Diversity in our Vast Hobby

It’s obvious we all collect in certain ways. Those ways can be infinitely diverse. Whether it be gas globes, oil cans, maps, gas pumps, signs, the list goes on and on. There are many ways one can collect. That is up to the individual.
I did an article just a few months ago about how I display my gas globes. On those same shelves you will see some quart cans, ad panels related to that globe, maps and other smalls. We have seen the sign guys with a wall of nothing but small pump plates or a larger wall with larger signs filled in with smaller signs or perhaps nothing at all.
When you get tired of collecting a certain piece, type of piece, brand or whatever it’s easy to change things up a bit. I have a tendency to do this. Sometimes I will chase a particular brand of gas globes and go after every one. I will look at that group for ten years or so then sell them off. Now if I had unlimited space and money I would keep every piece. Some groups I never sell, like for me that would be Sinclair or Sohio. But realistically, like many of us, to keep every piece is just not possible.
There are endless types of items to collect. One can go after a brand, chase after just early ½ Gallon oil cans-I really like those. Recently I sold a couple pieces from my collection and switched gears you might say. Today I am chasing some rare gas globes with cars on them, specifically speeding cars with cool graphics. These are very hard to find and expensive so I would not expect to get many! But it’s something to chase and makes this hobby exciting. Some I can not afford and a few well, there is one known and it’s not for sale. So you get what you can and have fun doing that.
The Facebook groups really make things easier for today’s collector. Any of you been around long enough to remember if you wanted something you had to drive around to oil company bulk plants, service stations, etc., to get anything? But today if you are missing a pump part, the back insert to a gas globe, a rare can from Sunoco, whatever it may be there are countless groups and tens of thousands of members to either answer your questions or help you find that one particular piece.
I’m gonna share a short story here and this is what makes the hobby so fun. Years ago a gentleman contacted me about two gas globes he had. Wayne and I get these questions every day but this call turned out to be very unique. The guy had two gas globes. One said “Champion Stopnok Motor Fuel”. Now we had never seen this globe before! That was really cool. The other globe he had said, “Super Olixer” with a very graphic early 1930s speeding car on it! Wow! The chances of getting a phone call and the person having two gas globes that no one had ever seen is like getting struck by lightning twice!
Anyway that call was quite a while ago, his globes at that time were not for sale and I since forgot about those pieces. They are in the new eBook though.
Going through the eBook, refreshing my mind looking for globe with cars, I spotted that globe. I rarely forget any gas globe I ever see and though I remembered that one well I sort of pushed it aside in my mind.
I had lost all track of that individual but I did remember a state and that he owned a sign company. I called my partner Wayne who shared this state with that person and we put it together. After googling the data I had a phone number! I left a message for that person, even though I had no name, and waited for a call. After several days I never got a call back so I left another message. Two days after that the guy called me back. He remembered me helping him with his globe and we reconnected back up. After several minutes I first asked him if he still had the globe. His answer was yes! Then I asked if he would consider selling it at this point. He thought and said yes!
I made him a very good offer on the globe and my partner Wayne picked it up for me! It is just a single insert, but it’s still the only one known and I hope to enjoy this great piece for years to come. It’s still out there folks!
So, enjoy this wonderful hobby of ours, and as you can see from my story above go ahead and chase that unique piece. Also remember you can switch gears at any time. You never know what you might wind up with if you try and try again. It’s out there for the taking!