Found an old oil can.........need your help......thoughts......

[FCCDFEd]

Found this old oil can under the floor of a church built in 1906. Looks like it has been there quite a while from the gunk and dirt that has accumulated on it. So..........what I would like from the audience is thoughts cleaning this can, possible date, and worth. I have to say that I am really skittish on cleaning the can, not wanting to do any damage,maybe even about using diesel soaked rags to wipe it or maybe diesel soaked rags to place on it and let it loosen the dirt and then wipe. Oh well I hope I can get some suggestions from all the experience in this forum. I have attached several photos. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

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[mirage83]

Interesting find. Looks to be from the 1920's or so, could be worth some money to the right collector if you're not interested in hanging on to it.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Nice can!! I had a similar problem http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/361899-float-plane-hunt.html Scroll down to post 9. I read in that forum and got some oxalic acid. It worked amazing and since then I've used it on a bunch of cans from dumps. Post 12 I show before and after. I think your can would clean up great.

 

[sutphin]

Boy that's old by looking at the spout with the apron and the top,neat find,vanzutphen

 

[hbeaton]

A little historical info:

With the mass consolidation of the early oil industry from the late 19th through early 20th century being commonplace, in 1906 a consolidation between Pacific Coast Oil and Iowa Standard oil creates Standard Oil (California). Traditionally, Standard Oil did not find oil themselves but decides to try their hand at hunting for new oil spots and their gamble pays off when, in early 1910, they find their first gusher in Kern County, CA (Midway Sunset Oil field) which incidentally is the county just below yours, Ed . By 1910-1915 most of the brand name oil, lubricants, etc. were heavily marketed as well as gasoline sales and by 1916, Standard Oil's gasoline sales and lubricants (including Zerolene and Polarlene which both had the Polar Bear logo) had doubled. Also, the newly designed "service station" concept started popping up around this time.

The name Zerolene came from the fact that Standard Oil had scientifically engineered the oil to flow freely in zero degree temperatures whereas other engines would act quite sluggish with the plunging temperatures during the winters. Furthermore, Zerolene was refined from asphalt-based crude which "distills without decomposition" which for car owners meant saving money from not having too constant have their autos valves adjusted or cleaning out carbon which was a common problem.

I also found some cool ads featuring Zerolene from Standard Oil's Bulletin in 1916 (which if you scroll up one page... points to using Zerolene as a cure for all ills...well at least a dog's ills!) as well as an ad from a 1914 Honolulu newspaper.

As far as value for your specific oil can that probably dates form the late teens through the 1930s and a few examples similar to the No.3 go anywhere from $30 to $80 depending on condition. Though a Gold Medal winning 1915 can went for several hundred recently.

https://books.google.com/books?id=v...v=onepage&q=zerolene standard oil can&f=false

http://oldautonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/zerolene-driver-ad.jpg


Hope this helps.

Neat find!
-Hunter

 

[PeteWmass]

Id like to see what else came out from under there - even seemingly insignificant things (Ive been known to be excited to find....say..a 30 year old Doritos bag....heh) - anyways -as far as cleaning - you want OXALIC ACID - Im not sure how much is grime and how much is rust - oxalic acid is decent on the grime...BUT - when you have a tin that has rust on it -it takes off the surface rust without harming the paint - Ive used it on totally brown beer cans dug out of the ground with great results - you can find it at hardware stores (you may have to ask around - or try online) - its often known as wood-bleach or deck-wash - try it out(!) -its the only thing I use on old tins...

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Pete, thanks again for recommending oxalic acid to me in that link I posted here. Since then I went back to the lake last summer and brought two trash bags of cans home from the old dumps. That stuff is incredible. Its like magic how it removes rust and leaves the paint.

 

[FCCDFEd]

Thanks to all for the help and comments they are greatly appreciated. Will get some oxalic acid and give it a try.

 

[PeteWmass]

hey - no problem - I thought it was amazing the first time I tried it too - could you post a pic of your cleaned cans (and if you have it - before-and-after shots)(?)

 

[FCCDFEd]

hey - no problem - I thought it was amazing the first time I tried it too - could you post a pic of your cleaned cans (and if you have it - before-and-after shots)(?)

Will do.

 

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

I bought Oxalic Acid at a Pharmacy Drug Store, I asked the Pharmacist about it and he wanted to know why I wanted it, then he said ok. It did a great job on old cone top beer cans for me.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

hey - no problem - I thought it was amazing the first time I tried it too - could you post a pic of your cleaned cans (and if you have it - before-and-after shots)(?)

Pete, here are a few of mine. I'm not a can collector and all these came from the same dump on the lake in Maine. After discovering oxalic acid I realized I could make junk actually look cool!! So these are all in my garage and a few are in my office. None are too old or collectible, but they all look neat to me.

I dont have can-for-can before and after shots. But they all basically looked like this in the before oxalic acid.


And this is them after!

 

[PeteWmass]

those look great - if that stuff was found in Maine - I bet it was in a pine forest - cans hold up great buried in pine needles/fluff - - there is a whole message board devoted to cleaning beer cans/tins - www.therustybunch.com - its interesting - oxalic acid works well on old tin toys - license plates - etc

 

[money malcolm]

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