Acclaimed KNX reporter Michael Linder has a nice feature on the Save the 76 Ball campaign in his weekend blog. Click over to enjoy a very clever montage of images, or just read on. Thanks, Michael!

Pinhead to the rescue of giant 76 balls! You know — those orange and blue globes being uprooted from gas stations across the Southland while Los Angeles culture aficionados howl.

The branding switcheroo is fallout from ConocoPhillips purchase of Union 76. Flat signage in ConocoPhillips red is replacing the big orange balls which were designed by Ray Pederson for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The spheres have taken on urban treasure status among cultural preservationists who regard them as historic Jet Age flashbacks — like the Jetsonesque theme restaurant at LAX which also made its debut in ‘62.

 This week, cartoonist Bill Griffith announced his “Zippy the Pinhead” comic strip is taking up the cause. Griffith’s passion for classic signs is legendary. We recently caught Zippy in print, chatting with the Felix Chevrolet sign at Jefferson and Figueroa. And, he’s got clout. Seen in over 200 newspapers, Zip’s strip is credited with saving the Bay Area’s Doggie Diner weiner dog signs from destruction.

Dogged determination by Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak is fueling the campaign. The duo publish The 1947 Project, one of our all-time fave explorations into Los Angeles’ colorful past. (Our KNX news story streams here.) More than 2,300 signatures from motorists threatening to boycott have been gathered at their Save the 76 Ball site. “If that ball goes, so does this customer!”

ConocoPhillips hasn’t backed down despite a steady stream of media attention to the cause célèbre. Even the BBC is onto gas station castration. Actor Michael Madsen (“Reservoir Dogs,” “Kill Bill”) told the Beeb, “There seems to be this driving force to tear down everything that’s a little old. These are things that were landmarks, a symbol that I remember from childhood.” Madsen says he tried to buy a ball but was told they are destined to be crushed. “What’s the point of smashing them and putting up flat signs?”

Indeed! Not to mention the way some of the balls magically morph into Halloween jack-o-lanterns every October. Three dollar gas, now this.

Reporter Darleene Powells, who filed a swell piece on our 1947project Crime Bus tour earlier this year, was witness to this sad scene as she drove to the Y this morning:

Yes, that is the wonderful spinning ball at Monterey and Avenue 60 in the tiny NE Los Angeles township of Hermon, the same ball featured on the KTLA Morning News' feature on the Save the 76 Ball campaign.

Darleene notes: I'd read about this a couple of times on Franklin Avenue (here, here and here) and later noted to myself, a little smugly, that the 76 station near my house still featured its meatball. I have to admit I was hoping that this 76 station, tucked into an area of Los Angeles doesn't feel like Los Angeles, would escape notice, but alas. There goes the ball, sitting sadly on its 6.

It's ironic, as we enter the Easter season, to see this icon of modern design pulled down from its pole... perhaps not such a huge leap to the image of the dead Christ taken down from the cross? Like Christ, we hope our beloved 76 Balls will be resurrected, as ConocoPhillips crunches the numbers and sees that since consumers do have a choice, many of them are no longer shopping where the 76 Ball doesn't fly.

Save the 76 Ball! It's not too late! 

Nathan and I were just interviewed by Gary Burbank of 50,000 watt monster station WLW Cincinnati about the campaign to Save the 76 Ball. (Too bad Canada made 'em pot down from half a million watts back in the '30s!)

Gary wondered aloud if we'd been hired by ConocoPhillips to generate controversy after which they could step in and say, "Hey, we didn't know how much you loved our balls. Of course we'll keep them!" Nathan and I think that would be really neat, and are wondering why the ConocoPhillips payments have yet to arrive in our Swiss bank accounts.

If you're near LA today, or like to listen to radio online, tune KFI-AM 640 in at the top of the 4, 5 and 6 o'clock hours (we're not sure exactly which!) and you'll hear more from Nathan and myself about what you can do to help Save the 76 Ball, and what the big sunny orbs mean to Southern Californians, and the world.

Nathan Marsak, author of the book “Los Angeles Neon” and co-author of the Save The 76 Ball Petition, delivers an impassioned podcast plea that the remaining 76 Balls be kept safe from harm.

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