NV NV - Wellington, WhtMale 574UMNV, 35-50, off Sand Canyon Road, Mar'92 - #1

[Steleheart]

Can we correlate the shirt with the hat?

.....a black hat with the words "Heavenly Lake Tahoe"

Brief cursory search brings up a ski resort in Tahoe called Heavenly Mountain resort.

The hats are still available on Ebay

 

[Miss Muffet]

Yes I was discussing the model. If he went homeless because of drugs and lost work he may have still been wearing the free t-shirts he got modeling?

:cow:

Oh, I got you. I thought you were saying it couldn't be our guy. Who know, maybe vintage t-shirts were all the rage in the early 90s. When did the artist die? The artist's t-shirts could have remained popular. He was a local artist to San Fran, after all.

 

[GGE]

He died in the last under-ten-years. 2007 or later IIRC.

 

[GGE]

http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Jim-E.-Kitson-87195195

"Jim was born on May 10, 1939 and passed away on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.

Jim was a resident of Alameda, California."

 

[Miss Muffet]

He died in the last under-ten-years. 2007 or later IIRC.

His t-shirts could have remained popular in the region well into the early 90s.

 

[Miss Muffet]

While it's a tragedy Jim is dead on so many levels, we can't ignore the fact that our victim might have known him.

I know EXACTLY where I'm picking up my research after I get some sleep.

 

[carbuff]

I know speed was around in the late 70s and 80s. I remember hearing about speed in junior high.

Is speed meth? I didn't know that. I don't think they are the same drug.

Oh, and I'm from one of the heavily manufacturing areas in Pennsylvania, and I'm telling you that meth was not a problem here, at least in my lifetime of the 60s and 70s. It has only become a problem in the past 20 years here. Now everything is a problem. Every single drug is everywhere now. I'm shocked, shocked, shocked at the heroin epidemic today. That wasn't prevalent in the upper classes like it is today. I don't know what's gotten into people's heads that caused them to not get THE WARNING to not try these drugs. We wouldn't go near them in my generation here.

Here's the link that says that meth was only a real big problem in the California cities in the 70s and 80s.

" During the late 1970s and through the early 1980s, the problem of meth use in the U.S. was, for the most part, limited to several California cities (e.g., San Francisco and San Diego), since the primary manufacturers and suppliers of meth at the time were members of Hells Angels and other motorcycle gangs headquartered in California. In the mid-1980s meth use escalated dramatically in Honolulu as “ice,” a smokable form of the drug that was imported onto the island of Oahu from the Philippines."

http://www.methinformation.org/html/overview.html

Of course the legal drug existed since the war, but we're talking about when illegal manufacturing and distribution of the drug started.

I was talking about misuse of the legal drugs, sorry that wasn't clear. And no, it was nowhere near the problem it is now. I'm just saying it's been around. The US military made use of methamphetamines during the war to up the performance of pilots, particularly in the Pacific basin. "Speed" in the late sixties/early seventies covered most any kind of amphetamine, most of which were legal under at least some circumstances. You could get a prescription from your doctor if you needed to stay alert or lose weight. Yes, the illegal manufacturing of cheap meth is recent, and the meth that's made is a lot more potent than the older formulations.

 

[GGE]

If you have a full ancestry.com membership then here you go. (that's to anyone reading this).

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/1770750/person/-1877379395/facts

 

[carbuff]

The hats are still available on Ebay

Pretty sure the hats are still available in the Tahoe area There were similar if not identical hats for sale in the area when we took a weekend vacation there a couple of years ago.

 

[Miss Muffet]

The hats are definitely still available in a similar variation.

The resort is still around, and resorts don't typically change their branding.

 

[Tricia]

"some help" is an understatement. Excellent work. I echo my partners comment, you've done what no one could do in 23 years. Bravo!

Equestrianista, I second that emotion. WOWOWOWOW. Great Job. THANK YOU

Although I have to admit I am not the least bit surprised. There was never a doubt in my mind that Websleuths members could help LE in this case in a big way.

Thank you everyone and a very special tip of the hat to Equestrianista.

Can't wait to see what you all come up with next.

Tricia Griffith
Owner/Websleuths.com

 

[Miss Muffet]

Can't wait to see what you all come up with next.

Next already happened. LadyN identified the artist this morning.

And we have something else in the works.

 

[MrsTigglesworth]

I loved waking up to the great news! Awesome work everyone! I also love that James was such a great and interesting man. Hopefully our shirt is an original and not a knockoff :/ it is gorgeous artwork, I would love to have one, too

 

[Tricia]

Next already happened. LadyN identified the artist this morning.

And we have something else in the works.

See before I could even mention the future the future happened. LOL

Great Job LadyN. THANK YOU SO MUCH

More to come I'm sure.

Tricia

 

[Miss Muffet]

it is gorgeous artwork, I would love to have one, too

I'd frame one! Unfortunately, it seems like they'll be difficult to find because they're rare.

Okay. I'm going to bed. I can't stay awake for the detectives to wake up. How dare they sleep! I jest, of course. But they might fear going to sleep after this because we've clearly demonstrated that we're a runaway train that can't be held back.

 

[enzeder]

Anyway, so the shirt is a Jim Kitson Hawk print circa 1975, at the relative beginning of his eco-tee business, and he was based in California. His wife still is alive, and mmarty and/or lcos can now contact her to see what tshirt company and/or other places he worked with and especially WHERE HE SOLD THIS TEE. It's been a great 24 hours!

ETA: in one of my next few posts I find that he also owned a business called Hawk Enterprises, so am including that info here. Also his wife's name, etc is further down. Susan Laing. She works with felt/is a "felter". Jim did most of his later work with metal so people doing further searches might need to focus on that aspect.

BBM - I see that she has a Facebook page. A couple of Kitson's in her friend list as well.

 

[Steleheart]

Anyway, so the shirt is a Jim Kitson Hawk print circa 1975, at the relative beginning of his eco-tee business, and he was based in California. His wife still is alive, and mmarty and/or lcos can now contact her to see what tshirt company and/or other places he worked with and especially WHERE HE SOLD THIS TEE. It's been a great 24 hours!

ETA: in one of my next few posts I find that he also owned a business called Hawk Enterprises, so am including that info here. Also his wife's name, etc is further down. Susan Laing. She works with felt/is a "felter". Jim did most of his later work with metal so people doing further searches might need to focus on that aspect.

I found a nice tribute and bio, not sure if you posted it - still trying to catch up;

"All fun aside, a man must make a living, and so Jim invented, single-handed, the eco-tee-shirt business, with hand-drawn images of endangered species, often featuring his totem -- the hawk. The business flourished so well it ended as creative-centered businesses often do, by someone stealing his ideas via the Xerox machine and underselling the product. When a Singapore-based conglomerate stole his idea "I Got Crabs at Fisherman's Wharf", he closed up shop."

http://www.island-life.net/back_issues/ISLANDLIFE2009b.htm

 

[trisha_mc]

I'm still feeling like this is our guy:

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/photos/full/27688

Robert Kellar

ETA: I don't know how to post pics, but in the pic at the link his hair looks just right!

 

[carbuff]

I met Jim Kitson once, many years ago, at an art show. His sculptures were phenomenal.

 

[Miss Muffet]

I just received an email from my vintage guy in the region. I had sent him an update with a thank you note. In the information he provided me about the company, he said Mark Pack Works also manufactured ski clothes. The backpacks and clothing were expensive and sold mail order and at ski shops.