Vintage Gas Globes Glow With Cool

We love antique gas pumps for their honest, mechanical forms, glass meters, bright colors, variation of styles and designs, but most of all, we love them for the colorful, art-deco masterpieces adorning their tops like glowing crowns—the gas pump globe. These delicate, hand-painted milk glass orbs illuminated with a soft but attention-grabbing light, designed to attract motorists with emptying tanks to gas station forecourts. Each of the hundreds of then-extant brands had their own colors and logos, and frequently even their own shape—sometimes straying wildly from the standard globe form to more exotic three-dimensional six-sided crosses, octagons, donuts, cubes, and numerous other designs.

Here’s a small gallery of some of the coolest we could find. Click here to see the collection from Globes and Signs. 

Richfield Gasoline of Power Globe – $2800

Pan-Am Ethyl Globe – $1400

Thrifty Gas Globe – $1700

United Gasoline Globe – $600

Tydol Ethyl – $950

Knight Oil Co. Regular Globe – $3250

Johnson Ethyl Globe – $4000

Photo Sources from Globes and Signs