Your mom knew Von Dutch, she sucked his dick at a truck stop in Needles...she said it was small and tasted like pickles.
Some interesting analogies Anthony.Paranoia is something a lot of creative minds degenerate into especially if they have been ingesting questionable substances;especially opiates.They don't call it,"Chasing the dragon's tail" for nothing. Insecurity is common to a lot of artistically inclined people and usually serves as a catalyst to releasing that creativity.Alcohol(to me anyway)has always inhibited my ability to either be creative or technically proficient and it usually only takes one episode to make that clear.It definitely doesn't impair one's ability to act like an asshole or insert one's foot in one's mouth. I would take issue with the fact that his work sucked.He may have not been as technically proficient as a lot of people today(and many in his own era as well)but if you mention the word,"pinstriping" to a crowd of 100 car people,probably 90 of them will say,"Von Dutch".The rest would probably mention Tommy the Greek,Art Summers,or Dean Jeffries and maybe Larry Watson. I have also seen a hundred custom knifemakers whose talents FAR outweigh his but I would still rather have one of his knives than any of them(with the possible exception of Heinrich Frank;a Montana knifemaker supreme). And as for his four wheel fantasies,I believe they were intended to be,if not a joke,than a statement made to shock people or make them smile.Hell I can relate to that. Was he over-rated? In what respect? Was John Wayne over-rated? How about Andy Warhol or P.T.Barnum? All of them had their,"personality traits"(usually called faults unless you're PC)but they all made an undeniable impression on our attitudes toward art,acting,and showmanship. How do I feel about him? I guess I would have liked to meet him at one point but then again if I had,I might have altered my opinion of him.Let's just say that if Kenneth Howard had never been,we in all likelihood wouldn't be having this conversation and leave it at that. Good to hear that you haven't joined the mainstream. Ray
yeah, damn good. I actually took the time to read that. Maybe this thread should be titled, Who knew Kenneth Howard
I stopped by Stan Betz (Betz Paint Shop) a couple weeks back,one thing lead to another and I got a little tour,seen his roadster pick up and the seven foot trophy that he won with it a few years back,and his latest creation a chopped Dodge Magnum with wild yellow paint and lots of other Cool things one of the coolest was an old cafe racer style bike that Von Dutch owned, all the panels,fenders and tank with original paint & pinstriping and lettering from Von Dutch it was cool. Stan also had lots of other things that he got from Von Dutch,he once had a knife made personally for him,it was a very interesting 45 minutes and the stories were very interesting to say the least I could have stayed and listened to him all day,he said he run arround with Von Dutch (or Kenny/Kenneth as he called him) for many years and knew him quite well. I thought it was very Cool That Stan took the time for show and tell,what a class act old timer with lots of (interesting) history. xtralow
i never met Von Dutch. But meeting Ed Roth on a couple of occaisions makes me agree with this statement completely. My dad shared a shop with Evil Knevel and seemed to really get along good with him. He even used to paint his bikes up for him on occaision. i guess people are people, rich or poor famous or not there are good and bad ones everywhere.
Minder Binders recently closed....I hope they don't knock that old barn down, a lot of the stuff painted on the walls was by Dutch.
Hey as long as you dont start pissing and craping in zip locs and keeping them in the basement. My buddy's uncle was a talented machinist and gun smith, he went off his rocker and shot himself. Took 3 weeks to clean out the house and found 26 rifles and about 20 pistols under all the piles of newspapers. Oh and the $86,000.00 in envelopes scattered around the house.
Minderbinders & UtoteM. That brings back some memories. My dad meet him a few times when he had that shop in Tempe. I think Dutch may have loaned him some tools . . . he's got a few interesting stories.
What is VD marketing....does that stand for "Venerial Disease" as in "spreads like a Venerial Disease". I knew Von Dutch. Me and him used to set around and design clothing for hours and hours. Before that punk shot Versache, all three of us would get in the hot tub naked and just tickle each other and laugh. Those were the days. You know Von Dutch designed the mini skirt in the 60's. He was a genius. VonTINGLER
Wow, Scoot'r, I didn't know that about Minder Binders (now it's gone?!), I've always lived on the west side!! I'm like many, never met the man but I know a number of people who did. Got to wonder how many stories are BS and how many are real. With all I've heard, I have to say this one particular uncle of mine could be his equal(?). Very creative if somewhat lacking in refinement, my unk could pull off some magic shit with no money, just ingenuity. Too bad, a lot of people shun him because he is a little off center! Strangely enough, there are many times I'd rather hang with him than so-called normal people. I think most of us know somebody LIKE K.H.. U-Tote-Em HAHAHA, memories. (19th ave. and Peoria(!?))
Y'know I picked up some of that once. I was really not at all satisfied with the ownership experience.
Wow, I worked on van that was sold to a guy that knows a friend of Von Dutch's grand son? This is a small world!
That story reminds me a lot of a good friend of mine (now gone also) I very much enjoyed hanging out and helping in his shop and sitting back and watching how he reacted to the different people that showed up for his abuse. I learned a lot there and owe Paul a lot. Some of you probably own a car he built, or wish you did. Thanks for telling that one Bluto.
Awwww hell,here we go with the Von Dutch was next to Hitler bullshit lets just appreciate him for what he did for the Hot Rod community and lets not mind fuck him to death.
I,ve met a few who knew Ken personally, ( one of them is Norm Grabowski ) and from what they tell me, "Von Dutch" would literally roll over in his grave if he saw what was being done in his name! He was without a doubt, one of the most politically incorrect people who ever lived! Often he was rude and belligerent to people who tried to "buy his Art". Wasn't the friendliest individual to those he DID like! This happens every time my Mom is outa' town!
JEEEM , unless minder binders just closed with in the last couple a months , i know it is still there . The last time i was in there i was showing some outta town people the place and they still have great burgers, and yes Dutchies stuff still hangs in there . I grew up on the east side of AZ , there was also a interior guy named tooter weaver did some awesome work ! But the man was a total nut job too , he used to swallow hog rings , well gues what he got busted for , " the name should tell ya .. And i do not give a rats ass if people belive what i say , think its BS or whatever , just thought i would share , my experiances .I will also say the man brought me to my first swapmeet and showed me how and what where and why to buy stuff . At the greyhound park in phx .He would buy the gooofiest stuff then blammm turn it into something kick ass . Was the guy a peach NO , he yelled at me to get the hell outta his shop NEVER come back , he was havin a bad day etc then gave me a note for the store i handed the clerk the money and i got a bag he came back out and said you gunna empty that trash around here or stand around with your thumb up yer ass all day , That was kinda typical .One second your outta here and i was never even gettin paid , then next get back here and do this or that LOL . Anyway thought i would share .He tried to teach me to pin stripe , then he told me , ok i know i am gunna get shit for this "TOEHEAD" he called me toehead the only think you can paint is a skunk maybe a coon too bad thier already done .He was right i can not to this day oooh well .A whole car maybe , a lil bunch a lines nope not me.
Von Dutch?... Von Dutch?... Hmmm, the name rings a bell... Is that the old dude with the gimpy leg, that smells like urinal cakes, who hangs out in front of the Gas-n-Go on Main and offers to "Fight you for a dollar?" No, I think he called himself Von Crutch... ...or was it Von Butch.
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