Mercury oil can?

[Randy in Tampa]

went down to buy a cast-iron Evinrude stand and the guy also had this Sunoco/Mercury 5 gallon oil can, anyone have an idea of what year it was made? 😉

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[Anonymous]

Won’t be any help on the year but it is a very cool can. Good snag.
Kirk

[dave-bernard]

I would say mid 50’s but I think it is mercury car.

[alanp]

I believe Sunoco had a line of oil called Mercury.
I don’t think it is connected to the car or outboard.

[Buccaneer]

I found this, but still not sure what "Mercury" is.

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https://www.sunoco.com/about-us/heritage/

The mining business attracted Sun in 1941, when Sun formed the Cordero Mining Company in Nevada to supply mercury for Sunoco motor oils. The metal proved vital during the World War II effort. So, too, did Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company – which turned out 40% of all wartime tankers built or reconverted.

Prepare to be boarded!

[outbdnut2]

Here’s a site with a similar oil can but it says "Mercury Made" instead of just "Mercury" and dates the can at 1956.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ … de-oil-gas

I did some digging and found that some crude oil contains Mercury (see link below). Maybe back in the 1950s, some marketing person thought using Mercury – laden crude made for an advertising feature? Now it’s undesirable as the article below tells:

http://www.digitalrefining.com/article/ … ZziMiiGOUk

[phil-b]

Nothing says "good for you" like toxic heavy metals!

[wbeaton]

Usually the lithograph will have a tiny date code on it. In this case the copyright year 1956 is clearly marked along the edge. However, it’s also marked with the capacity in litres, which is odd for the 1950’s. Canada adopted the metric system in 1973. Things prior to the 1970’s don’t normally have metric conversions. Very intriguing. It’s a pretty cool can. I’d clean it up and display it.

Wayne
Upper Canada Chapter

uccaomci.com

[phil-b]

quote Phil B:

Nothing says “good for you” like toxic heavy metals!

Well I’ll be! It looks like us ‘mericans got mixed up about the symbol for the roman god Mercury (and Greek god Hermes), the messenger with the winged shoes and the symbol for healing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_ … f_medicine

[garry-in-michigan]

The US tried to go metric in the 1950s. They spent a fortune on speed limit signs, but people destroyed them as fast as they were put up. They finally gave up and made it voluntary. . . 😆

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