When I first started researching the cans in this collection I didn't have the first idea of how to go about it. I spent weeks doing nothing but searching and reading, trying to absorb as much as possible from generous experts that have shared what they know. It didn't help that one of the first cans I was trying to date was an obscure tall, square, one gallon Maytag multi-motor oil can with a very rare label and handle. I looked in all the obvious places, eBay, other auction sites, petroliana collectors forums, Google images, but I kept coming up with nothing that matched. I would see the same logo colors on other types of cans or I would see similar types of cans but the colors and logos didn't match. This was actually one of the ways I learned that logos can be a big help in dating a can if you can find data on company history and when they were in use. With the Maytag can it was a combination of color, logo style, can style and wire handle that finally led me to
Executive Meeting at Phillips Petroleum circa 1930's One of the strangest items in the petroliana collection I am selling is this old framed photograph of some sort of executive meeting at Phillips Petroleum company that looks to be from the 1930s. At first glance it looks like an ordinary somewhat boring image of some business men, maybe the board of directors? But look more closely and you will see why I call it very strange and began to think of it as a mystery. In the back lined up on the wall are drawings of men in their underwear. Also in the back on the right hand side are some men standing up against the wall, one of them is partially undressed and another is wearing a whiskey barrel. They both have their hands on the shoulders of another man in between them who is still fully clothed (for the moment?) The rest of the crowd are all turned toward the camera but they are not looking at it. They seem to be focused on something just out of camera range and whatever