Don the Beachcomber - The Locations (Updated 01-09-20)

WOW! Reading this thread and seeing the pictures of the UFO style Beachcomber's triggered a completely forgotten memory of what must have been the Don the Beachcomber's in San Jose/Santa Clara. I remember seeing it when I was a kid when we would drive home from my grandma's house. I remember seeing the thatched roof and torches in the center at night and it always enchanted me but I never knew what it was. I found a reference to a Don the Beachcomber's on Stevens Creek Boulevard and I have looked at aerial maps and can't find anything like it. I will have to ask my sister and mother to help me recall more closely where it was located.

The Donn story continues!

I stumbled upon this wooden token good for a free barrel of rum at the Don The Beachcomber restaurants opening in Manila and Singapore in 1943.

Now as far as I know, these places never opened. It shows you that Donn was always thinking.

So that gives us 24 locations opened plus 3 locations that were advertised but never proved to exist (Vacation Village, San Diego being the third).

Good stuff!

DC

Opening in 1943? :o Unless that token is some sort of morale building promotion, I would think that the Japanese occupation of both the Philippines and Singapore during that time put a damper on those expansion plans. :wink:

[ Edited by: Bora Boris 2009-04-22 22:02 ]

On 2009-04-22 21:47, Bora Boris wrote:
Opening in 1943? :o Unless that token is some sort of morale building promotion, I would think that the Japanese occupation of both the Philippines and Singapore during that time put a damper on those expansion plans. :wink:

I think you're right about them being a morale-booster, BB. The Brits and Yanks were rather ignominiously defeated in Singapore and the PI, early on. I know that in the case of the Philippines, retaking them was more important symbolically than tactically. IIRC, some considered it a better, quicker plan to bypass them, as we battled toward Japan, but McArthur would have none of that - said he'd return, and that's that, dammit! I'll bet those tokens were one of Donn's contributions to the war effort - given to servicemen, implying that by that date, those locations would not only have been liberated from the "Japs", but a soldier could imagine himself, cleaned-up and comfortable, relaxing in a newly built DTB,... and with claim to a whole barrel of rum!
Great find - combo WWII/Tiki memorabilia.

Don the Beachcomber 25th anniversary matchbook.

Inside it lists Hollywood, Chicago & Palm Springs.

Here is the phone book add from the Santa Barbara DTBs. That leaves only these locations for some paper or photos:

San Jose/Santa Clara, California
Malibu, California
Aurora, Colorado
Houston, Texas
Seattle, Washington
W. Lafayette, Louisiana
Indiana
DC

here's a newspaper ad for one of the Hawaii locations.

This post card caught my eye when I noticed Liberty House. Then I looked over to the right. You can just make out the exterior of the DTB on Kalakaua Avenue.

Nice card Kate.

Here is another view of Donn in the Treehouse in Hawaii.

DC

Here is a cool little ad from the Chicago DTBs.

DC

I picked up this matchbook today. Does it qualify as an official paper item from the Santa Barbara DTB? (I know you already had Santa Barbara covered with the phone book ad, but I was wondering if the matchbook counts since the only thing that links it to the location is a non-tiki establishment.)

Kate,

Heck yes the matchbook counts! That is awesome, the only piece of paper that I have ever seen that actually came from the DTBs in my home town. The reason it says Santa Barbara Inn on the matchbook is because the restaurant was located on the second floor of the hotel.

You didn't happen to find two of those did you?

DC

How about this cool little gem.Don the Beachcomber money clip.Picked this up recently
on ebay.The seller I believe knows which Don it came from and is going to get back
with me today.

Some very creative people have been putting Don's trademark on some very strange items. Worst, I believe, is the person who takes pictures of the art from matchbooks, etc. and then prints blowups on his home printer, selling them on eBay. I presume he must be making money, particularly on the shipping & handling.
I even saw a copy of our interim menu, which is simply sheets from our restaurant printer that we slip into a menu cover provided by our liquor supplier. The seller didn't even include the menu cover. Heck, if anyone wants one, I'll give him one with a Certificate of Provenance signed by me. But, just goes to show. . .
Mahalo!
Art Snyder
Don the Beachcomber
at SURF CITY, USA

Art- this is the real deal on this vintage money clip,no cheap copy.
I do see the guy you are talking about selling copies of menus and match books.
He is copying alot of vintage tiki locations not just Don the Beachcomber.
Maybe you can send him a cease and desist order since you are or were an attorney.

Time to update with some new stuff on a few locations.

Tikipedia found the original sign from the Palm Springs DTB, how cool is that!

And Tradr Bill found this photo from Palm Springs in the Bum's Book.

"Hank Riddle (left) and waiter at the Palm Springs Beachcomber's, circa 1979"

Here are some different and rare postcards from the Chicago DTB.

A DTB Dollar coin from Hawaii.

And since I have already let Don's boats in the thread, a postcard of the Singapore Lady.

DC

What amazing images....totally cool!!!!!

On 2009-04-22 10:00, Kikkietiki wrote:
WOW! Reading this thread and seeing the pictures of the UFO style Beachcomber's triggered a completely forgotten memory of what must have been the Don the Beachcomber's in San Jose/Santa Clara. I remember seeing it when I was a kid when we would drive home from my grandma's house. I remember seeing the thatched roof and torches in the center at night and it always enchanted me but I never knew what it was. I found a reference to a Don the Beachcomber's on Stevens Creek Boulevard and I have looked at aerial maps and can't find anything like it. I will have to ask my sister and mother to help me recall more closely where it was located.

Don the Beachcombers in Santa Clara (not San Jose) was located near Stevens Creek and Lawrence Expressway. The exact location was actually a side street off of Stevens Creek called Calvert. Sadly, it was demolished years ago and now is a bunch of apartments called Archstone Cupertino. This is what the location looks like now...http://www.archstoneapartments.com/Apartments/California/Northern_California/Archstone_Cupertino

Cool Manchu-

Any idea what years the Santa Clara location was open for business? I'm trying to track down some photos, a newspaper article or something (no luck yet).

Trad'r Bill

I found another Santa Barbara matchbook.

Found a 1948 Saturday Evening Post with a great article on the Don the Beachcombers in Hollywood.

Some amazing color photos of Hollywood celebrities and the interior of the DTB.

Love the Bamboo Chopstick case idea - like the Tiki Mug case at Tiki Ti and now the
DTB's in Huntington Beach. It appears to be well guarded by the manager!

Check out all of the collectibles on this table: Two postcards, a couple of drink cards, a matchbook, coasters, table lamp, and clam-shell ashtrays!

This is the only photo of Donn, a stock shot from Hawaii.

The article, which is quire long, focuses on Sunny Sund, Donn's ex-wife.

Will post more of the article later.

DC

Matchbox advertising Santa Barbara and Marina Del Rey.

Anyone out there have any idea when/where these were sold or what the history is on the design?

Picked these up on Saturday. I had seen the glasses before at the Alameda antique sale but did not know they were DTBC. A bit pricey from what I usually spend, but cool to have the box!

PTD

Great find on the glasses PTD. Can you post a closeup of the image on the glasses. And on a side note here is a few items from Chicago in my collection including an unused mug with the original label still attached. Thanks.

DC - that article from the Saturday Evening Post is outstanding. I'd be interested in seeing more of the text, definitely.

My latest purchase: an old Hawaiian vacation scrapbook from the 60s. Inside was this newspaper clipping with a nice interior shot of the Honolulu Don's:

I believe this matchbook counts as a paper reference to all the remaining locations except:
Aurora, Colorado
Louisiana

Would you agree, DC?

-Trad'r Bill

Sorry Trad'r Bill, but that's not going to cut it. As I said at the start of the post, I got the list from matchbooks and menus that had list like the one you posted. The item has to come from the actual location.

What is interesting about your matchook is that it lists the San Diego location at the Vacation Village, which never existed.

DC

Ahh - darnit... no worries DC - you make the rules on this thread. My quest continues.

Trad'r Bill

On 2009-10-20 05:28, Psycho Tiki D wrote:
Anyone out there have any idea when/where these were sold or what the history is on the design?

Picked these up on Saturday. I had seen the glasses before at the Alameda antique sale but did not know they were DTBC. A bit pricey from what I usually spend, but cool to have the box!

PTD

PTD - I think your glasses are from the 1960s, but I'm not sure exactly when. I found this small card stapled to the inside of a non-tiki restaurant menu from the 60s:

It could be that the glasses were provided to restaurants along with Don The Beachcomber mixes as part of a deal with Christian Brothers Brandy? Just guessing. In any case, that's still one of the coolest finds I've ever seen.

To all our Tiki Central Friends:
The collection is a fine one and is almost complete. But there is one matchbook missing: The one that should be listed as Number 24.
That matchbook is from the Don the Beachcomber Bar, located inside my restaurant "Royal Star at The Venetian," in the Venetian Hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas from 2004 to 2006. I have a number of the matchbooks from that short-lived enterprise, that I followed with the establishment of Don the Beachcomber in Surf City, USA.
If any one of you would like to complete your collection with a matchbook that had a very short run, and that your friends probably never heard of, just come in to the Dagger Bar, haver two drinks, and ask Marie for one. Heck, you'll carry away 2 Swizzle Sticks, 2 Bar Coasters, and a very scarce collector's match book. Vot a deal! And for Don the Beachcomber's real friends, I'll look up some of the napkins from the 2004-2006 Las Vegas Don the Beachcomber and give you a certificate of authenticity if you like.
Mahalo!
ART SNYDER
DON THE BEACHCOMBER

Here's a few more items from the Chicago location.

Magazine ad:

And an artist's rendering of the interior:

I used to think I had an image of the Hollywood location, but the paintings match up with Bongofury's postcard of the Tahitian room in Chicago:

This is from a 1957 "Here's Hawaii" guide. I'm going to guess this is Don The Beachcomber as opposed to Trader Vic's based on the shape of the koa-wood table, the type of tall glass used for the drink, and the low-relief tiki in the background which resembles the low-relief totems at the entrance to Don's in Honolulu.

Here is a beat up oversized postcard showing Don's tree house in 1977. Looks to be used as a radio station by this time but a good shot of the tree house anyway.

On 2009-12-15 23:10, artsnyder wrote:
To all our Tiki Central Friends:
The collection is a fine one and is almost complete. But there is one matchbook missing: The one that should be listed as Number 24.
That matchbook is from the Don the Beachcomber Bar, located inside my restaurant "Royal Star at The Venetian," in the Venetian Hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas from 2004 to 2006. I have a number of the matchbooks from that short-lived enterprise, that I followed with the establishment of Don the Beachcomber in Surf City, USA.
If any one of you would like to complete your collection with a matchbook that had a very short run, and that your friends probably never heard of, just come in to the Dagger Bar, haver two drinks, and ask Marie for one. Heck, you'll carry away 2 Swizzle Sticks, 2 Bar Coasters, and a very scarce collector's match book. Vot a deal! And for Don the Beachcomber's real friends, I'll look up some of the napkins from the 2004-2006 Las Vegas Don the Beachcomber and give you a certificate of authenticity if you like.
Mahalo!
ART SNYDER
DON THE BEACHCOMBER

Art,

Sorry to wait so long to officially add your Don the Beachcomber Bar to the list, I kept waiting for someone to post a picture of the matchbook you so graciously offered to give folks who stopped by. I am in Santa Barbara and have not been down that way for some time, do try to save me one though as I will be attending Bamboo Ben's Garage Sale in May and would love to have a couple of drinks and pick one up. Your LV location is actually number 25!

On to a few more new items.

Some photos of the other Las Vegas DTB with a little bit different view of that gawdauwful interior and an exterior night time shot.

I have been asked by several folks to post the rest of the article from the 1948 Saturday Evening Post on DTB and Sunny Sund. It is quite long so I am going to do it in installments.

Here is the front page I posted before:

Some more of the story.

It is quite a fascinating read .... stay tuned more to come.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2010-03-08 17:14 ]

Here is some more of the story:

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2010-03-08 17:13 ]

This is a really long article at is set in columns, so bear with me.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2010-03-08 17:11 ]

Here is the last page of the article.

Just so it's not all text with no pictures, here are a few photos from the DTBs in Hawaii.

The original DTB on Kalakaua Ave

Donn playing the gourd drum for Bob Hope.

The DTB at the International Market Place

Check out that drum.

Donn relaxing in true form.

DC

Dumb question from me--
How many are left?
~Zero

Zero,

As far as I know, there are three left

The Dons in Huntington Beach.

The Dons at the Royal Kona Resort in Kona.

And the Dons in at the Royal Lahaina Resort in Maui.

DC

A few more photos from Hawaii.

And an ad from Vegas with Don Rickles.

I am still looking for something from the San Jose/Santa Clara UFO style building.
There has to be a photo of that thing somewhere, I saw the building when I was a kid, so I know it existed.

DC

Recently, I found a shoebox of matchbooks that I had stored away since, probably, the mid 80's. I had a DtB matchbook, from when I was in Honolulu, in '77 or '78. It's the same one Dustycajun posted in the beginning of this thread:

Inside, it gives the address of the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel (2300 Kalakaua), where, if I remember correctly, Don's was on the second level.
Here, again, is Sabu's newspaper picture:

Well, of course, Don the Beachcomber's is no longer the restaurant at the Beachcomber Hotel. Wondering what the restaurant is, now?
Sorry, BigBro...

"The rum's the thing..."

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2010-08-25 11:11 ]

Here are a couple pic's of the Vegas matchbook that Art posted about, Thanks Art I had a great time talking with you.
I can't wait to go back!!!

Also the back of the new Don's mug, HB CA markings along with the Sams swordfish a nice touch I think.

On 2009-12-15 00:29, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:

On 2009-10-20 05:28, Psycho Tiki D wrote:
Anyone out there have any idea when/where these were sold or what the history is on the design?

Picked these up on Saturday. I had seen the glasses before at the Alameda antique sale but did not know they were DTBC. A bit pricey from what I usually spend, but cool to have the box!

PTD

PTD - I think your glasses are from the 1960s, but I'm not sure exactly when. I found this small card stapled to the inside of a non-tiki restaurant menu from the 60s:

It could be that the glasses were provided to restaurants along with Don The Beachcomber mixes as part of a deal with Christian Brothers Brandy? Just guessing. In any case, that's still one of the coolest finds I've ever seen.

I've happened upon a couple full, unused cases over the years, and we really like using them in our home bar. One of the cases had an address label attached to the outside, making me wonder if you could buy them in the gift shop & would ship them home to you? Found 4 more glasses randomly a couple weeks ago in a vintage store, too.

Great glasses - would be a great, fairly inexpensive reproduction glass to make, too!
hint, hint :wink:

On 2008-10-28 12:13, TIKIBOSKO wrote:
I briefly covered this in my San Diego Tiki talk at the 07 Oasis, there was never a Don the Beachcomber at Vacation Village. I’ve spoken to several old timers who used to go there in the 60’s and they say there was (always) the Barefoot bar and a steak house/small bar but no Don’s. If you look at Sven’s list on page one of this thread there is no mention of a San Diego location until the 1970 (Harbor Island) so if there had been one here in the 60’s why not list it? Also if there was another restaurant at Vacation Village which building could have housed it?
The only piece of evidence (of a Don’s at that location) that I have seen is the ONE matchbook that mentions it, but I have another ten match covers from there that don’t.

Unless there is some new compelling evidence which I would be happy to acknowledge, this was just a mistake that got perpetuated up until now.

Bosko

It took some research, but I was finally able to solve the enigma of the Vacation Village location for Don The Beachcomber's in San Diego. Bosko was right - it didn't exist in the 60s or 70s, it came later.

First, here's the location at 1590 Harbor Island Drive (next to the Sheraton), that opened in June 1970:

I own the postcard above and the matchbook and they both state "Harbor Island".

Before I reveal the Vacation Village location, it might be helpful to give a little info on Vacation Village itself:

Vacation Village was built in 1962 by Hollywood film maker, former rabbi, and famous cynic, Jack Skirball. Skirball went from rabbi to filmmaker after he came to the conclusion that "you don't affect people very much by preaching to them."

He created Vacation Village on Mission Bay as a "Poor Man's Polynesia", where "natives paddle about not in canoes - but gondolas". It was supposed to be an inexpensive and convenient alternative to Tahiti, Hawaii or Africa. The beautiful lush lagoons were lit by tiki torches at night.

There was a floating bar that came to your bungalow door and there was also the underground Barefoot Bar, which Bosko mentioned, which was for casual dining and had live Belly Dancing shows. Here's a postcard of the Barefoot Bar from 1972:

However, despite it's Polynesian/African/Tropics theme, there is no mention was made of a Don The Beachcomber at this location through the 1960s or 70s. Here is a sampling of newspaper ads that make no mention of it:

:up: 1975

:up: 1977

From 1978 to 1979, the ads disappear from the local papers. Then in Sept 1980, in a Winnipeg Free Press article, giving the history of Vacation Village, and promoting it as a good vacation destination for Canadians, the author mentions some recent changes to the resort, including: "Don The Beachcomber's now occupies the old Barefoot Bar". The Bellydancing shows are no more.

Sure enough, the newspaper ads also start up again in 1980, but with Don's replacing the Barefoot Bar in the text:

:up: 1980

:up: 1983

:up: Oct 1985

After the 1985 ad above, I can find no mention of Don's associated with the Vacation Village Hotel, so I suspect if must have closed around this time.

Thus, it looks like Don's opened some time between 1978 and 1980 and was gone by 1986.

I'd probably place Boris' matchbook at around this early 1980s time period as well:

So once again, here are the two San Diego locations:

:down: Harbor Island

:down: Vacation Village

Still hoping to find an image of the Barefoot Bar AFTER it became Don The Beachcomber's. I wonder what cosmetic changes were made.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2010-10-26 18:14 ]

Nice job sabu.

On 2008-10-24 16:24, Dustycajun wrote:
I recently acquired a collection of matchbooks from different Don the Beachcombers. I started looking into how many locations there were and what paper items (matchbooks, postcards, menus) were around for each location. Based on the listings contained on the back of the more modern matchbooks and the information I found on the web, I compiled the following list of 24 locations plus three locations that were advertised but never existed (organized by State).

1. Hollywood, California

2. Palm Springs, California

3. Marina Del Rey, California

4. San Jose/Santa Clara, California

5. Santa Barbara, California

6. Oxnard, California

7. Malibu, California

8. Corona Del Mar, California

9. San Diego, California (Harbor Island)

10. Waikiki, Hawaii

11. Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

12. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

13. Denver, Colorado

14. Aurora, Colorado

15. Dallas, Texas

16. Houston, Texas

17. Las Vegas, Nevada

18. Chicago, Illinois

19. St. Paul, Minnesota

20. Seattle, Washington

21. W. Lafayette, Louisiana

22. ? Indiana (posted by Sven)

DC - my research indicates that numbers 21 & 22 are the same place. I found a 1982 wedding announcement in a Logansport, Indiana newspaper that said the rehearsal dinner was held at the Don The Beachcomber's in West Lafayette. Also that the bride graduated from nearby Purdue. I think that probably means the West Lafayette location was in Indiana.

I think the Wikipedia article with the Louisiana location is wrong. It should probably be Indiana.

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2010-10-26 23:18 ]

Good work, Sabu! The sad thing is, I was a kid living in Pacific Beach beginning in 1975 and I have no memory ever of a place called Don the Beachcomber. Funny thing is, it reverted back to the Barefoot Bar eventually because I do remember that in the '80s/'90s and it's still named that today.

Hey Sabu great job as usual, the whole Barefoot bar then Don’s then back to Barefoot bar is nuts, I’ve never seen interior photos from any of the eras of the Barefoot Bar so it would be hard to say what they did or didn’t do. It looked similar to the exterior photo you posted up (although much more lush) until a few years ago when they really denuded the place and made it contemporary style. Before that phase back 10-15 years the interior was all black and creepy there was a palmwood (?) Tiki around back and the war club door handle out front; I think the door handle was still there last time I went by.
As far as a “Poor Mans Polynesia” I think they used the term very loosely, everyplace on Mission Bay was technically “Polynesian”. Although very cool Vacation Village had very little Polynesia that I have seen, it is a jumble of all kinds of styles that I presume were incorporated or added as the place grew over the years, Spanish, early California, that insane sculpture tower, the post and wave awning motif, I have a 60’s post card that had a barn yard petting zoo attraction where you fed ducks, it’s all very eclectic. I covered some of this in my San Diego talk at Oasis and it looks like I’ll be doing another one this year.

Bosko

[ Edited by: TIKIBOSKO 2010-10-27 09:54 ]