Von Hamm Young Mercantile, Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#003366" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="008005a0dkcfqa.png"> <div> <A HREF="http://willysdealershipproject.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://willysdealershipproject.com/"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Willys De</B><B>alership Project</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>             Back to: </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hawaii"><U><B>Hawaii</B></U></A><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Use your browser's Back button for best results</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Von Hamm Young Mercantile, Inc.</div> <div> Kapiolani Boulevard and Clayton Street?</div> <div> Honolulu, Hawaii</div> <bR> <div> Information about this dealership was gleaned from The CJ3B Page's article covering the Jeeps used in the 1964 movie <A HREF="http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Movie/BlueHawaii.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Movie/Bl"><U>"Ride The Wild Surf"</U></A>.  Specifically, an excerpt from <A HREF="http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Photos/MovieFrames/WildSurf/WildSurfClipping.JPG" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Photos/M"><U>Volume 10, No. 6 of the Jeep News</U></A> makes mention of the dealer name.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> A bit of sleuthing turned up some background info on the company.  The <A HREF="http://starbulletin.com/1999/11/01/news/story8.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://starbulletin.com/1999/11/01/news/"><U>November 1, 1999 issue of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin</U></A> offered some history on the company and its founders, with an excerpt as follows:</div> <bR> <div> "Von Hamm was to make his mark on Hawaii's business history with his partnership with Young and Young's son, Archibald, to form the Von Hamm-Young Corp. and branch out into automobile sales, textiles, wholesale sales, machinery and a host of other businesses.  </div> <bR> <div> In 1964, the firm became the Hawaii Corp.  Von Hamm died in 1965 and the firm he founded would be snapped up in a stock market battle, merged with others to become Hawaii's first conglomerate and eventually overreach itself and be carved into pieces in a bankruptcy liquidation starting in the late 1970s. Many major pieces are still in business under other names, however, and the legacy of von Hamm and the Youngs remains."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> The street address listed above is from a <A HREF="http://starbulletin.com/97/01/20/features/stuffs.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://starbulletin.com/97/01/20/feature"><U>January 20, 1997 article in the same paper</U></A>.  Concerning a derelict fountain across from the former company showroom, here are some pertinent details:</div> <bR> <div> "Today, the Von Hamm-Young showroom windows have been slabbed over, and the building is operated by NCR. The fountain is orphaned on its little triangle of land, and often serves as a sleeping shelter to the homeless. Water has not run in it in years, and the rear of the structure is collapsing. </div> <div> Having lived to 95, von Hamm passed away in 1965, when the fountain still provided a cool oasis on Kapiolani. Von Hamm-Young later became known as THC, or The Hawaii Corporation."</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Unknown is whether this location was also the showroom for vehicles.  Jeeps were not the only vehicles sold by this dealership, as witnessed by this <A HREF="http://www.brooks-planck.org/DatsunDiaries/Whoswho/hawaii.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.brooks-planck.org/DatsunDiari"><U>tale of a 1967 Datsun Roadster</U></A>.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>