Petroli-whatta? It sounds like a mafioso or a strange Italian pasta dish.
That is exactly what ran through my mind the first time I ran across this strange word. I mean even my auto correct thinks it isn't spelled right. So I did my due diligence and looked it up... well okay, more accurately, I Googled it. Here's what I got...
According to Collectors Weekly, petroliana is antiques related to the oil industry and gas stations. An area of collecting that focuses on advertising in categories such as gas pumps and globes, oil cans, road maps, signs and other promotional merchandise.
There is another closely related area of collection called automobilia which sometimes intersects and blends with petroliana since they have cars in common. But pure petroliana is not limited to automobiles, rather it also encompasses oil and lubrication of all kinds of engines from small cream separator and washing machine motors to jet turbine engines and everything in between.
Some of the major and historic brands in the oil and gas industry are, Phillips Petroleum, Texaco, Conoco, Pennzoil, Mobil, Socony-Vacuum, Standard Oil, Esso, Sinclair, Shell, and Gulf. Then there were many smaller, regional and more obscure brands and companies such as Champlin, Skelly, Quaker State, Penn State, Oscar Bryant and Kitchen Oil Company.
When I first got started trying to research this private collection of petroliana it seemed overwhelming and I thought I bit off more than I could chew, but it wasn't long before the bug bit me and I found myself drawn in. This is actually a real blessing because it makes what could seem like hours of tedious work feel like fun instead.
So armed with my new vocabulary word, I launched out into the fascinating world of petroliana collectibles.
This seems like a good place to share with you a past and present moment of my oil can sales.
One of the coolest and most rare, and valuable cans I have sold is this tin litho Trop Artic can from the early 1950s with an artistic label that shows a light green, orange and white striped tropical island scene with palm trees juxtaposed with an arctic cold scene of snowy mountains and an igloo. The cool artwork advertises the all weather properties of the then brand new motor oil by Phillips Petroleum Company. They even changed the normal orange color of the shield logo to lime green for this special edition can.
One of the coolest rare and collectible cans I have up for sale now is this orange striped, original logo orange shield, Phillips 66 Motor oil can from the 1940s. It is in very good vintage condition, empty and opened from the top with a church key can opener. You can view it more closely by clicking the link below the image and visiting my Bonanza booth where you can get all the details about it and a special discount when you use the coupon code found at the top of the page.
Even though I have already sold a lot of cans and other collectibles from it, the private petroliana collection I am selling still has many amazing cans and other miscellaneous items from lots of oil companies left to sell.
I have listings on Bonanza and eBay.
I will end this post by saying that if you had told me just five short years ago that I would become a self taught petroliana buff, I never would have believed you! At that time I had zero interest in old oil cans and probably would have thrown them in the trash. This adventure in collecting has really gelled the meaning of the cliche "one man's trash is another man's treasure" for me.
Until the next post, cheers! 🙂
That is exactly what ran through my mind the first time I ran across this strange word. I mean even my auto correct thinks it isn't spelled right. So I did my due diligence and looked it up... well okay, more accurately, I Googled it. Here's what I got...
According to Collectors Weekly, petroliana is antiques related to the oil industry and gas stations. An area of collecting that focuses on advertising in categories such as gas pumps and globes, oil cans, road maps, signs and other promotional merchandise.
There is another closely related area of collection called automobilia which sometimes intersects and blends with petroliana since they have cars in common. But pure petroliana is not limited to automobiles, rather it also encompasses oil and lubrication of all kinds of engines from small cream separator and washing machine motors to jet turbine engines and everything in between.
Some of the major and historic brands in the oil and gas industry are, Phillips Petroleum, Texaco, Conoco, Pennzoil, Mobil, Socony-Vacuum, Standard Oil, Esso, Sinclair, Shell, and Gulf. Then there were many smaller, regional and more obscure brands and companies such as Champlin, Skelly, Quaker State, Penn State, Oscar Bryant and Kitchen Oil Company.
When I first got started trying to research this private collection of petroliana it seemed overwhelming and I thought I bit off more than I could chew, but it wasn't long before the bug bit me and I found myself drawn in. This is actually a real blessing because it makes what could seem like hours of tedious work feel like fun instead.
So armed with my new vocabulary word, I launched out into the fascinating world of petroliana collectibles.
This seems like a good place to share with you a past and present moment of my oil can sales.
One of the coolest and most rare, and valuable cans I have sold is this tin litho Trop Artic can from the early 1950s with an artistic label that shows a light green, orange and white striped tropical island scene with palm trees juxtaposed with an arctic cold scene of snowy mountains and an igloo. The cool artwork advertises the all weather properties of the then brand new motor oil by Phillips Petroleum Company. They even changed the normal orange color of the shield logo to lime green for this special edition can.
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| Sold on eBay in June 2019 |
One of the coolest rare and collectible cans I have up for sale now is this orange striped, original logo orange shield, Phillips 66 Motor oil can from the 1940s. It is in very good vintage condition, empty and opened from the top with a church key can opener. You can view it more closely by clicking the link below the image and visiting my Bonanza booth where you can get all the details about it and a special discount when you use the coupon code found at the top of the page.
 | |||
| For Sale at my Bonanza booth |
I have listings on Bonanza and eBay.
I will end this post by saying that if you had told me just five short years ago that I would become a self taught petroliana buff, I never would have believed you! At that time I had zero interest in old oil cans and probably would have thrown them in the trash. This adventure in collecting has really gelled the meaning of the cliche "one man's trash is another man's treasure" for me.
Until the next post, cheers! 🙂
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