Folks Of Interest The Curse Of Kenneth Howard

You are very welcome , Dan. Our old pastor did the same and swore he would never sleep in a bed again in case he´d be released from the concentration camp in Dachau. The allied forces freed the inmates. My Dad still remembers him sleeping the our village church, he was a minister. I only remember him faintly as a crippled old man.

 

I like Ryan was raised to hated racist's and I am from the south. VD would have been thrown from my dad's body shop on his head in an instant an told to never come back . He would have been lucky to have been in one piece. Baumi it says something about the human spirit that your pastor was driven to give penance for the rest of his life for something he had no control over. This has been an interesting post but I am going to not post again as it has stirred up ghost of past deamons

 

I believe that letter is probably valid. In the other hand, I have known a few alcoholics. What is often referred to as “mental illness” is often plain old addiction. That being said; it is just as probable that he wrote that so the future would hate him. Self destruction is the nature of the beast.

 

Theres a reason not many knew what a horse apple Howard was until recently. You have the information highway in your pocket (or in your hands right now). Child abuse and abduction, school shootings, neo Nazi maggots, nothing new. Except today, what dregs of society do are often recorded in real time. Same with archives. Someone knew, wrote a story, a blog, or told someone the truth in a forum. Or viral vids too.
Some knew he was a sack o shit but there was a need to say you had him do something. Me personally I'd rather have Dean Jefferies or Larry Watson work, but I digress.
This, the rest is meaningless noise;

My perspective, and he gets no pass for the rest because of things like this. Not hypocrisy to recognize or dig it.

 

Kenny Howard was an artist and self-promoter to the extent he was also a performance artist. He seemed to enjoy promoting his anti-social lifestyle and attitude, I doubt he aspired to be anyone’s hero. It would not surprise me that his final letter was another piece of performance art, not much different than all the goofy pictures of him in the ‘50s or the numerous stories of acerbic interactions with customers, just a another way to make his mark and offend someone.

 

Dear Jalopy Journal Publisher:

Hard-hitting in investigative journalism doesn’t become you…

Keep it light.

PS. Von Dutch collectors who regret their purchases may send them to me…

 

I like hot rods.

 

@Ryan, nothing personal. I just hear enough about what's wrong with the world through the public media outlets. This is my happy place where I come to hang out and not worry about things that bum me out.

I have my personal beliefs and morals and try to live my life accordingly. I know some day I will be judged for everything I have said or done. That in itself is enough to keep me in line.

Kenneth Howard-the guy was a miserable human being and died a lonely man.

I like hot rods and most cheeses.....

 

Howard was counter-culture figure, yes. So? He has notoriety because of that, not because of his talent. He had contemporaries that were much better than him, and were decent people. Not Nazis. Above ANYTHING else Howard did, he was a self-proclaimed NAZI and racist. That obliterates anything else he did. I'm really disappointed at all the people defending him and making excuses for him, especially from those posers proclaiming love for all the returning soldiers that created hot rodding. What did they return from? Killing Nazis!

 

I watched the two hour Roth/Dutch tech session last night, on YouTube. They seemed to get along..

Anyway good tips for wannabe stripers like me. Funny thing Dutch said , while swigging his Meister Brau, was drugs are bad. With alcohol, what seemed like a good idea the night before isn't always so in the morning. With drugs what sounded good the night before still seems good in the morning. Hmmm.

He also said the Greek and some others were better than him.

Interesting take on motorcycles too. Felt the 'Limeys' where the masters of handling. BMWs were not as good as thought of but their owners would never admit it.

He could sure whip out the lettering.

 

It’s all been good reading to me. A friend idolizes the guy and I say nothing. I knew a small part of this but didn’t realize how much I didn’t know. Many have contributed here and I thank them all.

 

I hit em with hammers.

on a side note, anyone find it ironic we’re using the technology to bash the same folks that help create or responsible for a large part of it.
I just drove by the VonBraun center. Dude created a lot of stuff that killed a lot of folks. I guess the VonDutch guy looked up to VinBraun’s old boss.
I guess that’s something I’ll never understand. One killed thousands, the other was an old miserable soul. We use the technology of one to bash the other.
I’m fixing to bounce this comment of technology the VonDutch heroes help develop or was built upon.
It is what it is.
Sometime I think we need to leave the virtue signaling to FB.
Me included.

 

The rocket scientist was needed by the USA so his past was was swept aside….
I really dislike those with a hate in their heart like Von Dutch . But you are free to think what you want so long as you don’t act on it…

 

Yes. Covered up or hidden by the US government.
it was after VonBrauns death that history came to light.
He made a deal with the devil, so to speak, to create his dreams.
He probably didn’t hate the slaves that built his dreams.. But the death and destruction was ok as long as he got to play with rockets. He didn’t act on his hate. But his love of his dream.
Moral equivalence? No. Just a perspective.
1. Hate is hate. Even the hatred of those that hate.
2. The pursuit of a dream can be equally deadly as a pursuit of domination.
3. I got some wheels to paint.

but the bossman posting the letter presumed to be a genuine VonDutch thought is interesting.
You see a lot of non American imagery associated with the “counter culture” WW1 and 2 German, East German and Communist associated uniforms and images. I just thought it was counter culture fashion. So I guess there is meaning there after all.

 

I don't want to get too far afield here, but it's important to realize the distinction between the 'avowed' Nazis and the German people who were pursuing science and/or just trying to maintain a living, or conscripted soldiers.
German scientists were screened and whisked out of the country to take advantage of their expertise in various fields, as well as deprive Germany of future technical advantages (kind of a reparations thing). In most cases they continued their research (wherever they were sent) and developed science and technology that advanced and benefitted mankind.
The typical German citizenry (and soldier) was somewhat apolitical, and had been swept up in the Nazi-crazed political 'machine' fomented by Hitler and his lackeys/goons. After the war, German citizens and the nation as a whole swallowed hard and purged everything Nazi that they could. They made reparations and amends for that dark period, and continue to do so, except for the (somewhat recent) Neo-Nazi lunatics. The German populace suffered heavily for the action's of their country's zealot's, and have taken very extreme measures to keep the Nazi atrocities in the public eye to ensure the world does not forget the horrors of fascism and war. I admire and respect them for this.
The avowed Nazis were quite often shunned and shamed. The most active were tried in courts of law for various crimes (remember Nuremburg) and given various sentences, including death.
For a person who was not a German citizen, and whose country had fought long and hard to stop the insanity and help the world eliminate bigotry, hatred and crimes against humanity that were committed by German high command (at a very high price in both lives and disruption)... for that person to embrace the evilness that perpetrated that most vile action upon the world is beyond my comprehension. The irony of VD's (and other's) admiration of Fascism is that the very foundation of our country allowed him and others to spew the swill put forth by these assholes. How many Americans (and our allies) made the supreme sacrifice for his 'right' to do it?
In every society, each step taken to deprive someone of their humanitarian rights is one step closer to taking YOUR rights.
Ryan, I'm really glad you posted this, and I hope the discourse will lead some people to look deeper than the surface, to see what lies beneath the public image or popular culture that may be attractive to those who don't see the broader picture.
I never liked VD's 'work', but that's based on my personal artistic tastes. After learning more about that douchebag, I have MORE reason to shun it. I hope some of his 'followers' and collectors will reconsider their stance and position concern the piece of shit known as Von Dutch!
In my mind Ryan, you have provided a valuable public service by posting this. Thanks again!

 

I never did meet Ken Howard, at least not that I can remember, but Stan Betz took me upstairs in his shop one day and gave us (me, my wife, and my daughter) a look at that big collection of stuff (including that infamous helmet) that eventually got auctioned off about thirty plus years ago. Stan also had a large drawing (pen or pencil) done by Ken, on display in his shop. It was kinda stuck in a dark corner and it looked to me like the Alps or someplace like that. It had an intricate medieval castle in the forefront, with all these super tiny little details drawn in the windows. A biplane flew overhead towing a banner or flag or something and it looked to me like somebody in junior high school could have done it better. Kinda whimsical in a Mad Magazine sort of way. Swastikas and iron crosses were prominently displayed, but I never gave it a second thought at the time.

So ... his 'art' sucked (to my eyes), but I don't know jack about the subject. He was apparently pretty handy with an engraver from what I could see, but I really have no point of reference to base that on either. When you consider that today, any talentless reality television show 'star' can cash in to the tune of billions of dollars, I don't find it at all out of character for an asshole to be elevated to some sort of celebrity status. Fuck that guy.

 

Frustrating for me, I seem to know much of the history of Ken Howard/Von Dutch but I have no idea of how or from where. Has this sorry tale been discussed on the HAMB before?

 

Yes

 

The moral of the story is apparently, Kenneth Howard really did hate you.

 

Okay now, time to move on, there's nothing to see here . . .

 

The comments above that reference where this is maybe not worth our time, well like it or not it's part of what we tend to enjoy so much. True, we could look better, go faster, score that dream part, or enjoy a look at an icon with or without a deeper look into some twisted and tortured (self tortured) soul. I don't see the harm. Some topics that have come of this are best not discussed apparently. They pick a scab. Society has shaped some outlooks into unreal and exaggerated "all or nothing" positions. That's sad because at the end of the day that which was 'Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up." at one time are not like that now, and whether or not you toe that line, that's on you.

And this guy? If anyone needed to shut the fuck up it was him. He didn't. As was referenced above he did it for attention and shock value. What of us who weren't or wouldn't have been shocked? Are we shocked now? I'm not and likely never will be. Here's a hypothetical, say you owned the Hirohata Merc and you learned later what a hateful sack o shit Von Dutch was, do you remove the glove box door? Are you paying tribute if you don't? Are you the "better man" if you do? We all know and love the car (kustom fans) which is why I used that one, but what say you? I'll start, fuck no I don't remove it. Fuck no it isn't tribute. As to the better man question, no you're not in my opinion because it disrespects a history AND a time you had no part in. There's a number of notable iconic hot rods and customs that have works by the guy. It doesn't mean all those who chose him were lowlife dirt bags that gave him props for his views. In their own words I'd bet "yeah, yeah shut the fuck up" was delivered a time or 100. It's easy square this shit up, all it takes is a little proper placed courage in one's convictions. And talking about and judging the guy? Fuck him, he did it, not you, not me, not @Ryan so sleep well.

 

didnt have a pancake transparency so I guess pie will have to do

 

I really appreciated the candor of your post. Others have responded with thoughtful comments, which are largely in the spirt of this site...we don't do haters or scumbags. I'm proud to be a part of a group like the HAMB members who understand decency and know what is right.

 

What a thread and great insight, I’d read about Ryan’s watch experience when first posted.
The thing is (IMO) hero’s are not affiliated with hobby’s. Ie in baseball Babe Ruth isnt a hero, he’s an Icon.
As a kid I was enthralled with many sports figures of the early days, then after 50-60 years of their passing and words came out about them, I thought less of the guys, but still think of them as Icons in their trade.
I mean if you like the work a person does, say it’s the best unique work that’s ever been done, how do you idolize that person? He’s (IMO) an icon in his craft, not a hero.
If the best customizer of a car did the car you bought then you found out he had a shady past, would you dump the car, would you remove the striping?

 

You dump the car or stripes only if you examine every other thing you own and use the same rubric to determine if you keep it or not.
Picking one with out picking them all is just virtue signaling. Pat yourself on the back and think about how fine a person you are.
The past is the past, the a-hole is gone. The only positive thing is not to be like the guy.
Enjoy the car, the art, the whatever. You’re not bad for owning it nor virtuous.for disposing of it

 

Well, I kinda got lost in your reply, so please forgive me.
If you found out your beautiful barn find car was built by a very bad person, would you keep it or dump it?
But my point is like a plaque my mom used to have on a ledge, went something like “those who expect nothing are seldom disappointed “.