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Tiki Caliente May 9th-May 11th 2008 in Palm Springs |
Tiki Lee's
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 23, 2003
Posts: 772
From: Las Vegas
|  Posted: 2008-02-03 6:49 pm Permalink
Wow! Ever since the drama behind the re-location of Tiki Oasis, I was afraid that the good ol' C.T. was going to go the way of so many other corperately raided joints and become a lame-o Holiday Inn express or something like that. Whatta a great event to bring us all back! Will there be vendors and entertainment, or is it just a laid back relax and chill time? I'll definately be there if I can swing it and get time off work.
Caliente Tropics Forever!
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Wildsville man
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 13, 2007
Posts: 1297
From: PALM SPRINGSVILLE
| Posted: 2008-02-03 10:32 pm Permalink
Tiki Lee,
We are going to have fun in the sun and make some scratch if I have anything to say about it!!!!!
We are keeping the overhead for the guest and vendors down but we will keep the entertaining up.
We will have vendor's,bands,pool party's,special guest and just good old tiki freaks having a good old time. Think of this as lowbrow tiki!!!!!
We will be open to the public for sales from dusk to dawn but after hours the hotel grounds are for
cocktails and networking
so all ego's to the side........we are all superstars at TIKI CALIENTE!!!!!!!!!
http://www.tiki-caliente.com/
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Rory "WILDSVILLE MAN" Snyder
www.tiki-caliente.com
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-02-04 12:02 pm Permalink
Doug's wonderful rendering of Ed Crissman's Tropics Tongue Tiki inspired me to post a little history of this iconic carving:
The tastefully refurbished Tiki in 2002, with torches blazing again
The Tiki in 1992, as seen in the BOT. It used to have a torch on top of his head, once
The original full size Tiki in 1963, in its original location by the right driveway, as a sign post for passersby, before the tooth of time cut him and his hairdo a bit shorter.
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-02-04 12:03 ]
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Wildsville man
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 13, 2007
Posts: 1297
From: PALM SPRINGSVILLE
| Posted: 2008-02-04 12:37 pm Permalink
Awesome info!!!! I have been schooled,DIG?
I've found another old picture before the haircut,I hope you like it!!!!!!!!!
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Rory "WILDSVILLE MAN" Snyder
www.tiki-caliente.com
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Swamp Fire
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 31, 2003
Posts: 1020
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-04 1:45 pm Permalink
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The original full size Tiki in 1963, in its original location by the right driveway, as a sign post for passersby, before the tooth of time cut him and his hairdo a bit shorter.
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Thanks for posting that bigbro. I love the 1963 picture, I've never seen that before.
I've been looking for some old pics of the Tropics from the 1960's.
This one (sorry for the size) the tiki, bigbro is refering to, is off to the left of the building out front.
Curious if anyone has any more to share since we're on the subject?
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The Art of Doug Horne
http://www.swampfirelounge.com/
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-02-04 3:47 pm Permalink
Sure...another excuse to procrastinate with the stuff I SHOULD do...
I have a bigger version of that snapshot, problem is it that the Tiki on the left is cut off!
I always believed that photo of the tall guy being at the RIGHT driveway because of the wall and the two-story Motel behind it...and because that little stone Moai is still in that spot. I could be wrong, but here is my theory: Maybe there were TWO tall Tikis, one at the right and one at the left. The one in your small photo is in silhouette, so we cannot positively ID as the Tongue Tiki. It possibly was THIS Tiki:
...which in 1992 was standing on the lawn in front of the office, in the position the one not cut off in your small photo is in. He obviously had the same problem with wood-rot that the Tongue Tiki had. (The reason so many Tikis at the Tropics lasted so much longer than in other locales is the dry desert climate. My theory is that these two front Tikis, as opposed to some of the parking lot Tikis, were water-doused more intensely because they were on green lawn parcels which had to be sprinkler irrigated more often.) Maybe he was tall Tiki number two. The problem in proving this is that all old brochures just show photos of the A-frame entrance, and of the Motel interior like the pool area, never a complete wide shot of the exterior.
The rendering does not prove much, because it is a fanciful version of what the Tropics became. I do not own the postcard, this is just a slide, otherwise I could zoom into the Tikis on it: There ARE a couple of big ones at the right entrance, one biggy in front of the Coffee shop, and one in front of the office left of the sign (it's almost all cut off in the slide scan here). If anybody has that postcard, how about a nicer scan here?
The rendering of the ROSEMEAD Tropics on page 208 really shows a Tiki of the size of the original Tongue Tiki. (This one though is a fountain Tiki holding a bowl, from which the Tropics Modesto matchbook on the same page took ITS rendering). To this day I have never come upon any photos or brochures of that Tropics location. Being in faster turn-over LA, it disappeared completely in the 80s
But what the snapshot above DOES show, even if partially blocked by the car, is another great concept that did not survive: The original Outrigger Sail sign, documented here in a nice B&W Polaroid from the O.A. archives:
This is a very cool Polynesian pop sign that I have not seen done like this anywhere else. Here it is behind the '55 Ford again:
I have photographed all the surviving Tikis at the Palm Springs, Indio and Modesto locations, but regrettably never made it to Blythe to see if that great, memorable palmroot-ball hair Tiki from BOT page 38 still stands.
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Aug 20, 2002
Posts: 2784
From: Carson, California
| Posted: 2008-02-04 4:05 pm Permalink
The 1972 movie "Teenage Sex Kittens" has a drive-by shot of the Tropics in Palm Springs, as well as several other buildings on the same street. The panning shot starts with the other sail sign before the Sambos, and I think ends before the second sail sign or the root-ball tiki. So I don't know whether the tiki still existed in 1972.
Sabu
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Swamp Fire
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 31, 2003
Posts: 1020
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-04 4:10 pm Permalink
Great stuff Bigbrotiki, I love the outrigger signage out front.
I always assumed that tiki in Blythe was long gone. Now I have an excuse to snoop around a bit next time I drive thru. Maybe it still stands, how cool would that be?
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The Art of Doug Horne
http://www.swampfirelounge.com/
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Swamp Fire
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 31, 2003
Posts: 1020
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-04 4:14 pm Permalink
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On 2008-02-04 16:05, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
The 1972 movie "Teenage Sex Kittens" has a drive-by shot of the Tropics in Palm Springs, as well as several other buildings on the same street. The panning shot starts with the other sail sign before the Sambos, and I think ends before the second sail sign or the root-ball tiki. So I don't know whether the tiki still existed in 1972.
Sabu
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Great stuff Sabu, I've heard of the movie, have not seen it yet. I'll check it out.
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The Art of Doug Horne
http://www.swampfirelounge.com/
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Wildsville man
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 13, 2007
Posts: 1297
From: PALM SPRINGSVILLE
| Posted: 2008-02-04 8:01 pm Permalink
Great stuff!!!!!! Now I dig that place even more.
Maybe we can play the movie at the Tiki Caliente pool party?
_________________
Rory "WILDSVILLE MAN" Snyder
www.tiki-caliente.com
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Otto
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 769
From: NorCal
| Posted: 2008-02-04 10:44 pm Permalink
Good luck at the tropics guys, we have had a lot of fun there!
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Wildsville man
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 13, 2007
Posts: 1297
From: PALM SPRINGSVILLE
| Posted: 2008-02-05 07:28 am Permalink
Thanks Otto,
Come on down and have a Cocktail or Two. If not I will be sure to see you at Number 8!!!!! Great Art by Derek!!!!
_________________
Rory "WILDSVILLE MAN" Snyder
www.tiki-caliente.com
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Swamp Fire
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 31, 2003
Posts: 1020
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-05 08:46 am Permalink
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On 2008-02-05 07:28, Wildsville man wrote:
Thanks Otto,
Come on down and have a Cocktail or Two. If not I will be sure to see you at Number 8!!!!! Great Art by Derek!!!!
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You forgot to add ...DIG!!!
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The Art of Doug Horne
http://www.swampfirelounge.com/
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bigtikidude
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 8252
From: Anaheim,Ca.
| Posted: 2008-02-05 08:49 am Permalink
sorry to poopoo on your post Sven, but that's a 55 Chevy.
My dad was a president of a 55 to 57 Chevy club. ao I know those lie the
back of my hand.
cool historical shots though, thanks,
Jeff(bigtikidude)
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Wildsville man
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 13, 2007
Posts: 1297
From: PALM SPRINGSVILLE
| Posted: 2008-02-05 09:11 am Permalink
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On 2008-02-05 08:46, Swamp Fire wrote:
Quote:
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On 2008-02-05 07:28, Wildsville man wrote:
Thanks Otto,
Come on down and have a Cocktail or Two. If not I will be sure to see you at Number 8!!!!! Great Art by Derek!!!!
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You forgot to add ...DIG!!!
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sorry,DIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
_________________
Rory "WILDSVILLE MAN" Snyder
www.tiki-caliente.com
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