Sunday, August 7, 2011

Commemorative Islanders tees back in the shop...Bay Head & Mantoloking editions.



The original Islander's was owned by twin brothers...Ted and John Robinson. The Bay Head shop was around from 1964 to 1971 from what Ted told me.  When I 1st opened the Beach House, I became good friends with Ted....he's an awesome guy...never met his brother. Ted lived on Princeton Ave. in Mantoloking, but sold the house about 5 years ago...he now lives outside of Boston and takes many surf trips in his small airplane to Block Island.

They opened the shop in 1964, 1st in Bay Head, then Mantoloking as well. They had several other short lived locations in Ortley, Ship Bottom and possibly others. They had 1 in Long Branch for some years...how and why this one was opened is a cool story in itself. They ran the shops while they attended college....1 at Yale and the other Harvard...really smart dudes....1600 SATs and all.  Anyhow, they closed up the Bay Head and Mantoloking shops in 1971, but the Long Branch shop remained open.  The Long Branch shop was being managed by Vince 'Peanuts' Troniec...they sold that shop to him and he ran it for quite a while until they changed the highway and the shop had to be torn down.

Sorry if there's any inconsistencies, but that's straight from Ted's mouth as he recalled things...there was more, but a different story for a different time.  Some years back, Ted asked me to print some commemorative tees...for the Bay Head and Mantoloking shops only.  We went over to his Mantaloking house and he peeled an original Islanders sticker from the upstairs window (still have it) and told me to print some up...we added "remembered" of course.  We did them a couple of times over the years...this being 40 years after closing and with some of the locals asking for a re-run, I figured it was good timing.  Ted always told me, "if anyone asks where they came from, tell em to contact me and I'll handle it".  Owning a shop in Bay Head for 16 years, I've heard so many stories about the local shop and have seen quite a few boards from there...mostly Hansens. 

I'd love to hear more stories, so share them if you've got them.  Tees are available at the shop for sale and we can send them out if needed.

Keep the Faith and have an awesome day!

6 comments:

Joyce said...

The shirts look GREAT!!

lightly salted surf shop said...

great looking shirts, and a great story. keep it up.

dj trish said...

Wow Thats so cool that you dug up some Bay Head History few around remember.
My friend Tyler Sherman of Sherman Plumbing fame and the Sherman Brother Band fame told me how many beaches in Bay Head Had Water Fountains.Remember the one on Karge Street.
When I was little we used to stay at a hotel Called the Ocean View Hotel.Up till I think the 1980s there was a store called the old Bay Head Store.It was a cool place.
Trish

QRM QRMQRM said...

Thanx for the kind words.

Historical note The shirts' lettering is from a Choate School chum of John's. The design layout was a knockoff of Austin Baird Surfboards' Happy 4th
--Ted Robinson

SinglefinGlide said...

Ted, I've been so busy at the shopthat I haven't focused on the blog. Awesome to hear from you! Where are you calling home these days? I pass by the old Princeton Ave. house on a regular basis and think about you and your family...Hope you are well. Eric

SinglefinGlide said...
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