Vultee Aircraft
Hurlbut was born in Watertown, South Dakota, the only child of Ray and Emma Hurlbut. The family moved to Whittier, California, where Ray managed a successful oil tool company. Bud worked in a printing company, worked as a pattern maker for Vultee Aircraft, and was a mechanical engineer for F.A. Nemec Combustion Engineers in Whittier, before getting into the amusement park business.