At the start of the 20th century, in the early days of motoring, petrol was sold from small garages/workshops in two gallon petrol cans. The garages generally weren't associated with a particular brand and would offer petrol from Pratts, BP, Power Petroleum etc. As customers had real choice, competition was strong and the petrol company's advertising/branding was important to get their product chosen. The Power Petroleum Co was an importer of cheaper, Russian petrol and was established in 1923. Although price would've been a positive factor, Russian petrol probably wouldn't have been the British motorists first choice, to combat this the company clearly didn't hold back on branding. 

 

Measuring in at just over 1m high, this enamel sign with it's striking petrol pump globe graphics and punchy colours makes for a real statement piece. The design work for this sign is a lot more advanced than many of the Power Petroleum Co.'s competitors were at the time; with fairly straight typography being the main stay of enamel advertising in the 1930s/'40s. Here we see Power's iconic hand shaped petrol pump globe (the glass 'globes' would've sat atop early petrol pumps) depicted on the enamel sign, originally there would've been a bit more detail to the add shape to the white form but this has faded with time. Similar graphics were used in Power's paper advertising and this helps us to date the sign to the late 1930s. The last image shows a magazine advert from October 1936 with the same design being used. 

 

The sign was produced by Stocal of Burton & Birmingham and the remain's of their marker's mark can be seen in the lower left corner. It has lived a fairly hard life, there is creasing and enamel loss to the lower right corner and enamel loss along most of the outer edges (the sign has a slight shape to the outer edging that add's to the piece's rigidity) - as well as this it has surface scratching that means the sign isn't as glossy as we'd expect an enamel piece to be and makes the black background appear a little grey. Having said this, the sign is still a very striking piece that remains fully legible... Signage from the Power Petroleum Co. are uncommon, this design particularly so. 

 

The sign measures 1.07m high and is 76cm wide