What are these spouts?

[c39er]

There were also glass bottles of so-called recycled oil that had a blue cast. They had IIRC somewhat filtered oil. You wanted that **** when you needed a quart every 200 miles.

In the early 70's at the Enco Station dressed up in a tiger suit I sold bulk oil to the owners of oil burning cars... Ramblers Falcons etc... 50 cents a quart. Pumped it out of a 55 gallon drum into a one quart container with a flip down drain spout.
It was a golden yellow.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

this is similar to what I used in 1966..............before I said .10 cents a quart but it could have been .25 cents I can't remember for sure but it was a lot less than the stuff in the cans

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Yep church key and funnel was the way to go. One hole on each side of the top.

Better yet the holes on the bottom would make them more collectable today.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

They were most commonly used to open beer bottles and cans.

I always assumed it had something to do with alcoholics finding religion.

Also I worked at a Shell station 1979-81, we had a paper can "Fire and Ice" display out on the full serve island. We were under orders to push the 10W50 because it cost more.

That's an American thing to say, a Canuck would say, cause that's how you get into heaven.

Some car seat belt clips worked, but not cars had seat belts. You could also hook the cap on the edge of the bumper and give the cap a rap with your palm.

 

[2oolhound]

I didn't mind using them but what I hated about them is every bit of air born contaminate or speck of dust would accumulate everywhere inside them on the remaining oil on them and they were a ***** to clean next time you needed them.

This is the best find of 5 minutes Google.

Marc

https://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/article115674978.html

Out of your link I agree with this quote the most - "Some suggest that calling openers “church keys” was another way for drinkers to further poke their thumb in the eye of religious groups that had fought for Prohibition 13 years earlier. Others suggest the name then spread rapidly as a joke."

As a young teen the first crowd that introduced me to beer drinking were exactly the type of guys to poke their thumbs in the eye of someone who was preaching against it. It seemed there were 2 types of guys, those who were told what to do and how to act by women (and made to go to church on sundays just like those parasitic wasps that land on a beetle and drive it into it's nest) and those guys who didn't go to church with the women but hung around the garage and drank a few beers while cursing and swearing and telling dirty jokes with the boys.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Jim, you must be younger than I am. When I pumped gas at Hess, the oil cans were all metal.

Someone will chime in about glass oil jars with long metal spouts.

Yep, still have the spouts that screw onto a quart jar. Those spouts have a little metal cap that seats on top to keep it clean. Also have two barrel pumps that I purchased in the 60'S As I would buy oil in 15 gallon barrels.

 

[dwasifar]

Why are they called church keys ??

I always assumed it had something to do with alcoholics finding religion.

No, it's because before the term was applied to all bottle and can openers, it was originally applied to this style of opener:

And it was so called because it actually did resemble real church keys:

 

[GTO]

I remember when Pennzoil converted to the cardboard side cans...boy did those openers really **** then.

 

[BajaScout]

Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[afeef745]

wow what a entertaining and informative discussion. Thanks a lot to all those who replied here. And yea, cardboard cans with metal lids sounds like a SNAFU to me. Why fix if it aint broke.

Btw, for those curious, I am 33. Keep it up fellas!

 

[JRC3]

For those not in the know, here is a church key:

I still use one to pry my pop-top beer then I puncture a hole 180 degrees around for proper venting.

 

[Aileron]

Remember when a case of oil was 24 quarts!

 

[WittHay]

For those not in the know, here is a church key:

Thanks I have never heard a bottle opener being referred to a church key.

A little before my time but those "church keys" were just reserved for opening up the stubby beer bottles

Cant remember cardboard oil cans but the metal ones we just used a big screwdriver and made 2 holes in the can

 

[MushCreek]

I still have about a half dozen cans (all metal) of oil, still sealed up. Now I need to find a spout to go with them. I remember getting ripped off by a service station once. I had an old VW that used oil, and when it got low, the oil light would go on when you went around a corner. I stopped to get gas (they pumped it in those days) and asked the guy to throw in a quart of oil. He came out with the spout already in the can. Sure enough, the first corner I went around, the light came on. He got me with the old 'empty can of oil' trick. I was in a hurry (there was a girl involved) so I didn't go back to confront him.

 

[Buckgnarly]