1410

Motor Oil Sign.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:42.00 USD Estimated At:85.00 - 125.00 USD
Motor Oil Sign.
Original enamel-paint advertising sign, "Wakefield / Castrol Motor Oil." Canadian, c. 1940-50 but possibly just prewar. 12 x 13 3/4, two-sided, on heavy steel. Logo in Christmas red, border in forest green, on bone-white. Metal grommets at two of three original mounting holes. Charles Wakefield founded Castrol in 1899, ten years hence finding that castor bean oil added to auto and airplane engines gave superior results. Driven by their advertising, the world land speed record was broken by Castrol-lubricated engines in the 1920s and '30s - eighteen times. Rust at upper vertical edge each side, with paint loss in irregular 1 1/2 x 4 areas; about 15% subsurface blistering one side, about 10% on other; edge drips of red, blue, and yellow, where wall flange evidently painted while on garage wall, lending character, else good plus, and displayable. A slightly larger but similar Wakefield Castrol sign, dated c. 1930, was sold by Christies in 2005 for PS188 ($335). Provenance: rural Newfoundland, Atlantic Canada.