Tommy Rettig


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By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
Local religious TV channel has been re-running early "Lassie" shows. Have programmed DVR for nostalgic reasons, hoping to eventually see the episode re: Jap. exchange student/JuJitsu demo that I haven't seen in 50+years. It ran on Sun. evenings where I lived in the 50s, and that day right after the show I was accosted by a local bully. I pulled the move on him shown in the TV show (flipping him onto his head), and he was so shocked/devastated, he never bothered me again!



Got me to thinking about Tommy Rettig. I guess he died of heart failure in the 90s, but I wonder if anyone knew he was one of Ed Roth's first customers when Ed started selling custom ordered, hand airbrushed/HotRod-themed sweatshirts? (He ordered an image of Lassie roasting over a spit). In his late teens he was apparently quite angry, as acting jobs for him were scarce, and he really resented losing his "Lassie" roll just because they thought he had outgrown it.



I always wanted to run into Ed, but he died before I could connect (he showed up regularly at major car shows). I sent him $5 cash when I was about 15, and ordered a custom-painted shirt. While walking away from the mailbox, I remember thinking: "Did I include a return address"? I guess not, as the shirt never came. I always wondered if Ed would return my money if pressed.
By bird55 - 16 Years Ago
don't know about ol tommy but i'm glad you lived to fight another day. Here is the shirt I bought from Roth in the 60's. It never seemed to arrive in the mail. Got it from the back of Hot Rod magazine as I recall. My buddy's Mom called for us when she heard us talking about it one day and reamed'em out for not sending our shirts. They came the next week! I still have the original shirt, worn out now beyond belief. But don't tell anyone, I did some reprints. Wink

I used to use it as my avatar on here but now I use it on the HAMB.
By montana ford man - 16 Years Ago
I loved that show"Jeff's Collie". I never liked "Lassie". I remember his mom's car was a 49 Ford and his gramps pickup was a 46 ? Ford. loved that show.
By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
Pick-up ('56/'57 episodes) looks like a '39-'40?
By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
montana ford man (5/15/2009)
I loved that show"Jeff's Collie". I never liked "Lassie". I remember his mom's car was a 49 Ford and his gramps pickup was a 46 ? Ford. loved that show.




I noticed that when the Lassie show dumped Tommy Rettig, they also switched from Ford to Mopar for set/prop cars (crappy "Timmy" episodes had a lot of Dodges/DeSotos). I will still watch the old Perry Mason/77 Sunset Strip shows just to see what all the 50s Fords looked like when they were new. They must have been supplied to the studios as a complimentary advertising gimmick?