Pop culture inspires names of a host of isle businesses

Many Hawaii companies, past and present, have names that are associated with songs, movies or TV shows.

This can be a popular move for business owners because the name already has public visibility but generally cannot be granted a copyright.

The Yum Yum Tree (formerly in Ward Center, Aikahi shopping center and Kahala Mall) is one of the companies that comes to mind. It was named after the 1962 Jack Lemmon movie “Under the Yum Yum Tree.”

“Under the Yum Yum Tree” was a metaphor for terminal bachelorhood, a disease that Jack Lemmon was suffering from in the film.

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Bob Lee, who also owned Pizza Bob’s and Steamers, named the North Shore and Restaurant Row diner Rosie’s Cantina after the lyrics of the song “El Paso” (Marty Robbins, 1959).

“Out in the West Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl. Nighttime would find me in Rose’s Cantina; music would play and Felina would whirl.” Lee changed Rose’s to Rosie’s.

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Pam Ross, who owned the Following Sea store in the Ala Moana Building, then Kahala Mall and Beverly Hills, said a Kalapana song with that name inspired her.

Don Ho sang it first in 1962. The public loved her store. “We had requests all the time from people wanting to get married in the store,” Ross says.

Ross now owns Ohelo Road in Kahala Mall.

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Brew Moon (formerly at Ward Center) was a takeoff on “Blue Moon.” Rodgers and Hart wrote this for the 1933 movie “Hollywood Party.” It was a clever play on words since it was a brewery.

Blue Moon Builders owner Michele Harris said she named her company for the Blue Moon Agency in the TV show “Moonlighting,” whose name was inspired by the same song.

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Sweet Leilani Florist (on Dillingham) was named after a 1937 song by Bing Crosby. Bing was in Hawaii researching ideas for the movie “Waikiki Wedding.”

One evening he was dancing at the Royal Hawaiian. Bandleader Harry Owens had his orchestra playing “Sweet Leilani,” a song inspired by his new daughter.

Crosby danced up to Owens. “What’s the name of that song?” he asked.

“‘Sweet Leilani,’” Owens replied. “Can’t pronounce it,” Crosby said, dancing away. A few minutes later he danced back to Owens. “Tell me the name of that song again, Harry.”

“‘Sweet Leilani,’” Owens repeated. “Still can’t pronounce it,” an unusually tongue-tied Crosby responded.

But Crosby learned to pronounce it and put it in his movie. It won the Academy Award that year for Best Song and was his first of 22 gold records, selling over 25 million copies. Some say it saved the U.S. recording industry from going under during the Great Depression.

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Also in the same movie was the song “Blue Hawaii.” Today there are Blue Hawaii Surf stores and Blue Hawaii LifeStyle stores in Hawaii and China. There is also a Blue Hawaiian Helicopters company and a Blue Hawaii Vacations company.

Twenty-four years later “Blue Hawaii” would become the name of Elvis’ 1961 movie, which made the Coco Palms on Kauai famous.

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Tuxedo Junction is a tuxedo and formal rental store near Ala Moana Center. It was named after the song of the same name, popularized by Glenn Miller in 1940.

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Ruby Tuesday is a national chain based in Knoxville, Tenn. It was founded in 1972, five years after the Rolling Stones recorded a song with the same name.

Keith Richards wrote the song about a free-spirited fan. “Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday. Who could hang a name on you? When you change with every new day, still I’m gonna miss you.”

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House Without a Key is a top dining spot at the Halekulani Hotel. It was the name of the first Charlie Chan novel, in 1925. Earl Derr Biggers was staying in Honolulu and noticed locals did not lock their doors.

Charlie Chan was the world’s first fictional Asian detective.

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One of Hawaii’s most famous retailers, Hilo Hattie, is named for a song and person, Clarissa Inter, who sang “When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop.”

The song was written in 1935 by Don McDiarmid Sr. Inter sang and danced it as a comedy routine at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1937 and brought the house down. The audience requested five encores.

George Kanahele, in the book “Hawaiian Music and Musicians,” says McDiarmid wondered why he wrote it. “It was an accident,” he said.

The song launched Inter’s career as the “Clown Princess of Hula.” She would later change her name to the song so closely identified with her.

“Hattie does a dance no law would allow. A crater got a look and it’s sizzling now. She’d better watch her step or everything will be pau.

“When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop.”

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We’ve had several bars and restaurants in Hawaii named Arirang, which is the Korean national song. It literally means “beautiful dear” and is a tragic story of lost love.

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“Hawaiian Eye” was a 1959-63 private detective TV series with Connie Stevens (playing Cricket), Poncie Ponce, Doug Mossman and Troy Donahue. A “private eye” was a term for a detective, and “Hawaiian Eye” added a local twist, although it was filmed mostly in Los Angeles.

Dr. John Corboy opened Hawaiian Eye Centers on every island 15 years later.

“In 1975 I was opening a new business, specializing in caring for eyes,” Dr. Corboy told me, “so using the familiar ‘Hawaiian Eye’ name seemed both descriptive and a good business decision.

“Initially our name was Hawaiian Eye Clinic. Later, after the second of our ultimately nine clinics, we became Hawaiian Eye Center. Nevertheless, we were soon known simply as ‘Hawaiian Eye.’

“I was sternly criticized by conservative colleagues on the mainland for over-commercializing and naming my office after a popular TV show!”

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I have a list of many other local companies named after movies, TV shows and songs. Maybe my readers can suggest more.

Bob Sigall, author of the Companies We Keep books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.