“One time, when Tommy the Greek and Von Dutch met at the Oakland Roadster Show, one thing led to another and soon the two of them were out there striping and painting the curb all along 10th Street.” -- Art Himsl

I personally do not have much hands-on experience with pin striping but I have been blessed with being a witness in the right place at the right time on occasion. I have taken pictures at several great meets that have captured some times and places that were frankly beyond my comprehension at the time. And yet, as a California Letterhead from New Jersey, it’s inevitable that some great “customized” life moments are bound to kick in and be absorbed.

Three great Letterhead meets I have regularly attended loom large from the California Letterhead point of view: NorCal Letterheads in San Jose & Sacramento, Micromeet in Petaluma and the California Conclave in Southern California. All three meets have been known for mixing legendary auto art with high-end gilding to the extreme. At the same time, this magazine -- formerly titled Sign Business -- had been a lifeline for me for over 20 years and has consistently provided a grand view of the auto art world via the regular columns of Alan Johnson, Jay Lansburg, Bob Bond and the most prolific of them all Julian “Mr. J.” Braet.

The customizing auto after-market has in a sense been around forever and has always been impossible to keep behind closed doors, as flashy demos have been a selling point from the beginning. There are not too many trades left that allow artists to express themselves doing their own thing in conjunction with so many active veterans demonstrating their enthusiasm. Up until the 1930s graphic decoration was commonplace on American vehicles and was often standard issue before it suddenly went out of style. The revival happened when subsequent waves of independent car culture artists became active long before the Letterheads themselves came on the scene, and they have successfully been fighting for position ever since.

“If it hadn't been for Tommy allowing me to hang around his shop (in Oakland), I'd never have continued striping the way I have. Heck, I'm still doing teardrops after 38 years, and that's a tribute to him.” -- Herb Martinez

The Pin Stripe Final Exam

When Alan Johnson’s class descended upon and decorated the dumpster out in back of the American Sign Museum, they added a page to Letterhead lore. Alan suggested that the episode be called the “Pin Stripers Final Exam.” And it was brought about through the brilliance and joy that fairly radiates from Alan and his infectious sense of craft as a pleasure and “as play.” I enjoyed much of it from an outsider perspective until I discovered an uncanny coincidence that was so close to home. Alan’s marketing assistant and great ally of Jersey car culture in general, Carol Mittelsdorf, happens to be someone I went to kindergarten with in New Jersey and I hadn’t talked to since we were both 5 years old. This surreal moment seemed like just another day in the small sign world neighborhood where everywhere you look there is someone with something interesting to contribute who somehow remembers you and has time to talk. However, none of these fleeting moments were going to be easy to top back home at the shop.

The experience of being there had that ephemeral incomprehensible magic everyone realizes is only going to last for an hour or two. And of course, it was clear that the entire meet was going down in a similar vein to the time when in 1982 at Moore, Oklahoma, hundreds came from all over the country and eventually signed all over a massive train tanker car and then returned to the far corners of the country. And someone told me of another time when Keith Knecht and others “did up” a rental Lincoln at a meet in fine style. And when it was time to return it they used the best available solvent they had to clean it, which was gasoline that they poured out onto the car at the gas station!

One of the craziest moments of the Dumpster Final Exam was when Joe Michalik Jr. broke out his variegated leaf and applied it to the dumpster. I’m thinking, “who is this guy pushing the envelope over here?” When meanwhile the museum staff comes out and says, “You all are going to clean this off at the end aren’t you?” It’s funny because only Joe’s magnetic business card would have been able to stick to the substrate naturally and be easily removable. The card seems to spell out an ineffable mixture of talent and creativity that could only make sense at a Letterhead meet. “J.E.M. Signs, Trick Lettering, Exotic Striping by Michalik & Sons. Hand & Vinyl Lettering, Mirror & Glass Etching, Gold & Silver Leaf, Pinstriping.” The passion and attitude are built into the work; it’s classic Americana.

“Tommy the Greek was an absolute master, and fast. There was a ‘wham-bam’ ritual about his work. He’d open a can of Veco lacquer with an ice pick, step back, fire the ice pick into the wall… Ping! … Set up like a rocket, stripe the car, bait and antagonize the customers and finish up the job.” -- Art Himsl from the Letterville archives

So many sign-related graphics jobs have become obsolete and yet pin striping has successfully avoided extinction with its unique brand of personality driven charm and homegrown eccentricity that cannot possibly be outsourced. At this international meet there was a dual theme of appreciating artists we have lost in conjunction with a fresh crop of increasingly diverse youthful talent that is continually replenishing the ranks. I did some surfing around Facebook to research the fresh energy I experienced at the meet. Shockingly, I found that one those dynamic dumpster painters I photographed the most, Darrell “Doctor D.” Roberts died suddenly on November 11, just six weeks after the meet. It is a very tough reminder of the value of the time we have with people, and all of us are still grappling with this stunning loss of a well-loved Letterhead personality. There is a TV clip that shows Doc. D grooving on his work at a street fair and affably making himself available for the interview. His death comes in shocking proximity to the wonderful time we recently had experiencing the wit and creativity of all present as he helped paint, “The Mother of All Dumpsters.”