By Marsie Hall Newbold
Enquirer Contributor

Glen Whittington holds up a Sears Roebuck oil can under a lighted magnifier. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

Who: Glen Whittington, 72, of Lebanon, a retired banker for the Farm Credit System, a father of five and grandfather of eight who has amassed as many as 300 hundred oil cans.

Where: In a cupboard in the den of the home he shares with Nedra, his wife of 54 years.

More than words: Whittington's interest in oil cans began in the late 1970s when the Farm Credit System ran an advertising campaign in national farm magazines with the catchphrase: "Agriculture is America's Oil."

Prized premium: As part of the promotion, the Farm Credit System gave small plastic tubes of household oil to its customers.

Generosity of friends: "That's how I started collecting," he says. "I had bookshelves in my office and I kept them there so people could see them. Then they started saying, "Oh, I have one that I'll give you. Then I started going to farm auctions and would see them at yard sales."

Up, up and away! The cans that Mr. Whittington bought in the late '70s and early '80s have soared in value. "The ones I got for a quarter or 50 cents," he explains, "Are now worth $60 to $70. Some even more than that."

Variations on a theme: Whittington's mini-museum features round, rectangular and oblong shaped oil cans in sizes from two to eight ounces.

They were manufactured by companies such as Shell, Texaco, Sohio and Pure Oil. But even those are divided into subcategories.

For example: Standard Oil's cans shared one design, but bore the names of different states.

Tip top: The length of the can's spouts varies depending on what they were used for.

The one meant for oiling clocks has no spout. Those with lead spouts are the most desirable, but as with most collectibles, the overall condition of the piece determines the total value.

Whittington laments that household items are "pretty well self lubricated" nowadays.

That means few new oil cans on the market.

"But that's okay," he says, "I already have more than we have room for."

Share your prize possessions with Marsie Hall Newbold by mail: c/o The Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; e-mail: marsolete@aol.com. Please include a daytime telephone number.