My name is Jim Williams and I live in SouthWestern Ontario,
as far south in Canada as you can go! We are on the same latitude as Northern
California and Rome, Italy. My collecting passions are; Petroliana, Visible
Gaspumps, Oil Company Licence Plate Attachments,Tire Ashtrays ,my 1936
Ford Coupe and early Automobile Memorabilia. I have been a member of the
Canadian
Service Station Memorabilia Association ( CSSMA ) since
1986.
The vast majority of this site is the creation of my daughter and I owe her immensely for getting me this far.I am now trying to teach myself to do all the updates and maintainence but find I'm constantly in need of her assistance---but hey, I'm trying.
For those not acquainted with En-Ar-Co / White Rose there are Canadian and American versions. Visit my other pages for further details on their histories.
I collect only the Canadian Oil Companies Memorabilia. I drew this line so I can impose a limit on the size of the madness and keep a little money for other things.
I'd long had an urge to own a Visible Gas Pump, probably
from some deep seated quirk embedded during my childhood after wrestling
the pump handle on these giants at both our farm and my uncles.
Purchasing my first "Clearvision" Pump in 1986 proved
very lucky for me as it came with a one piece
Boy & Slate Globe. This is when I became a White
Rose / En-Ar-Co collector.
Our farm pump has long since disappeared but I still have the handle of my uncles pump.The same handle that I fought with as a child, probably dreaming about being a pump jockey........or ------collector?
I feel lucky to be collecting Canadian Oil memorabilia, as they were a leader in advertising and utilized a vast selection of now collectable giveaways. Everyone in our area remembers "White Rose" and has a memory and possibily a momento around. It makes collecting a lot more enjoyable when I can find small affordable trinkets for my wall while I look for that more evasive and rare item.
Canadian Oil's advertising agency did a wonderful job of creating unique and beautiful works of art for my wall. And to top that off, they regularly changed their design ,just for me.
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