Comments on: Menu Collection, Part Two: Phoenix

By: Woody Marshall

Woody Marshall — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:28:52 +0000

I lived in Mesa and went to Mesa High. I married Vickie Whipple and she worked at Guggies and Helsings I was head Materide (MS) at Paul Shanks. Her boss used to send me notes from her to me when he has dinner with Paul.I still have the original Pamplet that was made to show information on the hotel and dining room. I remember Miss Jeanie a part owner and our Chef I can’t think of his name at the present but he was asian. The dining room was fampou for the several left handed coffee pots from some ship some where. The head waitress Sudie in the French Quarter left to work at the Playboy club in Phoenix while in her fifties. We were extremly busy in the Coffee Shop the Dining Room and convention Center that my mother was in charge of. My Brother-in-law was in charge of parking and staff there. I used to have drinks accoriss the street at Goldwaters at Joe Hunts dining room, where I never got a bill as he wanted me to work for him. If you have any questions feel free to drop me a line. U have many stories and enjoyed my time there. I was in several books mentioned by authors that lived in Scottsdale at the time. Maybe this is of no intrest but it was extremly fun to shoare. I can sent pictures if you like.

By: Humu Kon Tiki » Blog Archive » Las Vegas Don the Beachcomber Menu

Humu Kon Tiki » Blog Archive » Las Vegas Don the Beachcomber Menu — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:24:34 +0000

[...] Menu Collection, Part Two: Phoenix [Bostworld] [...]

By: wg

wg — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:47:18 +0000

hey guys, im doing this research project for english and well im related to the family who created Guggi. Could anyone help me out and tell me your opinions

By: Humuhumu

Humuhumu — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:41:49 +0000

Ah, the old ask nicely gambit…

By: Derrick Bostrom

Derrick Bostrom — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:50:00 +0000

Mine had the matchbooks as well. That collection, alas, has not survived!

The trick to procuring a menu collection back then was to simply ask for one. It was part and parcel of the whole unctuously polite gracious dining experience. "We've had an absolutely delightful experience this evening. Would it be possible to take one of your beautiful menus home with us as a souvenir of our memorable visit to your estabilshment?"

By: Humuhumu

Humuhumu — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:28:15 +0000

I’m looking forward to the knocking out! So, I’ve gotta ask… do you know how your grandparents managed to pinch so many menus? Did they work as a team — did Grandpa cause a distraction while Grandma stuffed it in her suspiciously-oversized purse? Did they slip a fiver to the maitre d’? Did grandpa stuff a menu up his shirt on the way to the washroom? I wish I could have seen them in action.

My grandmother had a 3 ft tall glass jar full of matchbooks; when I was a kid, I used to dump them all out and look at them and sort them, probably much like you used to gaze at your grandparents’ menus… what I wouldn’t give to have those matchbooks now!

By: Derrick Bostrom

Derrick Bostrom — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:53:13 +0000

For maximum collaborative power, perhaps you should install a TikiWiki (sorry; couldn't resist).

You will be knocked out by this Don The Beachcomber menu from 1948 I have in my collection. All I need is the time and energy to scan it!

By: Humuhumu

Humuhumu — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:29:20 +0000

These are beautiful, thanks for sharing them. Vintage menus are such a rich source of graphical inspiration -- I designed the look & feel of my blog after being quite taken with an old menu from Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood.

Thanks also for linking to my site, Critiki -- I've recently added a feature that lets people like yourself add items from their collections to Critiki. If you're interested in adding your own menus to Critiki, they would be a great addition!

The Islands in Phoenix

Don the Beachcomber at the Sahara in Vegas

I'm hoping that Critiki will become a useful historic record of what these places were like -- we've already lost so many of them.

By: Staci

Staci — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 05:09:58 +0000

Wow. I lived at the Colony apartments on 68th & Camelback. My little bro and i would walk across the (then) empty lot to Fashion Square and have cherry cokes for 25 cents at Guggy's! What memories, thanks Derrick.

p.s. Loved all the MP shows i saw, in LA and here.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 21:01:42 +0000

I got on this site by a link from mymorningjacket.com. As soon as I saw your name I knew it was familiar. I grew up in Phoenix too (Scottsdale and Mesa) and I remember Guggy’s. I also believe that you lived in the guest house by the dogpark before me. In fact, I went to look at it and you were still there with crates of Meatpuppet recordings all over the place. I don’t remember the street but it was in old school Tempe (I don’t live there anymore so my memory fails me).If this is the wrong person, sorry but wow, this jogged some serious memory. Thanks!