THE ARCHIVE / Themes

Gas Stations.

A place to refuel could also be a place to look. Margolies photographed gasoline retailers that borrowed the outlines of teapots, shells and pagodas, alongside more restrained stations. Compare the recognizable silhouette with the working forecourt: pumps, canopies, windows and the space left for a car. The Teapot Dome story follows one especially pointed example, where the commodity being sold became part of a political joke built into the architecture.

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