Oil Can

People collect all sorts of things. You have probably heard of coin collecting, stamp collecting, and other mainstream collectibles. But are you familiar with the collecting of petroliana? Petroliana is a category of antiques or collectibles that has to do with gas stations or the oil business as a whole. It is really an area of collectibles that is fascinated with advertising. Major sub-categories of this collectible include gas pumps, gas pump globes, oil cans, road maps, gas station signs and anything with major gas or oil company names on it such as Mobil, Texaco, Standard Oil, Phillips 66, Shell, Sinclair, or Esso. This hub is going to be focused on the oil can category. If you already collect them or want to start, hopefully this will be of interest.

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The earliest oil cans go back as far as the 1880s, but since most oil cans were just thrown out after they were empty, finding oil cans even from the 1900's that are in good condition is pretty tough.  In general, collectors put the highest values on a vintage oil can that is brightly colored, cans that have mascots, cans that come from the smaller oil companies, and of course, an oil car that is still full of oil. Brightly colored oil catch cans with company logos are very sought after. You can also sometimes find square one gallon oil cans that come from the period before World War II from companies like Standard Oil,  Conoco and Liberty, some having handles, and in later years round and square ones that came in 5 quart as well as half gallon sizes.