Tru-Test Supreme Quality Paints Metal Paint Can Sign, Cotter & Company True Value Hardware
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True Value's house paint, on a sign several feet tall
The Tru-Test Supreme Quality Paints sign is a large painted metal store sign showing a gallon can of Tru-Test paint on a bright yellow field with a thin red border. Across the can it reads TRU-TEST, Supreme, Quality PAINTS, and a band at the bottom carries the slogan "Tru-Test Supreme, our Very Best-Quality Guaranteed." Signs like this hung in or outside hardware stores that sold the paint. The one other copy found measures 65.5 by 48 inches, and this copy, leaning beside a 12-gallon stoneware crock, looks about the same size.
Tru-Test was the house paint brand of Cotter & Company, the hardware cooperative John Cotter founded in Chicago in 1948. In 1962 Cotter bought the assets of Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co., including the True Value name for just $2,500, and its member stores became True Value hardware stores. Wikipedia dates the Tru-Test paint brand to 1963, but federal trademark records for the TRU-TEST word mark on paints and varnishes, filed later, claim a first use of 1946. The page found no source that settles the gap. Cotter & Company merged with ServiStar Coast to Coast in 1997 to form TruServ, which became True Value Company in 2005. True Value later replaced Tru-Test with its EasyCare paint, made at its factory in Cary, Illinois.
Neither the sign nor the photos show a date, so the can art is the best clue. The same yellow oval with TRU-TEST in red block letters, the red "Supreme" tab and the script "Quality" appear on a 1972 Tru-Test ad, on "Tru-Test Supreme Quality Paints" matchbooks printed by Universal Match of Chicago, on Tru-Test oil cans that carry the True Value name, and on West Bend coffee urns. The live seller of the other copy calls it 1970s to 1980s. That copy also has a small sign maker's line at the lower left, "Richard A. Nellis Inc. Chicago," followed by a code that reads 5-87 or 5-67 in the listing photo. This copy's lower left corner is hidden behind the crock in the photo, so it may carry the same line. Taken together, that puts the sign between 1963 and the late 1980s, which makes it vintage on any reading.
Copies of the big sign are seldom offered. A full search on October 29, 2026 found one other live copy, and the Tru-Test listings that turn up most are oil cans, can openers, matchbooks, brochures and spray cans. Small tin reproductions of this exact design are sold new as wall plaques.
Store sign, reproduction or a different Tru-Test sign
The can design turns up on several kinds of pieces. From this copy and live listings, checked October 29, 2026.
| Version | Marks | Tells | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store sign This copy | TRU-TEST® / Supreme / Quality PAINTS, slogan band, sign maker's line at lower left on another copy | Flat painted metal, thin red border with screw holes, crazing in the white paint with age | About 65.5 x 48 in. |
| Modern tin reproduction Sold new | Same can art | Small tin plaque sold new, with a printed rusted look | About 12 x 8 in. |
| Oval Tru-Test sign Different design | TRU-TEST / QUALITY PAINTS | White oval with a blue rim and red letters, no paint can | 84 x 34 in. |
| Small advertising pieces Same can art | Tru-Test Supreme, often with the True Value logo | Oil cans, matchbooks, West Bend coffee urns, paper "Wet Paint" signs | Small |
- Size first. The original is a store sign several feet tall, so a sign you can hold in one hand is a modern tin plaque.
- Look for the maker's line. The other store copy has "Richard A. Nellis Inc. Chicago" in tiny capitals inside the yellow field at the lower left. Check this spot on any copy.
- Real wear is uneven. Age shows as fine crazing in the white, chips and scrapes along the edges and around the screw holes, while printed rust that sits flat on the surface means a reproduction.
- No True Value logo. The store sign shows only the Tru-Test can, while many small Tru-Test pieces add the red True Value Hardware Stores logo.
A yellow sign with a giant Tru-Test Supreme paint can
The sign is a tall rectangle painted bright yellow, a warm golden yellow, inside a narrow red border. Most of it is taken up by a big gallon paint can drawn in black, white and gray, seen slightly from above, with its lid rim and the bail ears for the handle on both sides. A yellow oval across the top of the can holds TRU-TEST in tall, slightly condensed red block capitals with a black outline and a small ® between the two words. Below it, a red tab with a black edge carries "Supreme" in white script.
The white lower half of the can reads "Quality" in large black brush script and PAINTS in tall red block capitals outlined in black. A red band curving around the base of the can carries the slogan in small white script. The reds are a deep brick red, close to maroon on this copy.
- Top: black and silver can lid, with the yellow field and red border above it.
- Center: yellow oval with red TRU-TEST® and a red "Supreme" tab in white script.
- Lower can: black script "Quality," red block PAINTS, and the red slogan band.
- Border: thin red edge all around, with small holes for mounting along it on the other copy.
- Back: not shown in the photo.
- This copy: fine crazing across the white parts of the can, scuffs and a few chips along the left and top edges, and a lower left corner hidden behind a crock in the photo. Not measured.
Oval: TRU®TEST Tab: Supreme Can: Quality PAINTS Band: Tru-Test Supreme, our Very Best-Quality Guaranteed Lower left, on another copy: RICHARD A. NELLIS INC. CHICAGO 5-87The ® sits between TRU and TEST, where the hyphen would be. The last digits of the maker's line on the other copy may read 5-67.
- Tru-Test paint sign
- Tru-Test Supreme Quality Paints sign
- True Value paint can sign
- Vintage hardware store paint sign
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- Cotter and Company Tru-Test sign
Copies for sale right now
One live copy of this store sign was found on October 29, 2026, after searching eBay, Etsy, Mercari, Poshmark, Ruby Lane and WorthPoint results. It is an asking price, not a sale. The small tin reproductions and the oval Tru-Test sign are a different item and are left out.
About the Tru-Test Supreme Quality Paints sign
Who made Tru-Test paint?
Cotter & Company, the Chicago hardware cooperative John Cotter founded in 1948, sold Tru-Test as the house paint of its True Value stores. The company became TruServ in 1997 and True Value Company in 2005.
How old is a Tru-Test Supreme Quality Paints sign?
It can't be older than the Tru-Test paint line, which Wikipedia dates to 1963. The same can art appears on a 1972 Tru-Test ad, matchbooks and oil cans, and the one live seller dates the sign to the 1970s or 1980s. A small sign maker's date on another copy may read 5-87 or 5-67.
Is my Tru-Test sign a reproduction?
Modern tin copies of this design are sold new as small wall plaques about 12 by 8 inches, with a printed rusted look. The original store sign is several feet tall, a flat painted metal panel with screw holes along the red border, and another copy carries a Chicago sign maker's imprint at the lower left.
How big is the Tru-Test Supreme paint can sign?
The one other copy found measures 65.5 by 48 inches. This copy wasn't measured, but beside a 12-gallon crock it looks about the same size.
What is a Tru-Test Supreme sign worth?
Only one other copy was live on October 29, 2026, an eBay listing asking $1,195 for local pickup. That is an asking price, not a sale, and big signs this size usually sell for pickup because they are costly to ship.
- Owner's photo of this copy
- Wikipedia: True Value, for John Cotter's 1948 founding of Cotter & Company, the 1962 Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett purchase and $2,500 True Value trademark, the 1963 Tru-Test paint brand, TruServ in 1997, True Value Company in 2005, and EasyCare paint from Cary, Illinois
- Justia: TRU-TEST trademark for paints and varnishes, for the claimed first use in 1946 (registration 1,086,217, now expired)
- Justia: "Standard of Quality Tru-Test" trademark, for Cotter & Company's 1963 Tru-Test filing
- eBay: the other store copy, for the 65.5 x 48 in. size, the Richard A. Nellis Inc. imprint, the seller's 1970s to 1980s date and the price
- eBay: 1972 Tru-Test paint ad, for the same can art in a dated ad
- eBay: Tru-Test Supreme Quality Paints matchbook and eBay: West Bend coffee urn, for the can design on other Tru-Test advertising
- eBay: small tin reproduction, for the modern copy of the design
- eBay: oval Tru-Test Quality Paints sign, for the different 84 x 34 in. sign