Re: [MOPO] who inspired YOU in posters and business most in life
great memories Greg,, all the best Tom. Hollywood dream factory® please have a Wonderfull weekend God bless On 2021-04-29 21:27, Greg Douglass wrote: First I am one of the few people on this list to have met and spenta few precious minutes with our friend Tom Martin. He is indeed one of those rare people whose heart and soul radiate from his eyes and his smile is devoid of artifice. Tom, when I met him at a gig I was playing near his home, was just happy to be here and now, in the moment. His recent tales of health challenges are heartbreaking but his spirit remains mighty. We are lucky to have him in our MOPO group, where some of us get a little testy at times (although we haven't had a good flame war in some time...) So, here you go Tom; When I was 12 years old, I had a short collaboration with the Brunas brothers making a fanzine. I sent them a copy of "Thing", my stapled together, hand made ode to FMOF. They sent me "Terror Monsters", a harbinger of great books to come. They were impressed with my graphics but felt that I was making too many jokes (a complaint echoed by my wife of 25 years. "How can a man who plays such beautiful music tell such horrible jokes?" We somehow collaborated but it was toough: I was in California, they lived in New York. They DID turn me on to Bruco Enterprises,a place that sold movie posters. My first poster was "Macabre", the cool one sheet with the death's head terrorizing some generic hotties. On the back was the address of theater Poster Exchange in Memphis. Their prices were much more reasonable: 75¢ for a one sheet, $2.50 a set of lobby cards. I went insane. I mowed lawns for anyone who had a quarter, I had advances on my 50¢ a week allowance that are probably still outstanding (I'm 71). I had stuff from "Godzilla"; 1sheets, 3 sheets, lobby set; "Creature from the Black Lagoon" lobby sey & insertI was beginning to fill up a foot locker. I somehow started corresponding with Malcolm Willits, who had a small poster store in Hollywood. My dad drove us to Southern California to visit my wacky great-aunt. I stopped by Willits' store and got a bunch of lobbies from "A Meet Frankenstein" and a gorgeous one sheet from "The Devil Commands for a whopping five bucks. I staggered over to the Cherokee bookstore where they let me loose in the upstairs safe. They had PILES of mint AIP posters. I overspent while my dad tried to talk me into collecting something more sensible like...stamps. I saved my foot locker for years. I went through a really bad financial patch in my mid-thirties after being introduced to hard drugs. I sold everything but that Karloff posterand that went for $100 in the mid-Eighties. I moved to San Diego, hated everything about it until I fell in love with the woman who saved my life. We're still together and we have poster rules. The stone lithos go upstairs in our huge living room (except for "House on Haunted Hill", which...oddly enough...she fell in love with and helped me buy. I'm back in the hobby with both feet. I've met some amazing people, done business with many of them, and I'm presently preparing a book for my son so that, when I pass on, he'll know what my stuff is worth and where to go to sell it. I just got him a one sheet from something called "Deathgasm" for his birthday. (Heavy metal meets pentagrams made of human intestines.) Hey, he just turned 40 today and he inherited his old man's exquisite taste. A BIG shout out to the late Chuck Vergara, who sold me much of his collection for far less than it was worth. It turned out he had cancer and wanted the posters to go to someone who would appreciate them. One of the most generous guys i ever met, a beautiful person. Gotta go; dinner calls. Love to you all, and I love these kinds of threads. Greg Douglass Lake Hodges, CA PS-If anyone has a "Devil Commands" one sheet; you know where to find me(760)212-3648 SENT: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 7:44 AM FROM: "Alan Adler" TO: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU SUBJECT: Re: [MOPO] who inspired YOU in posters and business most in life Hi Tom - Always love your stories and your big heart - eyeballs and ears are important - but your big heart is what makes you the angel that you are. So here are some stories for you. My father was my greatest mentor. He loved movies and bragged that he used to go see 5 movies a day during the depression when he was supposed to be looking for work. When I was 8 the family was riding from NC to Baltimore to visit my grandmother. It was an 8 hour ride. We got 30 minutes out of town and were going through Greensboro and Godzilla has just opened. I cried so hard to see that movie my mother and father pulled over and waited in the car while I went in and watched it. Came out, got in the car and we continued our all night drive to Baltimore. When I started to show interest in movie posters he'd take me to different theaters and appraise my technique for asking the managers for them. Studied the grip
Re: [MOPO] who inspired YOU in posters and business most in life
First I am one of the few people on this list to have met and spenta few precious minutes with our friend Tom Martin. He is indeed one of those rare people whose heart and soul radiate from his eyes and his smile is devoid of artifice. Tom, when I met him at a gig I was playing near his home, was just happy to be here and now, in the moment. His recent tales of health challenges are heartbreaking but his spirit remains mighty. We are lucky to have him in our MOPO group, where some of us get a little testy at times (although we haven't had a good flame war in some time...) So, here you go Tom; When I was 12 years old, I had a short collaboration with the Brunas brothers making a fanzine. I sent them a copy of "Thing", my stapled together, hand made ode to FMOF. They sent me "Terror Monsters", a harbinger of great books to come. They were impressed with my graphics but felt that I was making too many jokes (a complaint echoed by my wife of 25 years. "How can a man who plays such beautiful music tell such horrible jokes?" We somehow collaborated but it was toough: I was in California, they lived in New York. They DID turn me on to Bruco Enterprises,a place that sold movie posters. My first poster was "Macabre", the cool one sheet with the death's head terrorizing some generic hotties. On the back was the address of theater Poster Exchange in Memphis. Their prices were much more reasonable: 75¢ for a one sheet, $2.50 a set of lobby cards. I went insane. I mowed lawns for anyone who had a quarter, I had advances on my 50¢ a week allowance that are probably still outstanding (I'm 71). I had stuff from "Godzilla"; 1sheets, 3 sheets, lobby set; "Creature from the Black Lagoon" lobby sey & insertI was beginning to fill up a foot locker. I somehow started corresponding with Malcolm Willits, who had a small poster store in Hollywood. My dad drove us to Southern California to visit my wacky great-aunt. I stopped by Willits' store and got a bunch of lobbies from "A Meet Frankenstein" and a gorgeous one sheet from "The Devil Commands for a whopping five bucks. I staggered over to the Cherokee bookstore where they let me loose in the upstairs safe. They had PILES of mint AIP posters. I overspent while my dad tried to talk me into collecting something more sensible like...stamps. I saved my foot locker for years. I went through a really bad financial patch in my mid-thirties after being introduced to hard drugs. I sold everything but that Karloff posterand that went for $100 in the mid-Eighties. I moved to San Diego, hated everything about it until I fell in love with the woman who saved my life. We're still together and we have poster rules. The stone lithos go upstairs in our huge living room (except for "House on Haunted Hill", which...oddly enough...she fell in love with and helped me buy. I'm back in the hobby with both feet. I've met some amazing people, done business with many of them, and I'm presently preparing a book for my son so that, when I pass on, he'll know what my stuff is worth and where to go to sell it. I just got him a one sheet from something called "Deathgasm" for his birthday. (Heavy metal meets pentagrams made of human intestines.) Hey, he just turned 40 today and he inherited his old man's exquisite taste. A BIG shout out to the late Chuck Vergara, who sold me much of his collection for far less than it was worth. It turned out he had cancer and wanted the posters to go to someone who would appreciate them. One of the most generous guys i ever met, a beautiful person. Gotta go; dinner calls. Love to you all, and I love these kinds of threads. Greg Douglass Lake Hodges, CA PS-If anyone has a "Devil Commands" one sheet; you know where to find me(760)212-3648 Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 7:44 AM From: "Alan Adler" To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Re: [MOPO] who inspired YOU in posters and business most in life Hi Tom - Always love your stories and your big heart - eyeballs and ears are important - but your big heart is what makes you the angel that you are. So here are some stories for you. My father was my greatest mentor. He loved movies and bragged that he used to go see 5 movies a day during the depression when he was supposed to be looking for work. When I was 8 the family was riding from NC to Baltimore to visit my grandmother. It was an 8 hour ride. We got 30 minutes out of town and were going through Greensboro and Godzilla has just opened. I cried so hard to see that movie my mother and father pulled over and waited in the car while I went in and watched it. Came out, got in the car and we continued our all night drive to Baltimore. When I started to show interest in movie posters he’d take me to different theaters and appraise my technique for asking the managers for them. Studied the grip of my handshake - a good handshake and looking someone in the eye always makes the best impression. I was 9 years old. My father used to
Re: [MOPO] who inspired YOU in posters and business most in life
Alan -wow !! great memories of Your dada thanks for share! a wonderful story!! Your Dad ..I bet he loved seeing you happy and learning about movie posters,, enjoy and thanks.. best always < Tom Hollywood dream factory® since 1977 On 2021-04-27 10:44, Alan Adler wrote: Hi Tom - Always love your stories and your big heart - eyeballs and ears are important - but your big heart is what makes you the angel that you are. So here are some stories for you. My father was my greatest mentor. He loved movies and bragged that he used to go see 5 movies a day during the depression when he was supposed to be looking for work. When I was 8 the family was riding from NC to Baltimore to visit my grandmother. It was an 8 hour ride. We got 30 minutes out of town and were going through Greensboro and Godzilla has just opened. I cried so hard to see that movie my mother and father pulled over and waited in the car while I went in and watched it. Came out, got in the car and we continued our all night drive to Baltimore. When I started to show interest in movie posters he’d take me to different theaters and appraise my technique for asking the managers for them. Studied the grip of my handshake - a good handshake and looking someone in the eye always makes the best impression. I was 9 years old. My father used to wake me up from a dead sleep and say “the window cards are on the poles tonight’. We’d get into his black Buick and drive down the road. He’d stop at one pole after the other and I would take a little stack of them down. This was so long ago I don’t even remember the titles. When I found rooms of posters as I got older - or a big pile of them in the trash, I’d call him, he’d leave his ladies dress shop, rent a big Uhaul trailer and attach it to his then Cadillac, come to me, hire a couple guys and clear a space at his storage building to safely store them. When he went to buying trips, I would tell him what theater I wanted something from - let’s say when the first Cinerama film came out - Windjammer - he would go there and buy me a program or even ask the manager for stuff. He and I would sit and watch movies all the time. Went to movies all the time. Christmas Day. New Years Day. Always the first show of the opening run of something important. I had the love for the movies, but he stoked the fire and taught me everything I know about how to enjoy them. Something tells me you and my dad were cut from the same special cloth. Alan On Apr 27, 2021, at 5:44 AM, Tom Martin wrote: question to MOPO. bruce, and others who were your early or best mentors in posters and business...? please share your stories we all have mentors as well as teachers of the trade who give us info and help us learn... what interesting world of cinema art..history and its only been a little over 100 years.. speak up Mopoilians Tom Hollywood dream Factory® since 1977 On 2021-04-27 08:21, Bruce Hershenson wrote: Tom, you are an amazing survivor! I love your story about Adam West. Hang in there! On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 3:45 PM wrote: hello Bruce and mono land I have been learning so much since my surgery feb 4 and the prior eye surgery jan 19.. I was asked by a case worker what was my strongest character asset... I said well I am not that strongI can cry at just thoughts of others sadnesss.. or pain and yet my mother and a few people seem to have thought I was strong I say well I pray to god..try to treat others fair and I keep trying so...theni remembered Adam west what he said to tell my ex wife when was selling his biography see we sold it 29.95 autographed... and had lackluster sales,., I had to get the books send them to Adam he send back..and we mail them...all for 29.95 I kept running ads in CBG, movie collectors world... Baby boomer..eve a full page baby boomer ad..stilllow sales.. so Adam called me one day...my ex said he won't give up !!! he keeps trying so Adam said "tell her you are exercising" I thought that was so funny but he was right.. I just kept trying new ads..as I believed in him as a pop culture legend.. so I Told the woman assessor who asked me ..I think my best assets I am determined to get things done... I also Told Adam sir I should just stop and give upas sam doing poor job...he said Tom what you need to know is no one knows anything we all just guess banditry...wheter it be Nasa or medical or business..sometimes it works but many times it does not, when edison was asked why his 10,000 light bulbs failed experiments felt he said I didn't fail, I found 10.99 ways NOT to make a lightbulb I have been exercising, resting, doing much ponderingonlife I gave my car to my son and much of my material stuff is gone, as for movies andposterand music..well I can only see partial left eye...deaf in one ear, and now one partial Charcot Foot...amdf next going to be fitted for prosthetic I even got mental council lug to make sure sam lucid///the young man asked me share you
Re: [MOPO] who inspired YOU in posters and business most in life
Hi Tom - Always love your stories and your big heart - eyeballs and ears are important - but your big heart is what makes you the angel that you are. So here are some stories for you. My father was my greatest mentor. He loved movies and bragged that he used to go see 5 movies a day during the depression when he was supposed to be looking for work. When I was 8 the family was riding from NC to Baltimore to visit my grandmother. It was an 8 hour ride. We got 30 minutes out of town and were going through Greensboro and Godzilla has just opened. I cried so hard to see that movie my mother and father pulled over and waited in the car while I went in and watched it. Came out, got in the car and we continued our all night drive to Baltimore. When I started to show interest in movie posters he’d take me to different theaters and appraise my technique for asking the managers for them. Studied the grip of my handshake - a good handshake and looking someone in the eye always makes the best impression. I was 9 years old. My father used to wake me up from a dead sleep and say “the window cards are on the poles tonight’. We’d get into his black Buick and drive down the road. He’d stop at one pole after the other and I would take a little stack of them down. This was so long ago I don’t even remember the titles. When I found rooms of posters as I got older - or a big pile of them in the trash, I’d call him, he’d leave his ladies dress shop, rent a big Uhaul trailer and attach it to his then Cadillac, come to me, hire a couple guys and clear a space at his storage building to safely store them. When he went to buying trips, I would tell him what theater I wanted something from - let’s say when the first Cinerama film came out - Windjammer - he would go there and buy me a program or even ask the manager for stuff. He and I would sit and watch movies all the time. Went to movies all the time. Christmas Day. New Years Day. Always the first show of the opening run of something important. I had the love for the movies, but he stoked the fire and taught me everything I know about how to enjoy them. Something tells me you and my dad were cut from the same special cloth. Alan > On Apr 27, 2021, at 5:44 AM, Tom Martin > wrote: > > question to MOPO. bruce, and others > > > who were your early or best mentors in posters and business...? > > please share your stories > > we all have mentors as well as teachers of the trade who give us info and > help us learn... > > what interesting world of cinema art..history and its only been a little over > 100 years.. > > speak up Mopoilians > > Tom > Hollywood dream Factory® > since 1977 > > On 2021-04-27 08:21, Bruce Hershenson wrote: >> Tom, you are an amazing survivor! I love your story about Adam West. >> Hang in there! >> On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 3:45 PM >> wrote: >>> hello Bruce and mono land >>> I have been learning so much since my surgery feb 4 and the prior >>> eye >>> surgery jan 19.. >>> I was asked by a case worker what was my strongest character >>> asset... >>> I said well I am not that strongI can cry at just thoughts of >>> others sadnesss.. or pain >>> and yet my mother and a few people seem to have thought I was >>> strong >>> I say well I pray to god..try to treat others fair and I keep >>> trying >>> so...theni remembered Adam west what he said to tell my ex wife >>> when was >>> selling his biography >>> see we sold it 29.95 autographed... >>> and had lackluster sales,., >>> I had to get the books send them to Adam he send back..and we mail >>> them...all for 29.95 >>> I kept running ads in CBG, movie collectors world... Baby >>> boomer..eve a >>> full page baby boomer ad..stilllow sales.. >>> so Adam called me one day...my ex said he won't give up !!! he >>> keeps >>> trying so Adam said "tell her you are exercising" I thought >>> that was >>> so funny but he was right.. >>> I just kept trying new ads..as I believed in him as a pop culture >>> legend.. >>> so I Told the woman assessor who asked me ..I think my best assets >>> I am >>> determined to get things done... >>> I also Told Adam sir I should just stop and give upas sam doing >>> poor >>> job...he said Tom what you need to know is no one knows anything we >>> all >>> just guess banditry...wheter it be Nasa or medical or >>> business..sometimes it works but many times it does not, when >>> edison >>> was asked why his 10,000 light bulbs failed experiments felt >>> he said I didn't fail, I found 10.99 ways NOT to make a lightbulb >>> I have been exercising, resting, doing much ponderingonlife >>> I gave my car to my son and much of my material stuff is gone, as >>> for >>> movies andposterand music..well I can only see partial left >>> eye...deaf >>> in one ear, and now one partial Charcot Foot...amdf next going to >>> be >>> fitted for prosthetic >>> I even got mental council lug to make sure sam lucid///the young >>> man >>> asked me share you
Re: [MOPO] who inspired YOU in posters and business most in life
question to MOPO. bruce, and others who were your early or best mentors in posters and business...? please share your stories we all have mentors as well as teachers of the trade who give us info and help us learn... what interesting world of cinema art..history and its only been a little over 100 years.. speak up Mopoilians Tom Hollywood dream Factory® since 1977 On 2021-04-27 08:21, Bruce Hershenson wrote: Tom, you are an amazing survivor! I love your story about Adam West. Hang in there! On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 3:45 PM wrote: hello Bruce and mono land I have been learning so much since my surgery feb 4 and the prior eye surgery jan 19.. I was asked by a case worker what was my strongest character asset... I said well I am not that strongI can cry at just thoughts of others sadnesss.. or pain and yet my mother and a few people seem to have thought I was strong I say well I pray to god..try to treat others fair and I keep trying so...theni remembered Adam west what he said to tell my ex wife when was selling his biography see we sold it 29.95 autographed... and had lackluster sales,., I had to get the books send them to Adam he send back..and we mail them...all for 29.95 I kept running ads in CBG, movie collectors world... Baby boomer..eve a full page baby boomer ad..stilllow sales.. so Adam called me one day...my ex said he won't give up !!! he keeps trying so Adam said "tell her you are exercising" I thought that was so funny but he was right.. I just kept trying new ads..as I believed in him as a pop culture legend.. so I Told the woman assessor who asked me ..I think my best assets I am determined to get things done... I also Told Adam sir I should just stop and give upas sam doing poor job...he said Tom what you need to know is no one knows anything we all just guess banditry...wheter it be Nasa or medical or business..sometimes it works but many times it does not, when edison was asked why his 10,000 light bulbs failed experiments felt he said I didn't fail, I found 10.99 ways NOT to make a lightbulb I have been exercising, resting, doing much ponderingonlife I gave my car to my son and much of my material stuff is gone, as for movies andposterand music..well I can only see partial left eye...deaf in one ear, and now one partial Charcot Foot...amdf next going to be fitted for prosthetic I even got mental council lug to make sure sam lucid///the young man asked me share you offended that I lack empathy ifs am not religious?? I said no many of my friends are atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Hindu , Buddist,jews ofallraces and ethnicity etc..I love all people and all Races..Iam Sicilian andsawa great PBS travel history..Sicily is right over North Africa..eithiopia...and was captured by Normans Greeks, Muslims. Romans. you name it Carthigy...so it explains why I must have the blood of many people in me. the best lesson I learned was to Forgive everyone...I learned that the China guys that set out take my trademark are suffering too perhaps more then me...so to just forgive them and help as many people as I can before I need this life.. all my mentors seem to agree..andend up serving others instead of there own egos.. so I have been trying to come up with items to help disabled people like a way to come in the door from outside in a wheelchair..I took a foam mat ,placed it in from of the door, went backwards and did it!!! my nurse watched in case it didn't work..the disability guys said there was no way to do its a foot needs the door stop// so I shimmed it up with a foam mat on the other side anti cleared... I am eating well..taking vitamins..doing leg lifts.ab crunches.and other then UTI infection...I had a 6.5 A1-c and tall my bloodworm looks good// so baby steps.prayer, frienbdsand family its been hard mentally on my son..so he needs to recover fromtheshock of seeing his dad and his mom ill.. I affected his life...but he's been reading Positive books and videos andexpossing to great works like Norman Vincent Peale and other... so we are getting along better. we have spoke about the universe, God..media//its affect on Kids..etc He told me Speilbergt was tgeone who helped define PG-13 ratings for the movies/// so Lucas. Spielberg.Capra and many others have used Media to do many positive things in cinema... I am not sure whats next but sam so thankful for my friends on mope family...as its been great adventure to share your story...and learn about Motion pictures with you all... I hope to do some good things before I transition to the next thank you so much everyone and I wish you health peace and happiness for young family and/or business ventures.. God Bless,, Tom Hollywood dream factory® since 1977 On 2021-04-26 14:22, Bruce Hershenson wrote: IF YOU HAVE NEVER EVER BOUGHT EVEN ONE VINTAGE MOVIE POSTER, TOMORROW WOULD BE A GREAT DAY TO START, BECAUSE WE HAVE 1,299 AUCTIONS OF INSERTS, HALF-SHEETS, AND SMALLER NON-U.S. POSTERS FROM 16
