Letterheads Timeline 1982-1993

[Mike Jackson]

Hi Letterheads / Hand Lettering Forum Readers,
Tonight I was digging around looking for some old Beta Max tapes. They are around here somewhere. While looking, I found a commerative little booklet put out by Signs of the Times for the 1993 Waco, TX International Meeting. Actually, the feature section had been printed in the magazine just prior to the meeting, then ST had extra pages printed of that section. I guess they are collectible...I grabbed one or two and they look pretty collectible to me now after 11 or 12 years.

ST spent quite a bit of time documenting all the known meetings from the 1982 Boise Bar B Que right up through Rick Glawson's Gilt Trip and Steve Chaszeyka's Pinhead Summit in Feb. of 1993 prior to the Waco event.

It took the liberty to post the pages tonight and should get official permission tomorrow. I created the pages so you should be able to print each one of the four on your printer.

http://www.theletterheads.com/lhparts/timeline.html

I also created links to the Timeline on the left navigation bar of The Letterheads site for easy access in the future.

Also, I changed the dates on the main page from 23 years to 30 years. The first official "big" meeting was the Boise BBQ in 1982, but the article says Oatis, Weber and Vehill had been meeting off and on all the way back to 1975. As the next few years passed, the others joined in and the little get togethers changed to an almost weekly event. So, I might be a little premature with the 30 year timespan, but it sounds better than 29 years!

Mike Jackson

[Raymond Chapman]

The Lone Star Letterhead meet at Belco Signs was listed a little later than it actually took place. It was November, 1983 and the chart has it as January, 1984....but it was close.

It was an eye opener to see how many meets there have been, and probably a lot more of last minute get-togethers held locally that no one knows about.

Quite a history. Thanks for posting it.

[Mike Jackson]

Hi Raymond,
Yes, they did a great job compiling all the meetings onto an interesting little chart. It would be easy to get a date or two wrong.

I see the meeting listed we called Totem Heads. It was an extension of one of Noel Weber's "Art Camp" concepts we had attended a few months earlier. Bill Hueg was the instructor, teaching a class in Pictorial Painting, with only about 20 students. Our Art Camp didn't have an instructor, but only had about 25 people. We carved one large totem pole as a group project and had a couple extra small poles ready for people to experiment with. That one was in the middle of summer. As a group event, we took two large rubber rafts down the whitewater section of the Snake River.

A few years later, not listed on the chart, we held a meeting in the Winter. We called that one "Casting Call". We worked on making rubber molds and casting, along with some projects on our new AR400 router. We had about 25 people attend that small meeting. As a group event, we all took a snowmobile trip up Granite Canyon to Granite Hot Springs.

Besides getting a jump start for the creative juices, we always liked offering a little diversion during the meetings to let people see some of the Jackson Hole area. Small meetings allow that to happen! Many of those probably never made it to the list.

Best wishes to all,
Mike Jackson

[Mike Jackson]

Small update:
Wade Swormstedt, the editor at ST, just gave me the official "thumbs up" to use the four pages.

Thanks, Signs of the Times!

Mike Jackson

[Mike Meyer]

Mike, do you remember a meet in the fall of 1988 in Arlington Texas? Raymond probably does, he did a seminar there. I can't find any information about it...it was my first meet....The name Richard Hayner I think was the host.....Rikc Glauson, Alton Gilespie, and Jeff Cahill were there.......It's the meet that started it all for me....I was just wondering if you recall it?

[Raymond Chapman]

If I remember right, that was held in a billboard shop in the industrial area. Rick Glawson was there demonstrating his angel gilding and the glass piece that was used as a sample (and cover for ST) was broken getting there. He also fried a microwave trying to do some strange things to gold leaf.

It was also the weekend that John Oldham had his truck stolen, complete with luggage, camera and a .357 Magnum (he was a deputy sheriff at the time). It was found later completely stripped - hood, fenders, doors, and just about everything was gone.

I can't remember if Richard hosted it or not, but I do know that he was there.

It was also the first time I remember Alton "playing" his airbrush.

There was a strip joint across the street and one of those stretch limos with a hot tub in the back pulled up while a bunch of us were standing outside waiting to go out for supper.

It's strange what little things you recall from a meet. And now I can't even remember the name of the gathering. Senior moments abound now.

[Mike Meyer]

Yeah Raymond, that's the one! The meet logo had a Star like a Deputy's badge I think.....I was VERY intimidated at that meet, of course we all are at our first. Jack Rumpf was there as well. Jaff Cahill was doing a small oval glass piece for Mark and Rose Oatis. I was not really "getting into" the meet because the night before I called back home to Minnesota and my wife told me that she was pregnant! Our first, (and only) as it turned out! So you can imagine my mind the next day at the meet was really thinking...anything BUT signs! But Jeff cahill talked to me and introduced me to Gilding on glass! I'll never forget that, and I try to do the same thing to first timers everywhere I go!
I don't remember the Limo but I do rememeber Alton driving up on his Motorcycle with side car!!! The Angel Guilding went WAY over my head..I wish I would have been right into it..but I didn't know squat! thanks to Letterheads, I never gave up and it's my theory to turn around and help someone else, like other people helped me. Afterall, that is what the Letterhead Way is!