So, the other day, I was just sitting there, and the name ‘Reyn Spooner’ kinda floated into my head. Maybe I saw an old shirt or somethin’, I don’t really remember. But it got me thinking, who exactly is Reyn Spooner? Or what is it? I’d heard the name, definitely, but didn’t know the story.
I figured, hey, I’ve got some time, let’s look this up. So, I got on my computer, you know, the usual routine, and started poking around. Just a casual search, nothing too intense, just wanted to see what the deal was.
Here’s What I Dug Up
First thing I found out was that Reyn Spooner, the company, got its start back in 1962. Turns out, there was this fella, Reyn McCullough. He had a retail shop over on Catalina Island. Smart guy, he ended up buying another business, Spooners of Waikiki. These Spooner guys were already making surf shorts. So, Reyn McCullough took that and started making his own line of Hawaiian wear under the new combined name. But the interesting bit I read was that he wanted a different vibe, somethin’ softer than those really bright, traditional Hawaiian shirt prints.
Then, as I kept clicking through pages, I saw that the story went back a little further. Before it was officially ‘Reyn Spooner’ in ’62, there was an earlier company. This one was called Reyn’s Men’s wear, and it was founded way back in 1956. And get this, it was Reyn McCullough and a lady named Ruth Spooner. Ah, so that’s where the ‘Spooner’ part of the name came from! It all started on Catalina Island, too. Pretty cool.
While I was at it, I kinda went down a little side path, looking into Aloha shirts in general. Found some bits and pieces sayin’ the whole idea of Aloha shirts might go way, way back. Like, to the 1920s or maybe the early 1930s. There was this shop in Honolulu, a dry goods store called “Musa-Shiya the Shirtmaker.” The fella who owned it, Kōichirō Miyamoto, apparently he was the one who started makin’ shirts from all these colorful Japanese prints. Imagine that, starting a whole trend!
And it wasn’t like Reyn Spooner was the only one in that game. I saw another name pop up a few times: Tori Richard. Says here they’ve been makin’ Hawaiian shirts since 1956 too, and they’re based in Honolulu. So, there was clearly a bit of a scene for that kind of clothing back then.
My Two Cents on It
You know, it’s always kinda neat when you pull on a little thread of curiosity and a whole story unravels. It’s not just some random brand name. There are actual people, Reyn and Ruth, who started something. And then it changes, like Reyn McCullough wanting that softer look for the shirts.
It just goes to show, things don’t just appear outta nowhere. There’s history, and people making decisions, trying new stuff. Makes you look at an old shirt a bit differently, eh? Anyway, that’s the lowdown I found on Reyn Spooner. Just thought I’d share my little discovery journey.
