the lost chapter: Hop Louie and the Stockton Islander (image heavy)

One of the best threads on TC!

An early rendering of the Islander building that I had not seen before.

DC

Great find DustyC!

I love the islander so stinkin' much.

I made that image from an original newspaper i found at the headquarters of the Stockton Record newspaper. I Photocopied it and then photographed the copy with my digital camera and posted it hear back in Oct. of 2009.

The restaurant section of Hop Louie will be closing at the end of August. The bar will remain open.

http://laist.com/2016/08/23/hop_louie_may_be_closing_soon.php

Not sure if this was ever discussed in this thread but I came across this matchbook from 1969. This is from Tommy Lee's Shangri-Lee which was located in Stockton California at the Lee Center. Inside of the matchbook references both the Islander and Latitude 20.

Later-

Psycho Tiki D

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2018-03-10 07:20 ]

cool find ptd! (sorry so late to the game on this post)

interesting to note that it resided in "Lee Center" which appeared to be in the downtown small Chinatown Stockton had/has. I don't know much about his other business ventures...

I got this as an email, I am checking with her to see if she has any pictures or other memeories

IN THE 60'S I PERFORMED AT THE ISLANDER WITH A POLYNESIAN GROUP KNOWN AS THE HINANO'S BASED IN LOS ANGELES. I BELIEVE OUR CONTRACT WAS FOR 8 WEEKS.

I REMEMBER WELL ALL THE TIKI MUGS. IF YOU BOUGHT A DRINK YOU GOT TO TAKE THE MUG HOME. SINCE I WAS THERE FOR ALL THOSE WEEKS I AMASSED QUITE A COLLECTION OF THEM.

I'M 74 NOW BUT HAVE LOTS OF MEMORIES OF THE PATRONS AND THE EMPLOYEES THAT WORKED THERE. MOST FROM CHINA. I WOULD EAT WITH THEM AFTER OUR LAST SHOW MANY TIMES. EATING THEIR FOOD.

AND BOY WAS IT GOOD.

YES HOP LOUIE WAS QUITE THE GAMBLER. I WAS TOLD LAS VEGAS CASINOS WOULD SEND A PRIVATE PLANE TO PICK HIM UP FROM TIME TO TIME AND WHISK HIM OFF FOR A FEW DAYS.

I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE LIVED AND PERFORMED AT THE MANY POLYNESIAN RESTAURANTS IN AND AROUND LA AT THAT TIME. IT WAS A GREAT TIME AND THOSE WHO MISSED IT MISSED ALOT.

WHO KNOWS IT MAY COME BACK AGAIN SOMEDAY. DO YA THINK.

MAHALO AND ALOHA, TWILA

Thanks for sharing this MadDogMike! And yep, Hop was often on a jet ushering bigwig players from China to Caesar’s Palace in Vegas. Over the years, I’ve received a few emails from long lost gambling buddies wanting to reconnect with Hop. He was a legend!

On 2020-01-20 07:57, MadDogMike wrote:
I got this as an email, I am checking with her to see if she has any pictures or other memeories

IN THE 60'S I PERFORMED AT THE ISLANDER WITH A POLYNESIAN GROUP KNOWN AS THE HINANO'S BASED IN LOS ANGELES. I BELIEVE OUR CONTRACT WAS FOR 8 WEEKS.

I REMEMBER WELL ALL THE TIKI MUGS. IF YOU BOUGHT A DRINK YOU GOT TO TAKE THE MUG HOME. SINCE I WAS THERE FOR ALL THOSE WEEKS I AMASSED QUITE A COLLECTION OF THEM.

I'M 74 NOW BUT HAVE LOTS OF MEMORIES OF THE PATRONS AND THE EMPLOYEES THAT WORKED THERE. MOST FROM CHINA. I WOULD EAT WITH THEM AFTER OUR LAST SHOW MANY TIMES. EATING THEIR FOOD.

AND BOY WAS IT GOOD.

YES HOP LOUIE WAS QUITE THE GAMBLER. I WAS TOLD LAS VEGAS CASINOS WOULD SEND A PRIVATE PLANE TO PICK HIM UP FROM TIME TO TIME AND WHISK HIM OFF FOR A FEW DAYS.

I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE LIVED AND PERFORMED AT THE MANY POLYNESIAN RESTAURANTS IN AND AROUND LA AT THAT TIME. IT WAS A GREAT TIME AND THOSE WHO MISSED IT MISSED ALOT.

WHO KNOWS IT MAY COME BACK AGAIN SOMEDAY. DO YA THINK.

MAHALO AND ALOHA, TWILA