posted
You ever get one of those days when you are working on something.then you remember doing it as a youth? I had one the other day... WOrkin' at the drawing board... I can remember many Late nites workin on that bugger as a kid... My Dad was a sign painter... His "MISION IN LIFE" as he used to say was to teach us four boys his craft.. he did at home too. Home used to be for work too.
I used to wake up late at nite & go downstairs because I could hear music playing??.. UHOH!! dad's up late, painting signs again... Sure enough.. come around the corner carefully and quiet.. you could see him glowing from the flourescent light only inches from the top of his head.. If he saw you... Good chance your late nite pee break may be a late nite paint jam... School came second to work....MOst of the TIme...
ANyways as you get older and tend not to spend so much time at the old drawing board....or with the family..
Sure fealt good to paint on it again... Still Does.. Man I miss working with my brothers on those drawing boards.. All four of us.. we had 3 8-footers in a row.. Production.. Four little unpaid, overfeed, way overworked employees.. He paid at the Lunch counter & donuts shops.. quite well.. I was a lefty.. A problem child. An outcast. I started at the end.. I was Special.. I guess that is where the Attitude came from... Mike gets to paint all the way down on the other side of the scaffolding 40'( that happens to be in the air on ladder jacks hanging from extension ladders.) I was the one the truckers said learned to paint watching my dad in the mirror.. we always laughed it was to good of a story to change.. Yeh that was me.. Ol Mirror image of the ol man boyee..
all in all. It was fun growing up with a Singpainting Dad. Nothing was Normal,
We were always late but had the Best to grille. Time goes by way to quick..
Being A Whacky Signpainter has been fun so far....
p.s. Wwow!!,,, to many signpainting memories to remember,all 39 years to be exact. Holy Crap, My 3 Brothers and I have had some crazy times at work.. I gotta write em down.. *keyboard typing* rofl, not near enough time to share em all.. the adventures of sign boy.. I can see it..
Cya Mad MAX
Posts: 84 | From: Gladstone , Michigan | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Writem' down, Mike, those times are gone, but the future signwriters(and they ARE out there) will love to read and re-read those stories!Are your brothers still at it?
John
-------------------- John Lennig / Big Top Sign Arts 5668 Ewart Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada bigtopya@hotmail.com 604.451.0006 Posts: 2184 | From: Burnaby, British Columbia,Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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(that may be a typo, but it has its own imagery as it is- I'll have to try some singpainting myself. Our second youngest daughter singpaints a lot and the singing part drives her brothers & sisters mad!)
Thanks for the story Mike!
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
yes Ian,, Signpainting may be a loose term. back them it was more impressionistic...
Signpainting for us, was Basic Training all over for my dad.. We were his little grunts.. They must be pretty tough in basic training in the Military.. we were ready for WAR!
Most days we helped wash trucks, Sweep the parking lot, and vaccum the shop.. Excuse me G.I. the shop floor. that was his WORD.. everything was G.I... ( He Was Crazy about cleaning, shop always looked packed, he was a typical SignPainter - Professional Junk collector.) couldn't tell ol' Andy though.. life was short enough.. He would tell us we were lucky ?!!?.. Did he say Lucky?? whats lucky about working everynight, after school, weekends, holidays.. LUCKY?? Lucky was a good term for what he was talking about. Lucky was When he was younger. our Grandpa use to grab them Kids by the legs and Bang'em against the Barn.. My Grandpa Was A genius or criminal when it came to discipline.. No Arguments their.. I guess when you have 14 boys & 2 girls you have to be creative with your Discipline... All I kept thinking to myself is that Someone is lucky..
Ol' Andy did not ever Consider the Fact that he has 4 Highly trained Exacto wielding sons that could gut him in Minutes.. A Mutiny may not be out of the question if the Captain keeps pushing.. Soldiers lose it in battle..We gotta keep it together.. I need 3 reinforcements with Brand NEW Blades,, Asap!! it would have been more like the Meat Grinder. He'd still be bitching while his body parts were hitting the ground.. We never had to take him down.. he got lucky..
another word my dad Never had in his vocabulary was "never".. He said that.. But if you ask me, he was never on time, never done on time, but he never not one to let us know he loved us..
Never say Never around my Dad.. to this day,,
You ever seen when they Call Michael J Fox Yellow on Back to the Future? My Dad loses it like he does..LOL His Favorite thing to say was. You WILL learn to Paint.. YOU WILL NEVER hand me that brush BACK EVER AGAIN!! "My Mission on this planet is to teach you boys" you quickly got the message and headed back to the 4'X8" you were attempting to letter.. Attempting also was not in his Vocabulary.. If you were joining this Circus, You better get ready to jump the first time with no net. He knew what you could do.. he pushed you to the limit for some crazy reason...but now I see why If you attempted to let some garbage past.. He would show you what Mineral spirits & a Rag could do to freshly painted boards in a second.. ReDO.. Start all over., I do not care if you have to recoat this board to get it done right.. We do not turn out garbage like this..
Anyone like bassfishing here?
Hate It!!! BassFishing was only an excuse to get Dad the hell outa the shop so we can get these truck lettered fast.. All four of us boys were running to get Dad his poles. It looked like an airraid with all of us running.. We had done this drill many times.. GO! GO! GO! Taking fire.. Need Assistance.. Where are his JImmy Houston SunGlasses? we had started charging the battery early in the morn. FILL!! the coolers with Michelob light!! he will get bombed and be in late tomorrow morning!!!!. ICE COLD BEER!!! Keep it cold boys.. he won't be able stop at 12 if its Ice Cold.. He was no drunk, just real good at what he was doing.. He Was a professional, at fishing.. in his mind. didn't matter he was gone..Adios Andy!!
We used had to read to my dad about fishing.. Yep if you weren't old enough to letter.. you can read to my dad and sharpen all of his pencils.. One thing you did not ever want to do was, get caught having your hands in your pockets..! If you got nothing to do, and you were just standing around with your hands in your pockets and Ol' ANdy saw you... Out comes the 2" masking tape. No more pockets for you today.. He still will hug & kiss us to this day and I am 39.. I love it.. Makes you feal good that after all that Bull**** he still loved you..
Even as bad as you though it was.. It really wasn't.. We had alot of Love. Not many people get to say that... Rancho Contreras...
All in All, it Worked pretty good. Accept I can't help but pick up a broom at whoevers shop or house I happen to be at..
Gotta get flying.. gotta snow plow... Everyone have a fine day.. I guess I had better call my Mom after all this talking about my Dad.. SHe was well Expensive, And a great Mom.. she was just background noise for my Dad..lol
Can you Imagine having 5 Signpainters in the house, counting Andy?? Man it was crazy..
It Was Great Too..
p.s. Andy was a loose term my brothers and I would use when he was not there.. we never called him anything but Dad.. As we get older we heckle him and call him Andy.. ( wooh! getting a little teary eyed) Life sure has some great moments in it.. I am Glad I have had alot.... THanx Dad! I sure am glad the Holidays are coming around.. Family Time.. hug then loved ones.
Posts: 84 | From: Gladstone , Michigan | Registered: Jun 2000
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