Posted 6 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
No, this is not intended to be a picture of my front door ;-) :-) instead, the*very difficult to photograph* 'stick' leaning up in the corner beside it, which is actually 1" square and 8' long.
That stick is, in reality, a pretty basic measuring tool which would have been found at any gas station -- I'm not sure if they're commonly used anymore or not, in this modern age of EPA regulations, potential fuel thefts, and yada yada. BUT -- back 'in the day' anyway, a station operator would use one of these, simply inserted down into the 'fill pipe' of his underground tanks until it hit bottom, to measure the level of fuel within them. A "dipstick", quite literally! :-)
One side of its lower 72" is stamped with quarter-inch graduated measurements (like a large ruler) and above that its maker is identified as "PRESSED STEEL WORKS ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS". (pic 3) Originally the entire thing would have been finished (with some kind of fuel resistant varnish, I suppose?) and it looks like the stamped marks were probably originally colored red.
I recovered this from the rooftop of an apartment building in Rock Island, where I lived over 30yrs ago. Don't even ask me how it got there -- I can only tell you that it had obviously been there a good while already before I found it, by the well weatherbeaten condition of 3 of its 4 sides. Amazingly (I've always thought, anyway) it was nonetheless laying 'face down' up there, such that I immediately could recognize what it was when I picked it up -- if not, chances are it'd still be laying there to this day?!! <lol> I remember the "PRESSED STEEL WORKS" plant too, they manufactured lots of different sorts of ladders at the time.
I used to own an Ashland station. On the lower part a substance was put on it to show how much water was in the bottom, it would turn green. All tanks had some water. If you had to much water it would be pumped into a gas tank, bad for business.
You got a nice door . Unlock it and let us in . Great item from the gas station past
THANK YOUS to jscott0363, fortapache, TassieDevil, purvis, buckethead, and officialfuel for hitting the <love it> button!
Even more THANKS to afterthought for the additional interesting information, having never worked at (much less owned) a filling station myself, I didn't know these sticks were also used that way -- though it makes perfect sense?!
Also to purvis -- I'm glad you like my front door, too! <lol> In reality, I wouldn't be surprised at all if there's gorgeous ribbon-stripe mahogany veneer buried under all that nasty white paint. (as it is original to my ca. 1954 'mid-century-modest' home, and that seems to be what the original interior finish to all the doors in the house used to be) It also has (if you notice) a classic wide-inset lockset typical of the mid 50's which no doubt used to also have some kind of overly large 'bezel' surrounding it...I wish that still survived but it is long gone.