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Tiki Bob's, San Francisco, CA (restaurant) |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10562
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2011-05-05 5:16 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-05-05 13:19, Trad'r Bill wrote:
Sabu - good eye, I was thinking the same thing... the lines inside the letters match my sign very closely. I think the sign was probably based on the menu lettering, or vice versa.
I looked through dozens of bamboo lettering fonts on Archiva Tropica and didn't see any that looked like the menu/sign: http://www.arkivatropika.com/cgi-bin/tags.cgi?tags=%22bamboo%20lettering%22
Here's a side-by-side shot:
It seems very likely that the sign once hung at one of the Tiki Bob's locations. Any other explanation I can think of seems too far-fetched.
Trad'r Bill
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Waitaminnit: The "C" in the menu has THREE separation lines on the bottom, the sign only TWO! 
A stunning discovery! Great eye, Sabu. I have photographic TIKI memory, but it does not extend to Bamboo fonts  . These two are clearly related! If the "Transmission tradition" of menu art that we have found in the copying of logo Tikis applies to Tiki fonts, it initially seems hard to say which came first, and from where. But with a little logic, we might get close:
Tiki Bob' was the unwanted stepchild of Trader Vic's on Cosmo Place. So Vic's would never have copied anything from Bob's. Bob's (as a place) WAS a "copy" of Vic's, yes, but but not THAT literally. It's unlikely that the graphic artist of the Bob's menu went to Cosmo place (IF it had hung there) and sketched the sign for his menu job. The easiest way would surely have been that the sign maker got a copy of the Tiki Bob's menu and carved the font from it - per order of Tiki Bob's, of course.
Tiki Bob's Sacramento was too far away for the sign to have made it back to town, and Tiki Bob's Mainland seems to have been very under-decorated with Polynesian items. So: My vote goes to the original Tiki Bob's!
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Trad'r Bill
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 14, 2008
Posts: 450
From: Hercules, CA
| Posted: 2011-05-06 6:12 pm Permalink
I like your analysis, Sven... especially since it confirms what I want to hear.
Trad'r Bill
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Trad'r Bill
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 14, 2008
Posts: 450
From: Hercules, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-14 6:33 pm Permalink
Here's another cool menu that came up recently on eBay:
-Trad'r Bill
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10562
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-14 10:37 pm Permalink
No !!....? (utter disbelief) This must be a clever parody, like all those mugs Bosko and Grog have been doing. - This would be an OK graphic for "Fat Bob's Burgers", but not Tiki Bob's...the Bob Tiki was always so slender and elegant!
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bigtikidude
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 8259
From: Anaheim,Ca.
| Posted: 2011-09-14 11:01 pm Permalink
More Like Tiki Blob's
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aquarj
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Apr 02, 2002
Posts: 1040
From: SF bay area, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-15 12:37 pm Permalink
I like it! The combination of soft curves and sharp corners with crisp lines - very cartoon modern! This illustration is by a skilled hand.
-Randy
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3923
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-10-28 12:16 pm Permalink
If it makes you feel better, the Tiki Bob blob figure was from a Wine list!
Here is a comparison of the Tiki Bob's matchbooks that show the evolution of the Tiki Bob style from the early days (right) to the Raffles era (left).
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10562
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-10-28 2:56 pm Permalink
Thanks, DC, I just had to get used to that fat boy look....I kinda like it now, it was a surprise, but it grew on me.
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 629
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2011-12-29 8:38 pm Permalink
Tiki Bob starts his lingerie shows, closely watched by local police
The Milwaukee Journal March 31, 1959 (page 13)
St. Petersburg Independent March 31, 1959 (page 2)
The Calgary Herald April 2, 1959 (page 11)
The local authorities were unable to stop Tiki Bob's shows, but there was one draconian agency that could and did...
The Modesto Bee August 2, 1959 (page 52)
-Tom
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martian-tiki
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Sep 19, 2009
Posts: 309 | Posted: 2012-06-16 02:07 am Permalink
Rogue
Volume 4 Number 8
November 1959
High resolution at
http://www.martiantiki.com/rogue-v4n8/
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2458
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2012-06-16 07:21 am Permalink
Wow. I've seen the color photos before but those B&Ws are new finds, yes ??
I especially like the exterior sidewalk photo. Thanks Martian-Tiki !!
Edit - Actually I see that Swanky had uncovered (ha ha) this a while back on his blog but thanks for posting the magazine article and cover in its entirety. Also according to Otto the Tiki Bob's in the above article is actually the Financial District location and not the one in this thread. (And which is stated in the text).
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2012-06-16 07:49 ]
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Trad'r Bill
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 14, 2008
Posts: 450
From: Hercules, CA
| Posted: 2012-10-22 4:11 pm Permalink
Found another menu on the web - this is apparently on display at the SFPL menu exhibit:
Full size: http://sfhcbasc.blogspot.com/2010/09/mid-century-madness.html
Similar to the "Chow N Grog" menu posted earlier...
-Trad'r Bill
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3923
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2012-11-08 5:26 pm Permalink
Great new photos! Here is another B & W of the entrance I found online.
And some old Tiki Bob's swizzles.
DC
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SandraDee
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 579 | Posted: 2012-11-08 8:48 pm Permalink
Swizzles! Ahhhh the hunt is on!
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