Most of the skull death stuff goes far further back than that .In the middle ages the french and the English had a little war called the 100 years war that went on for well 100 years.The English took to wearing skulls painted and adourning thier armour and also dangling enemy skulls from thier horses to intimidate the enemy which it clearly did.There are also a lot of cathedrals and churches that have skeletons carved into tombstones on the floor especially on knights tombs.There are also many recorded battles where the English intimidated the enemy by wearing images of death.Now whats this got to do with hotrods?Quite simple as you said intimidation.It don't matter if you car is fast or slow but if it looks evil it looks cool,remember Christine?there was sommit definitley evil about that car even taking away it's film roll it was still evil and that was the idea...................Marq
The Dutch and the Italians got into it too. "Memento Mori" is what they called it in Art Skool, a remembrance of death, and a reminder of mortality. And no, it's not Satanic. The Catholic church has skulls and death imagery all over their cathedrals. http://www.romeartlover.it/Mememori.html Hot rod skull imagery comes from the same place, in this case young guys who were forced to deal with death every day. They came home with some strong memories, built cars a little differently and saw life a little differently because of the experience. "Live fast, die young." "Pause, stranger, when you pass me by, For as you are, so once was I. As I am now, so will you be. Then prepare unto death, and follow me."
"Jesus Built My Hot Rod", but Satan made it fast. I like Tiki, I like Aztec, Day of the Dead, skulls, bones, and naked chickies. And I like hot rods. And I don't give a hula-baloo who understands why....
I just finished reading a book on the subject yesterday. Okay "reading a book" is probably an exaggeration. There were a lot of pictures and not so many words, but it was altogether worthwhile either way. Everyone was talking about the Old Navy hot rod book a few weeks back. There was also an Old Navy Tiki book too, which I picked up at the same time for $4 or whatever. Good stuff. A Taschen book if you want to search for it. The author gives the whole background on the phenomena, which everybody has really gone through in this thread already. Thor Heyerdal, the WWII vets, the tiki restaurants, Papeete, Hawaii, Sinatra, etc. etc. No mention of hot rods, but that would have been a big tangent for the book to take, so no surprise there. One thing that should be recognized is that the whole tiki phenomena is quite artificial. The tiki restaurants and such were in the US and then they moved to Hawaii. They were shipping tiki sculptures made on the mainland over to Hawaii, ironically. It's another bastardization of culture the way only Americans know how. But I still like it. It's fairly harmless. The whole thing is a potpourri of island cultures with a lot of American touches, and it's all rum-centric just because rum was really cheap in the post-prohibition and post-war eras. Chinese fortune cookies were invented in California. We manage to ruin everything one way or another, but it's still a heckuva lotta fun, so no harm no foul. I went to the Bahamas once and paid to see the "native show." It was just as advertised. A bunch of people who were native to the island put on a show. It was about the level of talent I've seen in high school talent shows. Just singing and dancing, juggling, whatever. Could've been the "native show" in New Jersey. I appreciated the irony of it, and certainly didn't ask for my money back.
I'm sure that I read somewhere that Coop is/was a member of Anton LeVey's Church of Satan. My (limited) experience of these folk is that they are more concerned with pissing off Christians than actually 'devil-worshipping'. This is copied from their website... "Modern Satanists do not worship the devil; they do not even believe in this Christian-created being." (BTW, Sammy Davis jr was also a member of the Church of Satan.)
The common threat is WWII: both hot rod culture and tiki culture were disseminated by those returning Greatest Generation vets. Lots of GIs probably first learned of hot rods from their Californian comrades during the Big One, and spread the word when they got back stateside. The Polynesian tiki thing was similarly spread by vets from the Pacific Theater who spent time in Honolulu R&R. My theory, anyhow.
yep COOP is a member of the same church as me the COS & hes pretty vocal about it why bring relegion towards him his art is killer his cars killer his ol lady killer diff strokes for diff foolks........
I don't think "Coop" is a satan worshiper. I believe I read somewhere that it got started (rumor) due to artistic rivalry. I can't seem to remember where or how I got the info but this thread made me think back on it. Ok clear this up...is Ron Williams and Coop one in the same? No matter, his art is way fuckin kool. I personally don't believe in satan, the devil, hell, all that fucked up shit. Who gives a rat's ass. So for me his art is up top with the best. I love how people freak out when thier bill in the store comes to $6.66. Me? I just pay it and laugh. Sometime the person at the register freaks out. Funny shit. Nobody knows where the green paint thing came from? Or indeed the #13? I know that you never see peanuts for sale at reace tracks cuz a guy died while eating em in his Indy car way way back in the day. Now that's fucked up!
I didn't exactly say skulls were satanic, and we aren't really bombing anyone withour hotrods although I do like WW2 nose art, just not all the Nazi, death evil stuff. If you do then that's your choice. I erased most of this reply because this board isn't the place for me to air my spiritual beliefs, but in short if it is clearly not from God then....
The swastika was a not only harmless, it was a symbol of light and divinity. The ancient Greeks, the Indians of North & South America, the Celts and even Buddhists have used it. Originally, the swastikas arms bent 'backwards' to show that it was turning in a clockwise direction, so to attract the forces of light. It was when the Nazi's adopted it that it was reversed and this, it has been claimed, was done to try and attract the forces of 'darkness', and has often been quoted as further proof (if it was needed) that Hitler was an occultist. Having said all this, there is no evidence whatsoever in the rumour that Hitler's bunker in Berlin served a decent Mai Tai...
I feel that in addition to the aformentioned association with returnin south pacific staioned troops, the surf movement was heavily associated with hot-rodders. It naturally brought with it the asociation with Tiki stuff. As far as the number 13, it stems from christianity. 13 at the last supper...and forever a stigma attached to the number. today, an embrace of it signals an afront to "good" values and is all part of the tough guy/ hot-rodder image. just my 2¢
yeppers 13 got a bad rep cause judius? was the 13th seated at the last supper now thats if you are a xan or know there stuff i dont put down anyones vewis & beleifes or push mine on anyone to each there own
Since all of a sudden this got 13 added to the formula, and a possible Satanic connection, (whatever reality or fiction that is?) out of my purely agnostic/scientific curiosity I Googled the two words Revelations thirteen together and came up with a whole list of curosities headed off by this I think it's hillarious, except for the power lineage aspect, but I guess some believe and are scared by this religious shit... And here I always thought it just stood for the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet, M, and that stood for Marijuana and dope smokers....
I can understand being interested in tiki stuff, (a lot of my friends like it, it's fun, it relates to drinking, hula girls,etc) All good stuff! But I bristle when I see it automaticly lumped in with hot rod stuff, cuz I'm a hot rodder, and I don't even own a Hawaiin shirt! It's great stuff, but it doesn't have much do do with me. I like to go to the Tiki-Ti and have a drink sometimes, but i guess it just doesn't creep in to anything else I do. My whole house is actually decorated like African Safari stye, you know, like the '50s hotrodders used to do.
I usta live next door to a guy in Pasadena who had his house decorated like that, well actually I don't remember what the furniture was like because he was a big game hunter as was his wife, who he met on Safari, and there wasn't much space in the place that didn't have a stuffed head or skin of some murdered animal on it. Mostly African, except for the Polar bear skin that reached from the entry hall doorway to the livingroom fireplace. Ya had to step over or around the head to get in the house! I think he was the Editor of Guns & Ammo Magazine at the time...
I also think it has everything to do with California (*all the cool rods come from), beach, surf etc... It is kind of like cultural evolution. The same can be asked about why Kustom Kulture is spelled with a "K"?? Unfortunately things sometimes get carried away like a "z" on the end of everythingz. ie OSR
OK, OK...I'm veering off a bit on that last one. Even tho I am new at this posting thing, I WAS driving around in '62 in my '55 Chev 4-dr thinking I was cool cause I had drag pipes, wide whites, and a shrunken head I got from Honest Charlies or J.C. Whitneys hanging from the mirror, and had the white "fur" around my steering wheel, the rear view mirror...and yeah, and had a "reverb" on my rear 6x9 speaker! -midnight
i have a attached garage that is now a "TIKI" hottub bar room with huge "Shag & Coop paintings on its walls & wish my whole house could be set up the same but one room has taken us ten years to gather anuf "TIKIS" & other HI things to make room fun to hang out in think satanic part got tossed in cause of COOP & 13 is from my name ....lol....
This has been a kool subject so far. Who'da thunk it? I never knew the 13 gig. Like I said above tho, goes pretty far when buildings go from the 12th to the 14th floor at times. tikifreak13 prolly don't like that...
What ever the connection is, this wagon at BP'05 has it It had tons of cool tiki accents/ details all over this wagon. I got a kick out of it who ever did it, great job! best wishes, CAB p.s. if you don't believe in the devil, then you have no faith in God
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