Don the Beachcomber, Chicago

I have just heard a tale that when Don the Beachcomber closed some of the decor went to a now defunct Hilton. This got me wondering when exactly the Beachcomber, Chicago closed.
Also I wonder if anyone has heard such a tale.

Interesting.

Where'd you hear this?

The Palmer House was the Palmer House Hilton for a long time... and Trader Vic's was of couse in there. Wonder if they bought up some of Don's swag?

Don was right down the street, at 101 E. Walton (corner of Walton and Michigan), right on the Mag Mile, really close to the watertower and all of that. It is fashion shops now, natch.

Just FYI...I plucked these somewhere off the web:

:)

these days that area is known as the "viagra triangle"...noted for all the older men that try to scam on the young girls and tourists that flock to that area due to all the bars and clubs.....

On 2007-04-05 12:43, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
these days that area is known as the "viagra triangle"...noted for all the older men that try to scam on the young girls and tourists that flock to that area due to all the bars and clubs.....

It figures you would know that!

On 2007-04-05 13:10, BambooLodge wrote:

On 2007-04-05 12:43, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
these days that area is known as the "viagra triangle"...noted for all the older men that try to scam on the young girls and tourists that flock to that area due to all the bars and clubs.....

It figures you would know that!

i'm not that old yet!! but you'll probably see me and tikibars trolling down there in a few years!!....besides, i have better luck pickin' up lost and lonely runaways at the greyhound station downtown....

Very nice!!

"you'll probably see me and tikibars trolling down there in a few years!!..."

Yeah, picking up sloppy drunk bridesmaids at the Coq D'or in the Drake Hotel is always a good time.

But back to the business at hand... Mel posted over on FOM that the Hilton in question is not the Palmer House, but one in the burbs.

Any luck with your investigations, Mel?

Although not in the city it is very close to the city. More after the weekend....

On 2007-04-04 13:41, PremEx wrote:
Just FYI...I plucked these somewhere off the web:

:)

101 Walton Pl. between Michigan & Rush is across the street from the Drake Hotel, right? Does anyone know what's in 101 Walton Pl. now?

101 Walton Pl. between Michigan & Rush is across the street from the Drake Hotel, right? Does anyone know what's in 101 Walton Pl. now?

It is the corner of Walton and Michigan, just a bit down the street from the Drake.
It is trendy fashion shops now, in a newer building.

From a June 1948 Look magazine article titled "Honeymoon In Chicago" showed things to do on a Windy City vacation.
Hard to read caption: Special treat on the last night of the honeymoon was dinner at Don the Beachcomber's, with Cantonese food served in an exotic tropical setting.

The Mai Kai was suplied with head bartender and chefs from DtB Chicago in 1956. Bill Sapp says DtB was a big influence on him opening the Kahiki, but that does not mean it was open in 1961. That does at least have the location open in the late 50s...

Well here is a little more info. I got this nice oversized postcard from the Don the Beachcomber in Chicago. Two great interior views.

The back of the card indicates that it was open until at least 1967.

Close up of the dining room.

And the bar.

You can see Don's cool Cannibal posts at the bar.

And here is a photo posted by Uncle Trav showing the exterior.
.

DC

one more photo came across my desk today - it's actually the embers supper club but if you look carefully, next door was don's and you can see the neon sign lit up....

Found this DtB Chicago token. I've seen these in my Knoxville research and always assumed they were a 19th century thing. I mean, making your own money to buy stuff in a bar? I had the DtB Waikiki Aka Dala for a long time and figured it was a Hawaii before statehood thing. I would guess this is from the 40s, but just a guess. When drinks at Don's were 60-100 cents, a 1/20th dollar token wasn't as useless as it would be today. How one got these tokens I would like to know. I have visions of a slot machine in the lobby...

Swanky,

Very cool token. I spotted this fairly rare old postcard from DTB Chicago showing the Cannibal Room bar, the Zombie Room, the Tahitian Room and the old neon sign.

DC

I finally managed to find one of the oversized postcards from the Chicago Don the Beachcomber.

Here are some close up scans of the individual scenes.

The Cannibal Room bar.

Zombie Room

Tahitian Room

Neon Sign

Another photo of the sign.

And a few old tourist photos of ladies in front of the sign from ebay.

DC

Congrats! - and WHY, oh brethren, was the Cannibal Room called the Cannibal Room? :)

Another great find D.C. Would the name have anything to do with the carved poles on the bar?

Did they have cannibal tikis in the Cannibal Room? ...Like the headhunter ones at La Mariana?

That's right Bob, you just won a new car!!

The Cannibal Room was named for the cannibal carvings on the poles as seen in these close ups from another postcard in my collecti0n.

DC

And for the cannibal trio behind the bar as well...

On 2017-01-16 07:24, Dustycajun wrote:
I finally managed to find one of the oversized postcards from the Chicago Don the Beachcomber.

Here are some close up scans of the individual scenes.

The Cannibal Room bar.

Zombie Room

Tahitian Room

Neon Sign

Another photo of the sign.

And a few old tourist photos of ladies in front of the sign from ebay.

DC

Wonder if this was before or after Eli supplied them with Tiki's
as the article in the Aku Aku post said?

I think I have an Eli photo that says Zombie Room.

Will have to put all this together for my future book. :wink:

Bamboo Ben,

The back of the postcard reads:

"Recipient of the coveted "Holiday Magazine Award for Dining Distinctions" as one of the outstanding restaurants in the United States for fifteen consecutive years."

The Holiday Magazine awards started in 1952 so that puts the postcard at 1967 (or later). This would be after the 1961 article in the Aku Aku thread about Eli shipping Tiki's to the Chicago Don the Beachcomber.

DC

Ad for Don's

Announcement for the opening of the Don the Beachcomber restaurant in Chicago, May 1, 1940

Dueling Chicago ads with Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's

Another Chicago ad

DC

Just did a Google map search of Don's address and the Palmer House and they're just 1.5 miles from each other. Man, I wanna live in a world with those two choices so close to one another. And if they survived to this day, Three Dots would be smack dab between the two.

On 2020-01-18 05:52, Dustycajun wrote:
Announcement for the opening of the Don the Beachcomber restaurant in Chicago, May 1, 1940

DC

Man I really want to know how this happened/worked. Donn and Sunny were divorcing, she was 50% partner in ownership of the Chicago location and Donn was a 0% owner! He was paid as a manager to come in 4 months out of the year, and his salary was more than what Sunny received annually in the documents. It's just baffling.

Swanky,
Just curious...How's that DtB Biography coming along? (you mentioned at Hukilau)

What a fascinating life....would make a great movie.

On 2020-01-20 06:19, Hearn wrote:
Swanky,
Just curious...How's that DtB Biography coming along? (you mentioned at Hukilau)

What a fascinating life....would make a great movie.

Slow but promising.