"Once a bird, always a bird."

You don't have to be an old Mossback to enjoy this feature-length film biography of the rise and fall of the Yard Birds empire. Former employees and customers tell the story of one of the most unique surplus/retail outlets in Washington State. I should think this documentary would be good viewing for any business class as an interesting case study. Also, it'll make you laugh out loud in many places.

The movie had it's premier showings at the Olympic Club July 18 to two full houses. As I headed down there I passed a person on the intersection of Black Lake Blvd. and Cooper Pt. Rd. dressed up as a giant lamb waving around a sign for a mattress sale in the hot sun. It was bizarre, but a very fitting preparation for the motion picture I was about to view. Yard Birds, both in Olympia and Chehalis, was all about showmanship and making shopping an entertaining experience. I took the back road down there, reminding me more of the Washington that existed when that store was thriving. I even paid a visit to the old Tenino quarry where it looked like half the town was swimming.

In a nutshell, Rich Gillingham (Skinny) and Bill Jones (Fatty), two Centralia area men who had been pals since childhood, started a military surplus store in Centralia in 1947. Out of this grew a zany and fascinating monster complex north of Chehalis, with another branch in Olympia. Their mascot, the Yard Bird, became an icon instantly recognizable by any local shopper during the 1950s-1980s.

Impressive for a local history production, the filmmakers did an excellent job of editing and providing the right soundtrack for the right moment. They really captured the sense of cluttered fun we consumers felt when visiting a Yard Birds.

My memories of this enterprise begin with their entry into Olympia in 1959. But I still learned a few things from this film. "Yard Birds" was slang during WWII for soldiers who were sort of slackers, just hanging around, or for low status guys. I didn't know Harvey's Pet Store, which was next to Olympia's Sea Mart/Yard Birds, was also part of the same organization. And finally, I never knew the identity of the man who designed the big birds and painted those weird murals on the side of the Olympia store, but now he has a name-- Bing Orr.

Those drawings fascinated me, and since I grew up to be a "so-called artist," I think Mr. Orr's work had an influence on my work. In turn, Bing appeared to be inspired by Big Daddy Roth (Roth, by the way, refused to allow his children to read my Morty the Dog comix. What an ironic twist of fate!). Prior to the Bird, Gillingham and Jones basically lifted George Baker's Sad Sack as an icon, but that was right after the War. The Bird was more fitting. As former employee "Richart" Tracy, says, "The Bird is beautiful. It's a hunk of art."

There are some great storytellers among the interviewees, and I never lost interest or felt like the pace was lagging. The audience was diverse, but when J.P. Patches was briefly shown on the screen the crowd broke out in spontaneous applause. I love Washington State! The projector kept overheating so the film was stopped for a minute or so about ten times. But far from being annoyed, I could hear people happily sharing Yard Birds memories during the unplanned mini-intermissions.

A fun documentary well worth tracking down.

Past OlyBlog Yard Birds links:

History of Yardbirds documentary coming

Sea Mart 1968

Evergroove trivia pt. 88

Yard Birds History