Showing posts with label islanders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label islanders. Show all posts

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!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Cleaning out the Back Room...couple cool photos.

Getting ready for summer, cleaning out the back room.  I came across lots of cool things...here's a couple of cool photos:

First one's a photo of the original Islanders Surf Shop sign....the Bay Head shop.  I got the board from Ted Robinson, 1 of 2 brothers that owned the shop from 1964 to 1971.  The shop was the 1st surf shop in Bay Head, located on Bridge Avenue where the WASP currently sits.  Over time, there were a few Islanders shops besides Bay Head...Mantoloking, Ortley Beach, Ship Bottom (accross from Ron Jons) and Long Branch.  I had the board hanging in the shop for a couple of years untill 1 day Vito DaFranza (sp) came in and told me that he shaped it when he was 11 years old and sold it to the Robinson Brothers to use for their sign.  He proved it to me and now has it in his hands.

This one's a nice hollow South Swell photo of Mount Street...just up the street from the shop.  A perfect A-frame peeler taken the summer of 1997 by Phil Wiciewicz...it can turn on!