Primitive Vintage Large Steel Gas Motor Oil Can Davis Mfg Shabby Green Farm Find

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Primitive Vintage Large Steel Gas Motor Oil Can Davis Mfg Shabby Green Farm Find We took a trip recently down to central Illinois and I was able to do a little treasure hunting - loooots of wonderful old rustic antiques, primitives, and fabulous barn finds. I also am still listing some of my flea market finds too - so lots of unique and all fun for you! Enjoy! I'm telling you, I have some FABULOUS old barn finds this week. I was in the heart of corn country, where you see nothing but farms for miles and miles. This one is a beauty. It is an early deco era gas or motor oil can. It is a 5 gallon can, marked on a plaque on the side of the neck that reads, "5 Gallon liquid lip marker inside," At least that's what I think I reads - some is hard to read. Made of heavy steel, it is marked on the top by the maker, "Davis Welding & Mfg Co. Cincinnati Ohio." Also on the top are 3 patent dates for 1920, 23, and 25. This can has the look of a milk can - don't you think? But, it was definitely made for gas or oil, as that's the industry that Davis was in. Wonderful that it has its original top that is chained on to prevent losing. It opens well too - so many old cans get too rusty over the years to open. I had to laugh at my photos of the inside of the can, because for the life of me, every photo I took had a funny white shadowy haze in it - see photos 9 and 11 (believe me, I took more, but I couldn't get one without it). Don't know what it is....so suffice it to say I'm assuming it's a ghost :) ! The can measures 23" tall, 10 1/2" diameter and weighs 12 1/2 lbs. It is in excellent solid and sturdy condition with a deep dark forest green (it's killer, really!) patina that is very old - if not original. It's hard to tell for sure, because there's spots of white that can be seen too - I think they are more paint plops/oop's and one clearly is a paint plop drip that is about 1 1/2" long. The green is brighter on the bottom, so I do think it very well may be original. I'm showing the white paint drip in photo 16 along with a small hole that can be seen on the side toward the bottom. So clearly, the piece cannot hole water. Aside from this, it's in excellent solid and sturdy condition. There's surface rust that be seen in spots all over - some more of a coating in spots like areas of the side. You can see some very shallow dings on the sides and more along the underside bottom rim that are small. I'm showing in photo 15 a spot on the bottom of the handle - only becuase it looks like a welded spot to me - I can't tell if this is original or not, but the other side does not have it, so I'm assuming no. The handles are totally strong, so you know - no issue there. The inside smells faintly of old oil, but it doesn't appear greasy. The whole thing is barn fresh dirty, though, and could use a good cleaning. Just another fabulous farm find - be sure to check out my other listings! Please ask if you have any questions, or feel free to inform me if you have any information about one of my listings. As with any of my items, if you ever need extra pictures, let me know, just make sure that you give me an email address to send them to. Pick up is welcome on all of my items. I’m happy to combine shipments for you, but I do ask that there be no more than 7 days from the purchase of the first item - I will invoice after 7 days, as I cannot hold the items longer than that. Also, many of my items come from local rural estate sales and auctions. They are coming right from the barn or attic to you, dust, cobwebs and all! I do not clean and polish before I sell - they are in the condition found, as you see in my photos - and I leave the patina exactly as it was when I bought the item. I do my best to photo and describe thoroughly. Please email me before bidding if you do not use Paypal, and we can discuss possible alternatives. Payment is due within 7 business days after close of auction, after that, the sale will be void, and I will relist the item. I only mail via USPS. I have had some trouble with the Ebay shipping calculator giving peop... read more

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