Hilton Hotels and the Cold War

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South
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Location: USA

Hilton Hotels and the Cold War

#1

Post by South » 30 Jun 2018, 18:59

https://quartzy.qz.com/1316803/how-hilt ... d-burgers/


Good afternoon all,

Per title.

"vigorously air conditioned" means .........

If Trader Vic's is "cheerfully tacky...", well hamburgers and milk shakes .... no MALTED milk shakes ?!

The Marshal Plan is mentioned.

There's a picture of Ike.

Article contains some humor only appreciated by historians and our cousins in related fields;

"Hilton shrewdly managed to put up little capital...typically paid for by...frequently with a subsidy ...guaranteed by the US". Article includes expression "embrace capitalism". I am guessing that a structure near Bulgaria might have someone with binoculars or perhaps.......


~ Bob
eastern Virginia, USA

cc: Leona Hemsley

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Robert Rojas
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Location: Pleasant Hill, California - U.S.A.
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RE: Hilton Hotels And The Cold War.

#2

Post by Robert Rojas » 01 Jul 2018, 23:43

Greetings to both brother South and the community as a whole. Howdy Bob! Well sir, in respect to your introductory posting of Saturday - June 30, 2018 - 8:59am, this topic certainly resurrected a fair number of memories for old yours truly. Before the greater downtown area of the City of Chicago became thoroughly "MANHATTENIZED", the Conrad Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue had to be one of the more pre-eminent commercial landmarks in the Windy City of my boyhood. For its day, the Conrad Hilton Hotel was bigger than life and I always remember my late parents being in respectful awe of both Conrad Hilton the businessman and the Conrad Hilton Hotel as a Chicago institution. It was a magnificent slice of Americana. Unfortunately, as you and I both know, times inevitably change. Now, in terms of relevance to the COLD WAR, the quintessential Hilton property that will always stick out in what remains of my now quite aging neural net, was (and is) the Berlin Hilton in the now former City of West Berlin. And yes, it was certainly an other worldly outpost for those of us who desired the occasional feel and taste of home not to mention its relative usefulness as a propaganda showcase for the West. And once again, the times they do change! Finally, I often give my local Hilton Hotel a nostalgic gaze as I drive by it in the neighboring municipality of Concord, California. WHAT A COUNTRY! Incidentally, thanks to you, I nearly fell out of my chair when you gave the CC to the infamous Leona Hemsley of New York City real estate fame. Well, that's my initial two cents or pfennigs worth on this nostalgic trip down memory lane - for now anyway. In any case, I would like to bid you an especially copacetic day over in the Old Dominion that is the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob :idea: :|
"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it" - Robert E. Lee


South
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Location: USA

Re: Hilton Hotels and the Cold War

#3

Post by South » 02 Jul 2018, 18:04

Good morning Uncle Bob,

Besides lodging, overpriced restaurants,and showcase operations, these hotels must surely also serve as "spy dens", diplomatic reception areas, entertainment centers (every rhinestone on her purse is a fish-eye telephoto lens[ see "spy dens"]) and a "safe house". The West Berlin Hilton is definitely on the list along with the Nile Hilton.

Speaking of Concord, California, isn't there some USN facility there that the real estate developers say is inefficient and that some new high rise condominium buildings will enhance national security ?


~ Bob
eastern Virginia, USA

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Robert Rojas
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RE: Not In My Backyard!

#4

Post by Robert Rojas » 03 Jul 2018, 01:51

Greetings to both brother South and the community as a whole. Howdy Bob! Well sir, in respect to your posting of Monday - July 02, 2018 - 8:04am, old yours truly must duly report that the potential use of the Concord Naval Weapons Station as an overflow processing and lodging facility for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency was quickly abandoned. Needless to say, a conglomeration of interests have been eyeing that substantial plot of Federal Government property since the United States Navy ceased with its ordnance storage activities there and transforming the C.N.W.S. into a de facto concentration camp simply does NOT fit into the real estate development plans of certain local politicians and businessmen. As you undoubtedly know, money talks and shit walks. Yes, the City of Concord has been lobbying the powers-that-be in the District of Columbia to relinquish control of this massive installation for the purposes of unbridled real estate development, but given that the State of California plans to limit every household's total water usage to seventy gallons a day by year 2022, once must really wonder where exactly the urban brain trust of the City of Concord will theoretically procure that liquid gold. Oh Bob, there is a great deal I could rant about, but at the end of the day, the asylum that is now the Golden State will still be run by the inmates. There is always these on again and off again movements to break up this state into a series of states, but those movements never seem to gain any traction. However, I cannot honestly assert that being a resident of a newly formed State of North California would really change anything. Well, that's my latest two cents worth on this incidental matter - for now anyway. In any case, I would like to bid you a copacetic day over in the Old Dominion that is the Commonwealth of Virginia.


Best Regards,
Uncle Bob :idea: :roll: :|
"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it" - Robert E. Lee

South
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Posts: 3590
Joined: 06 Sep 2007, 10:01
Location: USA

Re: Hilton Hotels and the Cold War

#5

Post by South » 03 Jul 2018, 11:43

Good morning Uncle Bob,

Just when I receive validation that Concord N.W.S. was indeed in the news, I now learn of pending water rationing !

A water desalination facility, like at Guantanamo Bay, is surely needed. The facility could be a public utility and operated like the others. This will ensure no one can afford to live in the Gold Bear State. Water shortage solved !

There's a link to this and the Hilton Hotels during the Cold War. My hunch is that the link is the domestic US FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS in re all these matters involving substantial funding.

I'm a member of laity to all this. Harry Sinclair can provide a definitive response. Where is the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve ?


~ Bob
eastern Virginia, USA

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