Antique Back Roads Volume 11

Volume 11

Collector’s Magazine Plus Antique Shops, Malls & Show Directory Bringing Back Memories Collecting Bicycle Plates The Story of Royal Rochester Fateful Fabulous Fantasy Fulfilled Collecting Bug Sprayers Collecting Oil Cans Collectors’ Corner

Collector’s Magazine - Written by Collectors for Collectors

Bringing Back Memories at the AACA Museum

Hershey’s Kissmobile Cruiser

Say Hershey you think of chocolate. Say HERSHEYPARK® you think of rides. Say Hershey in October that’s the Hershey Antique Auto Club October Fall Meet. Say AACA Museum in Hershey and you may stop and think. We recently visited this magnificent Museum, which brought back memories of drive-in movies, local diners, trips on a Greyhound or Trailways bus and vacation trips in the back of a station wagon.

This huge Museum will take you down memory lane as you pass the displays, special exhibits, a 1940’s gas station, and over 100 antique and classic vehicles. But the Museum is more than memories, it is the history of America’s transportation.

Hand painted mural of downtown Hershey

Wall murals depicting Battery Park in New York in the 1890’s, Miami Beach in the 1930’s and San Francisco in the 1970’s are the backdrop for a wonderful selection of antique and collectible cars.

Strolling down memory lane takes you past a 1940’s gas station, a collection of oil cans and spark plugs. You can even walk inside of an original service station. An Atlantic gas truck is sitting there just waiting to refill the gas tanks. This is just a teaser to what the next room holds.

AACA Museum – Hershey, PA

As you walk into the first exhibit gallery, you seea mural of downtown Hershey in the 1920’s. Of course Mr. Milton Hershey is best known for his chocolate, but a little known story is that he and his wife Catherine, started a home and school for orphaned boys in 1909. Today, the Milton Hershey School® has more than 2,000 students from across the U.S. The curriculum includes rigorous academics with a lot of opportunities for hands-on learning, after school homework hours and tutoring assistance.

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The Main Exhibit gallery is a cruise through time…

Check out the current exhibits at www.aacamuseum.org

Bringing Back Memories at the AACA Museum Wow, this room is filled with a collection of buses. The enormous Museum of Bus Transportation is a permanent collection of motorbuses from a 1927 Fageol Safety Coach to a 1971 Golden Eagle Trailways. Not only will you see the buses, but also a collection of toys that were made around American transportation of that period.

Inside of the 1927 Fageol Wicker seats were made in Lancaster Co. by Amish Craftsmen

Also in this room is Flo-Inn Diner from the 1950’s.

This pre-fab Valentine Diner is an original from Wichita, Kansas. The Valentine Industries would build a diner and ship it via railcar across the US to its designation in one or more sections. Contrary to most beliefs, these were actually small and only had eight to twelve counter stools. This original diner fills you with memories of sitting at the counter and ordering a hotdog, hamburger and don’t forget the pie!

Diner built by Valentine Industries

1927 Fageol 2,500 were built, only 5 are known to exist today

No Museum is complete without an exhibit of Ford automobiles that dominated the roads across America. Most people heard of the Model “A” and Model “T”, but there were other models. There were a B, C, F, K, N, R and S. This permanent display has the complete Ford series known to car collectors, as the alphabet series. This is one of two complete collections known to exist. All of this beautiful collection has been completely restored and worth the visit just to see this part of American history.

Early Ford Sign before the oval logo

Current and Upcoming Special Exhibits Automotive Jewelry May 23 – October 11, 2015 • A Family Affair: Station Wagons May 23 – October 11, 2015 Motorbikes for the Masses March 24 – October 22, 2015 • Matchbox Collectors Show September 27, 2015 Truck or Treat October 24, 2015 • Micro & Mini Cars November 21 – April 22, 2016 • Cars & Christmas November 21 – January 3, 2016 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, US National Broadway Tour Car - November 21 - January 31, 2016

Check out the current exhibits at www.aacamuseum.org

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Bringing Back Memories at the AACA Museum One of the exhibits we found the most interesting was the Cammack Tucker Gallery. Preston Tucker and his story was detailed in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1988 film, “Tucker: The Man and His Dream”.

This newly opened permanent exhibit features the world’s largest collection of Tucker 1948 automobiles and automobila. Thanks to David Cammack and the Cammack family, visitors to the Museum are able to enjoy the largest intact Tucker collection in the world. The exhibit includes three Tucker 1948 vehicles, including the Tucker #1001 (first ‘production’ prototype), the #1022 Tucker and #1026 Tucker (the only surviving Tucker with the automatic transmission).

Tucker #1026 – The only surviving Tucker with automatic transmission.

Tucker #1026 – The only surviving Tucker with automatic transmission

The car enthusiast will be fascinated with the technical part of the # 2 test chassis of Tucker. This cut away test chassis is shown beside a Cadillac chassis. Mr. Tucker was definitely ahead of his time. The Tucker automobile had disc brakes, independent rear suspension and more innovations that were not widely accepted by the domestic car manufacturers until the 1960’s. One of the interesting Tucker innovations was a third headlight (known as the “Cyclops Eye”). This would activate when the steering wheel moved more than 10 degrees and light the car’s path around the corner.

In 1948, seventeen states had laws against cars having more than two headlights, and they ended up having to make a cover for the center light in those states. Visiting the Museum is the chance of a lifetime to see this superb collection.

While you relive memories, your kids will be making them. There are lots of things for the younger set to do. Pull your camera out and take pictures of the kids as they dress up in costumes and climb into two kid-sized vehicles. Then keep the cameras out as the kids find the large model train room depicting small town America from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. This room is interactive for the kids and they can go from display to display and push a button to watch the small towns come alive.

There are also special themed events throughout the year including the upcoming Halloween and the Christmas ones.

The picture below is just a small sampling of a large display of Tucker memorabilia including paper documents, engine cut-aways and more!

From Roads to Rails Model Train Display

Visit their website for more events and upcoming exhibits. www.aacamuseum.org 717-566-7100

Original Tucker Parts with Original Boxes

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Extended Hours during Hershey Fall Meet: Wed - Fri. (October 7, 8 & 9, 2015) 9 AM to 9 PM.

Check out the current exhibits at www.aacamuseum.org

Bringing Back Memories at the AACA Museum One of the current favorites, with visitors, is the Station Wagon exhibit. This brings back memories of throwing a blanket, a cooler and a picnic basket in the back of the wagon and heading for the country.

Unfortunately this exhibit will be changed by the time you are reading this Antique Back Roads issue and another exciting exhibit will take its place. Exhibits are always changing, so visit the Museum frequently.

Two of the Great Station Wagons on display through October 11, 2015

Before we finish the article, we want to tell you about the breath taking collection of over 300 automotive hood ornaments. This permanent display features some of the most unique and unusual hood ornaments you will ever see. Both American and European are shown in cases in several rooms of the Museum. You will marvel over the large ornaments that once adored vehicles of bygone days.

Showcase full of these great pieces of automobile history!

If you are in the area, going to HERSHEYPARK®, going to the Carlisle or Hershey car events, don’t miss the Museum. The AACA Museum is open daily 9 AM to 5 PM (closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve Day, Christmas Day & New Year’s Day). New for 2015 open 9 AM to 9 PM the first Thursday of each month.

Antique Back Roads, would like to thank the museum for allowing us to take photos and write this article for our readers. We will be posting more pictures on line on our facebook page at: www.facebook.com/antiquebackroads

Check out the current exhibits at www.aacamuseum.org

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Bicycle Plates & Old Bikes I was following my wife through a “junk store” several years ago when all of a sudden I found something that peaked my interest. She would take me to several antique stores on weekends and I went along for the ride but never really had any interest in the available items until the day when I saw what appeared to be a miniature license plate. For the first time, I spoke up and asked the store clerk a question.

Until that moment, he had to think I was a deaf, dumb mute whose only job was to carry around my wife’s wallet! I asked, “Was this plate for small cars?” That is when he explained to me it was a bicycle license plate.

This peaked my interest because I am an avid road bicyclist. I ride on average 5,000 to 7,000 miles a year and I ride all over the East coast. The first thing that I found funny about this plate was its sheer weight.

It was made of metal, was about six inches long and two inches wide and even had a reflector on it. You see, high end road bikes made today are carbon fiber.

You can spend hundreds of dollars more for a gear or a tire just to save a few ounces in weight. Having to bolt a plate to my bike would send me into shock! I bought that plate because it was cheap and intriguing and because I wanted to learn more about it. Little did I know that was the beginning of me becoming a collector.

In my collection, bicycle license plates date back to the late 1800’s. They have evolved over time in size and shape and for the most part, have been phased out.

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Bicycle plate collections really fall into two categories, government issued and cereal box prizes.

I started with a focus on just the government issued ones. I found it funny that state and local governments would put so much effort into being sure all bikes were registered. Governments justified this exercise of licensing plates in several ways. First, they would tell the community this was a way to hold cyclists accountable for law infractions. Then, they said it would reduce bike thefts. Rarely did they come out and admit they were doing it for the money! Cars with license plates break laws every day so that is not a valid argument. Bikes would get stolen every day and what do you think the thief would do? Why, the first thing they would do is take the plate off and throw it in the woods! It always boiled down to dollars and cents.

At first, my focus was muddy at best. If a plate had a nice patina or come from a unique location, I bought it. It is an expensive item to collect, but over time I had a collection that was taking over my office. That is when I made a deal with myself that any plate I bought had to be at least as old as me. I have sold off several plates that did not fit that description, but still I need more room.

I have some old plates from the turn of the twentieth century, but I think the ones I like the best came from the World War II era. I have some plates from 1943 to 1946 that are made out of a hard wakeboard material. During the war, all metal was being used to make planes and bombs, but the

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Bicycle Plates & Old Bikes

government still needed to be funded back home. I have heard stories where you had to be careful when leaning your bike up against a farm fence. You might come back and find a cow eating your license plate.

Today I have plates from around the world, and I am constantly looking for new ones.

As a kid, I remember seeing the tin plates advertised as prizes in cereal boxes. As I got older, those plates went from tin to plastic. I never really had an interest in collecting them because I knew they were plentiful. That is, until I saw a complete set of them for sale on iCollect247.com! Many people enjoy the hunt and they scour the Internet in search of all the plates in a particular set. As a kid, I never had an interest in these cereal box prizes because there was a new set every couple of years or so, and I knew my mom would not let me eat enough Wheaties to get the entire set! Apparently, there was another young child who felt the same way I did, but in his case, his parents were willing to pay for the entire set. In 1954, General Mills was introducing its latest set of 51 plates.

There was an order form where you could purchase a group of plates, Eastern, Southern, Midwestern or Western, for 25 cents. This kid bought the entire set for $1 plus shipping and handling. He was obviously a spoiled kid, though, because the set was never opened. It was still in the original shipping envelope and each plate was individually wrapped in tissue paper and it came with a letter from General Mills congratulating the kid

on his purchase. I paid a bunch more for the set than he did, and today I have that set hanging in my office.

This passion for collecting license plates has taken another step, much to the chagrin of my wife. A few years back I was searching online for license plates when I found one that was attached to the entire bike.

The bike reminded me of an old ‘tank’ of a bike I had as a kid so I thought, what the heck, send me the bike and the plate. That bike led to another, and then another and now today, I have four vintage bicycles from the 1940’s and 1950’s. I was blown away by the size and weight of these bikes. Kids in the fifties had to have calves as large as tree trunks to pedal these things! I have bought and sold several other bikes since then and when I have to ship a bike it will often weigh between 70 and 100 pounds. I paid several thousands of dollars for my modern road bike in order to get it under 16 pounds! Bikes are more expensive to collect than plates are, but there has been one cool thing to come from my new passion. As a kid, my wife was not allowed to ride a bike; it was not “lady like”. I, on the other hand, spent my whole childhood on a bike (and a fair amount of my adulthood).

Recently, I told her I was going to sell one of my bikes because it is not as old as the others. As it turns out this particular bike was her favorite. She liked the green color, the big seat and the wide handle bars. That was not going to be enough for me to keep it though, so I said, “If you like it so much, why not ride it?” To my surprise, she told me if I took it off the wall and pumped up the tires, she would ride it. This evening, if you ride through our neighborhood, you are likely to see her on the Columbia Built Five Star Superb and me either on the 1940 Henderson or the 1951 Schwinn Black Phantom.

By John Summer

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Whatever BecAme Of?

Royal Rochester As a collector, did you ever wonder how your favorite collectible was created and who created it? Did you ever follow through on that train of thought and discover a story of a great company and their humble beginnings? My late husband and I did just that. We were fascinated with the history of Robeson Cutlery, Rochester Stamping Works, Rochester Stamping Company, and Robeson Rochester and did extensive research on how these four companies developed and prospered.

From humble beginnings in the late 1800’s, Robeson Cutlery and Rochester Stamping Works gave birth to Rochester Stamping Company, and the Robeson Rochester Corporation.

Rochester Stamping Company and Robeson Rochester produced a very diverse line of kitchen and dinnerware products, patterns and styles. Some of the designs have become readily recognizable by collectors and dealers alike. Because of the quality and appeal of these products, they are becoming sought after by many collectors.

Although the cutlery division was a huge part of the development of those companies, I’ve left the research of that line to more knowledgeable knife collectors. During our research, we consulted with Tom Kalcevic who provided us with valuable information on the early years of these four companies.

Thank you Tom!

THE EARLY YEARS

Although the dates are a little fuzzy, it is believed that in the late 1870’s Millard Fillmore Robeson was peddling tin ware in the Southern Tier of upstate New York.

About 1892, it appears that Mr. Robeson had opened a cutlery business in Elmira, New York under the name of Robeson Cutlery.

From their production of tea kettles and pocket knives, the company matured into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of small electrical appliances, porcelain accessories and cutlery. To collectors, the Robeson Rochester Corporation has been best known for the high quality, beauty and durability of the products it produced.

Throughout its long history and the changing styles and tastes of consumers,

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Post Card of Robeson Cutlery Building

In the early 1900’s, Robeson Cutlery purchased a vacant building in Perry, New York and started to produce their line of Robeson Shur-Edge cutlery there.

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Whatever BecAme Of? In the meantime in Rochester, NY, Rochester Stamping Works was producing metal ware for kitchen and utilitarian use. Seeing a good business opportunity, Robeson bought an interest in Rochester Stamping Works around the year 1889 and expanded the business in 1900 to form the Rochester Stamping Company.

In 1922, Robeson Rochester Corporation was formed with the merging of Rochester Stamping Company and Robeson Cutlery.

Robeson Rochester went on to produce a full line of electrical items including electric percolators, waffle irons, sandwich grilles, fans, mixers, toasters and other appliances as well as maintaining their Robeson Cutlery line.

In 1928, Robeson Rochester designed and filed for a patent on a new heating element for electric percolators, which revolutionized this phase of the industry at this time.

This is Part One of a Two-Part Article. In the next issue of

Antique Back Roads, I will be discussing the hey-day years of Robeson Rochester and their wonderful line of Royal Rochester china electrical appliances. I’ll show you how to date your pieces; marks to look for; catalog photos and pattern names and examples.

Article by: Kathryn Wilson www.icollect247.com/potzrus

Golden Pleasant

Part Two will be featured in our Winter Issue

Modernistic Batter Bowl

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Fateful, Fabulous, Fantasy Fulfilled Collector colleagues, how many times in your Hunter-Gatherer lifetime did you read or hear about an account of a collector’s fabulous find, and perhaps you fantasized about experiencing one yourself if the opportunity ever materialized. As fate would have it, for me it did.

About three years after reading a friends account of a Deadwood, South Dakota rare antique slot machine find, fate presented itself in the form of a September 2014 Wyoming and South Dakota tour with a stopover in Deadwood. I had a faint memory of my friend’s article and I feverously began prospecting through my collecting periodicals and finally unearthed the article, “Days Late in Deadwood”.

After rereading his account several times I immediately secured reservations for the tour and then called my friend Johnny. He had a good memory of Deadwood landmarks not mentioned in the article and gave me sufficient details to retrace his footsteps and perhaps make some fabulous finds of my own.

Fast-forward about 8 months and we arrive in Rapid City, South Dakota. After several torturous touring days from Devils Tower, Wyoming to Lead, South Dakota, Deadwood lie dead ahead! I perked up, craned my neck, strained my eyes and spied the old Railroad Station, the stately grand old hotel with the white columns he recalled. With a tour group dinner reservation at 6:30 we had just 90 minutes to retrace Johnny’s footsteps. Ladies and gentlemen start your collecting engines!

My wife and I leaped off the tour bus, escaped from our pre planned Senior Citizen walking tour and hurried over to a Casino across from the Railroad Station to get our bearings. There we engaged the Doorman as to the whereabouts of the Wooden Nickel Casino Johnny remembered. The Doorman pointed us in the right direction and off we scurried.

Upon entering the Casino we negotiated our way through a maze of electronic push-button bandits and approached the Cashier Cage. I snaked the “Days Late in Deadwood” article through the bars and began to recant Johnny’s story hoping the female Cashier knew of a Casino owner by the name of Blake. She had a puzzled look on her face as she half listened to me while gazing at the Victor Upright Slot Machine in the article. I thought I was getting nowhere with her when

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she suddenly perked up and said “Blake owns this Casino and several others in Deadwood”.

Bingo! Eureka! She said he was in the Casino earlier that day so I asked if she could call him, hoping to find he was still in town. In a few minutes I had her phone in my ear talking with Wooden Nickel Casino owner Blake.

Blake had a keen memory of the rare slot machine transaction with Johnny. We conversed for several minutes and eventually I just had to ask the obvious question, and no, he did not have any rare slot machines or advertising for sale. He had a two hour appointment looming so I thanked him for his time and handed the phone back to the Cashier. Just then a young male Cashier sitting nearby said “I’ve seen that Victor Upright Slot Machine! It’s in a Casino down Main Street”. He assured me it was the same machine. I asked when the last time he observed it there and he replied, “about 5-6 years ago”.

I replied, “If you want to see it again you will have to go to Kansas City where the current owner Johnny lives”!

With that bit of wit we were about to leave when he also mentioned that there were similar upright slots in Mustang Sally’s Casino down the historic Main Street, and also a shop selling slots and advertising just passed it. So with elevated heart rates we trotted down to Mustang Sally’s.

At Mustang Sally’s once again we had to negotiate through a maze of push button bandits and voila, there they were; A Mills Novelty Judge and a Caille Eclipse Upright Slot Machine, both standing proud and prominent, juxtaposed amongst a group of contemporary gambling contraptions. Both sported an identification sign to educate all who gazed upon them. That’s not all! Over by the bar was an original Wurlitzer Peacock standing proud and prominent, juxtaposed amongst a group of contemporary gambling contraptions. Both sported an identification sign to educate all who gazed upon them. That’s not

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Fateful, Fabulous, Fantasy Fulfilled all! Over by the bar was an original Wurlitzer Peacock Jukebox. Now Deadwood is starting to feel and look like the old Deadwood.

With digital images duly recorded and sensing our Deadwood experience was nearing its end we headed down

Main Street to the shop the casino cashier said was harboring some slot machines.

We peered through the window and eureka, slots! In we went.

The shop primarily sold gold and silver coins, bullion, jewelry and a mix of antiques and advertising, but dabbled in slot sales as well. Slot machines for sale in the shop were a 50 cent Jennings Tic Tac Toe Chief, 5 cent Mills Vest Pocket, 5 cent Columbia, 50 cent Double Jennings Nevada Club, a $1 Sega and several electromechanical floor machines one of which was a Double Paces Reels.

I was still pumped from my collecting quest as I started to make my advertising, silver coin and bullion purchases when I began to engage the proprietor about the slots. Apparently they were recent

acquisitions and he was still researching their retail values. We chatted for a while as I shared pictures of my advertising and slot machine collection with him along with Johnny’s article.

Having gained his confidence, he disclosed to me that a local old time slot machine operator had a hoard of machines and would eventually sell them, possibly to him. So I left the store owner with the “understanding” that certain members of our collecting community would be more than happy to help the old time operator to “divest” of his hoard.

Our 90 minute window was closing quickly as we bid the store owner adieu and off we went with our advertising and silver hoard and joined our tour group for dinner at Wild Bill’s. You can imagine we had a lively dinner discussion about our 90 minute escapade as most of the tour group was aware of my Deadwood objectives. On the tour bus the next day, the tour proctor asked me to pass around the “Days Late in Deadwood” article, and had me recant my adventure to the entire group while we were pursuing our next destination.

Casino owner Blake may not have any more rare slots or advertising to sell, and although most of the gold has been mined from “them thar hills” in and around Deadwood, I suspect an enterprising collectorprospector might just unearth a slot machine motherload there, and thus write the next and perhaps final chapter to “Days Late in Deadwood”.

In retrospect, my whirlwind 90 minute Deadwood experience sometimes seems surreal, and at times not a big deal. But after numerous torturous days of souvenir shops and senior citizen rest stops, for me it was Hunter-Gatherer Heaven, a Prospectors Paradise. And although I did not acquire any rare slot machines retracing my friend’s footsteps, it was a rather invigorating experience, and the experience itself was a fabulous fantasy fulfilled.

Article by: Chuck Friedman

Copyright © 2012 - www.AntiqueBackRoads.com

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Collecting Bug Sprayers I remember when I was a small kid, around 5 or 6 years old, following my grandpa around the yard, planting, weeding and prepping the ground. He let me spray the plants to kill bugs and fungus from the plants. This is where I was introduced to the bug sprayer.

Many years later when going through my grandpa’s stuff, I found his bug sprayer. I kept it and decided to see if I could find more of them, so I became a Bug Sprayer Collector.

Hudson Pump Action with Metal Can Container

Bug sprayers were used in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s 50’s and 60’s. The most common type was made by the Black Flag Company.

Hudson Pump Action Bug Sprayer

Hudson Pump Action with Glass Jars

While banning a lot of the chemicals used to spray plants, companies came up with less harsh and air friendly sprayers. These are now attached to a garden hose, made of glass and use less hard chemicals.

As well as collecting the metal ones, I do collect earlier glass sprayers but my first love is the old plunger type.

These pictures are a few of over 20 that I have in my collection. I am hoping that someone reading this article knows of a club or group that collect Bug Sprayers. Hoping to hear from fellow Bug Sprayer Collectors!

The Black Flag sprayer was found for sale on icollect247.com

Three Glass Sprayers

 Richard LiVoti P O Box 86 • Torrance, CA 90507 RLivoti1@yahoo.com

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What do you collect? We would like to hear from you at www.AntiqueBackRoads.com.

Collecting Two gallon oil cans When one looks at antique automobilia and its many forms of advertising, one of the most diverse and colorful forms are vintage oil cans. Oil cans have become a dominant staple in any collection devoted to the oil and auto industry. The great graphics, rarity, and color scheme of many of these containers have contributed to their desirability.

When I began collecting, some five years ago, I decided to buy two gallon cans, rather than one quart. While the one quart is one of the most popular sizes, I liked the graphics of the larger and the rectangular format looked good on a shelf. Many times they proved more affordable than a quart companion with identical graphics.

Two gallon cans were first produced in the early 1930’s around the same time as the first sealed one and five quart tins. Two gallons were mainly created for the “do it yourself” type of motorist. While quart and five quart cans were easy to be opened and drained right at the source of purchase, two gallons were meant to last a little longer and taken home for oil to be added when needed. The two gallons were sold not only by oil companies and gas stations, but by home-auto type stores, department stores, automobile, tractor, and equipment dealers, even hardware and grocery stores.

Many larger oil companies sold only their cheapest grade of oil in two gallons, because it was associated with “bulk” grade product, while other, smaller companies used two gallons for all their lubricants.

The two gallon remained largely the same into the 1970s, when plastic two gallons became common, and remain today.

Two gallons can be dated not only by their graphics, but by the tops of the cans. The earliest had built in pouring spouts on the caps, for easier pouring. By the late 1930s, most can companies had stopped producing cans with such features, to cut costs. Studying the style of the handle affixed to the can is also a good clue to age.

The price of two gallon cans, like any other oil cans, is driven by rarity, condition, and graphics.

There are few surviving cans from small, regional companies from the 1950’s, so the price is driven by demand. This Rose two gallon example, from the 1960s, while it does not have graphics will bring over $200.

Deep southern collectors love anything from Rose/ Billups operations. Condition is also a key factor as well. Rust, fade, paint chips and scratches, or missing tops and handles will affect pricing. There are lots of different images on the cans including oil wells, cars, trucks, Indians, animals, historical figures, they all contribute to an oil cans interest and price.

My advice would be to buy the best condition and eye appealing graphics one can afford. However, don’t pass up good cans because of some flaws.

Rare cans still can be nice displays, even in poorer condition will still command good money. Once one buys several of two gallons, you will realize that you need considerable room, if you plan to acquire more.

Simple plastic, wooden, or metal shelving will be sufficient to use for displays.

Always try to keep moisture and sunlight in your display area at a bare minimum.

The most important thing, as with any collectible, is to buy what you like and can afford. I have over 1000 two gallon cans in my personal collection, and always appreciate leads/offers of sale or trade on cans I do not have. Please feel free to contact me with questions, advice or comments.

Copyright © 2012 • www.antiquebackroads.com

Lucas Kaczynski 607-862-9340 oilcan1937@gmail.com

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Collectors’ Corner As a feature each issue, we want you to be able to see great pieces from collections throughout the US. We feel so privileged to have been invited into private homes to see their passion for collecting. No matter whether it is in one special room or throughout their home, their collection is special.

These pictures are part of a special collection from Billy and Nancy. Bill has been collecting since 1968 and brought Nancy on board since they married in 1995. They met while collecting Beatles memorabilia. Their living room is filled with rare and unusual pieces that you only see once in a lifetime.

Postmaster’s Desk Piece C.H. White Clock, perpetual calendar, thermometer, scale, moisture for stamps, safe, acid for testing gold and an ink well.

Nancy’s Favorite Drug Store Show Globe

1875 Fortune Teller Trade Window Display

Bill’s Favorite Figural Watch Trade Sign

A corner filled with great advertising!

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Early Neon Sign

4’ Gillett Lye Store Display with Pegged Legs. Made of Plaster, dates 1899

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Tasley, VA 23441

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