Thomas, of the Whiting section of Manchester, died yesterday. He was 90.
A graphic design artist with Road Ad Sign Company, Neptune, for 30 years, he
retired in 1977.
"The Palace Amusements artworks and icons are truly a piece of 1950s
Americana," Werner Baumgartner, former Asbury Park historian, said.
"It was a time after World War II when the nation was healing itself with
amusements and pastimes as diversions."
In November 1998, Thomas, who preferred to be called "Worth,"
toured the Palace Amusements for the first time in what he reckoned to be at
least 20 years -- examining the iconic face of Tillie smiling eerily through
peeling paint and busted neon.
He remembered doing the artwork in the late '40s or early '50s when his
client had been the Central Amusement Corp. of Asbury Park, then owners of
Palace Amusements.
"I designed all the artwork that went through and (executed) some of it
myself," Thomas said then while touring the site. He recalled designing the
original artwork for everything on Palace Amusements except, alas, the famous
face of Tillie.
"This is what I'm not really clear on," he said then. "I did
all the designs to sell the customer the job. I'm not sure if it (Tillie) was
already designed, or whether I had to design it. It's too far back for me to
recall, because I did so many thousands of them."
Thomas' recollection checks out, since published accounts speak of an earlier
version of Tillie in Coney Island. It's possible that the client supplied
Road-Ad with the Tillie design. But it was Thomas who took it from there.
"I painted it on the wall myself," he said. "I did all of
that. Everything. The original." Thomas designed the raised, metallic
Palace Amusements logo ("those, we called 'channel' letters") and the
curvy, art-deco lettering that reads "fun house,"
"tunnel-of-love," "Twister," "Olympic Bobs," etc.
"That was done to give the circus effect, the fun-house deal," he
said.
Then there was the custom-shaped neon that delineated Tillie and company.
"I put it up there, but I didn't make that," Thomas said.
"That was made in the shop at that time, and then fastened to the wall. I
had help on that, because I had to have an electrician to do that. Kind of a
tricky job."
For those trying to save symbols of Asbury Park, Thomas is remembered.
"Mr. Thomas' wall paintings became icons, known up and down the Shore
and to friends of Asbury Park and around the world," said Bob Crane, of
Silver Spring, Md., one of the leaders of Save Tillie Inc., a group organized to
preserve the old Palace Amusements in Asbury Park.
"While he may never have anticipated this when he was painting them, to
millions of people those images are the signature of Asbury Park," Crane
said.
Crane said Thomas' paintings, including Tillie, have been seen in the HBO
cable program "The Sopranos;" the Robert DeNiro 2002 film, "City
by the Sea;" in comic strips; and on singer Bruce Springsteen's tour
T-shirts and calenders.
"You see those images and you know, you think Asbury Park, and hopefully
it will always be that way," Crane said.
"The fact that this building and its art exists in Asbury Park, could
still be a great economic tool for Asbury Park if it is considered
properly," Baumgartner said.
John A. Harnes: (732) 643-4221 or harnes@app.com
