Earlier this month, we asked if any of you had spotted a Jack-O-Lantern face on one of the remaining 76 balls around the city. Sadly, none have been spotted here.
But 76 ball savior Kim Cooper just emailed me this link, which featured the pic (seen above) of a Berkeley 76 station that still carries on the tradition! The 76-O-Lantern lives!
(Flickr pic by In2Jazz.)
It was a Halloween tradition, at least until a few years ago: Union 76 gas stations would cover their orange ball signs with a jack-o-lantern sheath through the month of October.
Sadly, around the time Unocal sold off the chain (76 is a part of the ConocoPhillips), the stations stopped donning the pumpkin look. Of course, that’s partly because ConocoPhillips started getting rid of the orange balls and replacing them with generic signs. (To gloat, Franklin Avenue was the first place anywhere to write about the switch.)
As you know, thanks to the Save the 76 Ball crew, ConocoPhillips has agreed to keep many balls in several locations.
But under the compromise, the remaining balls will now be red — and although a handful of orange balls remain, it’s been a few years since I last saw a Jack-O-76 station.
I emailed Save the 76 Ball’s Kim Cooper to see if she’s seen one — and she responded, “Nope, not a one, dang it!”
How about any of you? Or is this a Halloween tradition that has disappeared for good?
(Flickr pic by In2Jazz.)
It was a Halloween tradition, at least until a few years ago: Union 76 gas stations would cover their orange ball signs with a jack-o-lantern sheath through the month of October.
Sadly, around the time Unocal sold off the chain (76 is a part of the ConocoPhillips), the stations stopped donning the pumpkin look. Of course, that’s partly because ConocoPhillips started getting rid of the orange balls and replacing them with generic signs. (To gloat, Franklin Avenue was the first place anywhere to write about the switch.)
As you know, thanks to the Save the 76 Ball crew, ConocoPhillips has agreed to keep many balls in several locations.
But under the compromise, the remaining balls will now be red — and although a handful of orange balls remain, it’s been a few years since I last saw a Jack-O-76 station.
I emailed Save the 76 Ball’s Kim Cooper to see if she’s seen one — and she responded, “Nope, not a one, dang it!”
How about any of you? Or is this a Halloween tradition that has disappeared for good?
Before...
...and after.
Earlier this year the Save the 76 Ball campaign successfully preserved several of the iconic signs and got 76 owner ConocoPhillips to finally recognize their place in pop culture history.
One of the concessions made by ConocoPhillips: They’ll continue to take down the classic orange-and-blue 76 balls. But several gas stations will now erect new red-and-blue 76 balls (the company’s new color scheme). Above, reader Matthew Meltzer caught (via his camera phone) an orange 76 ball coming down and being replaced by a new red 76 ball at the corner of Riverside and Woodman in Sherman Oaks.
Corrected at 1:35 p.m.
Before...
...and after.
Earlier this year the Save the 76 Ball campaign successfully preserved several of the iconic signs and got 76 owner ConocoPhillips to finally recognize their place in pop culture history.
One of the concessions made by ConocoPhillips: They’ll continue to take down the classic orange-and-blue 76 balls. But several gas stations will now erect new red-and-blue 76 balls (the company’s new color scheme). Above, reader Matthew Meltzer caught (via his camera phone) an orange 76 ball coming down and being replaced by a new red 76 ball at the corner of Riverside and Woodman in Sherman Oaks.
Corrected at 1:35 p.m.
