Art & Inspiration Looking for "I've Been Everywhere" decal/sticker

About 30 to 35 years ago my friend and I saw a street rod (probably at an NSRA Nationals event) with a decal in a rear side window and I'm now trying to hopefully find at least one of those decals for the sake of nostalgia.

The decal showed cartoon-like artwork of a black bird similar to Heckle & Jeckle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckle_and_Jeckle) with a stick resting on his shoulder and a filled bandana on the end of the stick behind his back. The stick and bandana imagery has been associated with hobos for perhaps a century or more. I discovered minutes ago that the stick and bandana is called a bindle or bindle stick. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bindle and/or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hobos2.jpg.

In text above and/or below the black bird with bindle was the text: I've Been Everywhere.

I believe the item was a water-transferred decal on the inside of the glass surface, or possibly, but not likely, an adhesive sticker on the outer surface of the glass.

Does anyone have a photo of this decal, or especially, know where to buy one or more of them? I've searched online in vain for a long time and via numerous search terms but haven't come close to finding this item.

 

pm mutley as i have heard he is the "guru" of this subject.

 

http://www.cafepress.com/+hobos+framed-prints

 

Thanks.

The Jimmy Crow image there is kind of the theme but not close to the old-time decal I'm looking for.

 

Mutley at http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=70828 doesn't look too promising so I assume you mean Muttley at http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=1799.

Thanks for the lead.

 

why dont you just draw the heckle/jeckle bird with a hobo sack, put on the phrase lettering and send it to a decal shop to have it made?

 

that muttley here on the hamb.

 

Thanks for all the referrals guys. I dont have the decal he's looking for and have never even seen one. I sent him some info on where he might find one.

 

Although the decal was manufactured decades ago, the image might still be copyrighted by someone. I don't need to deal with an infringement lawsuit, but, that's one good way to learn the status of the design.

I was hoping that if someone doesn't know where to purchase one or more of these decals, they'd at least have a photo of one to help me precisely define what I'm looking to find. No luck, so far.

 

I think I remeber the image from an old Tex Avery cartoon the bird was the Minah bird, maybe that will help.

 

I had one of those in 1978 on my Honda 750!! Got it at Stuckey rest stops..Remember those?? John

 

I wasn't familiar with the characteristics of Mynah birds so I searched via http://www.google.com/search?&q=Mynah+bird but it seems to me that they don't have the same shape as I remember seeing on the decal decades ago.

Thanks anyway.

 

I bought my first Honda 750 brand new in 1972 and owned several others since then.

1978 is about the time frame that I saw the decal I'm now trying to find. Perhaps they were popular, or current, in that general time frame.

I feel though that the image would be applicable for all the years and decades since animated cartoons have been in existence. I recall the bird having close similarity to Heckle & Jeckle who were quite popular during the mid-century.

I assume this decal would have been available anywhere travel type decals were sold in America.

 

If youre just using it for your personal use, like on your car window, and not selling them for profit, you wont encounter ANY lawsuit. Unless of course youre doing something with the image that would reflect negitively on the company, causing them a loss of sales. For instance, I can go cut out the vinyl decal shapes of a Nike swoosh right now and stick em on my windows, theres nothing to be said. If anything, theyre getting free advertising from it with me driving around. As long as youre not making money from someone elses product, theres nothing to sue over.

All youd be doing is taking artwork to a decal shop and asking them to make you a decal. Ive taken well known popular automotive logos to decal shops and had them cut out 10 of each design in different colors and sizes. Or buy water decal transfer paper and print it off yourself.

Sounds to me like all youd need is a good pose of heckle or jeckle, add a stick with a hankerchief pouch for a hobo stash and some lettering and youd have your decal art. No?

Just like rare car parts... if you cant find it, fab it!
Just a thought

 

I didn't think this item would be so difficult to find. I could have some made but I'd like to find some authentic decals for nostalgia sake. After all, having and displaying this old decal is all about nostalgia. It's not an important item; just something kinda neat that a couple of friends had a mutual grin about decades ago.

While composing this the thought came to me about another nostalgia automotive decal. What company used a colorful Woody Woodpecker type bird with a cigar in its beak? The company name escapes me at the moment.

 

Mr. Horsepower.

 

The site this is from has some cool decals listed on it.
http://www.cartype.com/page.cfm?id=1872

 

If you were going to copy it and sell them, then you'd have a copyright problem! If you just want to make one and put it on your car and be done then there would be no problem. And if it's 40+ years old it's not likely that someone would keep a © going that long on one sticker, unless it was a major company's logo or trademark.

 

Yeah, that looks like the one that came to mind. Isn't that associated with some sort of high performance equipment manufacturer?

After following the http://www.cartype.com/page.cfm?id=1872 link you provided, I see that a similar bird is included in the logo for Thrush Mufflers http://www.cartype.com/pics/410/small/thrush_mufflers_69.jpg.

 

Clay Smith Cams.

 

First off I think I've seen the character your speaking of. He wears a derby, looks like Heckle and Jeckle, puffs on an old cigar. I've seen vintage cartoon mag with him in it. I think it was Krazy Kat Kartoons. (It was years ago)

Second. Vintage Travel Decals, like water slide decals produced from 1950's - 1970's are fragile. Some can still be applied to window glass. It all depends on how the decal was cared for. The older they are the more fragile they are. Chances are, if you found the decal you want, I would scan it and have a new one made. Save the original and protect it.

Third. There were lots of companies who made water slide Travel Decals. Comanies like IMPCO, Lindgren-Turner, Baxter-Lane, ENCO, Goldfarb, Donmar, Arwine, Fairway & Duro to name a few. Just about any print company was pushing out Decalcomania decals during this era. Lots of companies ran very limited runs on deacals, because the buying public was always looking for something new.

You might be best served looking up Travel Decal collections. There are some sights online that have good collections to view, although nothing like what you've described.

Also, I'm not suprised at how hard it is to find. I've been looking for a good image of Huey, Luey and Duey (Donald Ducks nephews) driving in that 20's era fenderless convertable tub. They are wearing full brimmed hats with the fronts pressed up. They are wearing Racoon skin jackets and their car has round balloon tires, with a racoon tail hanging off a long whip antena. I'd kill for that image. But I have yet to find it. I do recall that Donald Duck was managing a service station and the boys were trying to fool DD into giving them some gas so they could go cruse.

Anyway good luck.

PS, Decal Paper for your printer is not going to work for a window decal. 1. the paper does not offer any UV protection. 2. the paper does not have a white opaque finish. 3. your printer does have a way of applying a gum finish over the printed artwork, so your decal would not stick to the inside of your window. Cant put water slide decals on the outside due to the harch environment.

 

i had a muffler by that brand............. and its the balls

 

I remember that cartoon! If you can find out the name of the episode, It's probably on DVD (or Youtube), you coud do a screen capture, and have a sign shop cut it out of vinyl(I did it all the time when I was a signmaker).
The hobo bird sound familiar as well.

 

Very popular in the late 70's during the Cowboy/ trucker era. Sold in truckstops, gas stations and dealerships. Didn't see many trucks or pickups around SD or Wyoming without one. Kinda like the p*** on chevy/ford/mopar decals of the early 2000s. I may still have one. I'll look around.

 

I'd still like to find a copy of the old Gabriel Hi-Jacker air shock logo, very popular when I was a kid.

 

Wasn't there a John Cash song? "I've been Everywhere, man"

I was in saginaw ,mi back when that song was popular and they had a t-shirt, "I've been everywhere, Saginaw. Didn't buy it.

 

First Lucky Starr in '62, then Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, etc. etc.

 

Well dropout, don't say I never gave you anything

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-IjfDszLvY&feature=related

 

This one?

 

DUDE - You NAILED IT!!
SHAZAM!!! Just like that the clouds have lifted me into Glory Land!
Right on Electrodude!