Oil company lawyers want Magnolia 'Americana' erased

I received a call about this, but the Magnolia News already has the full story about a gas station mural at a former Texaco (now a Shell) station up on West Government Way near Discovery Park in Seattle. The mural – what the News calls a "classic piece of Americana" – depicts a 1954 gas station and has been a local landmark. But the station's owner has received a lawyer letter from Chevron (which now owns the Texaco brand) telling him he is in violation federal trademark laws. The painted mural, in short, must go. For now, the gas station's owner has covered the artwork with black plastic to hide the offending logos.
I received a call about this, but the Magnolia News already has the full story about a gas station mural at a former Texaco (now a Shell) station up on West Government Way near Discovery Park in Seattle. The mural – what the News calls a "classic piece of Americana" – depicts a 1954 gas station and has been a local landmark. But the station's owner has received a lawyer letter from Chevron (which now owns the Texaco brand) telling him he is in violation federal trademark laws. The painted mural, in short, must go. For now, the gas station's owner has covered the artwork with black plastic to hide the offending logos.

I received a call about this, but the Magnolia News already has the full story about a gas station mural at a former Texaco (now a Shell) station up on West Government Way near Discovery Park in Seattle. The mural – what the News calls a "classic piece of Americana" – depicts a 1954 gas station and has been a local landmark. But the station's owner has received a lawyer letter from Chevron (which now owns the Texaco brand) telling him he is in violation federal trademark laws. The painted mural, in short, must go. For now, the gas station's owner has covered the artwork with black plastic to hide the offending logos. Why doesn't he simply paint over them? Years ago, a Bull Durham tobacco sign was painted on the side of a Port Townsend building. Some prudish citizens objected to the graphic display of the parts that make a bull, well, a bull. The sign painter was recalled to paint in an imaginary fence to fig-leaf the animal's not-so-privates. The altered sign is still visible today. But in the Magnolia mural's case, Texaco logos are sprinkled throughout the design. Painting them out isn't an option, says owner Ric Kastner. "It would look like [poop] if you did that." But the controversy raises a question: When is folk art simply folk art, and when does it cross the line to violate intellectual property laws? And what about pop art? Should museums receive cease and desist orders if they hang Andy Warhol's soup cans? If anyone has a picture of the original pre-draped Texaco mural, please send it along.

  

Please support independent local news for all.

We rely on donations from readers like you to sustain Crosscut's in-depth reporting on issues critical to the PNW.

Donate

About the Authors & Contributors

Knute Berger

Knute Berger

Knute “Mossback” Berger is Crosscut's Editor-at-Large.