Last week, Nathan Marsak and I got up uncommonly early to accompany intrepid LA Observed videoblogger Jacob Soboroff on a tour of the surviving 76 Balls of North-East LA. Later, Jacob followed sign-spotting legend J. Eric Freedner deep into Orange County for a sneak peak at the new, red 76 Balls being readied for, ahem, erection.

Do click over to LA Observed's Native Intelligence section to read Jacob's take on the Save the 76 Ball campaign and for a brief visit with a few of the folks behind this website.

On October 28, the intrepid J. Eric Freedner made a fascinating discovery...

"This may make Kim sad and Earl mad, but I found Swain Sign Installers on 5th Street in Ontario, CA late this afternoon. Here's what I saw: New 76 "hubcap" signs ready to go. Ironically, an old orange 76 sign (flat style) can be seen from the alley, across I-10 Freeway. Rows of new ConocoPhillips 76 price signs, all in crates. This is definitely the source of the new signs! Whether Swain makes them on site or just gets them in and only installs them, I do not know. Another view of the new 76 signs... And now the sad stuff... An old 76 ball, broken into pieces and stuffed into a big roll-off, awaits a final trip to the dump! This is the only one I saw at Swain's - none stored at the yard - so I guess they break them up as they come in and have them hauled away? At least I caught up with this before the sun went down. What can I say, other than sometimes preserving gas history is a bit painful?"