1935 Gas Station Resurrection

[Kevin54]

Damn! I'm going to have to get one of those dinosaurs...That thing is a chick magnet

I just spit my beer out!!! :

I am in so damn much trouble today. I haven't been on GJ for a year or longer, and I haven't seen this thread since late 2016. And today was a nice day and I was supposed to be helping the wife outside in the flowers cleaning the beds out. So about 11:30, I thought I'd jump on GJ for a few minutes. So here it is almost 4:30 and she gave up on me.

But ANYWAYS......I am blowed away to the garage!!!! And it just keeps getting better. I could go on and on about it, but I do have to get outside. I do have to say though...I love the camera shots with everyone around Dino. You do need to keep most of the pictures documented for prosperity. People today only save pictures on a computer, phone, or thumbdrive. No real pictures to hand down. The next generation and the generations after need to be able to look back as we do today. Something to hand down to a historical society. What you have done is take thousands of people back to where life was good.

Now, on the other hand....one thing bothers me about the nighttime pics of the front two doors. You have no symmetry at night. Two pumps, two GREAT looking front doors, and only one door lit up at night with a light behind it.

You have a great place though. You have a personal place, you have a business if you work on others cars, you have a museum, you have a choice photo-op background for hundreds of people, and you restored a piece of history and architecture of that era of building. You have done more in a couple of years, that very few accomplish in a lifetime. That is what life learning is all about.

GREAT JOB!!!

 

[IowaMercMan]

I need that F1.


Walt

 

[zmotorsports]

Congratulations on the magazine publication Joe. It's well deserved. You do great work and I love following your thread.

 

[HD FLHX]

Now, on the other hand....one thing bothers me about the nighttime pics of the front two doors. You have no symmetry at night. Two pumps, two GREAT looking front doors, and only one door lit up at night with a light behind it.

This pic is just for you Kevin I don't disagree about the symmetry with not having the west side lit up at night. Its been on the to do list. Keep in mind that up until recently that side was blocked off from public view because I was using it for storage and my personal office area. I finally got around to putting up a light yesterday morning.

2018-10-06_07-17-12 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

Its been a pretty good week for acquiring some rare items. A station attendants hat keeps eluding me, but I now have a pair of well worn original coveralls.

20181003_212432 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

A few pics of the '53 outside. The first two were taken on a very overcast day. The last pair were at sunrise.

20181003_045151 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181002_222812 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181004_231359 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181003_080546 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

I added the two Wards cans on the right. Very clean cans from a guy in New Mexico.

20180928_100251 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

A couple recent visits.

42612040_10215645501628580_907852165345705984_n by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20180922_144201 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

 

[shortykorte]

So do you wear the coveralls when working at the station? It would be kinda of interesting if you did wear a Sinclair shirt or T-shirt.
Beautiful Chevelle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[captain14]

Do people still try to use the restrooms? The two green man doors to the right of the bay doors.

I can’t enlarge the photo enough to read the sign on the door.

 

[C_F]

Do people still try to use the restrooms? The two green man doors to the right of the bay doors.

I can’t enlarge the photo enough to read the sign on the door.

Post #805 on page 41 shows the sign as "restroom".

Its been very amusing seeing how many people try and open the "Restroom" door

 

[HD FLHX]

Do people still try to use the restrooms? The two green man doors to the right of the bay doors.

I can’t enlarge the photo enough to read the sign on the door.

Every now and then you'll see someone try and open it. This was a one restroom station. The door on the left went into the service bay which is why I put an "Employees Only" sign on it. After I added the locked for your protection sign to the restroom door it definitely slowed down the number of people trying to open it.

20181006_232525 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

Today was a good day, started off with finding an early Montgomery Ward oil can at the monthly flea market at the state fair grounds. Its a small flea market, but I always seem to walk out of there with something for a good price. The Sinclair coveralls also arrived in today's mail

20181006_124439 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181006_125123 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181006_205458 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181006_205516 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

Some pretty hard to find cans I've added to the office display recently

20180919_191415 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181005_120922 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

A couple weeks ago I came across this old battery sales stand on ebay. I put a 40 dollar offer on it and surprisingly the seller accepted. I think it pretty bad ***. I would like to media blast it and paint it one of these days.

2018-10-07_12-05-08 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

 

[xtremek]

This is a fun thread to follow, seeing what you'll pick up next.

 

[wasfast]

Time to start charging admission for the Sinclair museum New paint on the Ford looks awesome (as do all your paint jobs) and really like the Chevelle.

 

[signcrafter]

Everything good during the storms?

 

[HD FLHX]

Everything good during the storms?

All Good..thanks for asking.

 

[racin72charger]

I’ve just finished reading your whole thread over the last few days. Great job on the whole project. I wish there was an old gas station near me that I could use for some photos of our cars. Unfortunatly they are all gone.

 

[Rich M.]

Thanks for posting the remodel. My wife's father had a Sinclar station years ago and my wife remembers her days there after school. For awhile, she followed in my father-in-law's footsteps and was on her way to becoming a wrench turner, but was offered a gas and go by the bug wigs in the 70's and she took it.

Needless less to say, we have Sinclar ****, I mean goodies, all around the house.

 

[Homebody]

With everything else in tip top shape, the door knob plate and lock being painted on the restroom door kinda bothers me.!

 

[Jayman17]

With everything else in tip top shape, the door knob plate and lock being painted on the restroom door kinda bothers me.!

Haha, there's one in every thread!


Jay

 

[HD FLHX]

With everything else in tip top shape, the door knob plate and lock being painted on the restroom door kinda bothers me.!

Haha, there's one in every thread!


Jay

Not really its a valid point. If you take a look at what Laine does you'll quickly see he does some beautiful work. His barn is gorgeous. The lock and knob plate had been painted over years ago. I just chose to leave it that way.

2018-10-21_03-30-30 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

I've been looking for a good ******* style sign pole for a while. I think I have finally located a good one within a days drive from me for a reasonable price. Its a new pole that was never installed for whatever reason. 20ft tall with a 6 foot arm and has a galvanized coating which should make it maintenance free. I'm going to pay city hall a visit Monday morning to make sure they don't have an issue with where I want to put it. With their blessing it'll be going on my trailer and heading to Iowa sometime this week.

2018-10-21_03-31-41 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

 

[Bears Fan]

The pole will be a great addition to the station, The 53' is looking awesome! The office collection is really growing and looks great too! Keep posting

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, you find and NOS sign pole. I hope the city approves of it. Can't see why they wouldn't.

 

[Homebody]

Not really its a valid point. If you take a look at what Laine does you'll quickly see he does some beautiful work. His barn is gorgeous. The lock and knob plate had been painted over years ago. I just chose to leave it that way.

lol, Thanks Joe, I figured as much.

 

[thepriceisright]

I've spent the last few weeks reading this thread. What an amazing building and transformation! I've entertained the idea of buying an old service station a few times to have a place to work on cars, but it's never really been something I've pursued.

 

[oldironfarmer]

I read but don't usually post here. Great work and collecting!

In Cleveland, OK today I thought about you. We have a convenience store recently rebranded to Sinclair, and they installed Dino. They have also decorated him for Halloween, he's going as a mean dinosaur.

He is under the costume.

 

[C_F]

That dinosaur costume is great.

 

[PugetDude]

That dinosaur costume is great.

The costume is impressive, but the gas prices are awesome! We're over a buck a gallon higher here is the Peoples Republic of Western Washington.

 

[oldironfarmer]

The costume is impressive, but the gas prices are awesome! We're over a buck a gallon higher here is the Peoples Republic of Western Washington.

Sorry, they're up a little. We were $2.54 recently.

With all your refineries the PRWW must be getting their tea tax.

 

[HD FLHX]

I read but don't usually post here. Great work and collecting!

In Cleveland, OK today I thought about you. We have a convenience store recently rebranded to Sinclair, and they installed Dino. They have also decorated him for Halloween, he's going as a mean dinosaur.

He is under the costume.

I like that one, beats the typical mummy, witch or ghost

I'm not doing anything for Halloween, but I have started working on Christmas. I'm building a santa sleigh to put behind Dino. I bought pair of costume antlers and red nose to finish off the look.

20181007_125602 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181009_075607 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181021_090427 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181021_111424 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181023_191449 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181023_173124 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

 

[oldironfarmer]

Sleigh is going to be great! That will be a multi-year tradition.

On the Okie Dino, I thought it was cool that they dressed him as he would dress himself: as a meaner dinosaur. We're seeing an expansion of Sinclair into convenience stores around here.

 

[Loose Ctrl]

That is an awesome sleigh.

 

[don long]

That is just too cool

 

[xtremek]

^ What they said.

 

[HOTFR8]

Dino Sleigh. Now that will be great.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Great idea on the sleigh. Can you break it down to flat for storage?

 

[PugetDude]

Joe, fantastic idea on the sleigh-and a great job on the design and fab, as usual!

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Nice work!

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Well it took me two evenings to catch up to today. (Ok I skipped most of the, looks good replies, and focused on your post. Still a lot of looky looing lol.)

First, it all looks great a real inspiration. The only thing that distracts my eye is the fresh concrete surrounded by old paver stones. Did you think about having it dyed close to the paver coloring before pouring? They can get it pretty close now days.

But its too late for that. It could be stained now I guess, but that would require bi-yearly maintenance. A dark green grass color would look good.

Second, I would definitely put this in the top six shop restores/builds.

1. Don's shop, New very large very cool shop with mega tons of nostalgia and very cool, very well done projects.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153099

2. Thomas's shop. A shear million gallons of sweat clean up project just to start rebuilding the building. History cleaned up a bit but not changed enough to upset too many of the locals. Cool cars and many over the top projects.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51567

3. Jack's Garage, Clean. (Well most of the time I'm sure) well laid out typical two car gararge. A real inspiration for the space challenged folks. Thats why I put it at number three. It's easier to glam up a large space and keep it functionality intact.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55006

4.Andy's Shop, large expansion and clean up. Tons of cool projects, and great humor, not to much nostalgia. Besides rusty tractors.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334140

5. Jeffs, shop, another small shop thats just pure easy on the eyes. A place to work or relax while sipping on a beverage of choice with friends!

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3740&highlight=Nimrod

6. Joe's/your shop it has function and form that blends nicely together while keeping the history of the town that surrounds it. And mega beautiful restorations going on. Not to forget a stud of a Dino.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337182

And a very close 7th

7. Lucaj's, old world home and shop restoration. Some would place this toward the top of the list but since he hasn't posted in a while the thread has died.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36583

8. LIN and DAVE's barn build mid 70's year old couple building a awesome post and beam barn.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51837

 

[rmalkow2]

The Christmas sleigh is gonna be awesome and I can see it getting lots of use by the community. That will be a picture taking spot for sure this Christmas.

 

[HD FLHX]

Great idea on the sleigh. Can you break it down to flat for storage?

No I didn't build it to be able to take it apart. I did think about it, but the biggest deterring factor is I wanted to make sure it was built strong enough for people to sit in. It would have taken a bit more engineering and thought to be strong enough and make it break downable. I have a dedicated pole building at the house I use for storage. I keep my car trailer in it and misc. parts so I'll be able to store in there when not in use.

I gave it a couple coats of barn red yesterday, the runners will be grey. I'm trying to have it ready to sit out the weekend before Thanksgiving. The Friday night after Thanksgiving the chamber of commerce puts on a lighted parade downtown to kick off the holiday season. It goes right up 3rd street past the station so there will be lots of people downtown for that event. It's kind of a big deal around here.

2018-10-31_10-23-29 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181031_094947 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181031_094920 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181031_095008 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181031_104645 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181031_104632 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Too bad you can't put Dino and the sleigh on a flat deck, dress them up, and cruise with the parade.

 

[HD FLHX]

]I made some time to sit down and search the local newspaper archives at our public library yesterday afternoon. I walked out with far more information than I could have ever hoped for. come to find out I've been lying to all you for a couple years now... The station opened in 1934..not 1935 as I've advertised. I knew the land was purchased by Perry Oil in 1933, but the county has the building listed as being built in 1935. I just assumed they didn't build the building right away. I found multiple 1934 ads with the earliest being april of 34.

These are 1934/35 ads

20181103_031012 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_023659 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_023727 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_014152 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_031104 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_031036 by Joe Unger, on Flickr


The first mention of the Sovereign Service affiliation was 1937. These are ads from 1937-39


20181103_024857 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_024917 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_024931 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_031051 by Joe Unger, on Flickr


Wartime Ads


20181103_030830 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030839 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_024130 by Joe Unger, on Flickr


After the war the station became Perry Oil Service and the tank wagon service retained the Perry Oil Co. name. These are post war ads up to 1953



20181103_022525 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_024113 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_024055 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_022614 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030911 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_022706 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030941 by Joe Unger, on Flickr


In 1954 Clarence & Ted Nath purchased the station. That's when it became Nath's Sovereign Service They also made the switch from KanOTex gas to APCO gas


20181103_024148 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_033659 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030657 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030628 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_040539 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_040951 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_042154 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

Around 1959 Keith Warner took over the station and it became Keith's Service Keith ran the station until 1966 when Montgomery Ward leased the building. Fuel sales were discontinued at that time.

20181103_015938 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030733 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030719 by Joe Unger, on Flickr
20181103_030708 by Joe Unger, on Flickr

 

[captain14]

Great to see the ads through the years. Do you have a guesstimate when these ads were used throughout the years?
1934-19xx?

Thx