The name “condor” has been adopted by many businesses. But it’s not always clear what the “namers” had in mind when they settled on the condor name. Perhaps, in some cases, it is simply an attraction to a simple, solid-sound, two-syllable word.
For this post, I share 3 examples of condor-named hospitality business based on items that I have collected.
This menu documents a restaurant named Condor presumably located in Japan:
Items on the menu indicate that the restaurant catered to English-speakers and those with Western tastes:
The menu provides no hints of what was intended by the restaurant’s name.
The San Francisco “gentlemen’s club” named Condor associated itself specifically with the California condor, as evidenced by this matchbook:
Given the phone number, that matchbook must be at least 50 years old.
I do not know if the association with the bird came before or after the establishment was named.
This is a closeup of a postcard from the Condor Motor Lodge and Restaurant:
The bird on the sign is an Andean condor. This establishment is in New Brunswick, Canada – a long way from the habitat of Andean condors.
Why do business owners choose to associate their firms with the name condor? Why do business owners choose to associate their firms with a bird? What do patrons of these businesses take from the names and associated imagery?
For more examples of connections between condors and businesses, see the post Consumer products from North America.
Pseudogryps 