Old Timey Bulk Oil Dispenser

[bobpo]

I was recently offered an old Bulk Oil Dispenser, the kind where you crank the handle and it dispenses one quart of oil. Gonna pick it up tomorrow.

I'd like to know, since I plan to restore it, what color to paint it and what brand logo would be most recognizable? I know I can purchase most all the stickers, but just wondering which would be best.....

My father-in-law who recently passed, used it for kerosene, still has some in it.

[Russ/40]

Use the Synclair (spelling) dinosaur.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I agree with Russ, that green looks nice. My friend has three of them in green.

[The Hot Rod Grille]

I did mine in red & white with a "Mobiloil E for Ford Cars" sign on it.

Jim

[Tom Wesenberg]

I've seen several with much original paint still on them and they had a darker green, but this Sinclair green also looks nice.

[CarlG]

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Texaco

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

I have a Kendall sign with plastic letters to advertise service specials. Kinda neat, with a hand showing two fingers, sort of like the old "V for VICTORY."
My shop is open from 9 to 12 & shop rate is $900.00 per hour! WE'RE GOOD, BUT WE AIN'T CHEAP! Only have 1 customer. Bill W.

[40 Deluxe]

The two fingers were part of Kendall's advertising from the early '50's, as I recall. The slogan that went with it was "Kendall-the 2,000 mile oil". Standard pracrice was to change oil every 1,000 miles so Kendall must be twice as good! Interestingly, the owner's manual for my 1940 Ford recommends 2,000 mile oil changes for cars without an oil filter and 5,00 miles (!) if you had the optional filter!

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

The two fingers were part of Kendall's advertising from the early '50's, as I recall. The slogan that went with it was "Kendall-the 2,000 mile oil". Standard pracrice was to change oil every 1,000 miles so Kendall must be twice as good! Interestingly, the owner's manual for my 1940 Ford recommends 2,000 mile oil changes for cars without an oil filter and 5,00 miles (!) if you had the optional filter!

Thanks, 40 Deluxe,
That helps me date it somewhat. It came from a closed shop in Porterville, Ca. about a year ago & is in pristine condition.
Your Flagstaff area holds a special place in my memories from many Route 66 trips in the 40's & 50's! I can smell the pines and feel the crisp cool air, sometimes patches of snow,WOW!
Chief, my dad, never sang around home, but when going through Flagstaff area, he would stare down the road with a look that was a thousand miles away and sing, "In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines, and you shivver when the cold winds blow." Man! I got goose bumps just remembering. I found all the song lyrics on the net.
Sorry I'm rattling so much, I'd be dangerous if I could type. Buster, my Rat Terrier said I should hire a cute redhead to type & cook, then I could write BOOKS & BOOKS of stuff! (Dog is smart!) Bill W.

[Purdy Swoft]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

Thanks, 40 Deluxe,
That helps me date it somewhat. It came from a closed shop in Porterville, Ca. about a year ago & is in pristine condition.
Your Flagstaff area holds a special place in my memories from many Route 66 trips in the 40's & 50's! I can smell the pines and feel the crisp cool air, sometimes patches of snow,WOW!
Chief, my dad, never sang around home, but when going through Flagstaff area, he would stare down the road with a look that was a thousand miles away and sing, "In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines, and you shivver when the cold winds blow." Man! I got goose bumps just remembering. I found all the song lyrics on the net.
Sorry I'm rattling so much, I'd be dangerous if I could type. Buster, my Rat Terrier said I should hire a cute redhead to type & cook, then I could write BOOKS & BOOKS of stuff! (Dog is smart!) Bill W.

I remember the kerosene dispensers in most of the country stores and gas stations when I was a kid. most were red and I don't remember any decals. People that lived in the country before electric lines were run used kerosene in lamps, refrigerators and sometimes stoves. I remember bulk oil being sold in glass quart jars with special long metal spouts. This was as late as the sixties at some stations. You didn't get the jars or spouts, you poured the oil in and returned the jar to the rack.

I remember my aunt Grace, Gea I called her singing the song, in the pines when she roicked me to sleep at a young age in the forties. Another moving old song that I remember her singing was the wreck of the old 97. I don't remember all of the words but he told his fireman, shovel in a little more coal... When we reach that stretch when we top this mountain, you can watch old 97 roll... He was going down grade making 90 miles an hour when the whistle broke in to a scream... He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle, but scalded to death by the steam!!! Thanks for the mention of the old song because it brings back old memories.

[1oldtimer]

Do some research the oil/gas companies were regional. I just bought one to use for bulk oil they're called "Lubesters".

[1oldtimer]

Ohio,







Others closed by:

[Chris in WNC]

since you are in Ohio, you might consider the 1950s SOHIO logo.

update 8/27: problem with this: the tank would need to be bright red, my least favorite color. some of the other logos proposed here are much more attractive than the SOHIO.....

[bobpo]

Originally Posted by Jeff/Illinois

How about Sunoco Blue and Yellow (dark yellow pre-1959) those colors look good together.

Or, get creative and go Ford Corporate Blue and White. Have a sign painter do a 'Ford' script on the side. Ford marketed Ford- Benzol gasoline in the Detroit area in the late 20's early 30's. The darn stuff really boosted your gasoline mileage from accounts that I've read. Something like 90% gasoline and 10% coal oil blend.

Actually I've been a custom sign painter for over 55 years specializing in pinstriping and airbrushing along with custom lettering, so it's beginning to look like it's going to be FUN... Maybe a Neon Look........

Thanks Ya'll

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

In the 50's, I followed up on an ad that read, "For sale, '32 Highboy $395.00"
Thinking it might be a "sleeper ad," for a fenderless '32 Ford, I took off!!
It was a 1932 large oil tank with pump!! So as not to appear STUPID, I asked if it worked, he opened the lid & it was 1/2 full of diesel, then he pumped a coffee can full to demo it. I said I'd think about it and laughingly asked if the diesel went with it! Bill W.

[329s]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

In the 50's, I followed up on an ad that read, "For sale, '32 Highboy $395.00"
Thinking it might be a "sleeper ad," for a fenderless '32 Ford, I took off!!
It was a 1932 large oil tank with pump!! So as not to appear STUPID, I asked if it worked, he opened the lid & it was 1/2 full of diesel, then he pumped a coffee can full to demo it. I said I'd think about it and laughingly asked if the diesel went with it! Bill W.

And back then Diesel was like $0.05 per gallon?????

(I know for sure it was about $0.17 per gallon in the late 60's or there about).

Pluck

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by 1oldtimer

Do some research the oil/gas companies were regional. I just bought one to use for bulk oil they're called "Lubesters".

1oldtimer,
Had my own shop in the 80's and the Quaker State distributor loaned me one just like yours. I THINK? it was Tokheim brand. Are you going to clean the oval label at the bottom of the pump to see the maker's name? DON'T touch anything else, 'cause that dude has perfect patina!

Purdy,
Chief had a Conoco station in Okla. in '44 & '45 & one of my jobs was to keep those oil bottles full. The metal snout had a cap, was it chained to the snout??? I can't recomember fo' sho' I must, I must, I MUST! get one of those afore I get OLD & die. If someone wants to sell one, P.M. me. Bill W.

[Purdy Swoft]

The spouts had caps but wasn't chained that I remember,We had them here first at the golden eagle station and it was sold off to Kayo. I remember that the price was 15 cents per quart. That is what I often used in my september 29 , back then. The bulk oil looked as purty as light colored honey. I wouldn't mind haveing and old rack of bottles and spouts for a display. I'm thinking about turning the big room on the north side of my house into my model A room. I could have some of my carburetors displayed. I could organize my model A books and literature.

[Art Bjornestad]

The station I worked at in Chicago had a section of rain gutter that was at an angle and we would put the empty oil cans to drain completely. Then we sold the oil in those glass quart bottles by the gas pumps for 20 cents. Phillips 66 was 66 octane back then and people who wanted Ethyl asked for "high test". Art

[Russell in Tulsa]

Art, I knew a gas dealer in the Tulsa area for years and saw, after he knew me for quite a while, how he did it. He had a school locker in a corner and inside it had a "tree" that he put the round metal cans in to drain into a 5 gal bucket below. When people "needed" oil, according to him, remember full service back then, he would ask What brand? He would then walk into the garage grab a can with the right label and pretended to push the metal spout onto and into the can. He would then do a fast pour not loosing much oil out of the can, collect for the gas and the oil and then return that can back to the tree. He sometimes would open a new can for some of the customers, but not all. These cans were never totally drained and returned to the tree.

[1oldtimer]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

1oldtimer,
Had my own shop in the 80's and the Quaker State distributor loaned me one just like yours. I THINK? it was Tokheim brand. Are you going to clean the oval label at the bottom of the pump to see the maker's name? DON'T touch anything else, 'cause that dude has perfect patina!
Bill W.

Sadly those pics are from the ad Before I bought it, they "cleaned" it up for me before I got there......she meant well . Here's the after as it sits now:






Trying to find out what sticker is underneath the "coach" oil sticker. Her 85+ year old dad used it for many years as a waste oil container, I cleaned the tank out, cleaned the pump out, filled it with 30 gallons of fresh oil and put it back into service . Already done a few oil changes with it, I need to find another one for waste oil.

[The Hot Rod Grille]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

The spouts had caps but wasn't chained that I remember,We had them here first at the golden eagle station and it was sold off to Kayo. I remember that the price was 15 cents per quart. That is what I often used in my september 29 , back then. The bulk oil looked as purty as light colored honey. I wouldn't mind haveing and old rack of bottles and spouts for a display. I'm thinking about turning the big room on the north side of my house into my model A room. I could have some of my carburetors displayed. I could organize my model A books and literature.

Here's my Master brand oil bottles and rack displayed beside my 1910 Milwaukee Tank Works "gallon measure" gasoline pump in my living room. The other pic is my Gilbert & Barker T-176 gasoline pump that is branded in "Flying A" colors that is in the foyer near the front door. Doesn't everyone have gas pumps and oil bottles in their living room? BTW, my wife thinks they are great!

Jim

[Purdy Swoft]

Those are all great collectors items. The oil bottles and rack are like the ones that I remember. Thanks for your reply and pictures.

[Roger V]

I bought mine already painted red with no logo. Since I collect Texaco, that's what would go on it.