Eddie Morin: I learned a lot of lessons the hard way. I never really was highly successful. I made a living out of it; I made ends meet. It’s kinda tough when you're a one-man. You’re the worker, the journeyman, the bill collector, the delivery boy… I just marvel at these guys that have made a lot of money. And I’ve noticed, the most successful sign businesses, they’re run by guys that aren’t that great. The true craftsmen are too busy with their craft to really get involved that much more. The business side is powerful.
AM: It takes a lot of energy… Did you ever pursue other career options?
EM: To get back to my dad, he was very concerned about his ethnicity and all the discrimination we had. There have just been some egregious cases, just outrageous, like one year the policemen, they call it the black Christmas, they went to the jail they took all the Mexicans out and beat the hell out of them. For amusement. You know? A woman was a city councilwoman, she also doubled as a bail bondswoman, she happened to be there and she reported it. Stuff like that went on all the time. When a young Chicano got arrested part of the booking process was to get himself beat up.
Anyway, my dad was very against this, he was very pro-ethnic and he pointed out that the Mexican-Americans have served honorably in World War Two and Korea, they got more Medal of Honors than any other ethnicity. He wrote the book (Among the Valiant) and it was like a cosmic awakening for a lot of people. They go, Wow I never knew… He’s the one responsible for this monument here.
In the old days this was the terminus. This is actually the line between the county (unincorporated) and the city. Across the street you’re in the city. Nobody claimed responsibility for it, it was just an odd piece of land. And there was trash here, broken bottles, rags, you name it. My dad saw it, he was a visionary in a lot of ways, and he said, “This would serve as a memorial.” So he went to city council, he led the charge, it was his idea. And he says, “How about giving us the land as a memorial?” and they said you know what, if that’s your idea we’ll work with it and give you a year. If you can’t do it forget it. But it has to come from the private sector. So he got a bunch of fellow veterans and they approached the Mexican Chamber of Commerce’ wealthiest businessmen and they did it. They had this monument erected in 1947.
Anyway, a controversy began because somebody suggested that they revamp it and make a traffic circle here. The local residents don’t want it, the merchants don’t want it. It was outsiders, and it has a price tag of like twenty-six million. Who the hell needs it? And they’re even talking about cutting into the cemetery. This (Evergreen) cemetery is the oldest one in Los Angeles so it has historical significance. They want to mar it by putting a huge traffic circle and not just that, they want to put the circle with different islands around it. And I go, you stop, you look, you study, you think, where are they going to hold a Memorial Day observance? There’s no such place.
At the center of the circle they want to put a huge monument, I call it “The Tower of Babble”. They want to change the name to “All Wars”. There’s so many things wrong - for one thing, it was never meant to be dedicated to war. It was meant to honor the Chicano veterans. And they're changing all that, the tradition, the name. There's a group of people that are outsiders - none of the locals want it. So we were having that controversy, that fight, and part of the clique that wanted it got control of the Memorial Day observance committee and every year they say, “This is the all wars memorial.” Nowhere in the entire park does it say “all wars.” My dad’s monument says “Morin Memorial Square" because as veterans they wanted to acknowledge him and give him the honor of the entire area, north south east west, being named Morin Memorial Square. I have a permanent plaque at my house (with) the certificate signed by all the councilmen. This is councilmatic history, Tom Bradley, Ernani Bernardi, Art Snyder, Gilbert Lindsay, on and on. All these famous councilmen, they signed it. I was here when they dedicated it, there were prayers said over it, there were two senators here, a representative from the mayor’s office, so it is a big deal. It’s the family legacy and we’re very proud of it. I was shocked, aghast that somebody would try to change it. In no even manner too. They denied me access to their meetings. They forcibly expelled me from their meetings. It’s supposed to be an open forum but they don’t want me putting in my two cents’. But they can’t suppress the truth.
AM: It sounds like you found the support to stop it.
EM: I do, there’s people that are on my side, I would say the majority! But these guys are vocal. And they know some politicians. I don’t know if you're familiar with this guy that was in office, (Jose) Huizar, he was a councilman several years back. They busted him for corruption and that in itself says a lot because he was in on this caper. It’s not hard to conjure images of kickbacks and bribes. I met with him.
At one point you know what I did - like I said they wouldn’t allow me in meetings - I had some t-shirts printed up that said “Morin Memorial Square Now and Forever” and about fifty of us showed up here wearing that. The opposition was indignant! “How dare we desecrate the area, that this is not a place to publicize political messages.” They were outraged. But it got me an audience with Huizar, and he told me “Don’t worry Mr. Morin, we're not going to change nothing.” He lied through his teeth. He was just doing that to throw me off the trail. Anyway I found out about the plans and everything. I got help. This woman, she’s an activist - she’s been the answer to my prayers. She said, they’re not going to change it. She’s on my side, she’s an organizer, connected, so I've been having a lot of better results.
AM: So people who do what your father did and are advocating for the community are still out there. Do you see your legacy as one that is community-oriented?
EM: I’m the opposite of my dad - I’m the heir-apparent but also the guy least likely. My dad was an extrovert; he’d speak out with confidence you know. He’d say what he thought, there was no misunderstanding (him). Me, I’d rather stay in the background. This has been thrust on me. I didn’t want this publicity, I didn’t want this fight, but it came to me. I like to just stay home and dabble, do a few little art projects, watch TV with my wife, read a book. I’ve been thrust into the limelight, not to my liking either.
AM: Thank you for sharing. I think your story is important to myself and others who place emphasis on hand lettering, good design and things like that.
EM: I got some questions for you. Did you study your craft at Trade Tech?
AM: Yes.
EM: Was your instructor Doc Guthrie?
AM: Yes.
EM: I know him. He’s a good man. The instructor before him, he was a hard task master. He’d make people practice their strokes and all that but I don’t think he was as knowledgeable as Doc. Doc was very strong on creativity. He’s gifted, he’s good. We’re friends. How did you find out about Raul Morin being a sign guy?
AM: Research. In the shop where I work we make foam replacements for the metal plaques that get stolen. I noticed this one was gone so when the new one was installed I just thought I’d do a little research and that’s how I found the story and I thought it was really cool that a sign painter of such modest beginnings now has a permanent memorial, not just for himself but the people he represents, his brothers and sisters in arms.
EM: How did I come into the picture?
AM: Through your website Valiant Press. That’s where I learned the history and I thought if his son is around it would be great to talk and get some more info, especially digging deeper into the sign painting side. That’s what I’m really interested in because it’s different. The trade is always evolving and we have social media where people market themselves now. Hand lettering is very conducive for social media so it’s having a real resurgence.
EM: I was working for this company and they sent me out to a lumber yard that had a fleet of trucks. I told them, "I'm not telling you how to run your business, but you can silkscreen these letters on your trucks and it will be cheaper and faster” and he said, “I like a hand-lettered sign.” Some people have the demand, other people are looking for the shortest most pragmatic answer.
You ever see that movie The Apartment, with Jack Lemmon? At one point in the movie he’s in his office and they’ve got a sign painter putting his name on the door. Now there’s another movie with Kevin Bacon called He Said She Said. In his office there's also a sign guy, but he’s applying vinyl to the window.
I had somebody tell me while we were haggling over a price, “Come on, I'll throw in a bottle of wine.” That’s the kind of respect we get. These guys are hardened by trade and by custom and they’re used to chiseling you down. That’s why it’s not a wise idea to argue with them about price, it’s better to just walk away. I hung up a picture of the city to remind me “In the whole city there are more customers who are good customers. You don’t have to put up with bad customers.” I've been desperate a few times where I needed work and I took a job that was substandard and I always regretted it. Tell them, “I know what I got, I know what it’s worth.”
One time I did a gold leaf job that was really hard to clean up (the excess), it adhered good. A guy told me to use cigarette ashes. You can’t use cigar ashes because they’re too abrasive. Get your wet cotton and put it on the ashtray, and sure enough it did the trick. I talked to a sign painter from Mexico who told me they do their gold leaf with a banana enzyme. He didn’t explain how it works but I thought that was interesting.
AM: Do you have any friends from your era who are still painting signs?
EM: They're retired. A couple of friends have died. I have a buddy up in Medford Oregon who is super talented. The guy gives his work away too, I tell him, “Rick, you gotta get more money.” He does cartoon graphics on race cars. He does airbrush drawings, hand lettering, and he’s real creative. You give him an idea and he expounds on it and improves it, he’s terrific. Rick Evans. His younger brother is a sign guy. His dad had a body shop and he’s an artist too. He’s got a brother in prison who’s an artist as well.
AM: I wanted to ask if you know anything about an old sign shop in Montebello that’s boarded up called Forey Signs.
EM: Yeah, Tony Forey. He was a so-so sign painter, I wouldn’t say he was a maestro; he was more commercial-oriented. He had better business sense. He used to sell cookware too. One time he invited me downtown and we handed out cards. He goes, this is how you solicit business, then he told me to kick in some money for gas. He didn’t mention that before but I gave him a couple of dollars. That’s what I mean by “business sense”. He was very commercial. He was good, he picked up a lot on his own. Like I said, not really a maestro, but a successful sign business owner.
AM: How did you usually get jobs and solicit business?
EM: People would refer others to me. One time I went to Design-Mart, downtown on Olympic where they have fashion designers. You can’t get in without permission, and I had the card of somebody. I said this woman called me, she wants to see me. It was a lie but I went in and passed some cards out and got a couple calls back. But usually when I’d be painting a sign people would stop and ask for a card or say come and see me later. I had guys who were my contacts and when they were flooded with work they’d give me a call.
AM: Ever done any pinstriping?
EM: No, that’s one thing that evades me. I tried it and I’m real clumsy at it. I’ve done some loose pinstriping and it was okay but once you start doing a real tight design forget it. I’ve got a nephew, my niece’s son, who’s expressed interest in the sign trade. I gave him a striper and he does a lot of striping. I told him this too, when you get a vinyl banner and you want to letter on it you can’t use enamel, it has to be acrylic enamel. Or you get some t-coat and coat it out. Or you get that Johnson’s floor wax and coat it out - same thing. So he’s been doing stuff and he’s pretty good at design too. He lives up in Indiana so I haven’t seen him in a couple of years. But when he comes around I give him a lot of tricks. I’ve got a whole collection of SignCraft magazines I’m gonna lay on him. He likes the craft. This other kid I met about a month ago, right here on First and State. He did some mural work and he showed me a cafe where he did some other mural work and I told him we gotta get together but he’s always busy. I wanna give him advice, like how to treat your customers, how to demand respect.
One tip - this happened to me later in my career- A woman sign painter friend of mine gave me a job and the guy was very pleased. He was a commercial artist and he said, “I get work from time to time but the standards are very high.” Well, I said, I consider myself a first-class sign painter. He gave me this job and he said, “Charge whatever you want, but do a good job because they’re very finicky.” I got three hundred dollars for a paper sign. They wanted their logo drawn exactly. You seek out the right market. Another thing I’d do if I was starting out: ad agencies - I’d seek out all the ad agencies and give them my card. Say “I’m first class, I can do the work, give me a call.” That’s a good lead.
I worked a couple years in the fashion district downtown - they’re all cheap skates! They chisel you down and not just that, there’s competition. A lot of competition. If you don’t do it somebody else will, you’re like a bunch of dogs fighting for the same bone. I finally got wise after a couple years, I go, there’s no real money here. They don’t appreciate a real nice job, what they want is quick and cheap. I said I’m out of here.
AM: Are any of your signs still down there?
EM: I don’t know, I haven't been down there in years. There's one across from Macarthur park, it’s called El Piojito (now defunct), it’s a 99 cent store, it’s huge. I did the graphics on that one.
AM: Did you stick to the east side of town mostly?
EM: I had no boundaries. Wherever they called me.
AM: What about Disneyland, did you ever work with the painters down there?
EM: I went down there for a job listing once and I was one day too late, they just hired somebody. Dollywood was looking for a sign guy, someone knowledgeable in antique; you know they're trying to create an ambience there. If I wasn't so old, so retired, I think I’d like a job like that. I have books on old typefaces; I could give them exactly what they want.
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