Ruby Tuesday 07/20/2010

Ruby Tuesday is a great meme created by Mary T/The Teach, who pens the Work of a Poet blog. Check it out to see some great creative photgraphy. To participate yourself, HERE are the guidelines.

My Ruby submission for today is a simple logo from a business Mrs. Spadoman had up and running during the 1990's. Eat This! Catering and Craft Service was a fixture on many movie sets as well as commercial and music video shoots in both Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

For those that may not know, Craft Service is on every movie production set. The Craft Service person would have coffee, snacks and other sundry items available to cast and crew throughout the workday. Barb was among the best at it. She couldn't be stumped. From the lead star to the lowest truck driver, she'd have what they wanted. In the case of Walter Matthau, she had the frozen Milky Way candy bars. For the Producer, she'd be ready for the second meal when called upon. Always had the band aid or aspirin and bailed out the Props department many times with some unusual item demanded by the Director.

At one point, a Producer for New Line Cinema would call Barb and see if she and her service was available before commiting to Minneapolis as the production site for a first class Hollywood movie shoot. I remember when Jesse Ventura was Govenor of Minnesota. He told the people that it was his Hollywood credentials and connections that brought the movie filming industry to Minneapolis. But we know different., It was Eat This! Craft Service that was available and brought the filming to Minnesota. The Producer claims that like an army, the film production moves on its stomach, and Barb kept them fed and was the best, so he'd bring the movie shoot home.

In the early years of Hollywood film production, there would be a person available to help the Craftsmen. They'd be the extra available help that might be needed by the Grips, Gaffers, Props, Hair and Make-up or Set Decorators. So often, they would sit and wait until needed and called upon. They would be sent out for coffee or a snack until the Craft Service became an integral part of a motion picture production.

I worked for Eat This! many times. I'd roll out my Stainless Steel BBQ equipment and would make a walking meal for the one hundred plus employees in time to save the producer loads of money in meal penalties levied by the union rules. Of course they would have to pay me, and Eat This!, for the extra meal. We never got rich, but we had a lot of fun and some great experiences.

Barb left this business around 2000 and went back to more regular work. We still have some T-shirts we had made up with this logo. The red checkered table cloth with the exclamation point fork was our trademark as we did business in Los Angeles, Stillwater and Lake Elmo. Her resume includes serving coffee and snacks to the cast and crew of films like, "Grumpier Old Men", "A Simple Plan", "Sugar and Spice", "Mighty Ducks III", "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and "Jingle All the Way". She has been around the likes of Sophia Loren, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Kirtie Alley, Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton, Kirsten Dunst and many others. Always well liked, humble and respected by the cast and the crew.

In all Rubiness, Eat This!

Peace