Ex-PCO's Pesticide Container Collection Recalls Industry’s Past

Patrick Hughes shows off his pesticide container collection at the Greater Chicago Pest Management Alliance’s recent “Meeting of the Minds” seminar.

CHICAGO — Baseball cards, rare coins, bottle caps, toy dolls. These items are what come to most people’s minds when discussing collectibles. But a collectible can be just about anything. (I recall a quirky character on the TV show “Seinfeld” who had a treasured collection of "TV Guides").

It’s been more than 15 years since Patrick Hughes left the pest control industry, but he’ll always be tied to the industry thanks to his personal collection — the approximately 40 (empty) pesticide containers, some dating back 100 years, that he owns. Hughes enjoys sharing his collection at industry events, most recently the Chicago Pest Management Alliance’s one-day recertification titled “A Meeting of the Minds.”

“People will come up to me and say, ‘I used that back in the 20s or 30s. Those were the good ole days,’” he said.

A few highlights from Hughes’s collection include:

• Daisy fly killer
• A calcium cyanide gun
• Bellows Duster
• Knox Out Insect Spray with 5% DDT
• Compound 1080

“Several products were made during World War Two out of recycled metal,” he said. “I have a duster where the outside was made out of recycled metal and the inside was made out of recycled electrical fuses.”

How did Hughes get started with this unusual hobby? “I’ve been collecting things since I was four; things like containers, food jars and all kinds of junk” he said “When I went to work for Arwell Exterminating (which later was purchased by Orkin) in 1967 I started collecting pesticide containers and it just took off from there.”

Hughes worked for several pest control companies in the 1960s and 70s, before starting up Hughes Pest Control, and Northshore Pest Control & Distributing — a national distributor, in the late 1970s. Hughes’ partner ran the daily operations of the pest control business, while Hughes ran the distribution side of the business, traveling throughout 29 states. His reputation for collecting pesticide containers began to precede him. “People would say, ‘I hear you have a (collection). Well, I’ve got something for you.'”

Hughes sold his pest control business to Rentokil 15 years ago and discontinued the Northshore distributorship at that time as well. Still, he enjoys sharing his pesticide container collection, and hopes to one day pass it along to an industry organization that will preserve them as historical artifacts.