My father, John M. Lind, arrived in Honolulu on May 1, 1939, to take a job as a restaurant supply salesman for the small Honolulu office of Dohrmann Hotel Supply Company. He was 25 years old. He had first landed a delivery job with Dohrmann in Long Beach, California, worked his way up into sales, then lobbied company officials in San Francisco for the chance to move to the islands if any positions happened to open up. The job opened and he got it. He arrived by ship in a new car loaded with a wooden trunk of clothes and two surfboards.

These photos from his collection apparently show off several restaurants and bars in and near Waikiki, and those that are dated were taken sometime between the time he arrived and the early 1950s. They are commercial quality photos taken to show off the company’s work planning and equipping restaurants and bars.

For example, the first photo is captioned “Kau Kau Korner Renovation,” for those who remember this landmark Honolulu eatery that opened on the corner of Kalakaua and Kapiolani in 1935. The next two pictures focus on details appearing in that first photo.

In any case, click on any photo to see a larger version.

Click on thumbnail to see larger image.

Scans and comments by Ian Lind