Ball's In Their Court

76 gas station at the corner of Hyperion and Griffith Park Blvd. in Silver Lake, 10/13/05

Congrats to Nathan and Kim at the Save the 76 Ball blog -- their efforts have paid off!

76 owner ConocoPhillips -- which had been quietly destroying the iconic 76 meatball signage (like the one being taken down above) -- has agreed to donate some of the signs to select museums, and is ordering 100 new ones in the gas station's new red color! (Sadly, that means the orange-and-blue color scheme of the old Unocal 76 is still toast.)

The 76 Ballers note in a press release:

This is a stunning victory for citizen activism, historic preservation and good design.

When told that his 8-foot wide 76 Ball might be added to the Smithsonian's collection, a delighted Ray Pedersen, who designed and fabricated the first 76 Ball for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, quipped "As a pilot, I don't see why I can't have my 76 Ball alongside the Spirit of St. Louis. It's an icon that people lived with for a long time, and now it's part of their Psyche. If Archie Bunker's chair is there, get my Ball in there!"

The Save the 76 Ball campaign applauds ConocoPhillips for throwing its corporate muscle behind the preservation of the 76 Ball. Save the 76 Ball asks that in addition to the museum donations (which we hope will include all costs of crating and shipping for these large signs), they agree to maintain a select few historically and architecturally significant orange 76 Balls at their original locations. Ideal examples include William Pereira's swooping modernist 76 station in Beverly Hills, one of the spheres along Highway One in Malibu, and the station in Marysville, WA where 76 Ball designer Ray Pedersen buys his gas.