Nostalgic Petroliana Collectors

With gas prices jumping through the roof and drivers in some areas driving around for hours trying to find a gas station that even has gas, it’s difficult to imagine that anyone would be nostalgic about the good ole gas station. Petroliana are those collectible items associated with gas stations including advertisements, maps, old gas pumps and globes as well as oil cans and bottles. In recent years, Petroliana has been one of the fastest growing segments of collecting in the United States, as baby boomers nostalgically remember those times that were far less complicated and a gallon of gas cost less than a dollar. Now, there are tens of thousands of collectors and they are not just the boomers but their X and echo boomer generation offspring as well.

The nice thing about Petroliana, like a lot of other segments of collectibles, is that it goes across other segments of collecting. For example, a person collecting ephemera may collect Petroliana in the form of old street and city maps or a person who collects advertising memorabilia might collect Petroliana in the forms of old Esso or Texaco signs. And because there were so many different gas stations around the country, there is an abundance of collectibles to be had for the avid collector. You can find many collectibles at auctions, flea markets and antique shows as well as at yard and garage sales. If you are decorating in Petroliana and you can’t find an original of something you want, there are many reproduction pieces out there as well.

There are many websites dedicated to Petroliana and can help you to determine pricing and identify collectibles. One that I particularly like because it helps with picture identification is Gas Pump Index.

My Country 'Tis of Thee Manuscript Found

It was reported on CNN today that a rare and original manuscript of the America (My Country ‘tis of Thee) was found by a flea market shopper in New York. The flea marketer purchased a framed picture for $10 and later found the original manuscript behind the picture.

America was written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831 and was first heard at a church in Newton, Massachusetts. Later, the song was sung by all school students, so much so, that as I was reading the article, the song became stuck in my head and I started to sing out loud. The flea market shopper sold the manuscript to Keya Morgan who is an art collector and handwriting expert.

Pyrobilia – Firecracker Label Collectors

The term pyrobilia is the hobby of collecting fireworks or anything associated with fireworks. There are thousands of people who collect all things related to fireworks some just collect the labels from old firecracker labels. Firecracker labels can be very interesting and colorful as well as valuable. We have seen some vintage firecracker labels go on eBay for anywhere between $10 -$69.

The vintage firecracker paper label pictured on the left is from the 1930’s and depicts Tarzan on a tree branch with a knife and vine. This was a “registered brand of Li & Fung of Hong Kong.” It measures approximately 3” x 5.5” and sold at Hakes Americana and Collectibles Auctions of York, Pennsylvania for about $172 in 2007.

HAPPY JULY 4TH!!!