MTFCA Forum

....on our National Tour to Ballarat, I found this at the Vegemite Museum we visited. (Look it up). It was next to the merchandise counter. I presumed it was a plant by the tour organisers and jokingly asked the lady how much it was. To my surprise she asked " Make me an offer. My husband gave it to me to bring in seeing you Ford people were to visit."
So what I thought was joke turned back on me. I suggested a price. She was happy that that was more than her husband had expected, and she would be in the good books when she got home.
Allan from down under.

COOL!! and VERY lucky!!

That’s cool! Still prefer Marmite though…

Robert, The makers of Marmite did get their noses out of joint at one stage over the creation of Vegemite. For a time Vegemite was called Parwil.
Ma might.....Par will.

Allan from down under.

That’s a great find! Looks like a porcelain sign. Was that style used in all Ford dealerships and auto parts houses? Not all that common.

Here in South Australia many porcelain advertising signs were manufactured by Simpson & Sons in Adelaide. They manufactured wood stoves, washing machines and refrigerators and were set up to do vitreous enameling of components for these. Having the kilns to do this work set them up for sign making.
This one has BURDICK CHI in reverse on the back side of the sign. Perhaps CHI is Chicago Nd Burdick were the makers.

Allan from down under.

When I Googled Burdick, Chicago, I came up with a fancy chocolate shop! When I changed my input to Burdick signs, Chicago, i hit the jackpot. They were founded in 1896 in Chicago as the Burdick Enamel Sign Company, and Ford are listed as one of their clients, among many a disparate others.

Allan from down under.

Is there any way to repair chips in enamel signs?

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 11, 2025 12:34 pm

Is there any way to repair chips in enamel signs?

Not satisfactorily. Best one can do is to fill with epoxy compounds similar to JB Weld - fill, sand, polish. It may be possible to color some types with dry pigments to match.

Repair quality depend on who's doing the repair

I had the same thoughts about making repairs. A prominent collector told me not to do so. It can devalue a good original sign. Besides, on this one it looks like two nails were driven through the bottom to mount it some way, so the panel itself would need repair, possibly extending the damage in the process.

Allan from down under.