Iowa Gas 11th Annual Bash

by Carl Bomstead

Des Moines, Iowa

Close to 300 vendors, plus dozens more in the room-to-room swap, two auctions - 150 cans and tins in one and 500 signs and related items in the other - all added up to the 11th Iowa Gas being at the top of the heap for gas and oil collectors. This year's August 7-10 Des Moines attraction offered an incredible selection of desirable gas station memorabilia.

This year's featured marque was Barnsdall, one of the first oil refiners in the country. Mid-Continent acquired the marketing portion of the company in 1952 and it was phased out after the company merged with Sunray. Jim Patton from Nowata, Oklahoma, presented his extensive collection of Barnsdall related cans, signs, globes and paper for the featured display. His family has been involved with the company since its inception. In fact, one of Jim's relatives was among the 13 original employees, others have worked there ever since.

It didn't take long for several transactions to be consumated. Mike Murphy had boasted of three globes in his collection. Well, he more than doubled that figure with the acquisition of a Red Hat one-piece, a Musgo - Michigan's Mile Maker, a Pittman with the airplane and a Jenny on a blue gill body. He had originally agreed to purchase just the blue gill body, but the seller said, "Oh, by the way, it has a lens on one side and I can't separate them." What's a guy to do?

A Richfield double-sided lollipop porcelain sign depicting a race car was in incredible condition and even with an asking price of around $7,000 it was spoken for on Tuesday, and will go to a new home in northern California.

Missing this year was the excitement and feeding frenzy that surrounds the unveiling of Bob and Judy Palmerino's offerings. They are still involved with automotive collectibles, but a family situation required their presence in Massachusetts. Kim and Mary Kokles kept up their proud tradition with their Thursday morning setup. Items were quickly spoken for as Kim unloaded them from the van in front of about 100 onlookers. Roy Reed was the first to reach a United Motors porcelain sign featuring the logo on an arrow. Tom Dahl quickly spoke for the sign of the show: an Oilzum porcelain flange advertising Auto Supplies and featuring a diecut Oilzum man. No one remembered having seen it before.

Fred Stokes was busily adding cans to his collection, which now numbers about 7,000. This is not a misprint - if it features a slight variation, Fred has to have it. One can already in Fred's collection was offered by Rick Trotnic - a one quart Mohawk. Even with an asking price of $1,750, it sold quickly to another collector.

Highlight of the auction was an oval Ace High porcelain sign. It closed at $5,500, a thousand or so higher than the one offered two years ago, which had neon added. It was purchased by show organizer John Chance, and he added a tin Ace High sign to his new collecting interest.

Texaco items were consistently bid to the high end of the price range. A Sky Chief Marine cruised to $750 and an oval handy oiler got the hammer at $400. Cast-iron toys were well above what many toy collectors expected, with an Arcade toy gas tanker running up to $2,250 and a gas pump to $1,600.

Overall, there were no bargains, a few "killer" pieces - great stuff has been elusive for some time. The selection at this year's Iowa Gas reemphasized the importance of constant networking with other collectors if you are seeking the unique.

John Chance, Ron Hoyt and John Logsdon have established a quality event that is a tradition for gas and oil collectors. Tell the boss (okay, ask nicely) that next year you will be in Iowa the first week in August.

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Online 11/16/97 by Jim Potts