The Mobil gas station that once adorned an intersection near Disneyland was a marvel of mid-century design by architects Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams. With four giant floating canopies balanced magically on spindles, underneath a fire-engine red flying Pegasus, the station was a mid-century roadside masterpiece - even catching the eye of famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman in 1956. 
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Anaheim's Marvelous Modern Mobil, 1956
The Mobil gas station that once adorned an intersection near Disneyland was a marvel of mid-century design by architects Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams. With four giant floating canopies balanced magically on spindles, underneath a fire-engine red flying Pegasus, the station was a mid-century roadside masterpiece - even catching the eye of famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman in 1956. 
Very Intersting
ReplyDeleteThat station is just too much, with the levitating gas pumps, and the mascot horse at the top.
ReplyDeleteAnd that lady in the foreground could wear white gloves because 27 attendants would pump her gas for her... the dirtiest thing she needed to touch was the $5 bill needed to pay for the gas.
The last gasp of an elegant society going back to the Renaissance.
I think what saddens me is that there is more inspiration, imagination, and optimism in this little gas station than the entire park that filled up the gigantic property kitty-corner from it in later years...
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! The more I see stuff like this, Kevin, the more I think I need to plan a trip down to the Anaheim archives. Maybe Kyle & Tom will want to make a field trip of it. -Eric
ReplyDeleteWould love to see more pictures like this. Very, very cool!
ReplyDeleteVery cool picture. I was curious to see what occupies that spot now and looked at the aerial picture on google maps to find that it is an empty lot!
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