The 70's continued
Driving a cab, didn't put enough food on the table, nor pay the rent, so in 1971, I donned a suit and tie, and headed back to the big Apple. I took a job as a pasteup/mechanical artist, for a retail newspaper. If you were born in the after 1979, let me explain what a pasteup/mechanical artist does. He cuts out type from a galley of body copy, and art and paste it into position on a board.
A tedious, necessary, lousy start up position in the art field. The work of drudgery. The word pasteup is so old, the at my spell checker is quizzing me
on the correct spelling. Today in our wonderful age of computers, the pasteup/mechanicals are all done digitally, and not with rubber cement, or wax to paste it down.. Did I mention lousy start up position. Well, that was how ads were put into Newspapers and fliers back in the dark ages of printing. Hey, It paid the bills, sort of... 
The company I worked for either handled retail stores, or was a store ad agency, I can't remember which. I think it was Korvettes, a long ago gone retail store, like K-Mart. It 's not that important. I mentioned earlier that I always pushed the envelope, so my area where I worked was no exception,. I had my own cartoon characters everywhere around me, I even had a 4' high cartoon creature towering above my drawing desk lamp. The place was a cartoon carnival. The organization, humored me, somewhat.
I remember they had a great relaxation room, that everyone went to during lunch hour. There were billiard tables, and everyone congregated there. I loved to write and draw, but with all the commotion during lunch hour, I couldn't hear myself think. So, I did the obvious, I chose my lunch hour from 1PM to 2PM, when no one else was there. I drew cartoons vigorously in the peace and quiet of the large room. One day my concentration was interrupted, by an "Ahem"
" What are you doing here?' question. I proceeded to explain how I was an artist, and how I...
I was cut off by "Lunch hour is from 12 noon to 1PM, This room is not open after 1PM."retort.
I said I wasn't bothering anyone, and, the peace and quiet is so conducive to creating art.
Whereupon, he said" This room is open for lunch only , and from 12 noon to 1Pm, who is your supervisor."
Needless to say, from that day forward I ate my lunch at my desk, whilst I sketched cartoons in my book, from 12 noon to 1PM.
One last vignette, about Korvettes, it's not art related, but since I'm stuck at my desk in time, I figured I drop it in.
One afternoon, as I was slaving over my pasteups for an always exciting weekend special flier, I looked up and saw a couple dressed up like they didn't belong in our Korvettes establishment.
He was tall, smartly dressed, and she was attractive, and wearing clothes, that you would never find at a Korvettes store. As they walked from department to department, they were introduced to each person. " This is Ed Furstenberg, and Diane, they will be working with us"
my manager said, and off they sauntered . I thought, I can't see them soing pasteups, and I was right, in fact I never saw them again , until some time later, when I picked up the Daily News, and read the About Town page. The Crown Prince of Austria, Egon Von Furstenberg, and his lovely wife were in America , to learn about the retail business. Eddy Furstenberg, Cmon !
I realized after working at a job I hated, that my days were numbered. The week moved slowly, each night I would go home, and tell Suzy about my escapades, and the pending sword .
Her reaction, "you'll find another job, we have cat's to feed". Throughout the week, I slowly took down my cartoon museum, by Thursday, it was totally fresh and clean, ready for a new lackey. Friday, at 4:30, I placed a clean white board on the drawing table, said my few goodbyes, waited to 5PM to leave, and I never got a call from my boss to see him. I was amazed.
Monday morning, I showered, put on my best clothes, headed to the train station. I bought a weekly ticket, grabbed a coffee, and newspaper. I got the best seat on the train, since it was the end of the line, and headed to the city. Squeezing my 6' 2" frame into a packed subway can, was again to be my continuing joy. I grabbed another cup of coffee to face the day at the office .
Getting off the elevator, and crossing through the corridors to the art department, I received a few quizzical looks. I stopped short, when I saw a pair of crossed legs, sitting at my drawing table.
I heard a cough, and another, and the "John, can I see you in my office" was heard next.
I traipsed into the managers office, sat down and waited. "John, It's not working out, we have to let you go" he said sheepishly. I said, "Wait a minute, doesn't that always happen on Fridays, I just bought a weekly ticket"
..........."I forgot" was his only reply. 
No comments:
Post a Comment