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Don the Beachcomber - The Locations (Updated 11-22-10) |
Big Kahuna
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 11, 2007
Posts: 1908
From: SoMass
|  Posted: 2011-09-04 06:58 am Permalink
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On 2011-06-02 08:56, Dustycajun wrote:
Phillip,
I agree, great new photos from Trad'r Bill. For those that don't know what Blair's was:
Here is a brochure that sold on ebay recently.
DC
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Those Tikis similar to the one I found on Cape Cod a couple of weeks ago.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-06 6:49 pm Permalink
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On 2011-09-04 00:23, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
At an estate sale last weekend, I picked up a vintage photo folder from the Sahara in Las Vegas that appears to date from the 1970s. On the back were views of.. this still life from Don The Beachcomber's, which seems to indicate some kind of rock waterfall feature in the background:
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Sabu,
Missed this one on the page turnover. Great find, this is by far the Tiki-ist image to come from the Sahara ephemera.
DC
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2011-09-29 08:14 am Permalink
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On 2011-07-09 05:17, bigbrotiki wrote:
Ah, the Bora Bora in the valley! Mythic place of great Tiki splendor ...that unfortunately did not live long. It would be good to find out more about it.
And I am glad DC experienced closure in his quest for some S.B. Don's interiors! 
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Turns out it was not the Bora Bora in Encino, but one in SF...
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-29 5:27 pm Permalink
OK Swanky, quit teasing. What's up with the Don the Beachcomber connection to the Bora Bora in San Francisco. It was located at the site of the former Skipper Kent's as discussed here:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=38045&forum=2&hilite=bora bora
That would be an interesting twist!
DC
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Trad'r Bill
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 14, 2008
Posts: 450
From: Hercules, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-29 9:56 pm Permalink
Donn taking over the Skipper Kent's location?? I would love to know more - please do share Swanky.
I found these cool shots of the original location - sorry about the watermarks:
Enjoy!
-Trad'r Bill
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2011-09-30 05:37 am Permalink
Telling as I hear it. Eventually I will get the whole story.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-10-25 3:40 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2010-11-03 14:40, Phillip Roberts wrote:
I count 4, if you include the Colonel's Plantation Restaurant and Dagger Bar... (see below.)
Donn moves to the other side of the Marketplace (3) where the Quicksilver shop is now and opens. Unclear, if this locale was known as an official "Don The Beachcombers." I think it was, but was also known as the "Colonel's Plantation Restaurant" housing the "Dagger bar" for a time.
Tourist at the International Market Place about 1962. Sign reads "Don the Beachcomber proudly presents Johnny Spenser and the Kona Coasters appearing in the Bora Bora Lounge."
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I found this ad in a 1963 Here's Hawaii guide documenting Donn at the Colonel's Plantation House as noted by Phillip Roberts. This confirms the 4 DTB locations in Honolulu as indicated by Phillip.
Also a few more old photos of the DTB at the International Market Place.
DC
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-11-18 12:34 pm Permalink
i picked up a new postcard showing some different views of our favorite Don the Beachcomber - the Las Vegas Sahara!
This one contains a view of the bar area, was hoping for less purple and more Tiki !
(look at those purple booths in the back)
The dining terrace area with a view of the strip below.
And the dinning huts, you get a peak at a nice looking mural.
I would hardly call that look "tastefully subdued"!!
The back of the card with a description of the facilities.
Wait-a-minute, is that how the Beachcomber motto really goes??? "Where good run is immortalized and DINING IS GLAMORIZED" I can't believe they bastardized that part of the quote.
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-11-19 09:56 am Permalink
Ha ha ha - if they bastardized the decor, they might as well do that with the quote, too. Not much "blending of modern decor with the charm of ancient Polynesia" in evidence here, more like 90% Hollywood eleganza modernism a la "I love Jeannie"...
...with not a sliver of "ancient Polynesia" in sight. If it was represented in those murals, we might never get to see it, because that glimpse on that postcard might be the only evidence of them - I never have seen them before. I think that whoever was in charge of the decor of that place really hated old-fashioned Polynesian style:
The "tastefully subdued" part in my opinion simply means "not as tacky and cluttered as those old Don The Beachcombers!". The Tikis were exiled to the entrance, and NONE of the accouterments like bamboo, beachcomber lamps, or Tiki posts were used.
Also, that badly (flash)-lit postcard seems to foreshadow the end of the promotional postcard (and matchbook) custom, when cheaper became better.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2012-01-08 5:06 pm Permalink
A color slide photo of Don's treehouse at the International Market Place.
Close up of the sign.
And a nice postcard rendering of the treehouse by Don Davey.
Love those glass floats hanging off the Banyan Tree.
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2012-01-08 8:00 pm Permalink
Wow, I had never noticed those glass balls in any of the many Don's treehouse photos before - and here you are with double evidence !
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2012-01-09 09:05 am Permalink
Talked a good bit with Bob Van Dorpe about the Treehouse last night. BVD had a key to the place to come and go as he pleased.
Donn said the Treehouse was not really so much the "Most exclusive restaurant in the world" as it was "the best gimmick to get writers to come talk about a shopping center" in the world. Who is going to write about a shopping center? It was "the hook" as Donn said. He'd get the writer in, get them laid, they'd have a great meal and look out over the lowly throngs below and write a great story for him. Mostly it was Donn's office. Very few actually ate there as a restaurant.
And I now know Donn was not involved in the Bora Bora in San Fran.
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[ This Message was edited by: Swanky 2012-01-09 09:16 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2012-01-09 4:24 pm Permalink
Swanky,
Great history, I appreciate all of your efforts and research. Here is a photo and excerpt from a 1960 article posted by Pappy The Sailor on Don's Treehouse.
Donn Beach has even gone into the "togetherness" business with what he calls "the most exclusive restaurant in the world-—a tree house 75 feet up in a 100-year-o1d banyan tree:
FOR $37.50 A COUPLE ("those who are in love with love")
Donn'-furnishes every thing from fresh pikake leis to a five-course dinner featuring stuffed baby squab plus two bottles of vintage champagne. The couple receives two keys for the two separate gates (they throw one away after coming back to earth), then mount the curving treeway to sit in the house high above a courtyard of the International Village. They can see out the special blinds, but no one can see in. There is a telephone with an unlisted number—calls can be made to the outside world but none
can be received. There is a television set in addition to piped-in hi-fi music. Though "A Tree for Two" is booked months in advance, Beach still reserves two nights a week to entertain a roster of sparkling guests from all corners of the world.
What a showman!!
DC
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Phillip Roberts
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Joined: Sep 09, 2003
Posts: 1489
From: OAHU, Hawaii.
| Posted: 2012-01-11 2:02 pm Permalink
Aloha,
The treehouse was also at one time a broadcasting studio for KCCN-AM. Aku J. Pupulehead and Krash Kealoha broadcast from there in the 1950's. Harry Duncan of Territorial Airwaves relates a tale of how "Krash" got his nickname related to the treehouse.
Not so long ago, I went searching for it, as the Treehouse supposedly perserved by Cox Radio (KCCN is owned by them) in one of their storage lockers with one of the engineers. Sadly, it was not in that locker. I have not given up the search as apparently there are other lockers to look in...
P.S. I wish this thread was in the General Forum...
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[ This Message was edited by: Phillip Roberts 2012-01-11 14:04 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2012-01-18 7:35 pm Permalink
Well I was must confess I was a little confused to see this Tiki outside Don's Tree-house.
I have seen the Tiki before and I know there is a thread about this guy somewhere on TC. I never realized it was located at the Don the Beachcomber in Waikiki.
I found an image from and old Boeing magazine showing a flight attendant hanging out with Don and the Tiki on a Waikiki layover.
I have these postcard featuring the Tiki and some wahines which I now presume were shot at the DTB in the Hawaii.
Looks like the Tiki moved around a bit.
Does anybody else remember the TC thread on this Tiki? I must be losing it! Could it be the rum?
DC
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