Self Help Radio 041426: Palaces

It's usual practice isn't it for a palace to have a sign or marquee outside to let everyone know it's a palace, right? That's so cool.

Here's a show about palaces. I don't think I've ever been in a palace. But I talked to people who live in a palace. & a home improvement dude who makes "little palaces." & played lots of songs about palaces. That seems almost as good? Okay I know it isn't but let me have my illusions!

You can listen to the show at the Self Help Radio website & at the KBOO website. Lots of stuff happened on the show, most of which is noted below.

Hey! Now we can say with spent two hours in palaces together! Okay maybe not.

Self Help Radio Palaces Show

"Palaces" Bart Davenport _Palaces_

"Palace" The Gay _You Know The Rules_

"Palace" Electric Sunset _Electric Sunset_

introduction & definitions

"Palaces Of Gold" Leon Rosselson _Palaces Of Gold_

"Haunted Palace" Renee Maskin _Is It Real_

"Trouble In The Palace" Elizabeth Harper _Elizabeth Harper_

"Little Palaces" Elvis Costello _King Of America_

"Buckingham Palace" Ann Stephens _Hello Children Everywhere_

interview with Princess Petra & Prince Peter (Part I)

"Crackerbox Palace" George Harrison _Thirty Three & 1/3_

"Princess Of The Pearl Palace" Luke Sweeney _Rishi_

"The Haunted Palace" Basil Rathbone _The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection_

"Caesar's Palace" The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band _Hot Heat & Sweet Groove_

"Palace Of The King" Freddie King _Getting Ready..._

interview with Princess Petra & Prince Peter (Part II)

"The Palace Roses" Todd Andrews _The American Song-Poem Anthology: Do You Know The Difference Between Big Wood & Brush?_

"The Wicked Palace Revolution" McCarthy _I Am A Wallet_

"Dream Palace" Galore _Dirt_

"Moon Palace" Ladytron _Gravity The Seducer_

"Great Palaces Of Immortal Splendour" Single Gun Theory _Millions, Like Stars In My Hands, Daggers In My Heart, Wage War_

interview with home improvement television show host Bert Laird

"Palace Of The Brine" Pixies _Trompe Le Monde_

"Ghost Palace" The Burning Hell _Ghost Palace_

"Echo Palace" Iguana Death Cult _Echo Palace_

"Palace Doctor" Thee Oh Sees _Mutilator Defeated At Last_

"The Palace Of Versailles" Al Stewart _Time Passages_

conclusion & goodbye

"Palace Of Mirrors" Crushed Stars _Displaced Sleepers_

"No Peace In The Palace" Grant McLennan _Horsebreaker Star_

Whither Palaces?

That's the sign outside what used to be the Palace Barber Shop in Grand Prairie, Texas. I took that picture when I was in the metroplex in March, 2023, but according to Yelp, it was already closed by then - I must've looked in to see, mustn't I have? I sure did like the sign, though.

Yes, the theme this week is palaces. I'm not normally inclined to think of such things - I suppose I'd go on a tour through a palace if the opportunity arose, but I'd rather go to an art museum. Still, one late night in the dark of winter, getting ready to go to bed but looking up some information about a book I was reading, I stumbled upon a short documentary about the palace at Versailles. & I said to myself, Self - should we do a show about palaces? & usually that's all it takes.

You might ask me about the book I was reading & surprisingly it wasn't about anything French or royal or even historical. I do my best to frustrate the algorithm every chance I get.

Join me in the mind palace that is my radio show tonight from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in town & online at kboo dot fm. It's very big & spooky & lonesome in a mind palace at night. I'll need the company.

Preface To Palaces: The Donut Palace Mystery

That is a picture I took somewhere in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex millions of years ago. Okay, it was August of 2017, probably in Fort Worth, but it appears I took the picture on my way back from Dallas, so who knows.

Here's the thing: I know for a fact there's a Donut Palace here in Portland, Oregon. So I thought to myself, "How many businesses called Donut Palace can there be?" Donut places mostly seem self-owned - little business run by families. Can the interwebs help me?

This website informs me: "There are 289 Donut Palace locations in United States as of March, 2026. The highest number of Donut Palace locations of United States are in Texas & Oklahoma with 168 businesses & 25 businesses, respectively. Texas makes up approximately 58.1% of all Donut Palace locations in the United States."

This website - which is for the Donut Palace & Equipment Co. tells me: "Donut Palace & Equipment Company, Inc., a Texas C Corporation*, is owned & operated by Mr. Alton Blair, it’s [sic] president. Mr. Blair has been in the business of constructing, operating, & equipping, sub-leasing, & supplying bakery ingredients (i.e. sugar, shortening, flour, etc.) to donut stores for more than 40 years. Beginning in 1967 & continuing to 1979, Mr. Blair started 140 independent donut stores. He initiated the Donut Palace name brand in 1979. Since then Mr. Blair has started over 450 Donut Palace stores scattered throughout communities located in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma & many other places."

There's a bunch of photos of Donut Palaces here - they seem to have a regular sign, which does not resemble the one above - & that sign is not on display as one of the businesses in the photos.

As far as I can tell, Donut Palace isn't quite a franchise - but perhaps to use the name you need to have a relationship with the Texas company. I can't quite figure out how that would work tho.

Here is a picture of the one in Oregon:

Again, no clue if it's related to the Texas company or not. I'm not that good of a detective. I can tell you that they have vegan donuts on Saturdays, & the wife would go get them during the pandemic. It's about a forty-five minute drive round trip, so she eventually decided it wasn't entirely worth it. But they were good!

Any insight into this Donut Palace mystery? I could use your better understanding of the economics of franchising!

* Defined by this website, "A C-corporation (C-corp) is a legal business entity that provides its owners – commonly known as shareholders – with limited liability protection. This entity type is separately from its owners. A corporation itself is taxed on its profits, & shareholders are taxed again when they receive dividends – not as a general matter of course on their personal tax returns, as is the case with most partnerships & LLCs."