Some recent POW finds.....and one indecent.....
 

Flea market has started.......

Immaculate Petrol can at Lachute......asking $225..... \
because it was from WW I.....yet clearly dated GSW 1942........

....but my luck changed....found one in very good shape in Sterling for $15 and one in Linsday today for $35 also in very good shape........

Also found a small very unusual Paraffin oil can from Esso......

....so as I walked around some one pointed out that it was leaking oil from the spout........ soaked my jeans from mid thigh down to my hiking boots in motor oil....... at least I know the previous owner cared that it wouldnot rust.

Need to take some photos and do some research.....about half a galllon I believe used to refill a paraffin stove or some old lamp.

Will see what AI says about it....


Esso.......

I sometimes casually search "jerry can" on Kijiji. I love the overpriced asks with a flowery description, and the obligatory terse, 'I know what I've got so don't try to negotiate'. The other thing I often see mislabeled are water cans as fuel cans. Oh yes! And USMC stamping makes it a genuine Marine Corps issue can - worth asking more. In this context USMC is something like United Sheet Metal Company.

Paraffin oil...... AI says........
 

.....it is nothing more than very refined "kerosene"...... a marketing ploy from the 30s...... as in kerosene lamps and stoves.....burns hot, bright with little smell or smoke.......

I thought this was another example of two countries (or three rather) separated by a common language. Ie. that in England Paraffin is kerosene or lamp oil, while in here in the America's paraffin is a wax and kerosene or lamp oil is just what it says it is.

Matt

Power Kero
 

Used to be a fuel sold here called Power Kero, for use in tractors. Overseas it was known as TVO or Tractor Vaporising Oil. Lots of people used it during the war in cars , a illegal practice because it had no road tax on it . You could smell cars running on it , but many got away with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_vaporising_oil

Correct Mike.....
 

The secret was to start on gasoline and switch the petcock to kerosene once the engine was warm enough....... mind you with the shortage of tires the old bald tires would not last very long....... and going down the road everyone suspected you were either running booze or something illegal. My dad drove a 38 Dodge with two spares in the side mounted racks of the front fenders...... both were flats........ you would not dare leave a vehicle parked with good spares screwed in place with a chromed clamp. The real spare was in the back boot. His allowance was 3 gallons a month due to his on call work at a steam plant. He even retro fitted a fuel hand primer pump as per the military Dodge trucks.... The fabric tar coated roof leaked and the engine smoked badly....... and sold it after the war to a demoblized soldier for $500 as running cars were so scarce....... then bought a 1941 Oldsmobile business coupe that needed the oil topped off everytime he bought gas...... a tire was good even if the fabric was showing as long as it held air for a few days.....