Harry Yee
Encyclopedia
Harry K. Yee is a bartender
from Honolulu
, Hawaii
credited with helping spread tiki bar
s and tiki culture
during the middle 20th century, both in Hawaii
and to the United States
Mainland.
s and seven years before Hawaiian statehood. He soon joined Henry Kaiser
's Hawaiian Village Hotel, where he served as head bartender for more than 30 years. Along with Ernest Gantt ("Donn Beach") and Victor Jules Bergeron ("Trader Vic
"), Yee did much to popularize a faux version of the tropics consisting of rum
drinks, hula girls
, and tourism
. Yee's time at the bar spanned statehood and the rise of Hawaii as a major international travel and retirement destination. When he began, Hawaii hosted approximately 100,000 visitors per year, mostly around Waikiki
. By the time he retired tourism exceeded 5 million visitors, compared to 7 million today.
His many innovations were an attempt to create a sense of locale for his tourist customers. When they asked for Hawaiian drinks, he had nothing to offer because there was no such thing, so he invented them and often coined names on the spot. At times during his career he was a teetotaler who relied on his customers for feedback on his drinks. He does not drink rum, and instead prefers cognac
. After retiring he taught for several years at the Bartending Training Institute in Honolulu.
Bartender
A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
from Honolulu
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
credited with helping spread tiki bar
Tiki bar
A tiki bar is an exotic–themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the "mai tai" or "Zombie cocktail". Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their Tiki culture décor which is based upon a romanticized conception of primitive tropical...
s and tiki culture
Tiki culture
Tiki kitsch culture is a 20th-century theme used in Polynesian-style restaurants and clubs originally in the United States and then, to a lesser degree, around the world...
during the middle 20th century, both in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Mainland.
Biography
Born in 1920, Yee began bartending in 1952, before the advent of jet airlinerJet airliner
A jet airliner is an airliner that is powered by jet engines. This term is sometimes contracted to jetliner or jet.In contrast to today's relatively fuel-efficient, turbofan-powered air travel, first generation jet airliner travel was noisy and fuel inefficient...
s and seven years before Hawaiian statehood. He soon joined Henry Kaiser
Henry Kaiser
Henry Kaiser may refer to:People*Henry Felix Kaiser , American academic known for the varimax rotation*Henry J. Kaiser , American industrialist and shipbuilder who founded Kaiser Permanente...
's Hawaiian Village Hotel, where he served as head bartender for more than 30 years. Along with Ernest Gantt ("Donn Beach") and Victor Jules Bergeron ("Trader Vic
Trader Vic
Trader Vic's is a restaurant chain headquartered in San Francisco, California. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. was the founder of a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic," and was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai...
"), Yee did much to popularize a faux version of the tropics consisting of rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
drinks, hula girls
Hula
Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form....
, and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. Yee's time at the bar spanned statehood and the rise of Hawaii as a major international travel and retirement destination. When he began, Hawaii hosted approximately 100,000 visitors per year, mostly around Waikiki
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
. By the time he retired tourism exceeded 5 million visitors, compared to 7 million today.
His many innovations were an attempt to create a sense of locale for his tourist customers. When they asked for Hawaiian drinks, he had nothing to offer because there was no such thing, so he invented them and often coined names on the spot. At times during his career he was a teetotaler who relied on his customers for feedback on his drinks. He does not drink rum, and instead prefers cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
. After retiring he taught for several years at the Bartending Training Institute in Honolulu.
Notable Innovations
During his more than 30 years bartending in Waikiki, Hawaii, Yee invented among other things:- The Blue HawaiiBlue Hawaii (drink)The Blue Hawaii is a tropical cocktail made of rum, pineapple juice, blue Curacao, sweet and sour mix, and sometimes vodka as well. It should not be confused with the similarly named Blue Hawaiian cocktail that contains creme of coconut instead of sweet and sour mix, and never includes...
- The Banana DaiquiriDaiquiriDaiquiri is a family of cocktails whose main ingredients are rum, lime juice, and sugar or other sweetener. There are several versions, but those that gained international fame are the ones made in the El Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba....
- The vanda orchid garnish
- The Hawaiian Eye, featured in the television seriesHawaiian EyeHawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
of the same name that was set in his hotel - The Tropical Itch (a popular drink that substitutes a bamboo backscratcherBackscratcherA backscratcher is a tool used, as the name would suggest, for relieving itches for areas that cannot easily be reached just by one's own hands, typically the back.- Composition and variation :...
for a swizzle stickSwizzle stickSwizzle sticks are small sticks placed in cocktails to hold fruit or stir the drink. Commonly made of plastic, the swizzle portion of the swizzle stick name originated from the Caribbean cocktail, Rum Swizzle....
)