Early Bum Clothing Company

The Early Bum Clothing Company part of The Earl Banes Company, the more relaxed beach part.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Earl Banes was a legend (at least in his mind) in Southern California in the 50’s, 60’s and even a little into the 70’s and 80’s. It was a long time ago but Earl had a long life. He hit his stride when forced to retire at the young age of 55 in the 1970’s. It was during this time that surfing shifted gears, the car culture adapted to a fuel shortage and goofy economy cars like Vega’s and Pinto’s.

Earl was an engineer at an aircraft manufacturer in Southern California before getting the “You are too old boot”. While designing airplanes, he was often called the “Early Bum”, for both being early and making the other engineers look bad, and leaving early to surf or race out to catch a poker tournament in Las Vegas.

His race competition was an old friend from the aircraft company. At retirement, Earls friend went with the most fuel efficient sports card he could find at the time. A Dino Ferrari. Considered the Fiat of the Ferrari Family Earl shunned the little red barchetta and picked up an Opel GT. Which he called “The hidden gem in GM’s stables”.

The Spark On The Water

Sitting in the water one morning one of the more senior surfers said “If you get here earlier like Earl did, you would get more waves.” He had no idea he was talking to Earls Grandson. That insight sparked the idea of the Earl Banes Company.

That day, the Earl Banes Company was born, and soon after, the character of the “Early Bum”. The Early Bum character embodies the philosophy of Earl Banes and a little bit of everyone who lives in Southern California. The Earl in the office was a polished professional engineer. The man outside the office was a very relaxed SoCal pioneer with his Hobie board hanging over the Opel GT in the garage and grandkids tearing up the place. Earl had four daughters.

Cars, Surf and CoolToys

SoCal is a very unique crossroads of culture that can be found no where else. It is a unique venue for life and expression. It isn’t just Hollywood’s entertainment industry or the famous music of the Sunset Strip, It’s car culture and its surf culture and much more. A combination that is found no where else in the world. It is the only place that could create an Earl Banes.

Huntington Beach is the crossroads of the car culture and the surf culture, and the crossroads of art, music and entertainment is in Hollywood, just a few miles away. It’s no wonder his grandson started CoolToys® TV.

There Once Was a Train

In the old days you could ride a red line electric train from Burbank to Huntington Beach. A town once called Pacific City but changed it’s name to get the rail line put in. Earl rode the train to Huntington Beach many times. The family story is that he wore his best suit and rode the train on its very last run to Huntington Beach. He couldn’t understand why people would waste time in traffic to get to the beach when they had a perfectly good electric rail. No one knew about Roger Rabbit yet.

The Earl Banes Company is located just a few blocks from those very tracks in a small warehouse in Huntington Beach. If you walk the beach the tracks are sometimes still show through the sand along the cliffs. One of the old cars still sits in Seal Beach. You can ride one at Disney’s California Adventure.

The Early Bum Gets The Wave

Each morning before starting up the Fan2Stage office, Earls Grandson heads out to his favorite surf spot. His “tribe” is mostly veterans and first responders, the Bolsa Chica 16.5 as they are called. These guys live the life of the Early Bum.

The Bolsa Chica 16.5 starts most mornings half way between lifeguard towers 16 and 17, and that is where the 16.5 comes from. And no there is not a 16.5 marathon.

If you are out there and catch him, there might be a freebie in it for you.

Trademarks and Copyrights

Just One More!, JOM and BEACHMODE are all copyright© 2019, 2021, 2022 all rights are reserved.
The EB Surfboard is a trademark of The Earl Banes Company.

5% of all net proceeds are used to support the arts and veterans charities.

#Beachmode #EarlyBum #EBSurf #EBsurfboard