO, it looks period correct for mid 1950s... In '56 Associated was dropped from the name and Tide Water was shortened to Tidewater... Also, the Flying A brand took over for the Flying V brand....

Thanks Bob, I was waiting for you to confirm the date. Now, Graeme and I know for sure that these cans are 1955.

Graeme that 5 gallon can looks to be in amazing condition.

Bob just reread your post. Just to rephrase what I have just learned. Any time I see a Flying V it dates pre 1956. An item with a Flying A is post 1956.

My research so far, points to a cross over point around late 1955- early '56... Tide Water-Associated seems to have had different schedules for changing design/logos, based on the 2 coasts... The changeovers seem to have first taken place on the West Coast and then a few months later the East Coast.... On atleast one occasion during the late 40s (1947) up to 1950 there was a period when 2 different cans were actively advertised... The tan Flying V can and the red flying V can...

Of course, documenting the changes have been somewhat hit and miss. Phillips 66 tried to ensure all items pertaining to Flying A were destroyed here on the West Coast... Once the Merger was okayed by the DOJ....

Graeme, I see a lot of the 5 gal Tractor oil cans in both Flying V and Flying A... But your Motor Oil can is one I don't see too often... You made a great score... Especially being able to get one in such clean shape...

It's a definite jewel for sure. Easily the nicest 5 gallon can I have ever seen. It came from Texaco Joe and I had to pry his fingers off the can before I could walk out with it.

Thanks for posting the info on the dating Bob. Great to know those details. Might even have that imperial can you're looking for. Let you know in a few days.

Looking at your can again, I believe is it from before 1950...

It has the same design as the tan Veedol Flying V cans that were replaced by the all red Flying V cans completely in 1950....

Of course I could be wrong. Most of my observations/opinions are based on magazine advertising...

Not to hijack Dave's thread on his beautiful can, but checked my 5 gallon can this morning and it looks to be the later design and has a C59 on the side which I believe is the year of the can? It doesn't have the Associated name and says Tidewater Oil Company but does not have the Flying A which is said to have replaced the V in the mid 50's? Could the C59 stamp on the side be something other than the date? It must be a few years later than Dave's 10 gallon drum if it has Tidewater on the side so it has one thing in the name change but nothing on the flying A. Veedol is beginning to drive my interest in the brand. I love the graphics.









I don't know what the significance of the tag is that's attached to the filler spout, but got it this way and left it there. Hope this helps with your info on dating and transition periods.

Gascan,
would you post a picture of the bottom of the can?
there should be a date there..

Graeme, part of the "dating" problem we have is:

We are talking apples and oranges.... Dave's 10 gal is from the US and is marked as such (from what I can squint and see) Your 5 gal is from Tidewater Canada Ltd... (that is the reason, I've only seen a few... Never saw one close enough to read the Manufacturer before)

I've found that Canada Ltd... didn't always follow Tide Water-Associated or Tidewater lead exactly....

Veedol overseas used the V for years (decades) after Tidewater Oil ceased and renamed Getty....

From conversations Dave and I have had by phone and PM, I hope I am correct that he is finding this interesting and I am not taking us all "too far off-course"?

Here is the most "pronounced" example of a series of can design where US Tidewater Oil and Tidewater Canada Ltd.. were similar yet oh so different...

Veedol "white label" High Detergency can series (black label cans all had the same logo): Canadian version on left and US versions in middle and on the right:



Progression of French Veedol cans: red Tide Water-Associated, green Getty Oil and green Tidewater Oil... Notice how the "Flying V" changed to finally just a "V":


Dave, if I went too far afield, I apologize!

I don't own the post...I like it when they take on a life of their own. I'm learning keep the info coming. I just hope, I can absorb it all and commit it to memory.

It's quite apparent you are our in house Veedol expert...the to go, Veedol man! You've forgotten more than I'll ever know.

I appreciate you taking the time to share what you have learned.

Dave, by NO means am I an expert or even close to being one... I am learning and collecting more information day after day... I really know so little!

I will be honest and say that Collecting Associated/Tide Water/Tide Water-Associated/Tidewater and some Getty has kept me going....

I've been in the Hospital undoing procedures on my heart and once I woke up, asked what day it was and when could I go home.. Because there was an item(s) on Ebay or at an auction that I wanted to bid on...

For the Canadian Members and others; I am always looking for Magazine ads from the different "Tidewater and/or Veedol" time periods... I have very little from my neighbor's to the North, so if you have a Canadian Magazine ad with a can on it... I would like to see a copy or scan of it, if possible?

I have US ads that I will take scans of and/or copy magazine ads and send them to Members who like me want a somewhat better understanding of "One of the Great Oil Corporations"....

I have 2 Tractor Oil cans... Both are red; one with the Flying V logo:




and one with the Flying A....





I don't know the code on the bottom of the Flying A can. Is the can manufacture date the top line? 26 - 5 - 60 (May 26,1960)

Bob, you are a humble man!

I think we are correct to assume that is a manufacturing date code for quality control purposes. My can was dated 1955 in the same manner. Both dates are true to the time lines for the logo changes you had noted above.

Definitely some great info and I appreciate your taking the time to share this stuff Bob, and for expanding the thread. I checked the 5 gallon can and while it has that funny looking C logo on the bottom, there's no date stamp. The C59 on the side of the can is not likely a date either as I have 2 other cans of Red Head oil that both have that same marking on the side, and bottoms that have only the can makers logo and no date stamps. Weird as they'll from the same place, but no dates.

The C within a C within a C; is the Continental Can Company markings...

I do believe your 5 gal is from the 1940s.... And is the same design as the tan Veedol Flying V cans I have been trying to gather for my little display...

As I stated before, you have a "killer" can!

I hear ya, but wouldn't that go against the Tide Water Associated branding if all it says is Tidewater on the side of the can? That would make it years ahead of the name change which wasn't supposed to happen until 56 or did Canada make that name change ahead of schedule?

Tidewater Canada Ltd... Were separate from Tide Water-Associated and from Tidewater Oil... So the can could be from the 1940s to the mid 1950s....

There is a giant hole in my knowledge or lack there of... Where it comes to Tidewater Canada Ltd...

I'll see if I can't find you some Canadian literature to help you out there. Cheers..and thanks for sharing all that info. Very much appreciated.

Interesting how the earliest Canadian black Veedol quarts were just the Tide Water Oil Company, then most of the cream quarts were Tide Water Associated, and finally back to just Tide Water with the red quarts and green quarts. Most of the imperial Veedol quarts were made by Canco, the American Can Co. of Canada. Those Canadian imperial sized cans stamped with the three 'Cs', a large C with a smaller one inside and the smallest one inside again, are from the Continental Can Company and if there are two numbers beside it that is the plant code, such as 54 which I believe is one the Toronto plants. They had plants throughout Canada, one just down the road from me in Edmonton, but the majority of the quarts seemed to have been produced in Toronto. Cheers, Don.

Don, as you already know.... Everyone who collects Tide Water Oil, Associated Oil, Tide Water-Associated, Tidewater and Getty... knows the different Company's and mergers will drive one to drinking (if anyone needed an excuse?)

Let me preface what I am going to say next, with the facts....
I AM NOT an Expert on this subject. If I have something wrong, please do not hesitate to share the correct information:

The first (only) Veedol cans produced for Tide Water Oil out of New York. Were the "Diamond Star-burst" designs:

Small Diamond Star-burst design (1932-1933):




They are known as; "Small Diamond" because the diamond shape fits within the orange/white border...

The next design was; "Large Diamond Star-burst" (1934-1939):



The diamond goes through the border at the top and on the sides... The "Star-burst" is self explanatory...

The first Veedol cans for the "New" Tide water-Associated Oil were the tan Flying V cans (1940-1949):



The first Veedol cans for the "New" Tidewater Oil were the blue Flying A cans (from the magazine ads, I've found) (1956-1958):

For those of you who have not committed suicide by beating your heads against your desks and walls....

If my information is correct here are the last Veedol design for Tidewater Oil and the first for Getty Oil....



Tidewater is metal, Getty is composite....

Great info to know. I'm just getting into Veedol and really like the history lesson here. Good on you for starting this thread Dave, and nice to have a couple very knowledgeable collectors Like Bob & Don chime in about the can companies, dates, and transition periods. Here are the first cans I've started to collect, but I'm sure there'll be more.

Bob,
Where are your TIDE WATER FLYING FISH Cans?

Bob, I would never be one to get in-between a man and his drink, so perhaps I will top your glass off with an observation about the early black Veedol imperial quarts and how they don't exactly fit your neat chronology. The two following photos show two identical black Veedol quarts with the large diamond, however the side photos with their lists of cars are quite different. One lists around 39 vehicles and the other about 28. Now in the shorter list many of the vehicles were defunct by the mid 1930s such Auburn, Durant, Essex, Franklin, etc. and were not listed. However GM didn't drop the McLaughlin name from the Canadian McLaughlin Buick until 1942. So that quart with just Buick on it must be from around that time period. It is also possible that they were just slower in changing designs in the Canadian market, so we may had the black quart longer up here. Also wanted to show you my latest arrival that appeared in this afternoon's mail along with 47 other cans. I had never seen a Canadian Tide Water antifreeze before and Flying A to boot. You just never know what is still out there. Cheers, Don.

Don, I thank you for filling in some blanks...

In 1938, here in the States Tide Water and Associated Merged... It took almost a full year before the Tide Water-Associated was able to produce the tan can...

I've found that during the time from 1947 to 1949 Tide Water-Associated in fact was advertising the tan Flying V can and the red Flying V can...

So design "over runs" seem to be common for the Company, here in the States... So such practices elsewhere doesn't surprise me...

I like your Anti-freeze can

I love the Veedol cans. Guess its too late to start collecting now? Dang

Larry

Larry,
Bob, Alan & Don have most of what is available, so they are only after the very hard to find ones now!

To jump in on your Veedol discussion, I got this grease lubester bucket and started to clean it up. Under the red paint, it looks like Veedol lettering. I haven't been able to find anything that resembles this logo. Does there happen to be a decal out there of this? I'd like to restore it to the way it once was. Any thoughts?

Ron

Ron, I know that Rob (Toonman) has "restored" a lube dispenser similar to yours (from what I can see)

You might send him a PM? He might be able to answer some questions, for you?

Thanks Rob.

Yeah, I've talked with him and he has a nicely restored one. But, he did it in Flying A colors. I'd like to restore to the orange Veedol colors. I just can't seem to match what I have.

As a can collector, the great thing about having my own canning machines and lids for re-lidding imperial quarts and the tall imperial gallons is that I get to see cans that I never knew about before. I just re-lidded a number of quarts for a collector here who was buying up part of an eastern collection. I get to take those cans and compare with my own to see if there are any differences or variations. It is always a treat when you see something new like these two, mine is the Flying V on the left. Unfortunately I don't have any lids stamped 10 -30 W so I had to put on a blank, which is acceptable since the weight is already indicated on the front. Cheers, Don.

Nice looking set of cans. Never thought I'd say that about something made of metal, but it does apply here. (lol)