Sunday, July 29, 2012

Mystery Solved!


I bought this enameled metal sign almost 20 years ago, back in 1994 in Maine. All these years, the origin of the sign has been a mystery to me. It's always been hanging in my home most of the time since I first bought it, and is currently hanging in the garage near the entry to the washroom. Every once in a while, whenever it occurred to me I would do google searches or check eBay to see if I could find out more. But I always came up empty handed, until recently.


I found a listing on eBay, and another. The sign was from Citgo! And it's from the 1970s!! And it has some value!! Trying to remember, but I doubt I payed more than $45 for it. There is some damage, corrosion on one corner. The sign is reversible, and it looks better on one side than the other. The wire frame that held it on top of a gas pump is missing. My sign might not be worth as much as the one in the eBay listing (pictured), but I think it's better than $45.



The busy bee was part of an advertising campaign, which included another sign I found (pictured). This sign says "A Nice Way to Travel" and has the bee buzzing over a "John L. Customer" credit card with the number 123 456 789. LOL!

Mom and Dad gassed up at Esso, which later became Exxon. That might explain why I don't really remember the Citgo bee. There's something familiar about the whole design of it, though. I'd thought about selling my sign, but now that I know what it is, I think I'll hold on to it for a while.

So, mystery solved!

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