Antenna Balls

When I was a "Union 76" dealer in the late 80's thru 2002, I collected all kinds of "76" stuff. Here is a list of the Union 76 antenna balls I have ready to ship and their individual prices. I have tried to outline a little bit of history on each one. I prefer to ship them USPS Priority Mail which runs $6 for the first 10 balls and $10 for anything over that. If you need them shipped anywhere else besides the US, please ask before making a purchase so we can figure out how much the shipping will be. You can click on any image to see it full size, both the front and back are shown on the balls.
If you have any questions, feel free to call me at (310) 698-5143 (work #)
Thank You.

Antique Union 76 Antenna Ball - $10.00ea The first record of automobile radio antenna balls being produced to promote awareness of the 76 brand was in 1967. The first balls were spray painted orange by hand, dried, then screen printed, again by hand, with the blue 76 image. During the late 1960’s approximately 350,000 balls were produced and distributed each year. I have these in limited quantities and be aware that with the hand screening, they are not all perfect.

"New Style" Union 76 Antenna Ball - $2.50ea
By 1975 the balls were printed using rubber stamp pads and the white outline of the 76 was incorporated into the design. In 1977 the globe painting process was semi-automated with a machine designed by the balls primary manufacturer, Lewis-Frank Specialty Products, Inc. With these manufacturing advances production of 750,000 balls per year was reached in the late 1970’s. Popularity of the antenna balls continued to grow during the 1980’s with consumption increasing to approximately 1,500,000 balls per year. In 1993 a major brand promotion resulted in the production and distribution of 2,500,000 antenna balls in a six month period.

1991 Union 76 Antenna Ball - Spirit Ball - $5.00ea

In 1991, 76 had a promotion around July 4th called "The Spirit of Freedom". This ball was produced in limited numbers and pulled right after the promotion.

Union 76 Antenna Ball - Football - $3.00ea
During the mid 1990’s four new antenna ball design shapes, baseball-basketball-football-soccer ball, were developed to support marketing efforts. These new shapes developed in support of Union 76 gasoline marketing efforts are now industry standard designs being imprinted with various company’s brand in support of their marketing and brand awareness initiatives.

Union 76 Antenna Ball - Soccer Ball - $3.00ea

Union 76 Antenna Ball - Baseball - $3.00ea

Union 76 Antenna Ball - Basketball - $3.00ea

Union 76 Antenna Ball - Smiley Ball - $4.00ea
I'm not sure about this one. It was produced during the late 90's (that's when I got them). That's all I remember.

Union 76 Antenna Ball - Nascar Ball - $4.00ea
The Nascar ball was given out during the last few years 76 was known as "The Official Fuel of Nascar". I'm not sure how many were made, but since they are no longer making race fuel and have dropped their Nascar sponsorship, these balls will be gone real soon.

Unocal 76 Antenna Ball - Pump Ball - $3.00ea

This little ball is a newer design, foam rubber ball with a gas pump handle coming out the side. It was pretty much a failure for 76 as no one wanted them. As dealers, we were left with quite a few. The ball comes individually wrapped in a cellophane bag.