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The Aku-Aku in Las Vegas |
Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3929
From: Santa Barbara, CA
|  Posted: 2009-03-04 09:05 am Permalink
Ran across this PuPu Menu from the Aku Aku on ebay.
DC
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2009-04-04 01:35 am Permalink
Vintage postcard
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2009-04-05 11:26 am Permalink
The Aku Moai still stands, now surrounded by birds:
http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/pictures.cgi?loc_id=424#/images/locations/424/1880_large.JPG
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10562
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-04-07 07:15 am Permalink
Man, I really would love to see a close up of those neon-lit Easter Island scenes on that added wall (above)! Too bad that a couple of icebear's images from that aereal shot sequence on page 2 disappeared, but one still can see how the gigantomania of Las Vegas swallowed up the Aku Aku (like everything else that was on a human scale).
Now somehow I missed icebear's later post with that interior shot of the Aku Aku, which blows my mind:
Not only is it cool to see that glass float theme seen in the one interior shot in the BOT continued...
...but since I had never found any other interiors of the place, and Jeff Berry established in Sippin'Safari that Edward Brownlee and Donn Beach had nothing to do with decor anymore after it had burned down, I just assumed that it's style was more minimalist, stripped down Tiki Modern, as the one photo conveyed. But to see THESE figures as room dividers points to the use of an icon in Easter Island imagery so far UNPRECEDENTED in Polynesian pop, the Kava Kava man, or Moai Kava Kava:
The term literally means "figure with ribs". That's why my assumption always was that, since these hunched over, gaunt ancestor images did not befit promises of a sumptuous Polynesian repast, they were never used in South Seas supper clubs. But what I believe we have here...
...are examples of an ethnographic sub-genre of the Kava Kava man, the Moai Papa, or "flat figures":
...or the Moai Tangata, "realistic figures":
....or a combination of the two. In any case, I sure wish that there was more and better quality photographic evidence of this unique feature of this now more than ever mysterious Tiki temple!
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7198
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2009-04-07 10:22 am Permalink
One of these daze I'll compile a book of all things Eli...
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Tiki Kupcake
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 07, 2008
Posts: 362
From: Portland, OR
| Posted: 2009-04-07 10:40 am Permalink
Planning on going out to see the Aku Moai while in Vegas.
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2009-04-07 12:05 pm Permalink
Bigbro, here is the close up you wanted...
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10562
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-04-07 3:37 pm Permalink
Mucho Mahalos, Zeta! As boring as that wall was in comparison to that "exploding universe" sign, those sure are fine scenes! Wonder how they were constructed...they look like 3D cut-outs. Hey, maybe Yesco built those...but I doubt they kept any plans. (Has anybody ever researched if the Young Electric Sign Company archived their design renderings and plans?)
Quote:
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On 2009-04-07 07:15, bigbrotiki wrote:
In any case, I sure wish that there was more and better quality photographic evidence of this unique feature of this now more than ever mysterious Tiki temple!
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Come to think of it: Ideal would be a photo with customers sitting along that wall while happily cannibalizing some spare ribs! 
(Even if those carvings are NOT specifically Moai Kava Kava.)
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2009-04-07 4:31 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-04-07 12:05, Zeta wrote:
Bigbro, here is the close up you wanted...
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Wow! If only I could have seen that back in the day!
Mainstream Vegas does old skool Moai!
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3929
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-04-07 5:57 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-23 22:38, Dustycajun wrote:
What the heck are those figures stalking the tables on the inside of the restaurant??
DC
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Quote:
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On 2009-04-07 07:15, bigbrotiki wrote:
But to see THESE figures as room dividers points to the use of an icon in Easter Island imagery so far UNPRECEDENTED in Polynesian pop, the Kava Kava man, or Moai Kava Kava:
The term literally means "figure with ribs". That's why my assumption always was that, since these hunched over, gaunt ancestor images did not befit promises of a sumptuous Polynesian repast, they were never used in South Seas supper clubs. But what I believe we have here...
...are examples of an ethnographic sub-genre of the Kava Kava man, the Moai Papa, or "flat figures":
...or the Moai Tangata, "realistic figures":
....or a combination of the two. In any case, I sure wish that there was more and better quality photographic evidence of this unique feature of this now more than ever mysterious Tiki temple!
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Bigbro,
Thanks for that perceptive explanation on those figures! Mystery solved.
I have a series of postcards that show the historical progression of the Aku Aku and Eli's Moai.
The first is an early one that shows the Moai in its original location with the first Aku Aku sign out front.
There is also a second Moai back by the building - is this also an Eli? How many moais where there?
This next card shows the moai next to the new Aku Aku sign that was placed out front. You can see that the original Aku Aku sign is still there.
In this card the original Aku Aku sign is gone.
This next postcard shows the moai being moved out front next to the Stardust marque.
Finally the more modern wall signs with the moai images.
DC
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2009-04-07 6:25 pm Permalink
Nice photodocumentary.
Of course, now it is gone in its entirety.
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2009-04-07 8:13 pm Permalink
Blame it on the entropy or what I call "the lameification of the universe"
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7198
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2009-04-07 8:33 pm Permalink
7
( Eli also did the interior)
( I will put those in the Book of Eli)
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3929
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-04-07 10:29 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-04-07 20:33, RevBambooBen wrote:
7
( Eli also did the interior)
( I will put those in the Book of Eli)
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BambooBen,
Holy Moali, There were 7 Eli Moais!
I think I saw 4 different ones in your Polaroid shots.
Thanks for posting that great bit of family history
(now that you have learned to scan, we will have to teach you how to crop the images, young one)
Do you have photos of all 7? Did only one survive?
DC
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2009-04-07 10:34 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2008-02-19 06:58, icebaer69 wrote:
Quote:
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On 2005-12-30 18:15, RevBambooBen wrote:
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Actually, it is not gone forever.
It still reigns supreme and even closer to water, so one could argue it is in a more appropriate spot!
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