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the lost chapter: Hop Louie and the Stockton Islander (image heavy) |
Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3923
From: Santa Barbara, CA
|  Posted: 2009-11-13 11:34 pm Permalink
Abstract,
Don't know if you saw this on Tiki Marketplace, but someone has a whole bunch of Bamboo trim from the Islander for sale.
Quote:
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On 2009-11-10 07:13, Gadart wrote:
Relics from Stockton's temple of tiki, The Islander. This material has been in indoor storage since The Islander was removed. The trim ranges from 1” to an amazing 5 1/2” wide, in lengths up to 12 feet! Make an offer! Available for pick-up only in Stockton, CA. E-mail gadart@sbcglobal.net if interested.
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DC
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-16 9:40 pm Permalink
No I hadn't seen this, thanks dusty. I'm going to have to look into this and get the full story. Seems odd that after all these years this stuff is just now popin up.
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-19 8:47 pm Permalink
Well I checked out this Bamboo for sale and it’s legit, genuine Islander! I went to Stockton to look at it the other day and I asked a lot of questions. Turns out that this guy Greg who was selling it used to work at Pollardville. He started when he was about 14 in 1967 and worked there for about 10 years before becoming an electrical contractor. He became good friends with the Neil Pollard and often went back to do electrical work for the Pollards. He built Theater sets and did maintenance on the buildings. He even was there when they moved the Islander to Pollardville and did the electrical work on it during its set up as the new Chicken Kitchen. He said he was the one who guided the A-Frame down into place as it was hanging from the crane. He had the big sign from the Showboat Theater in his shop as well as some old theater stage sets he had built.
The Bamboo looked just like the piece I got from the Pit Bar overhang a while back. It was dusty and dirty and had spiders and such on it. There was 125 pieces in all with some about 3ft long and a lot were 12ft long. They were split for trim work and were anywhere from 1 inch to 6 inches wide. Some of them were flattened and molded so they were kind of a rectangle shape.
When I asked how he got the bamboo he explained that Neil Pollard never threw anything away. When the Islander was being prepared for the transformation into the Chicken Kitchen Neil had all the bamboo stripped and put in a huge warehouse in back of the Showboat Theater. This place was packed with old junk, lumber, spare parts and scraps and such. When Neil decided to close the place he of course packed up a bunch of the stuff he wanted, and had a big yard sale so to speak. Toward the end Neil let Greg have the Sign and whatever else he wanted. Neil salvaged some other cool stuff and the Bamboo. He said it was covered by a whole bunch of lumber and stuff; the place was so packed you could hardly walk in there.
Greg kept it in his own warehouse and let it sit until he heard about all this recent interest in the Islander. Someone hooked him up to TC and then, I’m assuming, decided it was a good time to sell. Greg is a real nice guy and I enjoyed talking to him. I told him I wanted it all and he made me a fair deal. He helped me load it up and off I went with 125 pieces of vintage Islander bamboo sticking out the back of my 4-Runner.
Here are a few random pictures, some before cleaning and some after. On the ones that I cleaned I used soap and water and old English oil.
end part of 12ft piece, cleaned
smaller piece, cleaned
this is the fattest size at 5.5 or 6 inches, uncleaned, this is by far the dirtiest piece
fat piece with others, 8ft uncleaned
a small section of one of the rectangular shaped ones, uncleaned 8ft
In a few days I'll post my plan on what to do with it all.
Happy Hunting!
Abstractiki
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3923
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-20 07:19 am Permalink
Way to go Abstractiki! Nice score. What are you going to do with it?
DC
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-22 08:43 am Permalink
Thanks Dusty! I'll try to swap some of it for tiki mugs and such, keep some for myself and give most of it away to TC ohana if anyone is interested. I want it to be put to good use so we'll see what happens. I'll post the details of my plan tonight before dinner on Tiki Marketplace.
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-12-03 5:06 pm Permalink
I discovered some Islander Artifacts last Sunday! Three Tikis and two lamps.
I was out in the Modesto area doing some flea market Tiki hunting and decided to visit Minnie's. I was born in Modesto in 1965 and moved away in about 1970 but don't ever remember being inside.
I walked in, ordered a Tahitian beer and had a look around. I was very impressed and asked if there were any Tiki mugs for sale. I was then introduced to Mik, the resident Artisan/Tiki carver who showed me around a bit. I ended up purchasing a couple of his Tikis and he told me one of the owners would soon be here if I wanted to meet him.
I waited a few minutes and Co-owner Stuart Mah walked in. I introduced myself and we talked a bit. I told him the story of my research and about the Islander photos, blue prints and bamboo. Then he tells me they got some some Islander stuff when they cosed it down.
I couldn't believe my luck, I quickly asked him to show me everything they got from the Islander. He led me on a tour of the whole place and showed me three Tikis and two Lamps that he said came from The Islander.
Yesterday I went back to take these pictures.
  
 
Happy Hunting!
Abstractiki
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1961surf
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: May 03, 2007
Posts: 1894
From: Newport Beach, Ca .
| Posted: 2009-12-04 01:18 am Permalink
Nice job on the pics abstract .
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-12-23 7:26 pm Permalink
Thanks 1961 Surf!
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-12-23 7:41 pm Permalink
___________________________________________________________________________________
Posted: 2005-08-16 02:07 am
Hop Louie's wrote - "Each restaurant was unique; as many of you know. I can't recall the name nor the type of motif of my parent's second restaurant in Lodi, CA. (I will check with my family)."
___________________________________________________________________________________
Here is a Lodi News Sentinel article announcing Hop Louie's opening of a new restaurant in "The Volcano" in Lodi. It was now to be Chinese food but they kept the Volcano name.
Before I new of the Hop Louie conection I read somewhere that the Volcano had been built and operated by someone else and was built with rocks from the nearby foothill town of Volcano.
Interesting Note: The article states that Hop Louie was a chef at Trader Vic's in Oakland and later was at the Coral Reef in Sacramento.
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-12-26 7:18 pm Permalink
Ok, hear is some info I recently uncovered from Lodi News Sentinel reports:
The last owner of the Islander was Dick Degrande. Degrande was Italian and was born on November 7, 1931 in San Francisco. He was raised in North Beach and later moved to Stockton where he worked in the restaurant business for over 20 years. He owned and operated the historical Cosmopolitan Restaurant (open since 1919) in Lodi for a long time. In March of 1980 he closed the Cosmopolitan and took over the Stockton Islander. There he changed the name to Dick Degrande’s Surf and Turf Islander and operated it until going out of business on New years day 1983. Legend has it that he had a big blow out New Year’s Eve party before closing. He then returned to San Francisco and worked at Joe’s Restaurant until his passing on July 30th 2003. He had two sons, Gary and Ron and was an avid 49er/Giants fan. He was loved by many.
Here is an open letter to the citizens of Lodi announcing his closing of the Cosmopolitan and his new venture with the Stockton Islander. This was originally published in the Lodi News Sentinel.
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2009-12-26 9:10 pm Permalink
Here is a photo of Dominic "Dick" Degrande published by the Lodi News Sentinel.
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-01 8:08 pm Permalink
Last Sunday the Stockton Record ran an article on my Urban Tiki Archeology of the Stockton area and today I get a call from Mike Fitzgerald who wrote the article. He said a guy has contacted him and says he's got Islander Tikis in his yard. So I grab my camera and meet Mike at this guys home. This was about three hours ago. We meet him and yes he does have three Islander Tikis. Two are from the Latitude and one from the inside of the show room.
This Person wanted to remain nameless and the location kept secret. He told me he used to go to the Islander often and that the entrance to the Latitude was to the left of the Islander's main entrance, He said it faced inward toward the shoping center parking lot like the main entrance did.
He said he purchased them at a Pollardville Antique shop a long time ago. There was another guy there who had cash and purchased the others that were for sale. He said he thought the guy was from San Jose.
Any way This first Tiki is the one seen in the Bank of Stockton Photo, the one with the girls on stage. On the Top is carved ISLANDER. The other two are from the Latitude and are very similar to the ones I found at Minnie's.
 
Happy Hunting! 
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LOL Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 06, 2007
Posts: 932
From: San Diegoish
| Posted: 2010-03-01 8:12 pm Permalink
So hot on the trail, you're on fire!
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-03-01 8:16 pm Permalink
Great to see that Tiki archeology is infectious to other people like at that paper, and that folks react to that and reveal their treasures.
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Jencine
Member
Joined: Dec 01, 2009
Posts: 5 | Posted: 2010-03-01 10:06 pm Permalink
How much fun is that? Way to go!! So jealous : )
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