The elusive Mainlander in St Louis/Clayton Missouri: Some Leads - General Tiki

JD Johnny Dollar Tiki Socialite Flyover, Missourah Joined: Oct 01, 2003 Posts: 3159	JD Johnny Dollar Posted posted on Thu, Jun 17, 2004 7:22 AM hey all, i've made a minor crusade to discover more about the mysterious Mainlander in Clayton, Missouri, origin of the coveted mugs. image courtesy Mike: mahalo first i asked my uncles, who were swingin dudes in the st. louis area in the 60s. this got me some leads, pinpointing a two-block area. last week i was bored out of my skull writing specifications for a project, so i was inspired (mostly by johntiki and his search for the elusive hawaiian room in the emerson hotel, baltimore) to look at the local newpaper archives in st louis online, the post-dispatch. unfortunately the online archive only goes back to about 1980, so i had a certain wall to work with. but this is what i came up with: The Mainlander address: 7700 Bonhomme Avenue Clayton, Missouri 63105 This is currently the site of "Bonhomme Place," a seven-story, 114,000 square foot building completed in 1989. "From 1894 to 1954, the Crispus Attucks School operated there, educating the black children of the area." i believe that this groundbreaking institution was somehow dissolved by societal and educational changes in mid-50's america. "Later, there were popular supper clubs on the site, including the Mainlander and Lautrec's, which was destroyed by fire in 1978." so the tiki establishment was no longer when the building was destroyed. based on the narrative above, i would suspect the mainlander was est. around 1954? unless the building lay fallow until the mainlander moved in... Mr. Marion Miller, who is currently a piano player at Nordstrom department store in West County Shopping Center (Missouri), played for several months at the Mainlander in 1960. The "maitre d' at the old Mainlander restaurant in Clayton for many years before he retired" was Conrad F. Castillo, who died in 1997. "Mr. Castillo was born in the Philippine Islands. He came to this country when he was a teen-ager and served in the Navy in World War II as a personal aide to Adm. William "Bull" Halsey." he is survived by a wife, several brothers, several children and grandchildren. finally, Clayton Historical Society: 721-2236 where to go from here? well i guess postcards and menus would be helpful. but i want to contact the maitre 'd's wife? brothers? interview marion miller? go to the post-dispatch and look at microfiche of the paper 1954, 1960's and then 1978. see if the clayton historical society has any information? a snag is that i will probably not be visiting st. louis this year, so if any of you have the jones, the info is above if you are so inclined. am i nuts? mahaloz!!! [ Edited by: Johnny Dollar on 2004-06-17 12:40 ]

hey all,

i've made a minor crusade to discover more about the mysterious Mainlander in Clayton, Missouri, origin of the coveted mugs.

image courtesy Mike: mahalo

first i asked my uncles, who were swingin dudes in the st. louis area in the 60s. this got me some leads, pinpointing a two-block area.

last week i was bored out of my skull writing specifications for a project, so i was inspired (mostly by johntiki and his search for the elusive hawaiian room in the emerson hotel, baltimore) to look at the local newpaper archives in st louis online, the post-dispatch. unfortunately the online archive only goes back to about 1980, so i had a certain wall to work with. but this is what i came up with:

The Mainlander
address: 7700 Bonhomme Avenue
Clayton, Missouri 63105

This is currently the site of "Bonhomme Place," a seven-story, 114,000 square foot building completed in 1989.

"From 1894 to 1954, the Crispus Attucks School operated there, educating the black children of the area." i believe that this groundbreaking institution was somehow dissolved by societal and educational changes in mid-50's america.

"Later, there were popular supper clubs on the site, including the Mainlander and Lautrec's, which was destroyed by fire in 1978." so the tiki establishment was no longer when the building was destroyed.

based on the narrative above, i would suspect the mainlander was est. around 1954? unless the building lay fallow until the mainlander moved in...

Mr. Marion Miller, who is currently a piano player at Nordstrom department store in West County Shopping Center (Missouri), played for several months at the Mainlander in 1960.

The "maitre d' at the old Mainlander restaurant in Clayton for many years before he retired" was Conrad F. Castillo, who died in 1997. "Mr. Castillo was born in the Philippine Islands. He came to this country when he was a teen-ager and served in the Navy in World War II as a personal aide to Adm. William "Bull" Halsey." he is survived by a wife, several brothers, several children and grandchildren.

finally, Clayton Historical Society: 721-2236

where to go from here? well i guess postcards and menus would be helpful. but i want to

contact the maitre 'd's wife? brothers?
interview marion miller?
go to the post-dispatch and look at microfiche of the paper 1954, 1960's and then 1978.
see if the clayton historical society has any information?

a snag is that i will probably not be visiting st. louis this year, so if any of you have the jones, the info is above if you are so inclined. am i nuts?

mahaloz!!!

[ Edited by: Johnny Dollar on 2004-06-17 12:40 ]

Post #96796 by Johnny Dollar on Thu, Jun 17, 2004 7:22 AM