Post #630659 by bigbrotiki on Fri, Mar 30, 2012 10:23 AM

Great finds, Tom. There was one name which sounded familiar:

Here are some web finds.....

The December 1947 issue of Paradise of the Pacific, predecessor to HONOLULU Magazine, said,
“Manager of the Islander hotel and the Edgewater on Waikiki beach is Gwynne Austin, an experienced hotel man, well-known to thousands of visitors who have come to the islands. Rates (European Plan) are: Guest room for one person: $5 per day and up. Guest room for two persons: $3 per day [per person] and up. Suite of living room and bedroom: $4.50 and up. A ‘budget vacation’ is the specialty of the Islander and Edgewater…”

Also:

From the Danton Burroughs Tarzana Archive
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Wartime Autograph Book Series
Started in Sydney, Australia
1943: September-December

....but most importantly to Polynesian pop and Tiki history, Gwynne used his cocktail know-how to open the Kalua Room in Seattle!:

"You Can't Eat Mt. Rainier", 1955 Seattle restaurant guide:
One of the great delights of dining out is dining just as far away as possible from the humdrum of our daily lives. And when you step through the doors of the Kalua Room you've entered the portals of a Polynesia paradise. Gwynne Austin, a young man with verve and imagination, who served long and well as a restaurateur in the Hawaiian Islands, has brought a completely authentic bit of the lush South Seas to Seattle.