I'm 44 and have been collecting something since I was a kid. I started out collecting model cars and Wacky Package stickers. Then as a teenager it was SS Chevelle's. I got into Coca-Cola items in 1988 when I bought a Vendo 23 deluxe. I bought my first oil can (Cardboard Skelly can I still have) for $3.00 at the Lawrence, KS swap meet in 1995. I also bought my first gas pump for $15.00 that year which I still have. I went to my first Iowa Gas in 1996 and have been every year since and will continue to go every year. I miss the days of looking through old bulk plants full of signs, cans, and pumps. My greatest memory is the pump grave yard in Hannibal, MO (some of you on here saw the same thing) and the 100's of unrestored pumps, ad glass, signs, and lubsters that were left for dead. I only have pictures and a fading memory of that experience. I don't do this for an investment or get caught up in where prices will be in 5, 10, or 20 years. I collect and attend shows because I have fun and I will never stop. I can't imagine doing anything else.

-Matt