What’s in a Name? “Pop” Henderson, Author of Pop’s Master Mixer, Part One

I’ve always had a fascination for the origin and why of names, and for names that seem a bit quirky.  Here in Las Cruces, we had a pecan processing plant named New Aces.  I often wonder how many people, other than their owners and employees, realize it is a play on the Spanish word for nuts “nueces?”

Why is Bruce Upton Henderson’s nickname “Pop” and what is the story behind Pops Master Mixer being dedicated to “....my buddies from World War One and World War Two”?  His backstory is interesting if not entirely informative. Today’s blog is an attempt to create a brief biography about the man who wrote the book. In the future, I plan to address the book itself.

Bruce Upton Henderson stated in a passport application that he was born in Penn Station, Pennsylvania, 21 May 1894.  His work history starts early.  By the age of 16 he was a helper in a glass factory. At age 20, in 1914, he enlisted in the United States Marines and soon reported for duty at Pearl Harbor.

A model Marine, Private Henderson became Orderly to Commandant of Station, Pearl Harbor in 1917.  His enlistment lasted until September 1918, and he could definitely be considered lucky, having spent the Great War largely at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. 

Following the war, Henderson spent two years doing odd jobs, including pipefitting, in the Honolulu shipyard.  Henderson re-enlisted in the Marines in 1921.  That August, Corporal Henderson applied for a passport for the purpose of a “pleasure” trip to Japan, planning to return in “6 months.”  Anyone with military experience will find this unusual for newly enlisted Marine Corporal. In his passport application, he states he is a resident of Honolulu and describes his occupation as “Soldier.”  Bruce is 5’6” tall, black hair, dark brown eyes and has a scar on his right cheek.  Best of all, we have a passport photo. It shows a smiling young man with his curly hair cut “high and tight” looking very much like a Marine.  

Bruce Upton Henderson, Passport Photo 1921

On 29 August 1921 he departed on the S.S. Shinyo Maru to Yokohama, Japan. For WWII history buffs, this is not the hell ship of P.O.W.’s sunk off the Philippines in 1944, but rather an earlier Japanese ocean liner with a capacity of 275 first class, 75 second class and 800 steerage. What Henderson did in Japan and where he got the funds to do it, remains a mystery.

Muster reports show Corporal Bruce U. Henderson being transferred from Mare Island, California back to Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii in July 1922, then being sent to Guam in December assigned to the 42nd Company, where he re-qualifies as Expert Rifleman and Expert Pistol and made rifle range instructor. While in Guam, an illness outbreak places Henderson and many other marines in quarantine.  Returning to Pearl Harbor in 1923 where he continues as rifle range instructor, now Sgt. Henderson is awarded the Good Conduct Medal and his character is described as “excellent.”  In 1924 Henderson re-enlists, becomes detached to the fleet rifle team at Ft. Shafter, Hawaii and travels, in August 1925, on the U.S.S. Seattle with the team to Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand.

At this point in his career things start to get bumpy. Muster reports show that Henderson in October 1925 was AOL, Absent On Leave, and that he “self-surrendered” as straggler after missing the sailing of the U.S.S. Seattle. This landed him in the Navy brig in New York, NY awaiting trial. He was given a General Court Martial in January 1926.  The official findings were “Absence from station and duty after leave expired” and sentenced to be "reduced to rank of Private and to be confined for six months, and then to be discharged from the United States Naval Service with a bad-conduct discharge.”  Henderson’s previous good service soon got him an amended sentence. According to official records, “the department, on February 1 1926, remitted the Bad Conduct Discharge, provided that he during confinement for a period of six (6) months thereafter conducts himself as such a manner as, in the opinion of his Commanding Officer, warrants his retention in the service."

In May 1926, now Private Henderson was “Released from confinement and restored to duty” and granted 20 days furlough then report to Marine Barracks San Diego.  That October, he was assigned to the 28th MG & Howitzer Co., 2nd Bn, 4th Regiment Western Mail Guards, part of the Marine Corps famous U.S. Mail Guards whose duty was to protect the mail at a time when it was a target for gangsters. Per Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby:

“When our Corps goes in as guards over the Mail, that Mail must be delivered or there must be a Marine dead at the post of duty."

Soon deciding to move on, Henderson was Honorably Discharged in December 1926 and spends the next several years doing a variety of jobs including pipe fitter in Hawaii, as a salesperson, a police officer and, by 1942, a shipyard worker in California.  In 1943, Henderson enlists once again, but in the U.S. Navy.  He is assigned to the U.S.S. Griffin, a submarine tender, as a Petty Officer 3rd class SK3C.  In modern Navy terms, a logistics specialist. Shortly thereafter, he became a Chief Specialist, Shore Patrol and Security, a Master-At-Arms.  With the end of WWII, Henderson returns to Hawaii and marries his wife, Ruby, a former Navy employee, in 1947 in Kaimuki.

It is easy to see why Bruce Upton Henderson dedicated Pop’s Master Mixer to his “buddies” of both World Wars.  He certainly spent most of his adult life with, and around, those who served.  As to the moniker “Pop,” that too is an easy one.  By the time he enlisted for the third time, Henderson was 49 years old. Easily the geezer in any gathering of war-time seamen. 

It is likely that Henderson had a comprehensive knowledge of bars in Honolulu between 1914 and 1950, and the libations offered, I could find no record of his actually working behind a bar, other than his stating so in Pop's Master Mixer and he was a member of the Reno, Nevada bartenders local. I did find that a fellow naval yard employee, Charles Rousseau, in whose home Henderson’s marriage was hosted, had in fact worked as a bartender in several Honolulu bars.  This certainly would have afforded Henderson a friend that may have provided him opportunity to work as a bartender during the period between military enlistments.

Charles Rousseau, Veteran's Club, Oahu

After writing Pops Master Mixer, Bruce Upton Henderson fades from the records. His final home was in Phoenix, Arizona where he passed away on 14 December 1965 at the age of 73.