Ted Gibson; Owner of Custom Framing Shop

Ted Gibson, 92, a picture framer whose rambling shop in the MacArthur Park area attracted customers from around the nation for more than 65 years. Born in New York City, Gibson moved to Los Angeles in 1933 to open a New York art supply company’s West Coast branch. Soon he was making ornate custom frames for his clientele. After World War II, Gibson opened his own shop on West 7th Street. His employees cut, carved and painted each frame by hand. Gibson would not tolerate any of the computerized automation that mass-produced frames sold elsewhere. “I’d been doing framing since I was 14,” Gibson recalled in an interview with The Times some years ago. “At first the old-timers wouldn’t share any of the secrets about things like mixing glue. So I went to the library and read up on it. When the old-timers saw I was serious, they opened up.” Gibson’s family plans to keep the business running. A memorial service will be held at a later date. On Sunday at his home in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer.