Post #643593 by Or Got Rum? on Wed, Jul 11, 2012 9:11 AM

James, I think I have this solved. I picked up an original photo of The Pago Pago and added to the Pago Pago thread to see if anyone had any info...no response. So I started digging deeper and found that someone scored a Pago Pago Matchbook from the same address as the South Seas in April (I hope it was a TC member, forgive me for posting it) and it got me thinking that given the trees that the location was not a West Coast spot.

DC's great postcard made me look the building and I imagined less scroll work (and the artistic freedom that many early linen cards had) and perhaps a cleaner later version. The kicker was the Union 76 Gas Station. I gooogled the address and looked at the street shots and said "Damn" that repair shop (Lincoln and Pratt Power King) has the look of an early gas station. I got the repair stations number and called....A great guy "Eddie" answered and said it was a gas station before but did not know what it was. I said well thank you and..he said wait, the old owner comes around and I can call him. I said ask him about the gas station and if there was a "Hawaiian style" restaurant next door. Do want me to call you back in a week or so? He said no, I can call you. I thought oh well good try, that's the end. About 35 minutes later he called and said YES it was a 76 station and yes the old owner said that there was a restaurant/club next door where the bank is now. I know how memories are (the old owner) but I feel pretty good about this one. It was fun.