75th anniversary of the first tiki bar

According to my TikiDaze calendar, Don the Beachcomber opened on Dec. 5, 1933. That makes this Friday the 75th birthday of the grandaddy of them all.

Anyone planning anything special? How about we all raise a Zombie in tribute at a designated time (photos optional)? I plan to stop by The Mai-Kai to hoist a few around 7 p.m. EST.

Mahalo!

Count me in! 7PM eastern is still pretty early for the west coasters, so we may have to toast at the top of the hour for a few hours to catch everyone... and i don't have any problem with that.

Hold on- per Jeff Berry and Wikipedia, Don The Beachcomber opened in 1934.

Friday December 5th is the 75th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, not Don The Beachcombers. I think.

However Phoebe Beach's book cites 12/5/33 as well.

Will research....

Ahhh...Like any of you need an excuse to throw one back! :lol: :P

"Don's Beachcomber" was first on McCadden St., Hollywood , then he opened "Don The Beachcomber" accross the street.
I forgot the dates.

Maybe Mike Buen from the Tiki Ti knows? His father Ray Buen worked with Donn in the early days of Hollywood. How about someone asking him tonight?
But either way, this Friday night, I'll be raising a toast with a Bermuda Club coctail (Grog Log) to Donn, Tiki and the repeal of prohibition.

The restaurant across the street opened in 1937.

Here's what I got from Jeff Berry:

In 1960 Donn told the Long Beach Press Telegram-- in an article I found posted on TC -- that he opened "a few minutes after prohibition was repealed," but he was given to embellishing the truth for the sake of a good quote. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that he could have opened that quickly, as he couldn't legally have stocked his bar beforehand. He couldn't even have developed his menu yet, as he would have had nothing to experiment with except whatever contraband he could obtain. I got my date from Donn's own menus, which variously state "Serving the South Pacific since 1934," or "The first Don The Beachcomber restaurant opened in 1934."

I'm going with 1934, if only so that I can celebrate Repeal Day this year, and have a big party for Don at the bar next year.

Good plan!

Repeal Day or Birthday, doesn't matter..... I'm still hoisting a few at the Mai-Kai!

[ Edited by: hiltiki 2008-12-03 20:16 ]

For anyone into all the minutiae (who says Tiki Central folks are obsessed with details?) ...

Prohibition ended at 5:32 P.M., Eastern Standard Time, on December 5, 1933.
http://www.prohibitionrepeal.com/history/bb_reawakening.asp

I'll probably be an hour or so behind schedule, but if anyone wants to make a very precise toast, there you go.

Think about it. What's the year on all those TV coconut mugs? 1934. If Don's opened on December 5th of 1934, Vic would have 25 days for Don's to get wildly popular and for him to transform Hinky Dinks into Trader Vic's. No way.

My guess is Don actually opened in the early part of '34. I'm sure he didn't waste any time after the dark cloud of Prohibition lifted.

Can anyone find out the exact date his first bar opened so we can plan for a proper commemoration? If not Google, perhaps a search of the L.A. Times microfiche archives. It's a nice date to have confirmed for the record.

At any rate, today's anniversary is just as, if not more, significant since it triggered the original tiki bar explosion.

Everyone have a pleasant evening and remember to toast the forefathers.

Okole Maluna!

HH

I bet a lot of bars opened on this day 75 years ago, Don Beach's was just one...

On 2008-12-05 12:15, Swanky wrote:
I bet a lot of bars opened on this day 75 years ago, Don Beach's was just one...

Ummm... huh? That's a surprising comment coming from you. YOU know how it all started with Donn and moved onward from there. I'm not such a stickler for the exact date (although I am curious), but I do find it commendable to take notice of it. If nothing else, it gives us an excuse to mix some drinks hopefully in a way that Donn would approve. So, in his honor, I'm sipping a Luau Grog now. Okay, not a Donn drink, but at least based on one!

On 2008-12-05 15:08, GatorRob wrote:

On 2008-12-05 12:15, Swanky wrote:
I bet a lot of bars opened on this day 75 years ago, Don Beach's was just one...

Ummm... huh? That's a surprising comment coming from you. YOU know how it all started with Donn and moved onward from there. I'm not such a stickler for the exact date (although I am curious), but I do find it commendable to take notice of it. If nothing else, it gives us an excuse to mix some drinks hopefully in a way that Donn would approve. So, in his honor, I'm sipping a Luau Grog now. Okay, not a Donn drink, but at least based on one!

FYI, this is also the 75th anniversary of the end of prohibition, that's why I say, there were likely a lot of bars that opened 75 years ago today. But none have had the impact of Ernest Baeumont Ganntt's(sp?) Happy anniversary to our Daddy as The Bum says...

On 2008-12-03 02:13, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
According to my TikiDaze calendar, Don the Beachcomber opened on Dec. 5, 1933. That makes this Friday the 75th birthday of the grandaddy of them all.

Cool! How observant of you. I'll have to have a celebratory drink before I go to bed! Cheers!

Jimzip :D

On 2008-12-05 06:33, Swanky wrote:
1933.

Think about it. What's the year on all those TV coconut mugs? 1934. If Don's opened on December 5th of 1934, Vic would have 25 days for Don's to get wildly popular and for him to transform Hinky Dinks into Trader Vic's. No way.

Hinky Dink's opened in 1934- it did not become Trader Vic's until 1937. So he's just stretching the date on the coconut mugs.

On 2008-12-06 18:43, martiki wrote:

On 2008-12-05 06:33, Swanky wrote:
1933.

Think about it. What's the year on all those TV coconut mugs? 1934. If Don's opened on December 5th of 1934, Vic would have 25 days for Don's to get wildly popular and for him to transform Hinky Dinks into Trader Vic's. No way.

Hinky Dink's opened in 1934- it did not become Trader Vic's until 1937. So he's just stretching the date on the coconut mugs.

Well crap. I wondered if the rotten stinker might do something like that! Blows my whole theory!

Your key to Beachbum Berry's books. Login and start concocting!

[ Edited by: Swanky 2008-12-07 10:58 ]