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Decorative pictorial menu map printed for the iconic Hollywood restaurant, Don The Beachcomber.
Donn Beach
Donn Beach (born Ernest Raymond Gantt) (1907 – 1989) was an American adventurer, businessman, and World War II veteran and the "founding father" of tiki culture. He is known for opening the first prototypical tiki bar, Don the Beachcomber, during the 1930s in Hollywood, California, which was expanded to a chain of dozens of restaurants throughout the United States.
When Prohibition ended in 1933, Beach opened a bar in Hollywood called "Don's Beachcomber" at 1722 N. McCadden Place. One story was that the reason for the name change was to distance the bar from past bootlegging and the former operation of an illegal speakeasy called "Ernie's Place". In 1937, the bar moved across the street to 1727 N. McCadden Pl., expanded into a restaurant, and its name was changed to Don The Beachcomber. The bar became famous for potent rum cocktails at both of these tropically decorated locations, which he referred to as "Rhum Rhapsodies."
![[Early Landsat Photocomposite of California]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/90468.jpg)
