Tiki culture
Encyclopedia
Tiki kitsch culture is a 20th-century theme used in Polynesia
n-style restaurants and clubs originally in the United States and then, to a lesser degree, around the world. Although inspired in part by Tiki
carvings and mythology, the connection is loose and stylistic, being an American kitsch
form and not a Polynesian fine art form.
, a Polynesian-themed bar and restaurant in Hollywood. The proprietor was Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, a young man from Louisiana who had sailed throughout the South Pacific
; later he legally changed his name to Donn Beach. His restaurant featured Cantonese cuisine
and exotic rum punches
, with a decor of flaming torch
es, rattan
furniture, flower lei
s, and brightly colored fabrics. Three years later, Victor Bergeron, better known as Trader Vic
, adopted a Tiki theme for his restaurant in Oakland
, which eventually grew to become a worldwide chain. The theme took on a life during the restaurant's growth in the Bay Area. The Trader Vic in Palo Alto not only spawned architectural choices, such as the architectural concept behind the odd looking Tiki Inn Motel, which still exists as the Stanford Terrace Inn. There also currently exists a modern sculpture garden from Papua New Guinea
that was made to celebrate the modern form of art that was a large part of the original inspiration for tiki culture.
Tiki culture of mid-century America was primarily born in the restaurant industry. Don the Beachcomber's in Hollywood, California, is largely credited as being the first tiki restaurant from which all other eateries and bars "borrowed." Donn Beach, the founder of Don The Beachcomber, is also credited as having created the tropical drink genre singlehandedly. Donn was the first restaurateur to mix flavored syrups and fresh fruit juices with rum
. These drinks were called Rhum Rhapsodies and made Don the Beachcomber's restaurant the hot spot for Hollywood elite and stars from the 1940s well into the 1960s. By the mid to late 1950s, many restaurateurs had begun to copy, and in some cases, steal Donn's theme, food and cocktails. Many eventually created their own cocktails and signature food dishes based on Asian themes. Donn Beach is credited for having created some of the most memorable exotic cocktails such as the Scorpion and the Zombie. Howard Hughes
was a regular at the Hollywood Don the Beachcomber. A story persists that Hughes struck and killed a pedestrian one night while driving home from Don the Beachcombers, after consuming too many Zombies.
Trader Vic
(Victor Bergeron) was a Donn Beach contemporary and the founder of Trader Vic's restaurant chain. Both created a variety of "Polynesian" dishes, including crab Rangoon
and rumaki
.
The mai tai
is considered to be the quintessential tiki cocktail. A protracted feud between Donn Beach and Trader Vic erupted when both claimed to have invented the mai tai.
Most, if not all, tiki-themed establishments served at least some of their cocktails in ceramic mugs depicting tikis; also known as tiki mugs. The styles and sizes varied widely. Most restaurants offered their signature drink in a tiki mug that the patron was able to take home. This led to a large number of tiki mugs surviving as souvenirs. Today, the tiki mug is a highly prized find and is considered to be as much a symbol of the Tiki culture as a tiki itself.
With the resurgence of tiki culture in the later part of the 1990s, a resurgence in the interest of the original exotic cocktails has grown as well. Jeff "Beachbum" Berry released several drink books containing the recipes for many of the signature drinks from long lost tiki restaurants and bars, as well as classic tiki cocktails from Trader Vic's and Don the Beachcombers.
Today, Trader Vic's is the only major restaurant chain still in operation. However, a new Don The Beachcomber was opened in Huntington Beach, California
in 2009—having taken over Sam's Seafood Restaurant/Kona. Sam's was also a long lived tiki-themed restaurant that dated back to the 1940s. It was sold in 2007 and the name was changed to Kona for a short period before the current owner of the Don The Beachcomber corporate name took it over. The opening of the Don The Beachcomber in Huntington Beach in 2009 marks the first appearance of the tiki brand eatery on the mainland United States in over 30 years.
, they brought with them stories and souvenirs from the South Pacific. James Michener won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize
for his collection of short stories, Tales of the South Pacific
, which in turn was the basis for South Pacific
, the 1949 musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein
, also a Pulitzer Prize winner.
In addition to the returning WWII veterans, several other factors contributed to the mid-century American explosion in Polynesian Kitsch Pop culture or Tiki Culture. Post-war America saw the rise of the middle class as an economic force. This coupled with ever increasing affordability of travel, particularly newly established air travel to Hawaii, helped to propel the nation's interest in all things tropical. Hawaiian statehood was a major factor which further drove the tropical lifestyle popularity, and Americans fell in love with their romanticized version of an exotic culture. Another related factor was the excitement surrounding the Kon-Tiki
expedition.
Polynesian design began to infuse every aspect of the country's visual aesthetic, from home accessories to architecture. Single family homes, apartment complexes, business and even large shopping and living districts of some cities were heavily influenced by Polynesian aesthetics. However, by the 1980s, most of the Polynesian aesthetic had been completely wiped away in the name of progress, some architectural examples of homes, apartments and restaurant buildings remain. A small handful of locations still contain carved tikis.
, Arthur Lyman
, and Martin Denny
, who blended the Tiki idea through jazz
augmented with Polynesian, Asian, and Latin instruments and "tropical" themes creating the Exotica
genre. This music blended the elements of Afro-Cuban rhythm
s, unusual instrumentations, environmental sounds, and lush romantic themes from Hollywood movies, topped off with evocative titles like "Jaguar God", into a cultural hybrid native to nowhere.
There were two primary strains of this kind of exotica
: Jungle and Tiki. Jungle exotica was a Hollywood creation, with its roots in Tarzan
movies and further back, to William Henry Hudson
's novel Green Mansions
. Les Baxter was the king of jungle exotica, and spawned a host of imitators while opening the doors for a few more genuine articles such as Chaino
, Thurston Knudson, and Guy Warren
.
Tiki exotica was introduced with Martin Denny's Waikiki nightclub combo cum jungle noises cover of Baxter's Quiet Village
. Tiki rode a wave of popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s marked by the entrance of Hawaii
as the 50th state in 1959 and the introduction of Tiki hut bars and restaurants around the continental United States.
, which was originally broadcast in 1964-1967, borrowed significantly from tiki culture, with the "castaways" depicted as building huts, furniture, and housewares that resembled elements of fantasy-Polynesian culture presented to Americans by period bars and restaurants.
Several books on the subject of Tiki kitsch have been published, including The Book of Tiki by Sven Kirsten, published by Taschen. This book is credited with bringing mid-century Tiki culture back into the American mainstream.
Tiki-themed events and conventions have begun to spring up across America—with the majority happening in Southern California. Large annual events include Tiki Oasis in San Diego; Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale and Ohana Luau at the Lake in Lake George, NY.
A brand of Mexican tequila has created a hand-blown glass bottle with a five-inch glass Tiki inside
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
n-style restaurants and clubs originally in the United States and then, to a lesser degree, around the world. Although inspired in part by Tiki
Tiki
Tiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The term is also used in Māori mythology where Tiki is the first man, created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond – she seduced him...
carvings and mythology, the connection is loose and stylistic, being an American kitsch
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
form and not a Polynesian fine art form.
Tiki kitsch culture in the United States
Tiki kitsch in the United States began in 1934 with the opening of Don the BeachcomberDon the Beachcomber
Donn Beach , born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, is the founding father of tiki restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The many so-called "Polynesian" restaurants and pubs that enjoyed great popularity are directly descended from what he created...
, a Polynesian-themed bar and restaurant in Hollywood. The proprietor was Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, a young man from Louisiana who had sailed throughout the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
; later he legally changed his name to Donn Beach. His restaurant featured Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine comes from Guangdong Province in southern China and is one of 8 superdivisions of Chinese cuisine. Its prominence outside China is due to the great numbers of early emigrants from Guangdong. Cantonese chefs are highly sought after throughout the country...
and exotic rum punches
Punch (drink)
Punch is the term for a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from India to England in the early seventeenth century; from there its use spread to other countries...
, with a decor of flaming torch
Torch
A torch is a fire source, usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other flammable material wrapped around one end. Torches were often supported in sconces by brackets high up on walls, to throw light over corridors in stone structures such as castles or crypts...
es, rattan
Rattan
Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...
furniture, flower lei
Lei (Hawaii)
Lei is a Hawaiian word for a garland or wreath. More loosely defined, a lei is any series of objects strung together with the intent to be worn. The most popular concept of a lei in Hawaiian culture is a wreath of flowers draped around the neck presented upon arriving or leaving as a symbol of...
s, and brightly colored fabrics. Three years later, Victor Bergeron, better known as Trader Vic
Trader Vic
Trader Vic's is a restaurant chain headquartered in San Francisco, California. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. was the founder of a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic," and was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai...
, adopted a Tiki theme for his restaurant in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, which eventually grew to become a worldwide chain. The theme took on a life during the restaurant's growth in the Bay Area. The Trader Vic in Palo Alto not only spawned architectural choices, such as the architectural concept behind the odd looking Tiki Inn Motel, which still exists as the Stanford Terrace Inn. There also currently exists a modern sculpture garden from Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
that was made to celebrate the modern form of art that was a large part of the original inspiration for tiki culture.
Cuisine and cocktails
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
. These drinks were called Rhum Rhapsodies and made Don the Beachcomber's restaurant the hot spot for Hollywood elite and stars from the 1940s well into the 1960s. By the mid to late 1950s, many restaurateurs had begun to copy, and in some cases, steal Donn's theme, food and cocktails. Many eventually created their own cocktails and signature food dishes based on Asian themes. Donn Beach is credited for having created some of the most memorable exotic cocktails such as the Scorpion and the Zombie. Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
was a regular at the Hollywood Don the Beachcomber. A story persists that Hughes struck and killed a pedestrian one night while driving home from Don the Beachcombers, after consuming too many Zombies.
Trader Vic
Trader Vic
Trader Vic's is a restaurant chain headquartered in San Francisco, California. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. was the founder of a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic," and was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai...
(Victor Bergeron) was a Donn Beach contemporary and the founder of Trader Vic's restaurant chain. Both created a variety of "Polynesian" dishes, including crab Rangoon
Crab rangoon
Crab rangoon are deep-fried dumplings served in American Chinese, and more recently, Thai restaurants, stuffed with a combination of cream cheese, lightly flaked crab meat , with scallions and/or garlic...
and rumaki
Rumaki
Rumaki is an hors d'oeuvre of mock-Polynesian origin. It was most likely invented by Victor Bergeron, known as Trader Vic.Its ingredients and method of preparation vary, but usually it consists of water chestnuts and pieces of duck or chicken liver wrapped in bacon and marinated in soy sauce and...
.
The mai tai
Mai Tai
The Mai Tai is an alcoholic cocktail based on rum, Curaçao liqueur, and lime juice, associated with "Polynesian-style" settings.-History:It was purportedly invented at the Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland, California in 1944. Trader Vic's rival, Don the Beachcomber, claimed to have created it in...
is considered to be the quintessential tiki cocktail. A protracted feud between Donn Beach and Trader Vic erupted when both claimed to have invented the mai tai.
Most, if not all, tiki-themed establishments served at least some of their cocktails in ceramic mugs depicting tikis; also known as tiki mugs. The styles and sizes varied widely. Most restaurants offered their signature drink in a tiki mug that the patron was able to take home. This led to a large number of tiki mugs surviving as souvenirs. Today, the tiki mug is a highly prized find and is considered to be as much a symbol of the Tiki culture as a tiki itself.
With the resurgence of tiki culture in the later part of the 1990s, a resurgence in the interest of the original exotic cocktails has grown as well. Jeff "Beachbum" Berry released several drink books containing the recipes for many of the signature drinks from long lost tiki restaurants and bars, as well as classic tiki cocktails from Trader Vic's and Don the Beachcombers.
Today, Trader Vic's is the only major restaurant chain still in operation. However, a new Don The Beachcomber was opened in Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...
in 2009—having taken over Sam's Seafood Restaurant/Kona. Sam's was also a long lived tiki-themed restaurant that dated back to the 1940s. It was sold in 2007 and the name was changed to Kona for a short period before the current owner of the Don The Beachcomber corporate name took it over. The opening of the Don The Beachcomber in Huntington Beach in 2009 marks the first appearance of the tiki brand eatery on the mainland United States in over 30 years.
After World War II
When American soldiers returned home from World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, they brought with them stories and souvenirs from the South Pacific. James Michener won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for his collection of short stories, Tales of the South Pacific
Tales of the South Pacific
Tales of the South Pacific is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, which is a collection of sequentially related short stories about World War II, written by James A. Michener in 1946 and published in 1947...
, which in turn was the basis for South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, the 1949 musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
, also a Pulitzer Prize winner.
In addition to the returning WWII veterans, several other factors contributed to the mid-century American explosion in Polynesian Kitsch Pop culture or Tiki Culture. Post-war America saw the rise of the middle class as an economic force. This coupled with ever increasing affordability of travel, particularly newly established air travel to Hawaii, helped to propel the nation's interest in all things tropical. Hawaiian statehood was a major factor which further drove the tropical lifestyle popularity, and Americans fell in love with their romanticized version of an exotic culture. Another related factor was the excitement surrounding the Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name...
expedition.
Polynesian design began to infuse every aspect of the country's visual aesthetic, from home accessories to architecture. Single family homes, apartment complexes, business and even large shopping and living districts of some cities were heavily influenced by Polynesian aesthetics. However, by the 1980s, most of the Polynesian aesthetic had been completely wiped away in the name of progress, some architectural examples of homes, apartments and restaurant buildings remain. A small handful of locations still contain carved tikis.
Music
Soon came integration of the idea into music by artists like Les BaxterLes Baxter
Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
, Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica...
, and Martin Denny
Martin Denny
Martin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and...
, who blended the Tiki idea through jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
augmented with Polynesian, Asian, and Latin instruments and "tropical" themes creating the Exotica
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
genre. This music blended the elements of Afro-Cuban rhythm
Afro-Cuban jazz
Afro-Cuban jazz is an early form of Latin jazz that mixes Afro-Cuban rhythms with harmonies and musical timbre typical of Bebop. It was developed in the early 1940s by both Cuban musicians and Jazz musicians, with Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, Machito and Stan Kenton among some of the most notable...
s, unusual instrumentations, environmental sounds, and lush romantic themes from Hollywood movies, topped off with evocative titles like "Jaguar God", into a cultural hybrid native to nowhere.
There were two primary strains of this kind of exotica
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
: Jungle and Tiki. Jungle exotica was a Hollywood creation, with its roots in Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
movies and further back, to William Henry Hudson
William Henry Hudson
William Henry Hudson was an author, naturalist, and ornithologist.- Life and work :Hudson was born in the Quilmes, a borough of the greater Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, son of settlers of U.S. origin...
's novel Green Mansions
Green Mansions
Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest is an exotic romance by William Henry Hudson about a traveller to the Guyana jungle of southeastern Venezuela and his encounter with a forest dwelling girl named Rima.-Plot summary:...
. Les Baxter was the king of jungle exotica, and spawned a host of imitators while opening the doors for a few more genuine articles such as Chaino
Chaino
Leon "Chaino" Johnson , the self-styled "percussion genius of Africa," was an American bongo player. After touring for several years on the Chitlin' Circuit, he released several albums and became popular with listeners of exotica music in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
, Thurston Knudson, and Guy Warren
Guy Warren
Guy Warren of Ghana or Kofi Ghanaba was a Ghanaian musician, best known as the inventor of Afro-jazz and as a member of The Tempos.- Biography :...
.
Tiki exotica was introduced with Martin Denny's Waikiki nightclub combo cum jungle noises cover of Baxter's Quiet Village
Quiet Village
"Quiet Village" is an exotica instrumental that was originally written and performed by Les Baxter in 1952. In the liner notes to his album, Ritual of the Savage , Baxter described the themes he was conveying in the work: Seven years later, in 1959, Martin Denny added exotic sounds to the song,...
. Tiki rode a wave of popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s marked by the entrance of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
as the 50th state in 1959 and the introduction of Tiki hut bars and restaurants around the continental United States.
Television
The visual iconography of the CBS-TV series Gilligan's IslandGilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
, which was originally broadcast in 1964-1967, borrowed significantly from tiki culture, with the "castaways" depicted as building huts, furniture, and housewares that resembled elements of fantasy-Polynesian culture presented to Americans by period bars and restaurants.
Revival of Tiki kitsch culture
The mid 1990s saw the beginning of a revival of the Tiki kitsch culture.Several books on the subject of Tiki kitsch have been published, including The Book of Tiki by Sven Kirsten, published by Taschen. This book is credited with bringing mid-century Tiki culture back into the American mainstream.
Tiki-themed events and conventions have begun to spring up across America—with the majority happening in Southern California. Large annual events include Tiki Oasis in San Diego; Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale and Ohana Luau at the Lake in Lake George, NY.
A brand of Mexican tequila has created a hand-blown glass bottle with a five-inch glass Tiki inside
See also
- Martin DennyMartin DennyMartin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and...
- Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki RoomWalt Disney's Enchanted Tiki RoomWalt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort and at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort.-History:...
and Disney's Polynesian ResortDisney's Polynesian ResortDisney's Polynesian Resort is a Disney owned and operated AAA Four-Diamond Award–winning resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort. It began operation on October 1, 1971 as one of Walt Disney World Resort's first two on-site hotels. The resort has a South Seas theme, and originally opened... - ExoticaExoticaExotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
- Lounge musicLounge musicLounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
- Arthur LymanArthur LymanArthur Lyman was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica...
- Mai-Kai RestaurantMai-Kai RestaurantThe Mai-Kai is a tiki-themed restaurant located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It opened to the public on December 28, 1956, and is one of the few "Grand Polynesian Palaces of Tiki" still in operation today...
- Mai TaiMai TaiThe Mai Tai is an alcoholic cocktail based on rum, Curaçao liqueur, and lime juice, associated with "Polynesian-style" settings.-History:It was purportedly invented at the Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland, California in 1944. Trader Vic's rival, Don the Beachcomber, claimed to have created it in...
- Gene RainsGene RainsGene Rains is a vibraphonist and leader of the Gene Rains Group, a jazz quartet from Hawaii that played a musical style known as Exotica. Rains' short career spanned the early to the mid-1960s and consisted of 4 LP recordings released on Decca Records and the Vocalion label...
- Tiki barTiki barA tiki bar is an exotic–themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the "mai tai" or "Zombie cocktail". Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their Tiki culture décor which is based upon a romanticized conception of primitive tropical...
- Tiki mugsTiki mugsTiki mugs are ceramic drink ware originating in mid-century American tiki bars and tropical themed restaurants, believed to have been pioneered by Don the Beachcomber....
- Tiki TiTiki TiThe Tiki Ti is a Polynesian-themed tiki bar on Sunset Boulevard, in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. It is considered by many to be the very epitome of the Tiki tavern style....
- Tiki Bar TVTiki Bar TVTiki Bar TV is a web series distributed in the pioneering field of video podcasting or "vodcast." Produced in an apartment Tiki bar on a low budget, the humorous and heavily ad-libbed show is a creative outlet for its creators Jeff Macpherson and Kevin Gamble...
- Ultra loungeUltra loungeAn ultra lounge is a style nightclub lounge, that came to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ultralounges tend to be small to mid-sized venues, featuring cocktails and an upscale atmosphere....
- RumakiRumakiRumaki is an hors d'oeuvre of mock-Polynesian origin. It was most likely invented by Victor Bergeron, known as Trader Vic.Its ingredients and method of preparation vary, but usually it consists of water chestnuts and pieces of duck or chicken liver wrapped in bacon and marinated in soy sauce and...
Further reading
- Sven A. Kirsten: The Book of Tiki. Taschen 2003, ISBN 3-8228-2433-X
- Sven A. Kirsten: Tiki Modern and the Wild World of Witco. Taschen 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-4717-6
- Duke Carter: Tiki Quest. Pegboard Press (August 2003), ISBN 0-9743283-0-8
- James Teitelbaum: Tiki Road Trip. Santa Monica Press (May 1, 2003), ISBN 1-891661-30-2; 2nd edition released June 1, 2007.
- Otto Von Stroheim, Robert Williams: Tiki Art Now! A Volcanic Eruption of Art. Last Gasp (November 10, 2004), ISBN 0-86719-627-0
- Jeff Berry: "Sippin' Safari: In Search of the Great "Lost" Tropical Drink Recipes... and the People Behind Them". SLG Publishing 2007, ISBN 978-1-5936-2067-7
- Dan Taulapapa McMullin: Tiki Poem