GUYS... Valentines Day is just around the corner.  Don’t you think it’s time to start dropping some hints to your “better half” or as I call mine, my Chief Financial Officer?

LADIES... Valentines Day is just around the corner.  Do you have something special picked out for “mister perfect”–  you know, the guy who fixes everything around the house as soon as you ask him, and without complaint or hassles?  And, like me, he can fix the most challenging repairs (including plumbing) with just one trip to the hardware store.  Well, I have the perfect gift idea for him– something that would look right in place in your formal living room...  a vintage gas pump!  YES, and maybe a few matching gas station signs for the walls.  Take down those faded, family pictures of the grand kids. They’ve been around for ages and besides, there’s plenty of unused wall space in the garage.

If I have sufficiently aroused your imagination, then you need to mark your calendar for one (or both) of the two leading, and totally different formats, of “petroliana” shows in St. Louis and adjoining areas. 

First is the 26th Annual It’s A Gas!  (and it really is), swap meet for gas & oil related collectibles on Saturday, February 10th. You won’t find any rusty used car parts here.  They are strictly verboten!  What you will find is a gigantic, 46,000 square foot exhibition center packed with vendors who have come from places coast-to-coast for this event.  You’ll find petroliana collectibles ranging in size from hat pins to huge, outdoor neons and everything in between!  Favorites include vintage gas pumps in all stages of condition from rusted out relics to show quality restorations, priced accordingly.

For more information on It’s A Gas! visit their web site at itsagassswapmeet.com or call Mike or Nancy Russell at 573.864.1336.  You can also e-mail them at n.russell@mac.com.  However you get through to them, or if you attend the show, please tell them that you heard about it from The FIN MAN(tm), right here in The Old Car Column.

Lebanon is just an easy two and a half hour drive from St. Louis, straight out Interstate 44... you can’t miss it.  And for a fascinating break along the way or the way back, you can stop and check out Uranus.  If you’ve never been to Uranus, you’ll find it just a half hour this side of Lebanon.  Visit the Uranus Fudge Factory and General Store, where you’ll find all sorts of fun gift ideas including wacky t-shirts with messages that will have you chuckling all the way home. 

You think I’m kidding about this?  No, it’s for real!  Wikipedia even has an entire story about Uranus.  And, people come from all over the world just to see Uranus!  I could spend hours in Uranus (rim shot please), oh I could go on and on.

What you might find in Uranus? For starters there’s the

Chicken Bones Party Bar and Grill, the Uranus Fudge Factory and General Store, Big Louie’s Burlesque Saloon, Skin City Tattoo, Mission Outpost, Outdoor Outfitters, The Route 66 FunkYard, The Uranus AxeHole...and coming soon, Escape Uranus (escape rooms) and Combat Archery tag.

To see photos of Uranus, go to stltoday.com/autos... click on “vehicle research” in the upper right hand corner... then scroll down a bit, past Dan Weise’s new car stories until you see The Old Car Column and numerous photos from recent stories.  Click on the petroleum story and enjoy more photos of It’s A Gas! (and Uranus!  Somebody stop me please!)

Okay, remember I said earlier, before I got off on a tangent about Uranus, that these two shows are of a totally different format.  Allow me to explain.

The Gateway Gas & Advertising Show is a relatively new event, in just its third year.  It is held right here in the St. Louis area, just ten minutes from the arch and five minutes from my home, at Hilton’s Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Collinsville, IL.  Not only are there vendors outside (weather cooperating), but also in two of the banquet rooms.  Wait... it gets better.  If you’ve ever been to the Gateway Mid America Toy Show in Westport Plaza, you know what I’m getting at.  Like the toy show, at the Gateway Gas & Advertising Show, you can roam the corridors of the hotel, dropping in vendors individual rooms where you will see signs, promotional gas souvenirs and all sorts of petroliana displayed wall-to-wall, on the floor and even on top of the beds!  You’ll find it very relaxing to talk to these vendors in the quiet setting of their hotel rooms, away from the crowds in the convention halls.

This is a three day event, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, February 15, 16 and 17, 2018.  For more info on Gateway Gas & Advertising, visit their web site at gatewaygas.com.  It’s that easy.  Or call Nona Wilson at 906.250.1618 or e-mail at admin@gatewaygas.com  Any way that you get hold of her, please  tell her you heard about it from The FIN MAN, right here in The Old Car Column.

Whether you go to buy, sell, or just look at either of these wonderful shows, the thousands of items you  see there will take you back in time to “the good ol’ days” providing a refreshing break to enjoy memories of simpler times.

And finally, if you are dining or spending the night in Lebanon, may I suggest Gary Dowd's Catfish and BBQ for a great meal and the Holiday Inn Express for outstanding overnight accommodations! 

The boys and I will see you at both shows, the good Lord willing!  Meanwhile, Keep on Cruisin’!

UPCOMING EVENTS:  Since I have officially retired from my “real job”, I will now be spending all of my time bringing you more fascinating stories about cars from “the good ol’ days”, expanding my on line stories at stltoday.com/autos, revamping my own web site, planning more Rollin’ With The FIN MAN tours, bringing back The FIN MAN FRONT PAGE newsletter and much more!  Stay tuned right here for details as they develop, including details of the next tour, hopefully to the Levi collection in Springfield, IL. Some of you prepaid for Levi II and we have your information on file.  In the event that this tour does not happen, for whatever reason, your payment will go toward the next event or you can get a refund of your advance payment.

Meanwhile, Keep on Cruisin’!