Vintage Gasoline Socks
Description: This brand was created by the Inland Refinery in Spokane, Washington, which operated between 1939 and 1957. Inland had plans to open stations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Porcelain signs were produced and ready to mount as their new stations opened. Inland opened the 1st station in Spokane followed by Aberdeen, shortly thereafter they were bought out by Wasatch Oil. The original signs went into storage with little to no value, only to start surfacing in the 1990s when a few of these signs in NOS condition turned up in an antique store in Seattle. The original 6-foot signs have vibrant colors and have become very collectable and valuable.
Description: In the year 1900, a pipeline salesman named W.S. Porter convinced the five largest oil companies in California's Kern River Oil Field to enter into an agreement to turn over their interests to form a new oil company in exchange for stocks and bonds. With those five plus agreements from 34 other companies in the area, the Associated Oil Company was born on October 7, 1901 and began producing petroleum products under the Flying A brand within a few months. By the end of the decade, Flying A was refining their own crude and producing gasoline, motor oil, kerosene, and a variety of lubricants. As cars became commonplace in the '20s, so did gas stations, and Flying A branded service stations began popping up throughout California and beyond.
