Forty hours of heavy rain accompanied Category 4, Super Typhoon "Gloria" as it moved across northern Taiwan in September 1963.
It flooded most of Taipei.
Peter Ciccarello was assigned to Taipei, working in the Sugar Building.
Peter sent over a number of photos taken inside and around the HSA Compound during that time period.
Click or Double Click on any photo for a larger view....
No sure if this is "After" or "Before" the Flood of 1963.
Peter standing on the landing as you enter the HSA East Compound Movie Theater.
These building were some of the first buildings of the Taipei Navy Exchange (NEX)
Through the years, the buildings were remodeled and rebuilt after fires and floods.
This photo basically the same direction as photo above, after Typhoon Gloria left high water levels.
Wondering how much water damage occurred to the floor stock.
Was there a "Flood" Sale at the Navy Exchange?
I remember the "Smoke Damage" Sale at the Navy Exchange in 1967 or 1968.
The was a fire in one of the buildings and heavy smoke damage occurred to an awful lot of merchandise. As I recall, I believe (someone correct me) the price of goods with smoke damage was like 80 or 90 percent OFF of the regular price.
I went to the sale, and I seem to remember it was hard to find damage on most of the items. Even after a smell test, one would wonder?
Perhaps the NEX had insurance, and by insurance policy requirements, they had to try to dispose of smoke damaged items before the policy was paid-off in full?
Maybe something like that.
The line to get inside the sale area was Really Long. I think they made a rule that you could only shop once a day.
Needless to say, most of the goods were sold quickly.
Best sale I ever saw in any Exchange.
While I'm talking about The Navy Exchange....
I live in Hawaii. We have a huge Navy Exchange a half mile outside the gate from Pearl Harbor.
Also, in the Honolulu driving area, there are these Exchanges:
Joint Base Hickam which has a huge AAFES Exchange.
Schofield Barracks which as a huge AAFES Exchange
Marine Corps Base Kaneohe which as a Marine Corps Exchange.
A few smaller exchanges, Furniture and Appliance stores, a few Stop and Shop stores, gas stations, etc., scattered around the island.
The Best exchange, by far, is the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange.
They have two floors stuffed with every conceivable item you might want.
If you want something that's not on Sale, wait, within 4 weeks, they will have a sale or a scratch-off card that you can use, which gives you discounts from 10 to 40% off your cash register total sale. And also during the time the Scratch-Off cards are available, there is also the weekly sale going on, so you can walk out the door with double discounts.
The only time I remember AAFES having Scratch-Off cards was during the Christmas Sale a few years ago.
I receive both the NEX and AAFES Sale Flyers in the mail.
NEX Pearl, far the best exchange I have ever shopped.
Commissary 1960s Courtesy Ted Baxter
A child looking back at the camera in the Buick just center of this photo.
Someone forgot to move their car.
Waiting on the Insurance payoff?
An Employee coming to work?
You can see part of the Commissary in the upper right.
Here's Peter again, just inside the gate area leading into the HSA East Compound.
Notice the large signs across the street.
What's left of that sign after the typhoon.
There's that sign again.
Those young Taiwan Military drivers are having a time blasting down the street.
I'm sure the bystanders will have a few words to say when the wave washes over them.
Peter sent this Menu from Club 63 along with his photos.
Notice on the menu, the price of the food then, in today's dollars.
US Choice meat in 1963 would equal US Prime meat today.
Also, 10 May 1962 was a Thursday, regular work day.
Wonder if the club manager was from the Southwest, they're serving Pinto Beans with diced ham hocks..... Love um!
Another interesting note: The menu was a carbon copy, not a Xerox copy. How many "readable" carbon copies could you get each time the menu was typed? The clerical office staff typist(s) were banging-out menus day and night....
Here's Club 63, everyone's favorite club, where you could have enjoyed something from the Dinner Menu above.
This was how the front door area looked during Peter's time in Taipei.
The front door was just in back of the glass blocks, Walk a few steps inside along the right side of this photo, pull the door open and step inside.
Here are three more stories of the 1963 Typhoon and Flood, click on the links below.
Typhoon Aftermath
Typhoon Gloria - 1963
More Typhoon Gloria from 1963
After you've seen all the interesting photos,
here's a short B&W film of the damage left by Typhoon Gloria in Taipei.
Film of Typhoon Gloria Damage 1963.
It flooded most of Taipei.
Peter Ciccarello was assigned to Taipei, working in the Sugar Building.
Peter sent over a number of photos taken inside and around the HSA Compound during that time period.
Click or Double Click on any photo for a larger view....
Peter standing on the landing as you enter the HSA East Compound Movie Theater.
These building were some of the first buildings of the Taipei Navy Exchange (NEX)
Through the years, the buildings were remodeled and rebuilt after fires and floods.
Was there a "Flood" Sale at the Navy Exchange?
I remember the "Smoke Damage" Sale at the Navy Exchange in 1967 or 1968.
The was a fire in one of the buildings and heavy smoke damage occurred to an awful lot of merchandise. As I recall, I believe (someone correct me) the price of goods with smoke damage was like 80 or 90 percent OFF of the regular price.
I went to the sale, and I seem to remember it was hard to find damage on most of the items. Even after a smell test, one would wonder?
Perhaps the NEX had insurance, and by insurance policy requirements, they had to try to dispose of smoke damaged items before the policy was paid-off in full?
Maybe something like that.
The line to get inside the sale area was Really Long. I think they made a rule that you could only shop once a day.
Needless to say, most of the goods were sold quickly.
Best sale I ever saw in any Exchange.
While I'm talking about The Navy Exchange....
I live in Hawaii. We have a huge Navy Exchange a half mile outside the gate from Pearl Harbor.
Also, in the Honolulu driving area, there are these Exchanges:
Joint Base Hickam which has a huge AAFES Exchange.
Schofield Barracks which as a huge AAFES Exchange
Marine Corps Base Kaneohe which as a Marine Corps Exchange.
A few smaller exchanges, Furniture and Appliance stores, a few Stop and Shop stores, gas stations, etc., scattered around the island.
The Best exchange, by far, is the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange.
They have two floors stuffed with every conceivable item you might want.
If you want something that's not on Sale, wait, within 4 weeks, they will have a sale or a scratch-off card that you can use, which gives you discounts from 10 to 40% off your cash register total sale. And also during the time the Scratch-Off cards are available, there is also the weekly sale going on, so you can walk out the door with double discounts.
The only time I remember AAFES having Scratch-Off cards was during the Christmas Sale a few years ago.
I receive both the NEX and AAFES Sale Flyers in the mail.
NEX Pearl, far the best exchange I have ever shopped.
A child looking back at the camera in the Buick just center of this photo.
Waiting on the Insurance payoff?
An Employee coming to work?
You can see part of the Commissary in the upper right.
Here's Peter again, just inside the gate area leading into the HSA East Compound.
Notice the large signs across the street.
What's left of that sign after the typhoon.
There's that sign again.
Those young Taiwan Military drivers are having a time blasting down the street.
I'm sure the bystanders will have a few words to say when the wave washes over them.
Notice on the menu, the price of the food then, in today's dollars.
US Choice meat in 1963 would equal US Prime meat today.
Also, 10 May 1962 was a Thursday, regular work day.
Wonder if the club manager was from the Southwest, they're serving Pinto Beans with diced ham hocks..... Love um!
Another interesting note: The menu was a carbon copy, not a Xerox copy. How many "readable" carbon copies could you get each time the menu was typed? The clerical office staff typist(s) were banging-out menus day and night....
This was how the front door area looked during Peter's time in Taipei.
The front door was just in back of the glass blocks, Walk a few steps inside along the right side of this photo, pull the door open and step inside.
Here are three more stories of the 1963 Typhoon and Flood, click on the links below.
Typhoon Aftermath
Typhoon Gloria - 1963
More Typhoon Gloria from 1963
After you've seen all the interesting photos,
here's a short B&W film of the damage left by Typhoon Gloria in Taipei.
Film of Typhoon Gloria Damage 1963.
