Hello all. I was hoping that someone out there might be able to help us? My wife and I just got done watching Tales of the Rat Fink. When they were talking about Monster shirts, they featured a shirt design with a 1954 Chevy en***led "Rebel". This was shown two different times in the movie. My question is this: Does anyone know if this was a common shirt design, or does anyone know how many may exist? The reason I ask is because I own this shirt. The shirt was shown in Rodders Journal #2, (our actual shirt), that went on tour with Ed Roth back in the early 90's. At the time, Ed and his wife tried to buy the shirt from us, but my Dad did not want to sell. I have tried to get info from the Roth's, but they wanted me to send them the shirt so they could authenticate it, but I already know it's a Roth. Anyhow, I will attempt to post some pics. If anyone knows anything, please let us know. Thanks in advance.
Well, I know that Roth painted the shirt for my Dad around 1960 or 61'. I just didn't know if the shirt shown in Tales of the Rat Fink was actually our shirt, or if there were others. We tried to get ahold of the producer through his Myspace page, but he won't allow us to send a message to him unless we are on his list of "friends". Thanks for the offer, but I think I will hang on to the shirt.
I would PM Von Franco or Johnny Ace, they will probably be your best source of info. Both are damn nice guys!
Heya guys, here's my two cents,hope it helps.. Before Ed's screening output, he of course did airbrushed shirts ( with a revolving door of help)...he had a mental file of Flat-topped characters that closely resembled each other---sometimes changing the features slightly, sometimes more....he used different vehicles and ***les/names as well, but the basic character is very recognizable in his one-off works from '58/59-62/63 (when he switched to screening)....these designs were done one at a time and were offered in ads and his catalogs, as airbrushed items....so the chances that he offered that design ( or closely similar ) is pretty good (but not as a m***-produced screened item)....no doubt if the particular customer asked for his own name, that would produce yet another variation....keep the guy, change the car,etc, you get the idea....I personally have not seen any other shirts with that design ever come to light, but like I mentioned, plenty with the monster/character...Yours would be unique,in any case, since they were all one-offs, and personalized....Ed's caricatures were retired when he hired Monte,Wes Bennett, Snick, Newt,etc.... Hope this helps, forgive the long-version....Yeah, I love this stuff... Ace
Kustom 64... Did this help? I've been billing you by the hour since I wrote that.... I'll send you my address...we need that shirt for a foto shoot, and I heard you were a real nice guy.... Ace
I know this is an old thread, but I'm watching this online now. It's on www.hulu.com Thought some of you guys might like to know...
Sorry for the short notice, but I just stumbled on the movie, "Tales of the Rat Fink" showing on Ovation Channel, #203, Time Warner Cable here in San Antonio. Comes on again at 11:00 CT. Never heard of this show before. John Goodman as the voice of Big Daddy.
I've got the DVD, but we're showing it at the Judy Drive-In Theater on September 4th and that should be a good time