This is a fascinating and Unusual Vintage Mid Century Old Hawaiian TIKI Wood Sculpture Statue, depicting a surrealistic two headed Tiki sculpture, carved in the traditional Polynesian way, likely from an old wooden tree root. This artwork likely dates to the 1950’s – early 1960’s, and shows an angry Tiki god at the base, with a peripheral tiki figure carved on a branch at the top of the sculpture. This piece is meticulously detailed in the carving, along every edge and side it is finely carved, and this piece is very likely by the hand of a talented and educated Polynesian artisan. This artwork appears to be unsigned, but perhaps you recognize the sculptor or their work? Approximately 26 1/2 inches tall x 7 inches wide x 20 inches deep, for S&H purposes. Please see photos to understand. Acquired in Los Angeles County, California. I actually don’t want to sell this unique Tiki statue and would be happy to keep it! If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! Los Angeles: The Birthplace of Tiki. Tiki is more than just a class of drinks. It’s an exotic culture built on an elaborate fantasy. It makes sense, then, that Los Angeles is where the idea was born and raised. From the dearly departed original Don the Beachcomber to the still-thriving Tiki-Ti, we chatted with the professor of tiki himself, Jeff Beachbum Berry, and fellow tiki aficionado (and owner of the iconic Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco) Martin Cate about the LA bars that created and defined tiki as we know it today, and about the city’s relationship to the now-global tiki craze. As Jeff “Beachbum” Berry calls it, this is ground zero for tiki. As far as he’s concerned Don the Beachcomber is single handedly responsible for giving birth to what we call the tiki drink. He opened a tiny, 24-seat bar, decorated it in a vaguely South Pacific island theme, created a cocktail menu around rum-which was, at the time, the least expensive spirit-and the rest is history. With its central location in Hollywood, the bar was quickly a darling of the movie business and acquired a glamorous caché despite its rustic, island theme. As Berry says, You had a direct convergence between Hollywood the movie town and Hollywood the tiki birthplace. Tiki may never have gotten big if Donn had opened his bar anywhere else. Opened in the 1937, the Seven Seas was an elaboration on the Don the Beachcomber concept. Whereas Don the Beachcomber was more of a stand-alone bar, Seven Seas served up live Hawai’ian music and Tahitian dance shows on a nightly basis, as well as a particularly transporting experience that included tropical thunder and lighting sounds that played at regular intervals. Ask a tiki buff to name a now-defunct tiki bar that they wish they could have visited before it was lost to time (and to the disco era), and you’ll inevitably hear about the Luau Beverly Hills. Every tiki bar is larger than life in its way, but the Luau was over the top in a way that left all others behind. Martin Cate has a particular soft spot for the bar and its legendary owner, Stephen Crane. As he describes, What Crane built was just crazy. We refer to design like the Luau as’high tiki,’ basically an extreme experience. Inside, there are rivers, creeks running under your feet, you walk over bridges, there are macaws in cages, there are waterfalls built out of volcanic rock. It’s a completely immersive, themed experience in a way that the other tiki temples at the time never quite were. It’s safe to say that Tiki-Ti might just be Jeff Berry’s favorite bar or, at the very least, where he first fell for tiki. Ray Buhen-one of the original Don the Beachcomber bartenders and a tiki-bartending legend-opened the Tiki-Ti in 1961 and worked behind the bar well into his 80s. Now, you’ll find his son, Mike, and grandson Mike Jr. Behind the bar serving Ray’s iconic drinks menu, which was built around the recipes that Ray learned during his tenure at legendary bars like Don The Beachcomber and the Luau. The number one, must-order? That might have to be Ray’s Mistake, a drink that continues to entice and elude the bars loyal patrons, Berry among them. When I’m at the Tiki-Ti I always start with a Ray’s Mistake. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s in that drink for over 20 years, and I still can’t figure it out. It almost doesn’t matter-it’s just a delicious drink. Mai Tais have been flowing at this historic North Hollywood tiki den since 1958, making it LA’s oldest tiki bar still in operation. Thanks to a recent revamp, the bar is once again shining with its original mid-century tropical charm, and the drinks are fresh and bright to boot. Tiki culture is an American-originated art. Movement inspired by Polynesian. Inspired by Oceanian art. Influential cultures to Tiki culture include Australasia. The name comes from Tiki. Name for the first human, often represented in the form of hei-tiki. A pendant and important taonga. The hei-tiki was often appropriated by Europeans as a commercialized good luck charm, hence the name of Tiki culture. Despite spanning over 10,000 miles and including many different unrelated cultures, religions, and languages, Tiki aesthetic is considered by some to be amalgamated into one fantasia of trans- Pacific. Cultures” and “colonial nostalgia. Because of this, and the simplistic view of the Pacific taken by the aesthetic, Tiki culture has often proved controversial. Tiki culture initially extended to decorate themed bars and restaurants. Catering to Americans’ views of the South Pacific. Featuring Tiki carvings and complex, alluringly named alcoholic drinks, it eventually influenced residential recreation. It became one of the primary ways, although indirectly, that New Zealand culture. Influenced that of the United States. Beginning in California in the 1930s and then spreading around the world, Tiki culture was inspired by the sentimental appeal of an idealized South Pacific, particularly Polynesia, as viewed through the experiences of tourists and Hollywood movies, incorporating beautiful scenery, forbidden love, and the potential for danger. Over time, it selectively incorporated more cultural elements (and imagined aspects) of other regions such as Southeast Asia. While the decor and ambiance at these establishments largely draws from Polynesian. The cocktails are inspired by the tropical drinks and ingredients of the Caribbean. Tiki culture changed over time, influenced by World War II and the firsthand exposure hundreds of thousands of American servicemen gained during that conflict. In time its appeal wore off, and both the culture and the hospitality industry theme saw a decline. The early decades of the 21st century have seen a renaissance of interest in Tiki culture, including a limited commercial revival. In addition, it has attracted people interested in cocktails, history, urban archeology. Of indigenous Pacific cultures has become increasingly challenged as culturally insensitive or racist. Is the first human. And also a wooden image of him. The word “tiki” was used to describe the style of the tropical islands of the South Pacific starting in the late 1930s, a usage that is “unknown to the languages of the Pacific”. It was applied early on to “tiki punch”, “tiki rooms”, “tiki torches”, and so on. By the 1950s, restaurants often used the word to describe Polynesian-themed bars tiki bars. The term “tiki culture” only appears in the 1990s, to describe the revival of the style. Tiki culture began at the end of. In 1933 with the opening of Don’s Beachcomber, a Polynesian-themed bar and restaurant in. The proprietor was Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, a young man from. Who had done some rum-running with his father and claimed to have sailed throughout much of the Pacific Ocean. The restaurant’s name was later changed to Don the Beachcomber, and Beaumont-Gantt legally changed his name to. His restaurant featured Cantonese cuisine. With a décor of flaming torches. And brightly colored fabrics that looked like imagery out of the popular movies that were helping to fuel the desires of the average American to travel the Pacific. In 1936, a restaurant owner from Oakland. Victor Bergeron, ate at the Don the Beachcomber. Bergeron said: We went to a place called the South Seas… And even visited Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood. In fact, I even bought some stuff from Don the Beachcomber. When I got back to Oakland, I told my wife what I had seen, we agreed to change the name of our restaurant and our décor. The renamed restaurant, as well as his new nickname, became Trader Vic’s. Bergeron adopted the new persona in a manner to imitate Beach’s theatrics and further perpetuate the illusions of Hollywood, telling people that the leg he had lost to tuberculosis. Had been the result of being attacked by a shark. Other restaurants such as Clifton’s Cafeteria. Also had begun introducing grand decorations based on non-traditional and kitschy. Clifton’s was heavily remodeled in 1939 to become Clifton’s South Seas. The exterior and interior were decorated with 12 waterfalls, volcanic rock, and tropical foliage. It supposedly even featured a “sherbet-gushing volcano”. The décor of both the inside and the outside of the restaurants was often painstakingly created with decorations from around the world. The owner of the latter, The Luau restaurant, began his menu with a list of the places of origin of his building materials. As well as furniture from Hong Kong. And “man eating clam shells” from the Indian Ocean. Early tiki restaurants, although not called that at the time, attempted to walk a fine line between the reality and myth of what they were creating, acknowledging that much of it was Hollywood hocus-pocus but also trying to create an atmosphere of authenticity. Crane’s later restaurant menus stated: You have just passed the gangplank into another world – into a segment of Paradise – or such is the illusion we of THE LUAU hope to create. And truly it is more than an illusion for there is authenticity in the adventure you are about to experience… Both food and drink are prepared under the matchless guidance of the one and only Dr. Our drink specialties, Island Symphonies of rare and distinguished rums, irresistibly claim your fullest respect which is best shown by drinking slowly and reverently. Movies leading up to this period included White Shadows in the South Seas. (1928), The Love Trader. (1928), and Bird of. Beach frequently interacted with movie stars, inviting them to his home for luau-like dinners and becoming friends with actors such as Clark Gable. Was released in 1935, with a New York Times. Review describing the plot as being about “a chieftain’s daughter who is declared tabu and destined to be the bride of the war god”. It attributed the title to mean “love charm”, in reference to Hei-tiki. Pendants sometimes associated with fertility. In 1938, starring Dorothy Lamour. During a time when overseas civilian China Clipper. Air travel was still uncommon, the Hawaiian Steamship Company’s Matson Line. Also continued its aggressive advertising campaigns promoting a leisurely but still exotic island lifestyle, led by famous photographers such as Edward Steichen. And featuring actresses such as Jinx Falkenburg. Later in Sweetheart of the Fleet and Tahiti Nights. Matson commissioned artists to design memorable keepsake menus for the voyages. Between the Matson Line’s advertising, new restaurants and continual cinematic exposure, the theme began to take on a life of its own. California’s World’s Fair. In 1939 – the Golden Gate International Exposition. Celebrated for the first time Polynesian culture. In the United States. The feature of the fair was “Pageant of the Pacific”, primarily showcasing the goods of nations bordering the Pacific Ocean. At its opening ceremonies President Franklin Roosevelt spoke of friendship and the co-mingled destinies between the United States and Pacific countries, a sentiment physically symbolized in part with the incorporation of a giant, 80-foot statue of Pacifica. Goddess of the Pacific Ocean. Would greatly test those ambitions. In 1945, they brought with them stories and souvenirs from their time in the South Pacific that helped to reinforce the popularity of what Hollywood had set the stage for Donn Beach to create. Beach was himself a WWII veteran, and he had invented the Three Dots & A Dash cocktail, which is Morse code. For “V” (for victory). Women wore victory roll. Hairstyles and people were in the mood to celebrate. The excitement surrounding Thor Heyerdahl. Expedition, followed by the book. In 1948 and a movie. In 1950, helped promote tropical exploration. Importantly within the context of tiki culture, it successfully injected the word “tiki” into the popular American lexicon on a large scale (Hawaiians had not used the word “tiki”, but rather “ki’i”). Heyerdahl’s work also expanded the theme’s mythology to include the west coast of South America in what became an ever-increasing mix of cultural motifs, both real and imagined. (moai) also became iconic with the publication of his book Aku-Aku. Steven Crane of The Luau restaurant took advantage of the public’s fascination with Heyerdahl and further followed in the footsteps of Beach and Bergeron by building a chain of tiki restaurants in partnership with Sheraton Hotels called Kon-Tiki Ports. Crane is generally credited with also bringing tiki to the forefront of decorations at such restaurants and bars, prominently placing their image on his menu covers, matchbooks, entry ways, and other signage. Southern Pacific themes continued to stray more into the even further imagined realm of the mysterious “tiki”. 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. That included the song Bali Ha’i. About a mystical tropical island. The Bali Hai restaurant opened a few years later on San Diego’s Shelter Island. Introducing its faux-tiki mascot and signature cocktail, the Mr. In addition to the returning World War II veterans, several other factors contributed to the mid-century American explosion in tiki culture. Post-war America saw the rise of the middle class as an economic force. Just as the Matson Line had done with their boats, the airlines aggressively marketed flights to consumers. He opened a Don the Beachcomber there, along with the Dagger Bar and created a treehouse office in the top of a giant banyan. Hawaiian bartender Harry Yee. Ultimately, Beach and his ex-wife had at least 25 restaurants. In the Beachcomber chain. Bergeron and his Trader Vic’s had even more, beginning with his first franchise in Seattle (the Outrigger) in 1949 and going on to have locations all over the world. Steven Crane’s franchise also expanded, and mom and pop. Tiki bars flourished in the 1950s well into the 1960s across the country in various forms of shapes and sizes. Over the 1950s, Polynesian design began to infuse many aspects of the country’s visual aesthetic, from home accessories to architecture. The Trader Vic’s in. Eventually even spawned architectural choices, such as the concept behind the odd-looking Tiki Inn Motel. Which still exists as the Stanford Terrace Inn. Single family homes, apartment complexes, bowling alleys and other business were heavily influenced by assumed Polynesian aesthetics, in some cases incorporating the motif into entire residential areas and shopping districts. Much of it was accomplished by purchasing material from the company Oceanic Arts, which opened in 1956 by both importing materials and doing original wood carvings in California. Opened the Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. Attraction, feature Polynesian-style decor, fashion, and music. In 1971, a similar attraction was opened in Walt Disney World. As well as a hotel resort. Of the same theme. If Tiki culture began as a restaurant theme made to look like a Hollywood set. Alcoholic drinks dressed up in elaborate barware are its cornerstones and main actors. Just as the Don the Beachcomber restaurant is largely credited as being the first “tiki bar” from which all other such establishments “liberally borrowed”, Beach himself is also credited as having almost single-handedly created the entire “tiki drink” genre. He was the first restaurateur to focus an entire drink menu on the mixing of flavored syrups and fresh fruit juices with rum. Which he called “Rhum Rhapsodies” and were served in fancy glasses, hollowed out pineapples, and drilled coconuts. A social extrovert good at gaining attention, Beach’s early success was noted by tiki historian Jeff Berry. Who said that “Donn was good with names, good with drinks, and good with drink names”. These “exotic” drinks, such as his first, the Sumatra Kula. Quickly made Beach’s restaurant the hot spot for the elite and movie stars from the 1940s well into the 1960s. Was a regular at the Hollywood Don the Beachcomber, as were Charlie Chaplin. Over time many restaurateurs had begun to copy, and in some cases steal, Beach’s cocktail recipes and template for immersive island decorations coupled with “newly discovered” Southeast Asian/Polynesian food rumaki. Many eventually created their own signature drink and food dishes, but Beach remains regarded as the originator and is credited for having invented many of the most memorable drinks such as the Cobra’s Fang. Pearl Diver, Pi Yi, Shark’s Tooth, Test Pilot. Many drink names were meant to sound as having a foreign origin or being tongue in. Bergeron was viewed as a Beach contemporary with his founding of Trader Vic’s. And although Bergeron had started by copying the “tiki template” that Beach had created he eventually provided significant additions to the tiki canon. He also ultimately had longer staying power than Beach and over time created nearly as many additional cocktails. He is especially known for creating the Fog Cutter. Cocktail and Scorpion bowl. As well as the quintessential Mai Tai. Many were strong drinks and noted on menus as having a “limit of two” per person. A protracted feud between Beach and Bergeron erupted when both claimed to have invented the Mai Tai, which Beach said was a knock-off of his Q. Bergeron eventually won the exclusive rights to distribute a commercial Mai Tai mix for people to use at home. Some drinks served at tiki bars include co-opting previous cocktails with exotic sounding names or foreign backstories, such as the Bloody Nelson, Blow My Skull. New inventions by Beach, Bergeron, and others included the C. Lapu Lapu, Outrigger, Pago Pago. Rum Barrel, Shrunken Head, and Tropical Itch. While many were created expressly as “tiki drinks” (although such a term was not used at the time), others were simply new World War II era cocktails made overseas that could quickly be assimilated into the formula, such as the case with the Suffering Bastard. Beach was very secretive with his drink recipe ingredients, with only a select few of his bartenders knowing them. Some drinks Beach would only make himself, and he frequently placed alcohol into generic bottles labeled with only letters or numbers or premixed “secret” ingredients in a similar fashion so that employees only needed to “mix X, Y, & Z with lime juice” to make a certain drink. Bergeron was less secretive with his ingredients over time, releasing two drink guides that carried his recipes, one in 1947 and the other in 1972. Despite this, many original cocktail recipes were lost to time, either because the recipes themselves were altered to reflect changing tastes (or restaurant budgets), or simply because memories faded and people died. The disagreement between Beach and Bergeron over who created the Mai Tai was not an isolated incident, and who “invented” what drink and when was frequently obscured by establishments that served cocktails with the same name but in sometimes remarkably different manners. Mugs and other vessels. Tiki drinks, as they are generically called, are typically heavily garnished, with ample fruit, swizzle sticks, cocktail umbrellas. Establishments that were part of or influenced by tiki culture also eventually served at least some of their cocktails in decorative ceramic mugs, which came to be known in the 1950s as tiki mugs. Because the barware started to bear the shape of a tiki or “faux tiki” approximation. Styles and sizes vary widely, and are generically referred to as tiki mugs even if they are in the shape of a skull, hula girl, or other motif. The cocktails may also be served in hollowed out pineapples, or in large communal drink bowls with long straws that are meant to be shared. Some are set on fire with overproof rum for additional theatrics and flair. Some mugs were simply stolen and brought home by diners. This led to a large number of 20th-century tiki mugs surviving as souvenirs. Vintage tiki mugs are highly prized finds and are considered to be as much of a symbol of the tiki culture as a tiki itself. The so-called burgeoning “tiki culture” influenced the clothing choices of mainstream Americans. This held true for both general wear and over time included how to get “dressed up” for going out to get a few drinks and fitting in with the exotic ambience of tiki restaurants. Sarong inspired dresses became more popular with women and were also associated with actresses and pin-up models used in tourism advertising such as Dorothy Lamour known as both the “Sarong Girl” and the “Sarong Queen” from her role in the 1937 film The Hurricane. Other movies such as Abbott and Costello’s Pardon My Sarong. As well as Song of the Sarong. Were later released over the course of the 1940s, and served to self-reinforce the popularity of Beach’s and Bergeron’s tropical escape restaurant motifs during this time. An increasing emphasis on idealized “wahine” (island women) saw their depiction grow from menu cover placement to their use on tiki barware. The Fog Cutter mug and the Kava Bowl were two of the earliest ceramic tiki drinking vessels bearing the images of such women to be used in Trader Vic’s restaurants. The Pago Pago Lounge. Also created a Sarong cocktail. For men, the “Hawaiian Shirt”. Would become an enduring symbol of leisure and were increasingly worn in public. US President Harry Truman. Was famously pictured wearing a Hawaiian shirt on the front cover of Life Magazine’s 10 December 1951 issue. Called “aloha shirts” on the island, the book Aloha Attire: Hawaiian Dress in the Twentieth Century describes how the shirt’s history is more than Hawaiian and can be traced to a confluence of cultural influences. As explained by author Linda Bradley, the shirt was actually made with a Western-style silhouette originally inspired by Western sailor shirts, was cut from Japanese. Crepe fabric originally used for kimono. (always untucked and outside of the pants). And florals became a more popular fabric pattern in America, as did palm fronds and similar types of tropical plants or animals such as fish and birds. Beyond Polynesia, other more frequently worn patterns included Batik. And fabrics from differing Oceanic regions. In 1959 became another factor in the popularity of the tropical lifestyle, but also changed how tiki culture was perceived. During America’s honeymoon with the romanticized version of its newly incorporated state came the 1959 Warner Bros. It contained many plot elements similar to 1937’s Waikiki Wedding , and helped to bring a “Polynesian pop” aspect of tiki to a new generation. This addition came as tiki culture music had begun to split into separate subgenres with the additions of lounge. In the 1950s, which at that point had amended the typical Bing Crosby style of American-Hawaiian music. The popularity of Elvis nevertheless helped to keep broad tiki culture alive, even as adults began to take it into new directions and their children began to meld it into evolving subcultures such as surf. The impact of tiki culture on music (and vice versa) had beginnings in the creation of “hapa-haole” music, with “haole” meaning “foreigner” in the context, derived from America’s expectation of native Hawaiian (and other Oceanic regions) folk music. As is the case with much of tiki culture, its genres can fall into varying themes. Hapa-Haole was more prominent in Beach’s and Bergeron’s early days during the 1930s and 1940s, and was more traditional and “poppish”. Later genres, such as exotica and lounge are more associated with mood music meant to play-off the “mysteriousness” and faux-danger of tiki. It could include high energy drumming or slower and enchanting melodic rhythms. It was frequently instrumental, serving as the “soundtrack” for tropical excursions. Exotica and lounge were more prominent in the 1950s and later, although new variations of hapa-haole would also continue. Traditional Hawaiian melodies, sometimes called “Hula Music” at the time by mainstream Americans, initially became prominent in piano sheet. And also created a dancing fad and obsession with Hula. Girls swaying to the music of strummed ukuleles. Hapa-haole is the more proper name for what most 20th century Americans would think of as sung Hawaiian music, where the tune, styling, and subject matter have very distinct Hawaiian elements, but the lyrics are mostly in English. Was arguably the foremost interpreter of hapa haole music, melding Hawaiian music with traditional American pop arrangements and English lyrics. He would also sing at large luaus being put on by Donn Beach. Other important singers include Hal Aloma. Who had changed his name in response to the 1926 film Aloma of the South Seas. And the legendary Don. Would follow in the 1960s and 1970s. Music changed with the times with easy listening light instrumentation, with Ho releasing his famous song Tiny Bubbles. , which charted on both the pop (#57 Billboard) and easy listening. Ho also helped bring attention to Marlene Sai. Who has been described as a living legend of Hawaiian music. First appeared on radio in 1942. She was not Polynesian but she quickly became famous because of her diverse vocal range and in 1946 her home government formally supported her claim to be a descendant of Atahualpa. The last Incan emperor. With enough “exotic” credibility to be packaged as part of tiki culture, especially after Heyerdahl linked tiki to the Andes. In 1947, she released albums with names such as Voice of the Xtabay. And Legend of the Sun Virgin. These featured tiki-like South American stone carvings and exploding volcanoes on their covers. She also went on to play in minor film roles, such as Secret of the Incas. Voice of the Xtabay was produced and composed by Les Baxter. Who had started to experiment with theremin. Mood music on Music Out of the Moon. A few years earlier. Baxter began to “tikify” this type of mood music. Most lounge and exotica was chiefly instrumental, and largely the integration of exotic escapism into American Jazz. Other early pioneers included Arthur Lyman. Who played live at Don the Beachcomber and other venues. The new theme was blended through jazz. Stylings augmented with Polynesian, Southeast Asian, and Latin instruments. The music also incorporated elements of Afro-Cuban rhythms. Unusual instrumentations, environmental sounds, and the lush romantic themes of Hollywood. Was showcased on the album cover for Exotica. Helping it to reach no. 1 on the Billboard charts and eventually giving the entire genre its name. She appeared on the first 12 Martin Denny album covers, 16 overall, and became a lasting iconic association with both the genre and tiki culture. Other important albums in the genre included Jewels of the Sea , Ritual of the Savage , and F orbidden Island , matched with similarly evocative covers. There are two primary strains of this kind of exotica: jungle exotica and tiki exotica. 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. Tiki exotica on the other hand was introduced in Martin Denny’s Waikiki nightclub jungle noises arrangement in Baxter’s song Quiet Village. Were other important artists in the genre. Just as Bergeron and others in tiki culture had done before him, Pandit invented a new persona (he was born John Roland Redd) by claiming to be a French-Indian musician from New Delhi when he was in fact born in the United States and would be considered by some to be African-American. The TV detective show Hawaiian Eye. And although shot mostly in California it helped to promote the island while spinning off tiki motific comic books and games. Is generally attributed with inventing a Hawaiian Eye cocktail named after the show. A Hawaiian Eye tiki mug was made as well. Hawaiian politician turned actor Tiki Santos (born Abraham De Los Santos) was a recurring minor role character on Hawaiian Eye and went on to make appearances in other shows such as the sitcom McHale’s Navy. He played the role of Chief Watara in episodes such as “The Dart Gun Wedding”, sitting in a large wicker “throne” behind a large tiki mask. As the first tiki wave started to crest towards the end of the 1960s, the original air of mystery and exoticism associated with the tiki motif by Americans began to be replaced by more humorous “curse of the tiki” plot devices as sitcoms. Gained prominence on television. The visual iconography of TV series Gilligan’s Island. An episode had the cast disturbing the resting place of a vengeful tiki god, and attempting to break the curse by invoking “The Great Watubi”. A well-known 1972 episode of The Brady Bunch entitled “The Tiki Caves” involves a magical, taboo idol which the characters believe to be cursed. Shows like I Dream of Jeannie. Often featured special Hawaiian episodes. Tiki carvings sometimes appeared on the shows, including on F. But in increasingly less prominent ways. Series hailed back to Hawaiian Eye , and was one of a few exception to the sitcoms during this time. The crashing of its iconic wave. During opening credits ended with its cancellation in 1980, coinciding with the general end of tiki culture’s first wave as well. Second Wave (1990s) to Present. Franchise, created in 1999 by marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg. Heavily relies on Tiki art, patterns, and music. Tiki-themed elements of the show include intertitle. Production music from APM. Borrowing patterns from aloha. For backgrounds and skies; and character and background designs which reflect Maori religious influences. Such as Squidward’s dwelling which resembles a religious Tiki head. Showrunner Stephen Hillenburg referred to Squidward’s house as an “Easter Island head” despite the design differences. Towards the latter part of the 1970s, “tiki restaurants” were well past the apex of their popularity and many started to close. This was true for both many independent tiki bars as well as what had grown into the major chains associated with hotels such as Vic’s Outrigger and the Sheraton’s Kon-Tiki. The majority of independent tiki bars. Like the Pago Pago Lounge. Were demolished or shuttered, with only a few such as the Tonga Room. Managing to stay afloat. Trader Vic’s was the only of the former major chains that was still in large scale operation. By 1980, most of the tiki aesthetic in architecture and elsewhere had been completely wiped away in the name of progress. Some examples of homes, apartments and restaurant buildings remained, almost exclusively on the west coast. Of those, only a small handful still featured carved tikis. The allure of escapism and tropical drinks for the average American still remained, but was eclipsed by Jimmy Buffett. Seeking the closer to home “Margaritaville” instead of tikis further away Bali-Hai islands as their preferred Shangri-La. For relaxing and drinking. Tiki restaurants and bars had been vital through much of the 1930s into the 1970s, what Jeff Berry called an unprecedented lifespan for a [themed] drink fad. Which had been permanently closed in 1980 and falling into disrepair, was finally torn down in Detroit near the turn of the century, just as tiki was beginning to stir once again on America’s west coast. The later 1990s saw the start of a renewed larger scale interest in tiki from a variety of sources, the main being simply based on the curiosity of a new generation whose Woodstock. Parents had rejected tiki as old and “square”, but for their children was something new to be appropriated and repurposed. This began with people like Bosko Hrnjak, who had been raised in California’s San Gabriel valley among its tiki inspired architecture and who in the mid-1990s began to carve large palm logs into tikis for his home bar. He became an influential artist known for his burnt wood carving style and making of homemade tiki mugs, an early catalyst for getting tiki’s revival off the ground. Another early artist of the revival period was Tiki King. From the Santa Cruz mountains. He was inspired by his artistic parents and a large tiki given to his family by his surfer uncle. Also towards the end of the century saw a renewed interest in trying to “authentically” recreate older drinks. Jeff “Beachbum” Berry released several drink books starting in 1998 (the Grog Log, Intoxica, and others) that contained researched recipes for many of the signature drinks from the sometimes shuttered bars of previous decades. This was also the beginnings of the “urban archeology” aspects of 21st century tiki culture, based on historical interest and fueled by the “puzzle solving” of trying to discover secrets from the past from a cultural theme that was based in part on the “exploration” of tropical regions. Berry’s work is considered to be one of the most important contributions to tiki’s renaissance. Soon after also came the influential The Book of Tiki by Sven Kirsten in 2000. Before that, Otto Von Stroheim had been self publishing a’ zine. Called Tiki News that helped provide critical mass for books like Kirsten’s to be made. Berry created two cocktails named after both Kirsten and Stroheim for their early contributions to tiki’s resurgence in his historical drink guides. In 1995 tiki websites began to grow on the internet; in 1995 Exoticon, a convention of tiki art and exotic music, drew over 1500 people in Los Angeles including local celebrities such as Mark Mothersbaugh. Restaurant and bar resurgence. Many new tiki bars and retro-Polynesian themed restaurants began to open their doors after the turn of the century. Non-themed bars also started placing tiki drinks on their menus, signaling a broader acceptance of the genre while also engendering discussion over what qualified to be called an “authentic” tiki bar. Interest in tiki had also proliferated overseas, with The Book of Tiki’s Sven Kirsten hailing from Germany where a tiki subculture is strong. In 2017 noted tiki historians Sven Kirsten, Jeff Berry, Martin Cate, Brian Miller, and Chris Osburn listed their top 15 operating tiki bars in the world, which included four from London, one from Munich, one from Tokyo, and one from Barcelona. In California and elsewhere, the re-exploration of rat rod. And Hot rod culture. Melded with tiki, tattoo history, and rockabilly music to create new cultural hybrids such as lowbrow. That manifested itself in music, art, and a new breed of tiki bars. Released his album The Dirty. In 1998, featuring retro tiki bar images on its cover. Taboo: The Art of Tiki was released in 1999, with artists such as Mark Ryden. Also employing tiki imagery in retro eclectic paintings. S on-line channel “Sheena’s Jungle Room” plays exotica music as part of its mix of “all things Lowbrow”. Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge opened featuring motifs of tattooed hula girls sporting suicide rolls. And a parking lot accommodated for motorcycles. It describes itself by saying: “We take lovingly-remembered tiki bar history, a healthy helping of tattoo culture, several measures of kitsch, a dash of voodoo and a passion for good times, stick them all in a blender and hit Liquify”. The bar had originally opened in 2003 at a shuttered A&W Drive-In. The popularity of modern Western tattooing already had its roots in the South Pacific, but a resurgence in tattooing. Saw popularity with tiki-related tattoos. Sailor Jerry Rum, named after legendary tattoo artist Norman Collins. Was introduced and marketed in part to be used in tiki drinks. A Volcanic Eruption of Art was published in 2004 with an introduction by Otto Von Stroheim. Art galleries held Tiki Art shows, highlighting the works of artists such as Sunny Buick. Heather Watts, Derek Yaniger, Flounder, and Tiki Tony. Lowbrow also spawned Tiki Noir, a literary subgenre of hard-boiled crime fiction in a tiki setting, in which the main character is often a world-weary and deeply flawed detective. Ritual of the Savage by Jay Strongman and the comic Hawaiian Dick are two examples. The rise in popularity for traditional tiki drinks also took hold in the craft cocktail movement. As well as within certain “retro culture” circles that were associated with it such as with Hipsters. Switching tiki drinks back to their original fresh juice origins, which had turned towards more artificial syrups during tiki’s decline, helped to give the drinks a new reputation. The craft cocktail movement also saw drink experimentation that moved beyond rum and gin, highlighting tiki cocktails that were made with American whiskey and other different base liquor ingredients. Duke Carter’s catalogue of historical tiki mugs, Tiki Quest , was published in 2003. And thrift shops saw dusty tiki mugs suddenly whisked off their shelves, becoming stock for new home tiki bars and period-authentic sets for Blast from the Past. These bars range from the simple to full-builds which rival their commercial forebears. The pioneering video podcast Tiki Bar TV. Started in 2005, highlighting drink recipes such as the Suffering Bastard and the Boomerang while filling tongue in cheek “prescriptions” for modern day maladies with tiki cocktails. It garnered attention from the Apple Corporation. Tiki Magazine was launched, and large tiki-themed conventions began being held. Annual events include Tiki Oasis in San Diego started in 2001 by Otto and Baby Doe von Stroheim. The Hukilau occurs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was started in 2002 by Tim “Swanky” Glazner and Christie White in association with the Mai-Kai restaurant. Was invited to perform at The Hukilau, his show consisting of selections from his 1959 album. As well as new material that would form the basis for the release of. Almost a half century later in 2007. Tiki-Kon started as the NW Tiki Crawl in 2003, and takes place in Portland, Oregon. The Ohana: Luau at the Lake takes place in Lake George, NY at the Tiki Resort hotel. It is put on in conjunction with The. Fraternal Order of Moai. A tiki-themed social club formed in Ohio in 2005. S hosted in Atlanta, GA every January. The same organizers also produce an Atlanta tiki home-bar crawl. A remake of Thor Heyerdah. S 1950 documentary was filmed using two languages and turned into a major motion picture in 2012 with the release of K. The documentary Bosko and the Rebirth of Tiki was released in 2018. With the 21st century revival has come criticism. Some criticize tiki bars as a seductive form of cultural appropriation. Which can obscure and subsume native traditions and divert attention from the history of violent colonialism. In 2016, National Public Radio. Posed the question: Let’s talk tiki bars, harmless fun or exploitation?