Richland County collector selling 50 years of signs, gas and oil memorabilia

A Richland County man's 50-year collection of cars, gas and oil memorabilia and antique signs could be a segment right off of the TV show, "American Pickers."

Chuck Bowman, who lives in northern Richland County, has an array of colorful metal oil and gas cans dangling from the ceiling of his barns advertising Imperial motor oil Havoline, Phillips 66, SOHIO, Kendall, Lion, Sunoco and much more. The collection includes a sign for Gulf winter tires and lots more he has used over the years to decorate his buildings.

His collection has hub caps with Ford emblazed on them and hundreds of auto-related metal cans line shelves, neatly arranged which still contain Mobil grease, valve stem packing and Elgin "boatcoat" resin for starters.

Bowman said some of the parts for his Ford cars can no longer be found.

"At the time I thought if I need it, I got it and I can rebuild it," he said of his car parts.

His car collection includes Model A Fords and Fords with V-8 engines. He's bought boxes of 100-year-old Ford headlights and various parts for his cars. Shelves upon shelves are filled with gas and motor oil metal cans no longer seen in auto parts stores. About 30 years ago oil cans began to be packaged in plastic containers, he said.

Bowman, who is a great tour guide at age 81, said people over the years came to see his cars but also loved his signs. He also has an extensive collection of license plates.

He can't recall specifically where he bought each item years ago but said the Richland County area used to have so many auctions.

"I've enjoyed them, so now someone else can," he said. "My daughter is a teacher (in Willard) and my son has his hands full with what he does (working for Intel on the West Coast). I thought, you know, I don't need this stuff. I had fun with it. I enjoyed it. Let somebody else have their shot with it."

To date, Charles Miller & Associates Auctioneers have conducted two online auctions for Bowman.

Bowman said he owes a lot of credit to Miller who organizes everything and puts his items on the Internet which reaches so many people interested in his signs and more. There are more online auctions to be scheduled, he said.

"I bought a lot of this stuff from Miller's dad, Charles, who is an auctioneer," he said, recalling he attended a lot of his dad's auctions.

Bowman said his own father, also named Charles, got him started collecting.

"He had like 50 to 60 cars," said Bowman of his father, who worked at Westinghouse.

The avid collector followed in his father's footsteps when it came to collecting Fords. Bowman said his full-time job before he retired was that of a sheet metal union representative in Mansfield, which required a lot of traveling. The collector also worked at The Ohio Brass.

Bowman has a handful of cars left including a 1924 Model A Ford, a 1930 Model A Ford and a 1934 V-8 Ford Coupe the latter which hasn't been out on the road for years. A couple of his cars are projects he would still like to finish.

Chuck and late wife Fran loved traveling to Hershey, Pa. to buy and sell

Most dear to Bowman's heart is his shiny 1928 Model A Ford that he and his late wife Fran drove all over the United States including to Hershey, Pennsylvania to auctions. His wife loved traveling to Hershey because they would be there about a week while he was buying and selling.

"Mostly buying," he said with a laugh. "My wife never complained about that but I had to keep this place, whatever she wanted," he added of the large red, brick house built in 1900. The couple were married 45 years and met at then Union High School.

"The car has zero rust, just a little dust on it," he added.

To date, he has sold two cars in two different sales including a 1939 Ford Coupe Deluxe which sold for $17,275.

Bowman is a member of The Showman Chapter Car Club in Shelby. He is one of the few remaining members as many members have died.

"That's the club my dad was a member of," he said.

"We traveled all over, Michigan, with the club and my wife liked 'getting out,'" he said, noting she was the best homemaker, cook and pie baker. "It was a good life there for 50 years."

When his father died, his mother told him and his three siblings they could each take home two cars.

Very handy, Bowman rebuilt his Fords and fixed things that weren't right including fenders and generators. He also is a carpenter and restored the couple's home when they bought it and built the buildings to store his collections. He also built his storage buildings for his collections.

"I wanted to do a lot more but you can only do so much at 81," he said of projects he had intended to tackle.

Collection has beer company signs, Ohio Bicentennial signs

Bowman doesn't limit his collecting to cars and automotive memorabilia.

He has some neon signs that advertise beer companies too. He has Ohio Bicentennial signs, one of which doubles as a thermometer.

A couple of plastic storage containers on a shelf are filled with McGovern-Shriver election buttons. Another has Goodyear glass/miniature rubber tire ashtrays. There's even a 1940s Westinghouse toaster that has been sold but the buyer has yet to pickup. He also had two antique gas pumps but they sold quickly. He still has a few sought-after globes for sale that adorn antique gas pumps.

His collection includes a couple of tractors, and his favorite 1950 Ford tractor which he uses all the time. And yes, he drives a Ford truck.

Already a lot of his 200 or so signs have been sold, including his oldest sign, an Altman Taylor sign dating back to the 1880s, one of the nation's leading manufacturers or steam traction engines and threshing equipment which operated in Mansfield beginning in 1867.

It sold for almost $1,000, auctioneer Miller said. It was a 19-inch-by-13-inch, faded sign.

Miller said Bowman is quite the collector and noted his cars are not refurbished but original cars.

To view auctions, go to charlesmillerauctioneer.hibid.com

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Local man's collection 4 sale Charles Miller & Associates Auctioneers