posted
The Grateful Dead lyric epitomizes a conversation I had this morning with my old business partner and best friend. We reminisced about some of the characters and situations of our first few years. It was (and still is) a wild and crazy ride. When I got off the phone, I started thinking about my beginnings in the sign biz - I got a summer job at a sign shop after graduating high school in 1969. Something about this weird business grabbed me when an 80 year old signmaster named Mr. Pillsbury put a quill in my hand and taught me how to pull a stroke - it hasn't let go yet.
When I did the math, I realized this week I'm starting my 40th year as a signman. I've ridden this roller coaster a long time and it's given me the highest highs and the lowest lows, but I can honestly say, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I can also say that my involvement with Letterheads has been responsible for most of the highs.
I thank you all and invite anyone at the Pontiac Meet to join me for a cold one to kick off the NEXT 40 YEARS...........
-------------------- www.signcreations.net Sonny Franks Lilburn, GA 770-923-9933 Posts: 4115 | From: Lilburn, GA USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
40 years in the biz would indicate that you are at least 42-43 years old...yes? lets see....I started in 72 so Im close at yer heels but Im a Yankee....we take winters off because its so cold...so adding that in...Im in biz for 40 years and 3 days...so I m ahead of ya now
A few days ago I was telling Janis that as of this year I too have been in the sign business (and self employed) for 40 years now. Monday, Janis & I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary and as business partners too for the same period.
I was talking with a local old timer sign painting friend this afternoon and he was showing me his stash of lettering quills which only see occasional use these days. Mine are pretty dusty too although we still paint and letter in our shop - only all with acrylics and different brushes these days.
We too have had our good times and bad, rich days and poor days, as well as ups and downs creatively through the years. Like Sonny, I couldn't imagine making a living any other way than being creative on a daily basis.
Looking back we have been privileged to design and build some of the wildest things imaginable and still get to on a regular basis. What a cool way to make a living!
Best of all I believe that even after 40 years in this business, the best is yet to come. Its taken 40 years to gather the skills and tools we currently have. Every day I get to learn something new and build on what I've learned yesterday... some days I feel as if I am barely qualified and will hopefully be able to stop faking it pretty soon.
I hope to be able to continue in this business for many more years yet! I wish the same for all who desire it.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Sonny Franks: I thank you all and invite anyone at the Pontiac Meet to join me for a cold one to kick off the NEXT 40 YEARS...........
I will take you and others up on that offer Sonny.
So looking forward to meeting a lot of you.
-------------------- Sam Staffan Mackinaw Art & Sign 721 S. Nokomis St. Mackinaw City, MI dstaffan@sbcglobal.net Posts: 1694 | From: Mackinaw City, MI | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Why is it that when we've been at it long enough to get humble again that our eyes start failing? that we're not limber enough to letter in some of those strange positions any more? and when we do, our lunch keeps coming back?
There are a world of folks around us that work twenty years and retire. We do two shifts and are hungry for more. I think we are very blessed.
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6714 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sonny, I'm really looking forward to meeting you in Pontiac. I had a nice thing happen at work the other day. I was working away in my little design cubicle at Yesco and the older guy (than me) that's in charge of the electrical dept. was changing the ceiling light fixtures above me. We started talking and I found out he had been a sign painter for over 30 years.. gold leaf windows, theater displays, oil field signs, billboards, you name it. Well, we started telling each other our sign painting stories and now when we pass each other in the hall we can't shut up!
quote:Originally posted by Si Allen: If I may quote Bushie^: "The Mind writes cheques that the Body can't cash!"
speaking of song lyrics... one of the bands that all my deadhead friends enjoyed was Little Feat, & one appropriate choice of their many songs to mention on this thread would be "Old Folks Boogie", with a chorus Bushie may have inspired:
Off our rockers, actin' crazy With the right medication we won't be lazy Doin' the old folks boogie Down on the farm Wheelchairs, they was locked arm in arm Paired off pacemakers with matchin' alarms Gives us jus' one more chance To spin one more yarn
And you know that you're over the hill When your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill Doin' the old folks boogie And boogie we will 'Cause to us the thought's as good as a thrill
Back at the home, No time is your own, Facillities there, they're all out on loan The bank forclose, and your bankruptcy shows And your credit creeps to an all-time low So you know, that you're over the hill When your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill
Try and get a rise from an atrophied muscle, And the nerves in your thigh just quivers and fizzles So you know, that you're over the hill When your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill
posted
Did the first sign in 55'. Out by the edge of the street in front of a gas station. 2 sides, took me almost 2 weeks. It was a while before I even knew what a quill was. And a while before I made it through the door of a sign shop. In the fifties there were mostly closed shops. You could only get in if you had a contact or were a family member.
I could tell ya' some stories...
Jack
P.S. Maybe I'll write it down some day if I still can remember.
-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Congrats Sonny.......We'll have 40 of them little suckers,and Velma will bring her tomato juice........... and you gots to love this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoZCrMKbPN0
posted
Can I join in? This is my 61st year of painting signs and not tired of it yet. All excited about Pontiac, especially after being invited to help out with Judy Grossman's mural. Before I get too old, I hope that we could have a meet where we can spend most of the time just talking to one another. Bill
-------------------- Bill Riedel Riedel Sign Co., Inc. 15 Warren Street Little Ferry, N.J. 07643 billsr@riedelsignco.com Posts: 2953 | From: Little Ferry, New Jersey, USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Here you go Doug! We saw Little Feat a couple years ago in Bloomington and they were LOTS of fun! "...When your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill"
Some of you definately have Bill beat but we figured this year was our 31st year in business. Just like you, up and downs, but what a great life it's been!!
[ June 12, 2009, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: Jane Diaz ]
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
So I'm the newbie in this crowd, in business "only" 21 years this year (I was confused and started late - yeah, that must be it!) Speaking of beer, I'll be bringing something especially for Sonny and the other "Johnny Rebs" in Pontiac. Can I get a Rebel Yell?
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
There are some great comments & quotes up the top, including Rixax's doing 2 shifts & still coming back for more- we're blessed!
(23 years officially, here, and 7 yrs of unofficial dabbling before that- like Cam- maybe I was confused at first!)
-------------------- "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
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ian, you're right about Rick Sacks - but the reason he does double shifts is because all his customers come in and give him a big hug and bring firewood - and if you go out to dinner with him and Megan, the waiters and most of the patrons come up and give them hugs too - it's like hanging out with a family of teddy bears..............
-------------------- www.signcreations.net Sonny Franks Lilburn, GA 770-923-9933 Posts: 4115 | From: Lilburn, GA USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
well i got hooked back in the late 50's. got my 1st set of quills then. did some work with a couple sign painter....did a lot car stuff in my late teens, mostly free. could recreate BIG DADDY ROTH cartoons, from memory. went in the service 65, the people i worked for found out about my special skills, and i was on any project that required letters, or drawing. got outa the service, played with a few signs here and there..while having other jobs for money. did this till 1986....when i got feed up with the "jobs" and the bozo's who was my boss......and i finally made the leap into FULL TIME SIGN PAINTER. AND I NEVER BEEN HAPPIER. i hit 62, took my SS, figured i would just be lazerier bum then i was.....but i got MORE PAINT WORK NOW....then ive had since i moved here in 98. doin a lot of PERIOD(old cars, gas pumps, old signs), recreating ones that long since outa production. and when they was popular...THEY WAS DONE IN PAINT. iam hopin to still be doin this....at least another 20 years......))))))))))
[ June 13, 2009, 02:44 AM: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
I am so excited to be coming to Pontiac with so many talented and gifted sign people. I don't get to comment too often with 3 kids at home and other Dad things to do, but being a part of the sign business for over 20 years now has been a blessing. I feel, like many here, that we are where we should be and doing what we love.
This trip is really more therapy than work for me. I have had to deal with several changes at my shop the past 5 years but I still feel I am making progress and learning everyday.
I get a lot of inspiration from many of you here on this board and I'm looking forward to meeting many of you that have been so helpful with your advice and experience.
I hope we can help out on several murals because I want to meet everybody!
Sign-cerely pumped in Illinois, Steve
-------------------- Steve Luck Sign Magic Inc. 2718-b Grovelin Godfrey, Illinois 62035 (618)466-9120 signmagic@sbcglobal.net Posts: 870 | From: 2718-b Grovelin Godfrey, Illinois 62035 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sonny that is so wild you've been in business that long . . . you just don't look [I/]that[I] old . . .*Schnicker*
Other than Big Dad'ay Si, the Leader of the Band, who still recalls hyro-glyphics, I can't speak for the rest of y'all age-wise 'cause I don't know you quite well enough to give you grief about bein' SO old, but . . . OMG, sum'a y'all (er' us) been around a-WHILE.
I've been officially self-employeed as a signer since '88. Before that 2 years under Neon-Ron at Sign Fabricators, and before that about 1 year trying to paint signs with art-brushes and red-devil paint on a block wall when I was 'discovered' by the now retired Great Aubrey Guinn, who got me hired on at Sign Fab. It has been, and continues to be a wild, fun and extremely int'restin' ride. Always sum'thin' new & different in this never boring 'work' . . . /career/profession/play
The discovery of Letterville and eventually meeting and forming lasting friendships with many of you awesome, unique, creative, intelligent, talented 'heads has been the icing-on-the-cake of this beautiful & delicious multi-layered journey . . . *sniff* I just luv all y'all!
-------------------- Signs Sweet Home Alabama
oneshot on chat
"Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog" Posts: 5758 | From: "Sweet Home" Alabama | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, I just read this whole thread. WOW! Such great stuff! I love it all. Rixax..big teddy bear, Yup! Luv that guy! Profound too. Sonny...I can't keep up with you drinkin' beer, but I can't wait to toast the fact that you are older than I thought, Ha! And still such a humble, sweet thang. Brent, we need to meet and talk and paint in Pontiac. You are closer to me in miles than most of these guys. I get to Tahoe occasionally. Bill Riedel...I can't wait to have you to work next to me! What an honor!!! I hope you won't be dissappointed in what we're doing. I am sooo stoked, I could just ...Oh never mind. OK...Me, I've been painting offically for 23 years. Used to call myself an unemployed art teacher making money painting signs. After about 5 years, I finally figured out that I was glad I wasn't teaching. Now, I am REALLY glad. Although, I'd be retired right now with a pension. But I wouldn't know any of you, I probably wouldn't be painting murals and I wouldn't have great stories to tell. Like when I finished painting my first sign that was the two sides of a bread truck when I was SEVEN MONTHS pregnant! It paid for the delivery of my daughter, who is now 28! I love that story. There weren't many sign painters that were women then. When I went into the sign supply store, the guy had the nerve to laugh in my face. Course, it coulda been my maternity clothes that got him first. I guess I showed him! I was a single mom and got to have my shop at home and raise my daughter too and it was all good. Man! I can't wait for more stories to be flyin' when the paint is flingin'! And Sheila...Gotta love your statement, "Look like a girl, act like a lady (what?, think like a man (gotta to get their jobs), work like a dog." That is fantastic! I gotta remember that one. See you soon...WOOF!
-------------------- Judy Grossman JG Signs & Designs 226 W. Jackson St. Sonora, CA 95370 Posts: 207 | From: Sonora, CA, USA | Registered: Dec 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sonny, I'll have a cold one with you to celebrate all them years having fun painting. Where's that quill now? If you still have it you should frame it.
-------------------- aka:Cisco the "Traveling Millennium Sign Artist" http://www.franciscovargas.com Fresno, CA 93703 559 252-0935 "to live life, is to love life, a sign of no life, is a sign of no love"...Cisco 12'98 Posts: 3576 | From: Fresno, Ca, the great USA | Registered: Dec 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sonny, the first time I heard about you was when you needed someone that liked heights to paint that huge rooftop.. I always thought you to be young at heart!!!!
hope to meet you although my old back didn't like the fall on the ice 4...I'll "try" to get up on one of those scaffolds that lift up and down, that's about it for me:)
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sonny, maybe it's the beard that brings him the hugs- (is that why you have yours too! ?)
-------------------- "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
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ian, it ain't working for me. Must be the combo platter of beard and curly white hair.........
Seriously, at the risk of embarrassing Rick, I think what makes him so "huggable" is an inner peace born of religious faith and a genuine love of mankind. He doesn't judge and he accepts people for who they are. He immediately makes you feel comfortable in his presence and he exudes an almost paternal bearing. Some other folks I've met on this board share the same qualities - I bet Ray Chapman, Jeff Ogden, Bill Reidel and Donald Thompson also get hugged a lot........
-------------------- www.signcreations.net Sonny Franks Lilburn, GA 770-923-9933 Posts: 4115 | From: Lilburn, GA USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I started doing odd lettering and learning to pinstripe back in the mid-late '50's....have loved it ever since. Lots of changes and evolution of the craft; but I still like the basics...hand doing as much as possible.
I am (thank God) still healthy and active, but enjoy having little overhead, and being able to pick and choose the work I do. I'm concentrating on more crafty, custom stuff and restoration more and more. I'm also working with a guy who makes cigar box guitars, and going to be doing some striping and gold leaf work for him. Now, after all these years of 80 hour workweeks, it's getting back to the fun part again.
"Still strokin' after all these years"
Thanks for the Little Feat blast, Doug. They have long been one of my favorite bands. Shame they lost Lowell George early on; they'd probably have been one of the greatest.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[I Don t Know]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic