Discovery of the Obvious

Metalcraft issued a variety of exceptional pressed steel trucks in the 1920s and 1930s and especially so with their streamline/art deco style versions. Their Pure Oil Company gasoline tankers would be at or near the top of the Metalcraft desirability list. Pictured are a pair of that company’s 15-inch pressed steel Pure Oil tankers, both with battery powered electric headlamps. One is a mint boxed example that even included an instruction sheet and the original General brand battery that is specified in the instructions. That truck received a new owner on August 2017 at a toy show and was featured in the December 2020 issue of Antique Toy World. Hereinafter that truck will be referred to as the Type 1.

The second example of the seemingly same Pure Oil Company gasoline tanker received its new owner in September 2024 at a toy auction. Hereinafter that truck will be referred to as the Type 2.

To learn about the probable relative scarcity of the two, a search of recorded sales for the Pure Oil trucks was undertaken. 121 sales were found, 92 for Type 1 trucks and 29 for Type 2 trucks. The condition of the located trucks ranged from close to
mint to quite awful with a number of repainted and custom versions also included. Only 1 example for each Type changed hands with its original box included, but only thebox for the Type 1 was in relatively decent shape. But … It was interesting to note that the profile illustrations on the box included for the Type 2 did not reflect the discovered and obvious design changes.

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