The general message intended was that being different or weird was okay, and being a Fink or a Weirdo was cool. The songs featured on these records told descriptive stories about the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth gang and their favorite pastimes, like hot rodding and surfing. Gasser and the Weirdos," featuring Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. There were also several Ed "Big Daddy" Roth record albums produced. They soon became heroes to young kids across the nation who could relate to the stories and themes of the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth gang. The Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Gang included: Rat Fink, Drag Nut, Mother's Worry, and Mr. That's how popular Ed "Big Daddy" Roth creations were. Ed brought in $32,000 that year in royalties. Here is a very interesting note: During 1963 Revell paid Ed "Big Daddy" Roth a one cent royalty for each model sold. Other model kits included "Rat Fink" and the gang, a group of hot rodding monsters. Revell American produced model car kits that featured the "Beatnik Bandit" and "Road Agent". Ed had to hire several employees to help him build and produce more custom cars and t-shirts. When Ed "Big Daddy" Roth got so busy that his garage couldn't handle the work, he moved his operation into a new shop in Maywood, California. By 1963, teenagers across America were buying Rat Fink model kits and mass-produced Rat Fink T-shirts by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was a genius at designing cars, but it was Rat Fink that brought him fame. Rat Fink started as a drawing that Ed had put on his refrigerator. The most popular Ed "Big Daddy" Roth monster was Rat Fink. Big Daddy Roth would draw cartoons of monsters that he created and pictures of cars, but when he personally airbrushed t-shirts with the monsters driving the cars, people went crazy and would line up at his booth. Presto! His garage became his studio where other creations came into light which include the "Beatnik Bandit" and "Rotar".Įd became Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, a hot-roddin', gear head, mad scientist, and struggling artist who financed his inventions by selling drawings and t-shirts at drag events, fairs, and car shows. All you really needed was imagination, some motor head know-how, a lot of elbow grease, and gumption. Shortly after came the "Outlaw", which showed the world that anyone could design and build a car without being a certified automotive engineer. Ed's first car was called the "Little Jewel". Using junkyard parts and a newly developed product called fiberglass, Ed created automobiles in his garage.
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In 1958 Ed went to work full time with "The Baron" and his grandson Kelly. Ed began working at Sears in the Display Department and started pin striping cars after work.Īs Ed's family grew, so did the bills. Ed was honorably discharged in 1955.īy that time Ed owned several vehicles, he was married and had 5 children, all boys. He was first stationed in Africa, then transferred to South Carolina for 4 years before coming home.
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Ed did pretty good in college but got bored with his engineering and physics classes because they just didn't have anything to do with cars.Įd joined the Air Force in 1951 and went to bombsight school in Denver where he learned how to make maps. He graduated high school in 1949, and went on to college majoring in engineering so he could advance his knowledge in automotive design. Ed's dad was a German cabinet maker and it was in the workshop where Ed learned how to build crazy stuff out of wood.Įd purchased his first car in 1946 shortly after WW II ended. His father Henry was very strict with the brothers and kept the two out of trouble by supplying them with tools and a workshop. Ed was able to do his homework and keep up with the rest of the class while he drew pictures of airplanes, hot rods, and monsters. In school Ed learned to speak English and he liked to draw. He grew up in a German speaking household with a younger brother, Gordon. Rat Fink Art and Roth are featured in Ron Mann's documentary film Tales of the Rat Fink (2006).Įd "Big Daddy" Roth was born in Beverly Hills on March 4, 1932. Sloane and Steve Fiorilla, who illustrated Roth's catalogs. Other artists associated with Roth also drew the character, including Rat Fink Comics artist R.K.
The Rat Fink Art depicts a green, depraved-looking mouse with bulging, bloodshot eyes, an oversized mouth with yellowed, narrow teeth, and a red T-shirt with yellow "R.F." on it. Roth is accepted as the individual who popularized "Monster Hot Rod" art form. After he placed Rat Fink art on an airbrushed monster shirt, the character soon came to symbolize the entire hot-rod/Kustom Kulture scene of the 1950s and 1960s. Roth's dislike for Mickey Mouse led him to draw the original Rat Fink art.
Rat Fink is one of the several hot-rod characters created by one of the originators of Kustom Kulture, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.
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