Fred Cady, one of the premiere decal printers retirement party..............

..............is going on over on the Hobby Heaven board and there are cars of all kinds that are sporting his fine product. I hope it's alright if I post my tribute pics here and share a little about my relationship with one of the finest aftermarket decal makers and a true pioneer of our hobby.

I got my first set of Cady decals in the mid-eighties and I've never been the same since. I had only used kit decals and I couldn't believe that the white on his decal wasn't grey when I put it on a black car. The final straw was when I actually met him. A friend was hosting a model meet and Fred showed up for it because my friend had been helping him get permission for some of the more current stuff he was doing. I had bought a set of the '66 Turner decals and the numbers were red. I told him that the numbers were gold on the '66 car and in less that two weeks I had gold numbers and a new friend to boot.

I talked the powers that be at work into carrying his stuff when I got a job as warehouse manager at a hobby distributor and that began a long and enjoyable relationship with one of the great gentlemen of our hobby. I lost touch with Mr. Cady when the warehouse closed but I have never lost my admiration for the talents and the integrity of what I consider a real friend. I hope that Mr. Cady enjoys his retirement and also gets to see this tribute to his artistry and skill.

With that said here is the first of my tribute pictures to a founding father of the aftermarket auto decal business. Fred, I salute you and wish you a long and happy retirement.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/cady/566post.jpg

Here's the next installment of the Cady Saga. Did like the "big boys" and just took the saw to the roof and BINGO instant convertible. Another of Mr. Cady's fine decals.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/cady/5622post.jpg

At least that's what Pops said just before he climbed into this DePaolo Ford.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/cady/5626post.jpg

Great stuff. I have only heard of his decals mentioned in passing, never used a set myself.

As younger guys come into the aftermarket niche, we'll start seeing a lot more advanced parts and details, but I think they all need to learn from the older guys how to do business and how to stay in business so long.

Very cool, I had the pleasure of using his Bobby Allison #12 Coke decals on my Allison Monte:

http://www.tigersdenhobbies.com/gallery/Bobby%20Allison%20Monte%20Carlo/bobbyallison_complete3.jpg

http://www.tigersdenhobbies.com/gallery/Bobby%20Allison%20Monte%20Carlo/bobbyallison_complete4.jpg

I can only hope he's passed on his technique/printing skills onto someone else so we can keep using these fantastic decals. They really are like night and day. Unbelievable to work with.

Here's the '56 Chevy built by Smokey Yunick as the legend of the black and gold begins.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/cady/5692post.jpg

One of the other model boards is doing a "post your Fred Cady decorated model" this weekend in rememberance of his long and prolific career as one of the very first, if not the first, aftermarket dealers in auto decals. He did everything from Indy to Nascar and street stock to sprint cars. I particularly appreciated the handlettering he saved me from having to do on the vintage stock cars. Figured I would just post the link to all of them at one time. Please delete the other post with the few pics on it if you wish.

THE LINK TO THE WHOLE ALBUM
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/cady/

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/cady/573post.jpg

Great builds, great decals :thumbsup:

I love hearing (sadly, too rarely) about some of the personalities behind our hobby. Thanks for sharing!

For what it's worth, I also wish Fred Cady a long and happy retirement.
Will his decals still be available?

Not sure but it's doubful. He was a very private person and did all his own printing by hand with screens and a seperate decal for each color. You had to layer them as you went. Not very adapable to mass production but it insured perfect color registration because you were doing it as you went along.

I also wish Fred a happy retirement. I have half a dozen or so of his fine decal sheets set aside for my retirement. :)