I don't want to p*ss anyone off...hopefully this hasn't been asked for awhile. I worked at: Dairy Queen (when I was 16) House of Pies as a waitress for 4 hours (boy was I a lousy waitress!) Payless Drug Stores (first as a cashier ..then as their signpainter)
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: cheryl nordby ]
Posted by Joe Endicott (Member # 628) on :
Busboy, Telemarketer (Don't Shoot!), Illustrator's Assistant, Shipping Manager, Plumber's Assistant, Movie Theatre Usher.
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
stockboy at Kinney's shoes, dishwasher, warehouse work, dishwasher, tree planter & cone picker (very lucrative work climbing 200 foot trees), Physical Therapist's aide design & constructing orthotic equipment & furniture for crippled children (a job with a warm fuzzy vibe)Cabinet makers apprentice, & finally the architectural drafting years that led me to sign work.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Before signs, I was a Technical Director, Lab Director, Chemist, "Rocket Scientist", Designer, Chemist. While in high school and college...whatever was available, shoe salesman, house painter, boat yard, cement blocks, construction, etc.
Sheesh! No wonder I'm all screwed up!
Posted by John Cordova (Member # 220) on :
Busboy at ski area restaurant, retail clothing, house painter, sculptor, architectural drafter, architectural designer/illustrator, bouncer, limo driver, grunt.
Posted by Santo (Member # 411) on :
Engineering Tech, Well Tester, Instrument Technician, OJT Instructor, Oilfield Lease Operator, Boat Carpenter, Expediter, Truck Driver, Roadie.
Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :
Before highschool: babysat drew all over my sister's dolls
During highschool: salesperson in a record/t-shirt store worked at two greenhouses (did signs for one) pumped gas at a full serve
After highschool: Sales person at major dept. store 13 years. Was totally into display, setting up the whole floor of clothing to work by color and coordinates, worked in mens wear, ladies wear, and boys wear. Became the sign girl of the whole store during warehouse sales. (my best days, wore jeans!)
Quit the dept store after a car accident, (too hard to carry heavy things) and walked totally blind into my first sign shop. They hired me immediately after viewing my portfolio and resumes.
Landed my next job at an autographics place, did more on vehicles, learned vinyl striping.
Then returned back to school full time for abit to learn typography and computers, two things I lacked in.
And today I'm here.
Great post Cheryl! Interesting!
Posted by Jackson Smart (Member # 187) on :
In High School I was a hoodlum...after high school I went into the Navy...then City of Merced Fire Department, Driver at Engine Co.1, Captain on RescueSquad 1. (14 years was enough!) (Maintenance Forman for a large retirement complex.( 6 years was more then enough) Sign dude for 16 years (NEVER enough) After this? probably DEAD for a while ....But...I'LL BE BACK.... Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :
bag boy, chicken catcher, vending company, ditch digger, musician.
Posted by CJ Allan (Member # 52) on :
Owner an operator of sucessful Phone sex service.
Posted by Chris Lovelady (Member # 2540) on :
i was in the resuraunt biz...chief bottle washer to head cook! couldn't handle the pressure of dinner rush any more and all those angry waitresses!... or doing the same thing over and over every day.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting different results!
chris
Posted by Fernando Ocampo (Member # 2133) on :
I was a starving artist
Mcdonalds meat guy
pizza guy
and hated every minute of it!!!!!
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Cashier/Biscuit baker at Hardee's, K-Mart Cashier, Navy (2 yrs), manufactured telephone swithces, student, do girl for a rich prick, student, laser operator, assembler, student, technical support technician for Veritas Software, and now a stay-at-home mom and struggling sign company owner!
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Amy Brown ]
Posted by Jeffrey Vrstal (Member # 2271) on :
Meat business. Butcher, meat cutter. Not to get too specific but I did everything from unloading your livestock from your stock trailer to loading the frozen packages into the trunk of your car. AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. Did that for 22 years before I SAW THE LIGHT. Still have ALL of my fingers, thank you, thank you.
Posted by Jim Upchurch (Member # 209) on :
I was a rich prick, then joined the Coast Guard, washed dishes, mowed lawns, food service worker at a VA hospital while going through college, mopped floors at another hospital in WA state, construction, plumber's helper, short stints at a nursery, gas station and yuch...sign shop. I forgot how to make an honest living.
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
For me it isn't what I did before signs... but rather what else I have done along the way.
My sign career started at 14 with window splashes.
For a few years (late teens/early twenties) I pumped gas, fried chicken, sold shoes, and stocked grocery store shelves.
All this convinced me I was to have more fun on my own. Since going back to the 'business' I have done many, many things all in the name of signs... designed and built buildings, civic structures (town square etc.), painted murals, done sculpture, designed and built theme parks, managed a huge crew, built our own park, and a thousand other things.
Except for the brief time I worked for others, I consider it all 'signs' or at least display work but it involves every skill you can imagine.
-dan
Posted by Tyler (Member # 2093) on :
McDonalds, Burger King, Funeral Home Maintainence, database programmer, burger king again, silkscreener/signmaker for crappy shop, out on my own
Posted by Judy Pate (Member # 237) on :
Right out of high school,I was a long distance operator (this was before direct dial yall)for Southern Bell. Worked for a silk screen shop for 2 years then several sign shops around town til I started Signs By Judy in 1980. Been a happy sign painter ever since. Judy
Posted by Henry Barker (Member # 174) on :
Studied art in school to 18, not allowed to go to art college (military father, anti drugs and long hair....been there done all that).Left school went farming, then Agricultral College, no money, started driving Cat excavators and dozers, then got into semi-trucks, timber and livestock transport, tractor salesman, boat builder, then started driving trailers in the music business all over Europe, came to Sweden in 85 with Sprinsteen, then Queen in 86 moved here 89-90 kept touring then in 92 when my daughter was born I decided to start my sign business....after all you only need a plotter and computer right!! I have worked hard to build my business up in a foreign country....new language etc. Kept touring during summer time thru 90's with more Springsteen, Roxette, Eagles Bon Jovi, Celine Dion etc to subsidise things and get away abit too, meet up with old friends from the UK and the US. Now I really enjoy my life and my business and don't tour so much...no time
Posted by timi NC (Member # 576) on :
Did alot of odd construction type work after art school,..painting/steel work/carpentry,whatever bought groceries. Drove a gas truck and worked on gasoline pumps for awhile. After bumming around onna harley for a coupla years I worked on them at a local chop shop also doing some paint work,...
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
i was a gigolo......boy did a lot of things, as a kid worked on a trotter/pacer horse farm, planted pine trees,baled hay. had abusive parents and used to leave home and live at a dairy farm, 4:30 am milkin cows, balin hay, sackin grain, shootin varmits, helpin with butcherin cows,pigs, chickens. was always an artist never learned anything in school except art, drafting, shop, and gettin in trouble. became a piston head, alway wrenchin on something. so iam the best mechanic i know. went to school after high school for drafting. did 4 yrs in th air force gassed airplanes. got outa service came back to steel mill(was workin there before joinin af)worked construction before the steel mill. quite steel mill moved to maine worked as a draftsman puttin up butler building, had a body and fender shop, wound up in a NAPA parts store, did that for 15 years, worked a few dealerships in parts, got fired by a 21 year old when i was 42...he told me i was incompetent. so i decided to do signs full time(had been doing signs since 10-12 was taught by an old shaky jake that hung around my parents bar) also was a bar tender then owner up till 1980. left penna went to fl. started signs full time since 86......and here i is..
Posted by RonniesTintSigns (Member # 1669) on :
Area Supervisor for Pizza Hut, South District
Service Manager for Taylor Toyota
I'm best at telling others what to do lol I love that part.
Posted by FranCisco Vargas (Member # 145) on :
Professional window washer and janitor.
Posted by neonsign (Member # 966) on :
Hmmmm, not sure that there really was a time when I "didn't" do signs once I began working, even during the school years.
In grade 8 I worked p/t at a gas station and the owner operated a mobile sign rental business. I bounced back and forth, pumping gas one day, renting, selling and servicing the mobile signs for the next. It was about this time that I became interested in neon.
I remember getting some old neon tubes and a transformer. Well after many shocks received in the parents basement, I finally got those tubes to light up and I was hooked. Met a local tubebender and was amazed at his talents. Eventually bought a set of used neon burners and started practicing.
I went to work p/t in a neon shop and decided that self-employment was for me... bought a complete neon plant setup and a used telephone co. bucket van.
Sold the bucket truck after a bit, tired of the servicing signs in winter Took some of the money and bought a Gerber Sprint and opened a small vinyl shop here in town. Vinyl made more money than neon for me and I sold much of my equipment to various sign companies in Quebec and Ont. The opportunity came about last April to sell my shop to a local entrepreneur.
I still sell the occasional sign, but am content working part time in a local neon shop and still sell business forms and printing services from home. But I'm noticing a demand for wholesale neon from sign shops in the region, so I might just set up a small neon shop again!
But my best non-sign related job I had was driving school and charter buses from '91-'99.
Thats my history from age 14 to 31. Yikes the years fly by!
JC
Posted by VICTORGEORGIOU (Member # 474) on :
taxi dispatcher at 15 sweater factory worker at 16 JC Penny warehouse worker at 18 taxi driver at 21 delivered newspapers all thru college then the fun begins... US Army Tank Automotive maintenance field engineer - steel mills field engineering manager many years many places sign contractor web based supply house
Posted by Bill Preston (Member # 1314) on :
Did 4 years in the AF from 54 to 58-- Ground Power and x-trained to stationary diesel generators. After the service went to work at the local hospital as an orderly, went for LPN in 66, RN school from 72 to 74, worked the Emergency Dept. nites from then to 84, all the while doing signwork from 62 to now. It has been an interesting bunch of years, and how I wonder how they went by so fast.
These days, I am sort of semi-retired, and pretty much only take what I want. Trucks and boats mostly. I still don't think of it as a "hobby" shop, 'cause there aren't too many days off.
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Bill Preston ]
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
I'm not sure I can remember that far back. I know it had to do with C's and D's and sleeping in class.
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
Helicopter engineer (big word for mechanic getting eatin' alive by black flies in Northern Quebec),family lumber business (sawmill),always did some signage either for fun or part time and now full time along with printing. I'm now involved pretty heavily in retirement planning, my own that is!
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: J & N Signs ]
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
After high school I worked as a clerk in an art store, then a dog bather, groomer,then staff artist for the San Francisco SPCA,a housekeeper,and Vet assistant then moved to So Lake Tahoe...was a change person at Harrah's Casino , Motel maid, Dishwasher in a Mexican restaurant, then prep cook,moved to Sacramento, worked at Jimboy's tacos,washed dishes at a retirment home, housewife, general gofer at an all woman sign shop where I learned how to paint holiday windows.
That was 1980's....I still paint windows, but I love all of it. A
Posted by Jason Davie (Member # 2172) on :
Worked at McDonalds up thru high school, Then worked for Napa Auto Parts,then got smart and joined US Air Force then got dumb and left,then was a Carpenter and now having fun makin' Signs
Jason
Posted by Janette Balogh (Member # 192) on :
Hi Cheryl, Another good post topic! I was disappointed that I didn't have time for the word play ... but will quickly take time to outline a summarized list of stuff I did before signs.
Like Donna, I did alotta babysitting when I was very young.
I worked as a bus-girl at a few restaurants, also in younger years. Was industrious early in life!
Between the age of 16 & 18 I was a fitness instructor at a health spa. During that time I still maintained a restaurant job on weekend nights for extra money.
During college I did alot of waitressing while taking mostly art, advertising and photography classes.
After college I worked shortly for a bindary factory doing all sorts of mundane jobs like shrink wrapping stuff, coallating and boxing stuff, before landing a job as a copy setter for a company that did the ads for the Bell Systems yellow pages. It wasn't long before I was transferred, at my request, to the Camera Dept. for that same company. There I " manned" a large stat camera to shoot pmts as well as other jobs relating to ad production.
When that company relocated, I then worked in the sign dept for a dept. store, and I was a layout artist for a printing company.
When I relocated, I worked in the paste up dept for a newpaper, all the while continuing to waitress or bartend on weekends.
I then seized the opportunity to work at a very special sign shop. Special, you see, because it was Joe Rees' sign shop. This is where the real fun began for me. It's all Joe's fault that I'm doing what I'm doing today!
Thanks Joe, for helping me figure out what I wanted to do when I grow up!
Now, I'm still trying to avoid growing up!
Nettie
Posted by CJ Allan (Member # 52) on :
Actually folks......Cheryl didn't really start this thread.......
The IRS Investigative Office, used her name and ID to check up on some of you!!
You WILL be hearing from them in the very near future.....Have "ALL" of your papers ready, and IN ORDER!! Your complete co=operation will be necessary also!!
............Agent B. Feeder IRS
Sorry.......They made me do it......cj
Posted by Marty Happy (Member # 302) on :
I was a tractor pilot and cow milker down on the farm I grew up on. Then I was asked to paint a sign at age 14. I saw the light and haven't really 'worked' since then. I was self-employed right out of high school. Worked as a gas jockey and an electricians helper occasionally inbetween signpaintin' in my little 'ol hometown. Then the quest for love moved moved me to the big city where I served stints in two corporate advertising departments which is how I entered the computer age and found you folk.
It wasn't always the easiest career path, but I never ever stopped being a signmaker.
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Marty Happy ]
Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :
I've been in the studio since I was a little girl, but before I really started hanging out there, I spent most of my time with my horses or in the weapons room with Dad learning about reloading.
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Well lessee... as far as jobs go..
The condensed version:
Pizza Hut cook McD's cook & manager AutoCAD Instructor AutoCAD Technician Structural Engineer Stickerpimp Contract Building Facade Design Engineer
The Long-winded version:
Before I was of legal working age I did the usual lawn mowing, snow shoveling, labor type stuff.
Age 16: Worked about 3 weeks at a Pizza Hut - poorly managed place and seriously busy with a Six Flags theme park a mile down the road, worked 12 hour shifts (4pm-4am).. ended up just running out the back door one night when I was stuck washing dishes.. left right in the middle of a rush.. hahaaha.
Still age 16: started at McD's.. crappy job but I have more friends from my time there than I've made my whole life altogether. Became a manager there at 18. I tried getting into the corporate offices at McD's - I thought it would be kool to become part of their equipment design team (yep, they design and develop their own equipment) but that never panned out, so I ended up leaving McD's and going out on my own..
I started up my own AutoCAD Training biz, as well as doing freelance CAD work and 3D Animation/Presentations. I was 19 at the time.
One of the clients I did some CAD work for decided they needed another full time body around so they asked me - I took them up on their offer. This company had alot of work in Hong Kong, designing the facades (glass and aluminum skins) for skyscrapers, and is the very same company I left in order for my move to Arizona. While at this job, the Electrical Engineering cirriculum I was enrolled in became a structural engineering cirriculum, so I could excel in my new field (before I ever knew anything about moving to the desert)
I got the degree in Structural Engineering and continued on with the engineering aspect of the building facade biz.
Now, flashback to age 16, when I worked at McD's I worked my tail off and was able to afford some nice toys.. trucks and jetskis, mostly. Never knew many (or any) 16 year olds with jetskis that they bought for themselves.
Anyways.. when I was in highschool I had a serious sticker fetish. My truck had so many stickers on it, there wasnt a square inch of visible paint anywhere.. mostly just stickers from my fave music groups. I wish I had pictures of it cause it was definitely a sight to behold.
It was back then, 10 years ago, that I had earned the nickname "stickerpimp".
It was 3 years ago, growing bored with the engineering gig and needing something new, that I turned my nickname into my livelihood. I was still at the engineering gig when I bought my first Roland plotter, the STIKA Plus. I started off makin decals and paint masks for my personal projects and my buddies' projects, customizing our trucks and painting my jetskis.
Soon after I bought that cutter, I started up stickerpimp.com and 6 months later I needed to upgrade to a larger and faster machine so I purchased a ColorCAMM.
The website proved to provide a stable income and I became fed up with boredom at the engineering firm so I packed everything up into my little green turd-colored truck and moved to Arizona. (Actually my truck is a very beautiful pearlescent forest green with a deep blue flip-flop)
Now I cater mostly to jetskiers and car/truck kustomizers. Since my winters slow down a bit, I take on a Contract Design/Engineering gig. I kept in touch with the Vice President at the firm I used to work for as we became good friends and worked very well together. The VP got an offer from another (larger) firm that does the same line of work and he is now the Engineering Manager there, and thanks to our friendship and contact, I'm on the top of the list when they need some extra manpower for their projects. I still get bored with the engineering gig but what can I say? They pay me good money to be bored and to even sit around and do nothing at all from time to time.
Posted by Dave Payne (Member # 2680) on :
I've been doing signs since I was old enough to sweep my dad's shop floor!
Back in 1998 I became a cop.. still work for dad part-time and some side-jobs on my own.
Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :
Lets see, worked for the postal service for awhile, was a drywaller/sheetrock hanger, housepainter, musician since I was 12, worked for the local paper as a distribution clerk, freelance cartoonist, and then signpainter/designer/builder/installer/everything else. Oh yeah, I was CJ's partner in the phone sex business for awhile. Quit when my voice changed. Posted by Rob Larkham (Member # 2105) on :
age 12- shoveled **** on a farm age 16- Ponderosa Steak House age 18- lifeguard age 20- Bartender/male dancer(40lbs. ago) age 22- restaurant manager age 25- Cable construction lineman age 27- vending compnay/part time sign guy age 33- fulltime signguy/starving
Posted by Bob Ficucell (Member # 1460) on :
Hey Rob, Ever notice , to a large degree we're all still shoveling? lol Bob
Posted by John Lennig (Member # 2455) on :
Thru jr. high and high school, had my own
lawn maintenance thing going. At 18 I discovered signs and the brush, and 39 years later, i'm loving the brush more than ever!
John / Big Top
Posted by Preston McCall (Member # 351) on :
I started out polishing hubcaps and bumpers for my father's used car lot in Wichita, Kansas with steel wool amongst the wonderfully interesting African American crew my father had. Got paid with a 1943 Mexican centavos that somehow, I still have! I was five or so and traded it in at the local drug store, where the 'dollies' behind the counter gave me an ice cream cone and harrassed my father forever about paying his kid in Mexican money. He gladly took it off their hands and it fell in the back of his dresser that I found in '86 when I moved my mother finally out of our home. Got it right here in my desk today like one of those framed dollar bills some people proudly display at their businesses.
Gyped cars thru high school selling '55, 56 & 57 Chevys to other high school kids while working as 'Lot Boy' at a Pontiac store. Very big deal getting the title BTW. The others were called porters and Lot Boy meant I could pick up the keys and gas up the muscle cars with purchase order authority. Drove new GTOs every day. Burned off the tires in a Superbird. Had a 427 Galaxie 500 that I should have kept!
Went to four years of art school in painting and drawing and detailed cars on the side to pay for tuition. Gyped a few more sleds. Tuition was $171.00 a semester!
Went to grad school in architecture and gyped a few more shooters and ran the detail shop for a Mopar dealer.
Right out of grad school knew I never wanted to be a boring architect, so with a few dollars of savings, I opened a detail shop/body shop which grew into 20 or so employees in a couple of years. Opened a sign shop with a buddy of mine from art school and learned how to lick letter while continuing the auto shop. Sold out of all of it and opened an official automotive restoration business in a huge building with many employees. Did alot of late 40s cars and many muscle cars. Became a firetruck restoration person. Opened a medical equipment refurbishing business rebuilding dental chairs and other medical equipment. Opened a wholesale auto auction with another 40 employees. Ran the restoration shop and other businesses for ten years until my doberman died and sold it all off to go run a Chevy store for another three years, a hundred miles west of KC. One day there I tried to find someone to come in and paint our showroom windows.
Quit my wonderful job running the Chevy store to go splash windows. Took three months off to go see the real splashes in LA and learned alot. Also painted 110,000 car windshields! Been doing this for eleven years and love it, however am now starting an art gallery in Santa Fe, NM as all thru this I continued to paint oil pictures and now need somewhere to really market them and retire. I turn 51 on Feb 8. www.prestonmccall.com No where else in the world can we get to have this much fun and enjoy working as much, I bet!
Posted by Kathy Joiner (Member # 1814) on :
Cheryl, this is an interesting post.
Well, Ocupational Therapy was supposed to be my lifetime career. My husband owned a utility construction business and I helped a little, but my heart was at the hospital. Back in 81 he had a severe stroke and his health went downhill from then on. I had no choice but to take over the business and manage it.
Tain't no fun for a woman ditch digger laying gaslines. The only time I enjoyed myself was when I was young enough to go out on the job to replace an absent worker. I also enjoyed bidding jobs, the bigger the better. Guess it was the challenge and competition that turned me on.
When I got out of that I was so old I was having trouble getting myself out of bed, so I decided that O.T. was not an option for me. I have this pet peeve about therapists who only do range of motion. I have to see results.
Which brings us to the present. As someone above said,"All you need is a computer and a plotter." I had a computer. Yeah right! I'm still buying toys. It is wonderful to wake up in the morning and not have to do what you hate. Ain't life grand!
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I dealt drugs on the streets, before that I was a runner for a numbers racket, then I was a trained assasin (US military), then more dope, then did some posters and signs and signs and .....
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
Rob Larkham.........You naughty boy! And yes Kathy....life is grand..... Dang.....we are an interesting bunch eh?
Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :
What did I do before signs? Is this a trick question? Signs were around before I was. How old does Cheryl think I am? When I was 21 I ran a NAPA store in Maine... Not a particularly interesting job...One thing I remember...There was an older guy there who just drove me nuts...always complaining or coming up with some kind of conspiracy theories or just babbling all sorts of nonsense...so I fired him...I think he moved to Florida. Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...CAM you funn-e man.....i worked for ARROSTOOK AUTO PARTS caribou maine from 1970-73....was the 1st NAPA store in the county. let me tell you about the maine UFO sightings....
Posted by Kent Smith (Member # 251) on :
Before signs I basically played with my toys, rode a tricycle etc. I started doing revenue work in Dad's shop, shocards and price tickets, at 8 years old and had always helped in the shop from the time I could walk. Afterschool I was making as much daily as my friends made in a month delivering papers. Never quit making signs although after college I added teaching, principal, superintendent and assistant professor. Back to signs full time in '73 after getting tired of public education politics and being broke on educators salary. Always making signs to keep the family fed. As third generation in the business I have been trained in all phases of the trade and find that variety envigorating. Being able to be creative in a different way every day makes this the best way to make a living.
Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
At age 14 I was a paper boy when I stopped at a signpainters house every nite to watch him...one day he asked if I wanted a job....you know what the answer was! He walked over to the corner...picked up a broom, handed it to me and said "here's your first brush".
The rest... as they say is history!
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
Paper boy Laborer Stock boy Projectionist Oil Field worker Marine Engineering Architectural Technologist Porn Star (Bigus Dickus) Drug Dealer Sign Maker
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Lawn Mowing (age 9) House Painter Carpenter Heavy Equipment Operator Mechanic Welder General Supervisor (General Contracting Company)
Started lettering and striping in the 8th grade. Started doing it for a living at age 32. Still here. Still having fun.
Posted by Ken Morse (Member # 1799) on :
Newspaper Boy Service Station Attendant Auto Body Repair US Navy Baker/Bakery owner Tow driver/owner Marketing/trademarked products Signs Politics Sliding into the Separatists Arena...Brakes are failing me....Help. ..
Posted by kevinlandry (Member # 1352) on :
Joined the military when I was 17. Retired after 24 years of undetected crime. Trained as a meteorologist. Worked with the army, navy and airforce all over the place.
Retired as a Warrant Officer and started making signs 5 years ago.
Oh I forgot.... along the way, bartender, cook, deck scrubber, painter, shoe shiner, laundry, seamstress, trained killer (LOL) and anything else they told me to do.
The meteorlogical part got me into signs. We were using computers (WANS) and layout for weather displays since the early 70's.
Posted by Tony B (Member # 935) on :
Offshore SupplyBoat Maintenance Technition(deckhand) Fire Communications Officer(My house is on fire!...calm down please) Owner/Operator in the transportation biz Concrete driver/frontend loader operator Quality Control Director Sign Maker
[ February 06, 2002: Message edited by: Tony B ]
Posted by Danny Palmer (Member # 95) on :
High School - College - Minor League Baseball - Police Officer - Business Owner.
Spent 15 years as a Police Officer. A lot of time spent travelling the USA and Canada playing in the Law Enforcement Softball Association. In 1992, I broke my neck in the line of duty, and was abruptly forced to retire and begin working for a living. We started as a trophy and sign shop and have been ever so fortunate to evolve into HitKing Sports Inc. with now 7 stores and growing. Shameless plug www.hitkingsports.com Steve, if that's some sort of violation please remove it. I have had e-mails say, "What is it you do anyway?"
Posted by Neil D. Butler (Member # 661) on :
Porno Star.... Yah I Wish! Worked at a Grocery store when I was going to Art School, Built Loghomes, the Handcrafted style, but was always making signs 24yrs now and counting... Oh I have to change the foil in the edge..... Neil
Posted by goddinfla (Member # 1502) on :
After school, worked as a construction laborer, then went to Carpenter Apprenticeship school and was a carpenter for a while. Worked at my father in law's sign shop routing wood signs by hand. Went back to construction and ran commercial jobs. Went back to work at the sign shop (now owned by my father in law's ex-wife). Worked there for about a year and a half. Started a sign company with a coworker. Did that for 10 years. Made a huge mistake and went to work for another sign shop because I was tired of dealing with the headaches of self employment. Could only take a year and a half of that. Started another sign company with a coworker. Been doing that for about 3 and half years. The partner left about 4 months ago, so I am solo now.
Posted by Ian Wilson (Member # 177) on :
20 years military Motor Mechanic Auto Electrician Gas fitter Signmaker best job I ever Had 13 years now Posted by Kurt Gaber (Member # 256) on :
Well, I'll have to agree... this is a cool post Cheryl. Only thing is, after reading about all of the folks who did so many things BEFORE signs...well I feel like I should be more accomplished, because that's all I've ever done really.
Age: 11 Lettered bicycles that I raced
12: Started Little Gaber Signs(had my own business cards too)
14 to 17: Part-time janitor at the post office (never went postal though!)
18: Went to college for one year(advertising design)
19: Interviewed at a signshop on a whim during summer break... got a job
20-27: Worked at 3 different shops
27 to 33: Home based sign business
33 to 36: Downtown sign shop location with one full time employee
I enjoy the sign business, but I really have a life outside of that as well. Including hunting, enjoying dirt track racing events, spending time with my wife and 2 kids, playing power volleyball and cruising the country trails on my 4-wheeler.
[ February 07, 2002: Message edited by: Kurt Gaber ]
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Very interesting guys, here's my mini story to introduce myself:
After school I completed a 3 1/2 year apprenticeship as a signpainter in Switzerland
Went to the military for a while but didn't do too much damage
Printing bumperstickers for a couple years
Stayed home to raise the little monsters
Decided to pack it up and go farming in Canada
Couldn't stand it without painting and started bugging the local signman in his shop
Became friends, then business partners, finally I took over the shop a year ago
Love it, absolutely love it
Posted by Mike Lavallee (Member # 320) on :
well lets see, my very first job was loading clay pigeons on a trap machine in a cement bunker while it was 90+ degrees out for a local sports club. ahhhh a buck an hour and all the broken clay pigeon chips in the face a guy could want then I worked at the pizza man , chopping onions,and shaving frozen steak. then got my promotion to working the ovens and got to pick who chopped those damn onions! hahahah after that I put myself through sign school in Boston. after school I got a job at the Sign Gallery in Manchester NH where I got to do all the grunt work for $5.35 an hour, only to have that HUGE 25 cent raise snached away for some stupid reason every time it was raise time.... then I grew a brain and decided I could do this on my own, and did for 10 years. then I found out how much I liked pinstriping motorcyles and the cash it delivered to me. I worked the shows for 18 years and then moved here to the northwest where I've pretty much specialized in Custom show quality airbrush artwork and I must say that I enjoy what I do now more than anything else I've ever done. although every once i a while I get this urge to make a pizza in the shape of a clay pigeon!
an old man once told me, son, find something you love to do and you'l never have to work a day in your life. he was right.
[ February 07, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lavallee ]
Posted by Robert Thomas (Member # 1356) on :
Before signs? I was a baby, can't remember.
Posted by Pete Kouchis (Member # 343) on :
Before the the sign thang:8 years in the video retail business, 7 years in the rubber industry doing everything from lab tech to chemist/compounder to process technician. Also ran a milk route delivering to grocery stores & restaurants, tended bar, etc... Funny thing though, being Greek, I've yet to get into the restaurant business!
Posted by Steve Shortreed (Member # 436) on :
This is a great topic Cheryl! It's amazing to learn what everyone did before signs.
My first job was delivering papers. I always hated collecting the money and was always short paying my newspaper bill. In the end, I got canned.
In high school, I worked as a janitor partime, before getting a job at a small styrofoam company that made packaging. The owners had enough faith in me to offer me a fulltime job as a leadhand with my own crew at 17. It was hot, hard work in a steamy enviornment, but I have many good memories.
My training in high school was geared towards a career in drafting. I had always been interested in drawing and my goal was to get a job at General Electric as a draftsman.
My worse subject at school was chemistry. I failed it miserably and never got my Grade 12 as a result. Imagine my shock when GE hired me as a chemist!
That job lasted 3 months. I wore a suit and tie, had a secretary and my own office. My Grandmother was thrilled, but I hated it. One day I picked up the phone and begged the styrofoam owners to take me back.
In early 1993, I followed my best friend to a job at Canada Wire and Cable. We made elecrical wire for the automotive and building industry. During the next 110 years I worked as a spooler, extruder operator and finally making the PVC used as insulation on the wire.
By 1975, I had discovered the sign business. My new interest developed into a partime business and in 1983, we went fulltime making signs under the name The SignMan.
The business outgrew our 2 car garage so we rented a 40' x 40' shop. We were there until my heart attacks started in 1994.
Our next few years were hell. Lots of sickness, dispair and financial challenges. Then a miracle happened. A small website I started as a hobby in late 1995 developed into The Letterhead Website and then Letterville. Who would have ever thought?
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
Great post Cheryl!, Great mirical Steve!
Posted by RonniesTintSigns (Member # 1669) on :
Before signs ? Huh.. I got lost a lot when going on trips. lol
Posted by Carl Wood (Member # 1223) on :
1st job - Truck washer at Blue Beacon Truck Wash in Amarillo, Texas - 2nd job - lookout for a pimp at truckstops in Amarillo - -3rd job - cook- 4th job - dishwasher - same "Ol truckstops - -5th job - I'm movin up now - Overseer for truckstop & Restaurant in Adrian, Texas - -middle of nowhere - that was my favorite job - -once bought a .45 pistol there for 20 bucks worth of gas - then traded that gun for a '72 Pontiac - that was a bad car till I totaled it out racing the Trans Am.....Oh yea ....fun days back then....then there was the time me & a girlfriend was riding that Honda TT500.....and wound up on the other side of the fence.........over the handlebars.....then we got up & rode on in to Amarillo - to the "Big Texan" steak house.....anybody here ever been there ? Carl
Posted by Chris Elliott (Member # 1262) on :
Carl, I've never been inside that steakhouse but I've drove past it more times than I care to remember. Amarillo was usually someplace I was going through, not to. However, I am guilty of spending way too much time in those truckstops you mentioned so let's compare notes some time. Hope to see you at Fred's in OKC.
Posted by Kevin Smith (Member # 1667) on :
Left school at 14 years : Joined family sign/paint business : 47 years ago : still enjoy the trade.
Kevin Smith Signs Mudgee NSW Australia 2850
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
Wow, this sure is entertaining!
I never got an allowance as a child so I had to create my own income hehehe. In Junior high I was macrame queen and other crafts as well...such as pottery, jewelry design, embroidering jeans, etc. Always painting...back drops for plays and football games, etc. That turned into murals for money, along with the calligraphy.
Senior high, I had been babysitting all my life (the oldest) and for other folks, started slingin pickles for a steady check whilst getting pretty heavy in the ceramics. I began writing for the school paper and submitting illies and charicatures. We got to play with geisso and I found it could be spread on a piece of glass and peeled up when it dried, like a sticker...hehehe. Yup, you got it, I was the sticker pimp in my school yard hehehe! Almost every locker had my handiwork on or in it.
Folks were asking me to put their girlfriend's name on the passenger door of their cars, this turned out to be pretty lucrative for a spell, young love n all, hehehe. That turned into, "Hay, my dad needs some lettering done on his truck!" and so I hopped a bus up to Atlanta one day to look for a sign shop. I figgered I needed to know more about what I was doing, hehehe.
They had no idea that I could do calligraphy, I had no idea it was a big deal. They gave me a lettering brush and I remember thinkin this pen has a wobbly nib, but ok...For SALE, it was!
I got the red paint off of my hands with some mineral spirits and never looked back. The next week, we're doing sho-cards for the Magic Garden, complete with attatched glossies and an illegal amount of glitter stars...hehehe! Sho-carding is where I really fell in love with Script lettering, the perfect letter is so satisfying!
Since then, my life is a blur of working outta my trunk mostly, but a little bit in the printing industry doing every thing but the fork lift and the presses.
When I was old enough, I slung coffee in the mornings and drinks at night, for the money and the jokes. I slung my fair share of pickles before 16...a few pizzas after.
When my girls came along, I had a play pen and my my sign kit set up under a window in a strip mall and before I could finish the first one, more folks were asking me to hit their place, till it got dark and the next day I went by and realized I had zig-zagged and done the whole strip hahaha!
I took some pics and started my portfolio, my mother was soooooo happy! I wish I had listened to her earlier about taking pictures...hehehe. I learned how to work like a monkey all summer so I could stay home with my girls when it was cold.
Since then I've done race cars, bill boards, menu copy for days, sho-cards, banners, walls, 4'x whatevers, windows, awnings, tennis courts (logos for Pringle Dixon Pringle clients, even!) more murals, helmets, instrument cases, bikes, and fliers.
I tried to retire a couple of years ago for health reasons, but for sainty reasons, I dusted off the old kit and am determined to make some more money! I missed my brushes so much! It might just be the paint fumes, but I think one of my fitches winked at me the other day!
[ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: Linda Silver Eagle ]
Posted by Pam Eddy (Member # 1858) on :
Started with babysitting at 11 yrs old Working in fast food next, then testing waffle irons for the Malted waffle king, then started in signs at the age of 20. Juggled college full time, work full time and learning the sign trade with great uncle until all at the same time until something had to give. Quit college (thought I was going into accounting, ha! my checkbook has been off by $300 for the last 7 years. No interest in crunching numbers I found out). Been doing sign since.
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
Linda.......I sure know what you are talking about when you say you wish you would have taken pictures in those early days. My first actual paying sign job was doing sho cards. I took my black and white India ink bottles and brushes around the small town of Kirkland & asked if I could make signs for anyone. I would do the signs right on the spot. I got tons of jobs that day and went home with the biggest smile. Well here it is...26 years later, and still makin' signs.
Yes ! This certainly has been fun hearing what everyone did BS(before signs) Thanks for sharing!!
[ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: cheryl nordby ]
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
Ya know Cheryl,
Seems like we could get more work as a snapper of sorts. I would think the clients would rather have established companies with accounts and someone to hold accountable if it were to back fire as opposed to somebody runnin through town with a little box, hehehe. Maybe I should toss on a paint apron and put a quill behind my ear and see what happens? It worked before hehehe.
Posted by Nancy B. Bennett (Member # 1451) on :
Iowa farmer-hogs,cattle,hay,corn & soybeans.
Posted by Brian (Member # 39) on :
Started working in High school at a gas station fixing tires and stuff. Worked in a wharehouse stocking (boring as anything). Started driving tow trucks in Detroit then got my Commercial driving license and drove class C tow trucks (Semi's) doing recovery work and stuff. Shuttled cargo trailers for a rail yard. Moved to Washington and drove tow trucks again and started managing a company working wayyyy to many hours so I decided I might as well work for myself.
I happened to mention my intentions of doing graphic design (always had done it on the side and took some classed at the Detroit school of Auto design) when he says "why dont you try signs?" - It turns out that he retired from Ioline as an executive and was given a cutter as a gift. He let me borrow it until I could buy my own, 9 years later here I am and lovin it...
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
BEFORE signs? There has never been a life without signs for me. Before I was even born, my dad had his sign shop in our house. Back then it was the tiny screened in porch at the front of our house. Eventually when he bought the building, it was the huge studio he built in the back. It was great, I was the only kid who had someplace to ride my bike indoors when it was snowing out.
I spent a lot of my childhood just sitting watching my dad work. Too bad the artistic talent seems to have skipped a generation! My daughter is 4 and she is already a better artist than I am. I've saved all of my dad's brushes, pens, maul sticks and other sign painting essentials for her JUST IN CASE.
Posted by John Smith (Member # 1308) on :
Worked at a REAL job !!
Posted by Arvil Shep' Shepherd (Member # 2030) on :
"Played with crayons"
Posted by Peter Manzolillo (Member # 1062) on :
Did the usual college and high-school student type of jobs, along with band gigs.
However, I went to college for Journalism. I was good at sportswriting.
After graduating, I drove to another state and was hired by a newspaper. On the drive home, I was hit with the realization that I HATED sportswriting, and what I really wanted to be was a signpainter!
After calling the editor of the paper and getting chewed out, a week later I got a job at a signshop!
Took several years of evening practice before I could consider myself a "signpainter." But I was happy!!
Then, the signmaking computer came along...
Posted by Mike Languein (Member # 319) on :
at 6 house painting with my dad. We were like Mutt & Jeff, I did the low work. My dad would make me paint for punishment and I loved it, never told him. ("Please, PLEASE - don't fling me in that briar patch, Bre'r Fox.")
Lawn Mowing, Gardening and Pet Sitter. Kid stuff.
Typesetter's Devil & Proofreader. Often wish I'd stayed in it.
sold Auto Parts. Dealing with the crazy public. Yukk!
Edison grunt. Hard work, office politics.
U.S. Navy. Possibly the worst job in the world.
Art Student & Tire Retreader. Tires - the filthiest job. Garbage collector would be cleaner.
Car Battery Assembler. Lead and Sulphuric Acid, boy are THEY nice.
Swimming Pool Cleaner. Harsh chemicals, cold water, dead rats and bugs in the filters, no place to go to the restroom, yapping, biting dogs - those guys don't get paid enough.
Shipping Clerk / Parts Assembler. Biggest challenge!; Making UPS deadline every day. Most exercise I ever got, fair pay - got me out of $12,000 Credit Card debt in 18 months.
Census Crew Leader. 80 to 100 hours a week/pay for 40. Confusing forms/worthless enumerators/angry residents. NEVER AGAIN!
Hang-Arounder at Disneyland. Best pay - most boring.
I'm not sure what the difference is between "Self Employed" and "Unemployed", but those, more times than any. I've worked in or for 36 sign shops, some of them more than once. I like it the best, just wish it paid.
(Maintenance Forman for a large retirement complex.( 6 years was more then enough) 
