Wow, was digging through some old stuff and found an old catalog that brought back some memories. I first ran into an ad for the Nicholas James Group in an issue of Juxtapoz I think. *Edit* Actually, I know it wasn’t Juxtapoz, it had to have been Hypno Magazine, which doesn’t exist any more. *End Edit* The image that caught my eye was the rather (now) iconic devil/wrenches that Chris Cooper (Coop) is known for.
I ordered my first hat (which I still have, although it’s awfully beat up now) for $26.00. $26.00? Was I a millionaire?
The catalog is labeled 1994, which must be a little after I already had the hat. I think I had planned on getting another ballcap, but the company folded soon thereafter.
To me this is notable because it possibly was the genesis of my descent into hot rods, twangy guitars, devil girls and rockabilly. I still have a Butthole Surfers T-Shirt that I bought solely because it had the COOP “Ground Control to Major Hard-On” image on it. This was in the early 90’s when devilish imagery (or large breasted alien girls) was hard to find – especially in Texas.
It’s been a while. Thanks NJG and Coop for sullying my soul!
Hey – I started NJG… Nicholas James Group. Steve Rocco’s little hat factory in El Segundo made em for us. Seth Maxwell Malice wrote the copy and Chris obviously drew the cover. 99 percent of the dead stock is sold – but I still have a few catalogs and a shit ton of the blotter acid postcards we did. haha
Glad I could contribute to your delinquency. JM
Dude that’s so cool! Thanks for commenting! I wish I’d had more scratch to get more caps back then but I was a poor, struggling Gen-Xer. 🙂
ha- weren’t we all. I recently came across a bunch of bounced checks from slackers. Send me your mailing address and Ill send you a postcard.