 |
Snapshot of Don the Beachcomber Sign In Hawaii 1940s |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2008-07-25 11:28 am Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2008-07-25 11:24, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
..don't forget...chef shangri-la opened in the mid seventies, and that place is loaded with vintage decor..
|
|
As I note in Tiki Modern, with the LAST batch of decor Witco made before they closed! Chinese run Tiki restaurants are definitely a 70s thing, as I said they lagged behind. Also, together with the Tiki mugs, the other thing that was still offered by Chinese restaurant suppliers into the 80s was a good variety of the bamboo/resin/shell LAMPS, so in many 70s Chinese joints you have some bamboo, the mugs and the lamps, but not much Tikis and other artifacts.
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-25 11:33 ]
|
tikiyaki
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 2677
From: The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA
| Posted: 2008-07-25 12:05 pm Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2008-07-25 11:28, bigbrotiki wrote:
Quote:
|
On 2008-07-25 11:24, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
..don't forget...chef shangri-la opened in the mid seventies, and that place is loaded with vintage decor..
|
|
As I note in Tiki Modern, with the LAST batch of decor Witco made before they closed! Chinese run Tiki restaurants are definitely a 70s thing, as I said they lagged behind. [ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-25 11:33 ]
|
|
Are you sure about that ?
http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/pictures.cgi?loc_id=555
http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/location.cgi?loc_id=47
http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/location.cgi?loc_id=55
_________________
http://www.tikiyakiorchestra.com
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-07-25 12:57 pm Permalink
Sure I'm sure. I am talking about the restaurants that Limbo Lizard mentions, the ones with mugs into the 70s and 80s. Mostly on the East Coast and in the Mid-West. And I am talking about it in GENERAL terms, about the majority. Of course there are exceptions, but exceptions don't disprove the trend.
I do not know when Wan-Q became all-out Tiki, but I doubt it was in the late 50s/early 60s. From the BOT:
The Polynesia was owned by a white restaurateur. if you want to count Chinese wait and kitchen staff, then Don The Beachcomber was a Chinese Restaurant. But it is exactly because Don's invented "Polynesian" food was largely based on the Chinese menu that years later Chinese operators were able to go into the Tiki business on their own.
The Chin-Tiki opened, strictly viewed, after the PEAK period of Tiki (1958-1964), in 1967.
The China Trader turned Tiki exceptionally early, but it probably was a Chinese restaurant first.
King Yum may have opened in 1953, but I bet you it went Polynesian much later.
To get back to my original point: The shift in Tiki joint ownership from Caucasian to Chinese being fairly late makes sense, and Chef Shangri La is a perfect example:
Only after having worked in the Poly pop business and having gained experience for a long time, 10/20 Years, Chinese managers and chefs decided they were ready to go into business for themselves. Michael Tsao, for example, was a manager for Trader Vic's before he took over the Kahiki.
Plus, the original Caucasian owners and founders of Tiki temples like the Kahiki, or Tiburon Tommy's, or many other places, had made their money, and by the 70s they had lost their spark, and wanted to retire. And maybe they even saw the waning of the trend, so they gladly passed their business on to their Chinese Managers, who with diligence and hard work kept them going. And at that point "Polynesian style" became "the thing to do" for other Chinese restaurants too.
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-30 07:40 ]
|
Bora Boris
Mr. Unreasonable
Joined: Mar 25, 2005
Posts: 2416
From: Boogie Wonderland
| Posted: 2008-07-25 1:26 pm Permalink
From what I found doing Phone book research it looks like the The Wan-Q went Full Blown Tiki in 1970 click and scroll.
*Edited because I can't spell Scroll.
[ This Message was edited by: Bora Boris 2008-07-25 13:43 ]
|
tikiyaki
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 2677
From: The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA
| Posted: 2008-07-25 1:39 pm Permalink
Just keepin you on your toes Sven 
|
Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 3394
From: HELL
| Posted: 2008-07-25 3:04 pm Permalink
also, the old manager of chicago trader vics used to work at the seven seas back in the day and ray from tiki ti started out at other tiki bars (tonga room?) before owning his own place.....
_________________
" I may not know karate..... but I do know crazy !!"
|
bongofury
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Oct 15, 2002
Posts: 1487
From: Ventura County
| Posted: 2008-07-29 7:00 pm Permalink
Great stuff everyone! Here is a shot from one of my favorite South Sea films "Hell's Half Acre". Lots of interior shots of a Polynesian bar that I believe is Don The Beachcomber's as he was "Technical Adviser" on the movie, all shot in Honolulu & Waikiki. No Tiki mug on the table.
From a group of photos I got on ebay a few years back...filslash believes it is from The Tropics...
Not sure what that square mug is...
|
Phillip Roberts
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 09, 2003
Posts: 1496
From: OAHU, Hawaii.
| Posted: 2008-07-29 7:32 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: filslash 2008-09-20 20:43 ]
|
Babalu
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Nov 19, 2006
Posts: 2498
From: Lemon Grove
| Posted: 2008-07-29 8:09 pm Permalink
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-07-29 11:57 pm Permalink
Great screen grab, Ron!
|
Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4815
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-07-30 06:01 am Permalink
Well, I guess that makes them both Tiki bar pics as they have tikis in them...
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-07-30 07:48 am Permalink
Right, Tim, just like these places are for all the other folks who do not care to differentiate:
http://www.tikibobsindy.com/
http://tikirichmond.com/
|
Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4815
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-07-30 08:12 am Permalink
We all have our black sheep. 
|
tikiwinebear
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 30, 2004
Posts: 578
From: Santa Rosa, CA (Sonoma - wine country)
| Posted: 2008-07-30 08:15 am Permalink
Sorry for the derailing of this DTB photo thread, but I ran across those two Tiki statues on Ebay yesterday... http://cgi.ebay.com/Kitchy-Wood-Tiki-Polynesian-Figi-Hawaiian-Figurines_W0QQitemZ280251262811QQihZ018QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
This is certainly not my Ebay listing, but had to chuckle when I read the description of the Tikis... "Up for auction is a pair of wooden carved tikis from Hawaii, Figi, Polynesia....I am not sure exactly where they are from. I got them from a guy who owned an antique store. The pregnant tiki is 7" and the other tiki (father/ mother & child) is also 7" high. The width of both of them is 2.5". The only thing is the one that is pregnant is missing a couple of toes but as you can see in the picture is does not detract AT ALL from the overall funkiness of these two tikis."
Wouldn't the Ebay seller love to know that the "mother & child" was actually a cannibal and it's victim!!!
Here is a picture from the Ebay auction:
Now, back to the DTB pics!!! 
Myke
|
Pakalolo Man
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Sep 07, 2007
Posts: 32 | Posted: 2008-08-27 9:58 pm Permalink
Found an interesting auction (not mine): "34 VINTAGE PHOTOS DON THE BEACHCOMBER - HAWAII"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180281503091&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=008
Already $99 - ouch... too pricey for me, but whoever wins, please hook me up with those high-quality scans
Here's a couple of 'em...
And there's Donn himself...
As an added bonus, there's a twist about the original owner... I had to laugh at the last line of the auction description: "Superb album with historical ties to an ex-con."
[ This Message was edited by: Pakalolo Man 2008-08-28 23:55 ]
|
