Porcelain, Oh How I Love Thee

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A double-sided porcelain neon (DSPN) sign hailing from the 1950s, this large sign for “OK Used Cars” retains its original Bullnose edges. With working neon on both sides, each side shows exceptional color and gloss with no filled chipping, just very light touchups at the edges. An iconic American sign, Chevrolet launched the OK Used Cars program in the 1920s to assure customers that it was, indeed, okay to buy a used car. The program also consisted of a multi-step checklist to inspect each used car sold, showing that various components were within spec or replaced. It made people feel safer buying a used car, and removed the stigma of not buying new. In a way, it was the very beginning of the modern Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) program.

This single-sided porcelain (SSP) sign was made in the 1930s and is hugely unique as it was manufactured to be affixed to a truck door. Surely very few of these remain today, and this sign shows great color and gloss throughout with just minor surface scratches and porcelain loss on both the inner and outer fields. There is also porcelain loss and staining on the outer edges and on the hanging holes at the wingtips, and a spot of touchup paint on the tip of the A. The wings have been secured to the back with professional welds. The A in the Flying A logo roots back to the word Associated in the Associated Oil Company which served products along the west coast of the United States, Hawaii, and various parts of Asia. Like many oil companies, its history is a tangled web of mergers and acquisitions as years rolled on, but the Flying A brand largely remained intact through the early 1970s.

This 5-gallon visible pump was manufactured by the American Pump & Tank Company sometime during the 1910s and shows an outstanding restoration with brilliant color throughout, hand painted lettering, and brass fixtures. The glass cylinder is in excellent condition, and overall, the pump displays incredibly well, showing only light use wear. It’s perfect for display in pretty much any room, a true piece of art that will elicit multiple conversations.

People always seem to love Wyeth Tires signs, with the kid sitting in the tire wearing a cap and goggles, and the red, white, and blue coloring. This example hails from the 1920s and is a single sided porcelain (SSP) corner sign, fairly unique, and shows excellent color and gloss with notable surface scratches and staining on both the inner and outer fields. The sign, showing a maker’s mark of, “Consumers BLDG. CHI,” shows one porcelain chip on the outer field above the T in Wyeth. The sign also shows very minor porcelain loss and staining on the outer edges.

This single, 15-inch Gilmore “Blu-Green” Gas globe lens harkens from the 1920s, and shows outstanding color and gloss throughout the field. Except for some minor washout along the lower edge with some minor nicks at the top edge, it appears to be an excellent displaying example. The Blu-Green gasoline was another promotional effort from the mind of Earl Bell Gilmore, who took advantage of the clear gas globes atop the pumps to sell gas by its color. Red Lion and Blu-Green gasolines fueled cars up and down the West Coast from the 1920s through the 1940s.

A rare and amazing single-sided porcelain (SSP) sign from Associated Gasoline featuring the iconic "More Miles to the Gallon" logo, the field of the sign shows a lovely orange peel-like texture to the porcelain finish. With one small nick in the upper center section of the red field, there are isolated porcelain chips in the letters G and A in Gasoline. The mounting holes remain solid, with a few showing porcelain loss and missing grommets. The outer edges of the sign remain clean with the faintest amount of wear all the way around. Otherwise, a spectacular example of a very rare and unique sign from the ’30s.

A beautiful single sided porcelain neon (SSPN) Shell Service Station sign from the 1930s, it shows vivid color, gloss, and shine throughout, including the red neon. The maker mark reads, “Artkraft 11-37.” Showing very light surface staining and light paint drips on the raised “Shell” lettering, the sign has minor areas of porcelain loss on the outer edges. There is also a more significant area of porcelain loss on the bottom righthand edge. Connected to a wood frame, it has newly added electric and transformer.