Signs of the Times - June 2015 - 92

Hutchins Family
Celebrates Centennial
Four generations in the sign business
By Al Hutchins

n March 8, my family celebrated 100 years and
four generations in the sign industry. It began with my
dad, F. D. (Don) Hutchins, a Hoboken, NJ pharmacist.
He couldn't get window signs locally for his pharmacy,
so he began making his own. He came by it somewhat
naturally, with generations of folk- artist ancestors.
Dad had a flair for it, and he began doing it regularly
for himself. Soon he was asked to make signs for the
other local businesses. Within a year, signmaking was
much more profitable than the pharmacy. Dad soon
purchased a Model "T" Ford pickup truck, rented
a storefront and opened F. D. Hutchins, Signs of
Distinction, in Hoboken.
At the time, even basic materials weren't readily
available. Plywood didn't yet exist, so Dad glued and
doweled boards together. He made his own paints
from raw materials like linseed oil, lamp black and
powdered lead - then available at a hardware store.
Dad made his brushes from the tails of road-kill grey
squirrels, a turkey quill and a dowel for a handle.
Dad soon outgrew the Hoboken store and moved
the shop to Newark. There, he met and befriended
Nathan Glantz, founder of N. Glantz & Son. He
finally had a place to obtain materials. When World
War II began, Dad moved the shop to Philadelphia.
As part of his own wartime contribution, Dad was
involved in early helicopter development with Frank
Piasecki, whom the New York Times eulogized in
2008 as "one of the three primary progenitors of the
American helicopter industry".
Dad still ran his signshop though, and my older
92 SIGNS OF THE TIMES June 2015

brother Donnie (eight years my senior) and I would
paint addresses on curbs in south Philadelphia to
learn our skills. In 1959, at age 62, Dad moved us
to the Jersey shore. He referred to himself as semiretired and opened Hutchins Signs in Keansburg,
NJ, the northernmost boardwalk town in the state.
On September 3, 1609, the Half Moon, captained by
Henry Hudson, is said to have landed on the shores
of present-day Keansburg.
When I was 11, Dad had me painting backgrounds
and borders. Outlines and drop shades followed, and
then I progressed to lettering paper signs for weekly
specials. We would make spinning, numbered wheels,
and the corresponding laydowns for placing your
bets for boardwalk games; and build miniature golf
courses and all types of animation and graphics for
boardwalks. My first solo job in 1961, at age 13, was
an ice machine; that netted me $50.
Celebrities often visited the shop. When I was a teen,
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth dropped in to see Dad when
he came east to the summer nationals at Raceway
Park in Englishtown, NJ. He was very nice to me. I
showed him all my drawing of Rat Fink and Francis
the Foul. Also, we had several headline nightclubs in
Keansburg, like the Peppermint Lounge East and The
Miami Club. They hosted comics, and Jackie Gleason
and Rodney Dangerfield came by to review their billings Dad had created for the marquees.
As for me, I'm one of only three artists to have
painted the "Tilly logo" for Asbury Park in the '60s.
Growing up in a signshop made it easy to feel good

Signs of the Times - June 2015

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