Alexander Young Hotel - Honolulu, Hawaii

The 300-room Alexander Young Hotel was built in 1902 at a cost of $2 million (initially, it had just under 200 rooms.) The hotel was built by Alexander Young, who came to Hawaii from Blackburn, Scotland in 1865. Mr. Young invested in sugar plantations and eventually became president of the Waiakea Mill Co. He also bought the famous Moana Hotel in Waikiki and the original Royal Hawaiian Hotel (which was not in Waikiki, but instead at Hotel and Richards Streets near the Iolani Palace.)

Alexander Young became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii and served in the House of Nobles between 1887-1892. He also served on an advisory council for the Provisional Government after the overthrow of the Kingdom.

The Young Hotel was used by the military in both World Wars. During WWI, the U.S. Army used the second floor.  During WWII, the military occupied most of the hotel.  In 1964, the hotel was converted to offices. In 1980, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which did nothing to protect it from demolition the following year. Too bad. While it may not have been a spectacular building, it was definitely an important part of Honolulu's history. Here's a drawing of the lobby by the architect. And here's the back of the card:

Japanese Soft Drinks and Green KitKats

 

I have been told that this is a Japanese team-building propaganda postcard. I'm not sure of the year, but perhaps 1940?  The woman shown is working in a bottling facility for a soda company.  If anybody has anything to add to this, please do!
Contrast this with a postal green tea KitKat that my sister-in-law brought back from Japan last week:

It's like a KitKat postcard! There are five mini-size KitKats in this box, which you can send through the mail by just adding an address and a stamp. These KitKats really are bright green as shown on the box. There's no chocolate and they have a mild green tea flavor. So what is the green stuff? Well, as far as I'm concerned it's a mystery coating, especially as I couldn't read the Japanese list of ingredients. Maybe ignorance is bliss; I thought they were pretty good.  Here's a picture of one of the little KitKat packages inside the box:

And here's the back of the box:

World's Most Unusual Drug Store

 Webb's City was the brainchild of James Earl "Doc" Webb. He bought into the St. Petersburg, Florida drug store in 1925, and within a year he had bought out his business partner. At that time, he changed the name of the store to Webb's Cut Rate Drug Store. Webb kept his prices low and his business actually thrived during the Great Depression. He used his profits to expand his business, buying up everything around it, until he eventually owned seventy stores covering 7 blocks. As the business expanded, Webbs didn't just sell drugs; he also sold hardware, furniture, clothing, and provided services such as haircuts, dry cleaning, and dance lessons. At one point, he had an average of over 60,000 customers per day!

Doc Webb used clever gimmicks to attract customers, including special attractions like mermaids, chimpanzees, and shooting the flying Zacchinis out of a cannon in the parking lot. At one point he even had a limited-time offer of dollar bills for sale at 95 cents. The gimmicks worked for a long time, but eventually lost their effectiveness. Doc Webb sold out in 1974, and the business declared bankruptcy in 1979.

In 1949, Norma was toiling away at the Victoria Paper Mill in Fulton, new York when she received a postcard from Millie, who wrote:

Dear Norma,

You really should take a vacation here. It is hot but wonderful. Getting a nice tan. Pop's really enjoying it too. 

Millie