NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.-
The first Hard Rock Cafe opened on June 14, 1971 in London.
In 1982, the first American Hard Rock opened in Los Angeles, followed by New York in 1984. Both US restaurants featured Cadillacs stuck above the front entrances, nose-diving into the buildings. This became a Hard Rock signature worldwide. See photos above (L.A. and NYC). In a separate blog, I'll show you Hard Rock Cadillacs from around the world.
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In London, almost from the beginning, there were t-shirts--initially for the rock stars and prized patrons. When founders Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett went international, t-shirts became walking advertisements for the chain. By the mid-1980s, pins became another trademark collectible.
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You can read about the Hard Rock's history and marvel at the world's largest rock memorabilia collection in the book I co-authored with the San Francisco Chronicle's senior rock critic, Joel Selvin, titled TREASURES OF THE HARD ROCK CAFE, and published in 2001 by Rare Air. The book is still front and center at nearly every Hard Rock's merchandise counter worldwide. Inside, you'll also see a special gatefold-opening spread on the pins.
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I, too, got into the spirit of collecting Hard Rock pins around 2001-2002, but by no means is my collection even close to being definitive, or the largest ever. There are people who make a living trading and selling Hard Rock pins. I did, however, find many nifty car, custom, hot-rod, woodie, and oddball automotive Hard Rock pins (shown at the top of this blog, in their cases or scanned as a group). Of interest, as one example, is the Berlin "Trabant" pin (the band U2 featured Trabi's in their stage set at one point, and at least one can be found on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland), shown to left.
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Most recently, I picked up the Houston "Merc" pin (see top scan, top row right) from the legendary 2002 series produced by Mario Fiumani's PIN USA company, headquartered in Southern California. These include, in part, as shown here, pins for (1st row) Cleveland, Niagara Falls, Houston; (2nd row) Miami, Indianapolis, Hollywood; (3rd row) Paris, Munich; (4th row) San Juan, Orlando, St. Louis; and (5th row) Phoenix, Philadelphia, Tijuana.
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You can see how difficult it is to capture cars in pins. The lighting, shadows, stance, and details all have their own serendipity and challenges. Sometimes, like the Orlando "Cadillac-above-the-bar" pin, the portrayal is less than optimal. And the ZZ Top "Eliminator-guitar" pin has always felt unsatisfying to me, as has the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour bus pin--too flat, too uninspiring.
That's why the PIN USA series is such an achievement--the different viewpoints are all so interesting, and so well-achieved.
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Some people say the very best Hard Rock car pins came from a set issued by the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas (still the one independently owned property), in a beautiful cannister. You can see these on the bottom row of the third photo down from the top. In that same row is the wonderful Los Angeles Christmas-tree-in-the-pickup pin, one of my all-time favs.
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Surprisingly, it's been hard to achieve a decent portraiture of a NASCAR racecar. One of the best is shown above, from Atlanta in 2001.
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In a separate blog down the line, I'll show you the Hard Rock motorcycle pins which I've also collected. Good hunting, everyone!
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