DECO ENTERS THE ORDINARY LANDSCAPE

By the mid 1930s, Art Deco architecture shifted from an elite style to a more broadly accepted form of architecture. It began to appear in far more prosaic structures, such as diners and gas stations. The common stainless steel diners, found across the American cultural landscape reflect the horizontal expression and the look of motion attributed to Streamline Moderne Deco. Society had become enamored with speed and motion, and the Streamline Moderne diners, with their rakish appearance, had the look of "built in motion." The Art Deco styled diner, sheathed in stainless steel, looked like a dining car speeding down the railroad track, and became a permanent fixture of the ordinary cultural landscape. Diners became an American icon. The classic "diner look" conjured up an image of a certain menu, the availability of comfort food, and fast efficient service; attributes which are still associated with diners to the present day. Businesses utilized the Streamline Moderne Art Deco as a way of advertising a business establishment. In this manner, many Art Deco gas stations were built with a consistent appearance according to standards adopted by oil companies. Texaco service stations, for example, created a corporate image based on designs by Walter Teague in 1937. Teague utilized the clean lines of Streamline Moderne to create an image of cleanliness and service efficiency. More importantly, due to the universal appearance of Texaco's White "Oasis" service stations, with their distinctive three green "Speed Stripes" encasing the station, motorists were able to recognize a Texaco station from a distance and before a competitor's. This consistent appearance would be associated to consistent service in the minds of customers. Thus, Art Deco helped foster the "iconization" of American business. Through icons, businesses were able to build a competitive advantage over competitors that lacked an established image or a recognizable corporate symbol.

Just as the Chrysler Building is the epitome of the earlier era, the Coca-Cola bottling plant of Los Angeles is a wonderful example of the horizontal motion associated with Streamline Moderne Deco structures. With its portholes as windows, and a ship's bridge for navigating, the bottling plant gives the appearance of an ocean liner. Although the building is firmly rooted in a sea of concrete and blacktop, it looks as though it could navigate the sprawling urban landscape of Los Angeles.