2012 Columbus Show - June 21st and 22nd, Columbus, Ohio
Let me get right to the point and say this year’s Columbus Convention was the best I have ever attended. Vendor attendance was full and to me actually seemed up from previous years. I’m guessing the number of inside and outside vendors had to be close to 150-200. It was sold out for sure. The room- to- room traffic seemed higher with many rooms opened up on each floor, more so than the years before. What makes this show so much fun is that after a day (or whatever time you commit to the outside show) the evening room to room event is like another complete show.
Vendors started pouring into the slots a bit after the lunch hour on Thursday. This year there was not much policing on opening up early so I saw transactions occurring right after that. By mid to late afternoon several more vendors were in full swing though many spots were not occupied until the next morning. Signs, gas pumps, cans, many gas globes and maps, and whatever you could imagine filled the parking lot. Check out the photos we took this year and you’ll see what I mean.
PCM Magazine and Oil Company Collectibles set up with good friend Lonnie Hop. So if you saw the booth with all the gas globes--that was us! We handed out many back and current issues of PCM Magazine and met several new faces this year.
Thursday night the room to room was in full throttle and many great pieces turned up there that were not in the parking lot. You see many vendors only set up in their rooms so to view the whole show, this room to room evening event is a must. There were so many items for sale this year so be sure to check out the photos we have of both outside and inside vendors, the room to room and the Saturday Matthews auction as well.
Some highlights of the show I felt were quite unique. Amoco collector Larry Stancil had three wall inserts, ceramic I think, two of which displayed the torch logo and the very unique embossed Standard Crown too. We have a photo here of those pieces. Larry and I had never seen the Standard Crown before and it’s truly awesome. You have no idea how fancy some of the better gas stations were back in the day! I believe it was priced in the $1,000-$1,200 range and that is a deal!
Miles Little had some great gas pumps and this year a few really neat gas globes like a screw base red ripple Young’s Gas for $3,250 or so which was more than fair.
John O’Hern brought some nice signs and globes, as did Milnor Roberts, Bill Fortune, Thorton Beroth, Bill Bahorik, and many too numerous to mention. Dave Thompson had some great cans for sale as usual and many vendors brought some type of cans amongst the other items for sale.
By the way, here is some good news for the hobby: There was a new company there selling pump parts and things but they are now making high quality glass cylinders for visible pumps. I inspected one of these and they are really excellent, thick glass and smooth edges. Any visible would look great in these and I understand they can make most any size but you need to contact them. Contact Petro Nuts at 248-701-7176 or www.petronuts.com. They are located in Michigan.
We brought several gas globes and several signs including a group of Coke signs we acquired in a collection. All the Coke signs sold as well as many others. We did very well in selling gas globes this year, more so than ever! This show brought some new discoveries for signs, cans, globes and more. One globe we picked up was a Champlain 70 on banded glass which we have never seen before. When you look through the photos you’ll see other unique pieces which may pique your interest.
Another great item that caught my eye was an Aeropel porcelain sign. I believe it was restored but still a great and rare piece. Also found were a pair of tin Life pump plates. The asking price was $1,200 for the Ethyl and $1,600 for the Regular. I saw a very rare, albeit later Sohio sign, with the green background. I collect Sohio globes and this sign was a transitional piece when BP took over operations in the 1970s. You just don’t see the green background signs any more.
A super rare Nicolene Pepszol 15” insert showed up in the room to room and this is the only one of those I have ever seen.
I saw a nicely restored Erie clock-face gas pump with an original sphere shaped gas globe saying, “The Erie Metered System Gasoline.” There are just two of these globes known and the clock-face Erie is a welcome item to anyone’s collection.
As usual, the Map Collector’s Association group had their meet in correspondence with the Columbus Show with the inside vendors again this year. There were thousands of maps to buy, sell and trade to make it a true gas and oil show for everyone.
There were just so many unique pieces to review and talk about there. Enjoy the photos and next year attend this show if you can. You won’t regret it.
Friday morning the show was in top gear and foot traffic was way up from last year. Things seemed to wind down by lunch time with many vendors packing it in shortly after that. I had to leave mid-afternoon Friday so I could not attend the auction on Saturday. The auction did well with some record prices such as the Texaco Gasoline and Filling Station porcelain sign that went for $12,000 plus buyer’s premium! The sign was in incredible condition considering its age so you never know what something like that might bring. For complete results see matthewsauctions.com.
The hotel was a great host offering free drinks on Thursday night and a free buffet breakfast Friday morning. Parking was not a problem at all and this venue has been good to the hobby for three years now.