


The rebirth of Kustom Kulture has seen the use of the term “Kustom Graphics” to describe the style of artwork associated with the subculture when applied to posters, flyers, T-shirts and logos. Many styles that would not have tolerated each other in the past now come together in large car shows. Each style is distinct, and has its roots in American automobile history. In the 1990s and 2000s, Kustom Kulture had taken on a rebirth of American subcultures from the 1950s and 1960s with DIY activities. Everything from wild pinstriped paintjobs, to choptop Mercurys, to custom Harley-Davidson and Triumph motorcycles, to metal-flake and black primer paint jobs, along with music, cartoons, and monster movies have influenced what defines anyone and anything who is part of this automobile subculture. Each separate culture has added their own customizations to the cars, their own fashions, influenced the music, and added their own ideas of what is cool, what is acceptable, and what is not.
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Other subcultures that have had an influence on Kustom Kulture are the Skinheads, mods and rockers of the 1960s, the punk rockers of the 1970s, the metal and rockabilly music, along with the scooterboys of the 1980s, and psychobilly of the 1990s. Kustom Kulture is usually identified with the greasers of the 1950s, the drag racers of the 1960s, and the lowriders of the 1970s. Artists such as Von Dutch (Kenny Howard), Robert Williams, and custom car builder Ed "Big Daddy" Roth along with Lyle Fisk, Dean Jeffries hot rod and lowrider customizers such as the Barris Brothers (Sam and George Barris) along with numerous tattoo artists, automobile painters, and movies and television shows such as American Graffiti and The Munsters ( The Munster Koach, DRAG-U-LA) have all helped to form what is known as Kustom Kulture. Over time, each of these distinct styles of customizing have blended together and reshaped American culture. In the early days of hot rodding, many fashions and styles developed. It was born out of the hot rod culture of Southern California of the 1960s. There is a Rat Fink poster on the blue wall at stage left in The Pee-wee Herman Show.Kustom Kulture is the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who have driven and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today. The song was featured in the film Beavis and Butthead Do America, along with an animated sequence reminiscent of Ed Roth's artistic style.įink's, a bar-and-grille in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is named in tribute to Rat Fink. The band White Zombie produced a song titled "Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks, and Cannibal Girls". West Coast and in Australia (Roth drew Rat Fink artwork for the album Junk Yard by the Australian band The Birthday Party). Roth's lucrative idea to paint hideous monsters - including the Rat Fink of the title - on children's T-shirts.Ī Rat Fink revival in the late 1980s and the 1990s centered on the grunge/ punk rock movements, both in the U.S.
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Ogling fins and drooling over fenders, the movie traces the colorful history of the hot rod from speed machine to babe magnet and, finally, museum piece and collector's item. Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed in The New York Times: Rat Fink and Roth are featured in Ron Mann's documentary film Tales of the Rat Fink (2006).

Sloane and Steve Fiorilla, who illustrated Roth's catalogs. Other artists associated with Roth also drew the character, including Rat Fink Comix artist R.K. Rat Fink continues to be a popular item to this day in hot rod and Kustom Kulture circles in the form of T-shirts, key chains, wallets, toys, decals, etc. The initial run of the kit was from 1963 to 1965, but the Rat Fink kit, along with Roth's other creations, has been re-issued by Revell over the years. Also in 1963, the Revell Model Company issued a plastic model kit of the character. The ad called it "The rage in California". Rat Fink was advertised for the first time in the July 1963 issue of Car Craft. His T-shirt designs inspired an industry. By the August 1959 issue of Car Craft, "weirdo shirts" had become a craze, with Ed Roth at the forefront of the movement. Roth began airbrushing and selling "weirdo" T-shirts at car shows and in the pages of hot rod publications such as Car Craft in the late 1950s. He is often seen driving cars or motorcycles. Rat Fink is usually portrayed as either green or gray, comically grotesque and depraved-looking with bulging, bloodshot eyes, an oversized mouth with sharp, narrow teeth, and wearing red overalls with the initials "R.F." on them. Roth conceived Rat Fink as an anti-hero to Mickey Mouse. Rat Fink is one of several hot rod characters created by artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, one of the originators of Kustom Kulture of automobile enthusiasts.
