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Bob Lee's Islander in Boston |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11594
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2008-07-24 11:35 am Permalink
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On 2008-07-24 11:23, tikiyaki wrote:
The ceiling looks an awful lot like the cover of Tiki Modern.
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What's so awful 'bout that? 
Isn't there some kind of program you can feed the image of the ceiling into that would de-stretch it and allow it to be viewed in flat in 2D?  Up front, there's a Papua New Guinea design in the middle, and what seems to be half a modernist Tiki face on the left next to it. I fear that nobody ever laid on their back to photograph it, so we might never get to see this beauty completely...
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-24 11:42 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2008-08-05 12:12 pm Permalink
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On 2008-07-24 08:48, bigbrotiki wrote:
I am noting this effeminate look because it seems even more evident in the inside of the menu for the South Pacific in Hallandale, Florida, which curiously swiped the Bob Lee menu Tiki:
...a design which, if we look at the rendering of the South Pacific on page 74 of Tiki Modern, was even meant to grace their oracle tower in giant form!
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Here is another menu that "borrowed" from the Bob Lee design. This was on ebay and I did not win it thus the small picture. It is from Chan's Hawaiian Inn located in New Jersey.
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The Mayor Of Exotica
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 09, 2005
Posts: 400
From: Boston
| Posted: 2008-08-05 2:00 pm Permalink
Man, I would have loved to have seen that place! I have eaten at the place that is there now, without realizing what was there. It's pretty good food, to be sure, but nothing like the interiors pictured in the postcards! It's been pretty well cleaned out. Too bad.
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sebtj
Member
Joined: Aug 30, 2008
Posts: 1
From: Tom
| Posted: 2008-08-30 12:28 pm Permalink
I inherited from my aunt a shell that is cut into the shape of a fish. It has "Bob Lee's Islander" glued to it. I thought it was from Hawaii or Florida because she and my uncle traveled to both locations extensively in the 50's through 70's.
The shell is 5 1/2" by 3 1/4"
[ This Message was edited by: sebtj 2008-08-30 12:30 ]
[ This Message was edited by: sebtj 2008-08-30 12:32 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-06-26 4:32 pm Permalink
Came across this interesting mug from Bob Lee's Islander. Never seen one like this before.
DC
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LOL Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 06, 2007
Posts: 932
From: San Diegoish
| Posted: 2009-06-26 4:58 pm Permalink
I followed that auction. It's a very interesting piece; I'm wondering if it may have been used as a vase, not a mug.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-08-30 8:44 pm Permalink
This is a really cool-mod menu from Bob Lee's Islander from ebay. Never seen one of these before, it's right up there with that crazy roof. Looks like Stephen Crane bowls on the last page, didn't think anybody else used these??
DC
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-09-16 5:37 pm Permalink
Here is a nice magazine ad for Bob Lee's Islander from ebay.
Looks like a much earlier version of the interior, you can see the menus on the tables.
DC
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dsk5550
Member
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 1
From: Massachusetts
| Posted: 2009-09-20 09:19 am Permalink
One of my fondest childhood memories is of going to Bob Lee's back in 1966, before going to see the movie "Grand Prix" at the Cinerama Theatre.
My best friend's parents drove us into Boston, from the suburbs, and Bob's was the first stop.
I had never seen anything like it! My eyes popped out of my head, from the minute we walked up to the front of the building, till we left.
As I remember it, there were many many plants throughout the rooms, and each table made you feel as if it were plopped down in the middle of the jungle, and you were in your own little spot. I remember dugout canoes hanging from the ceiling, and nothing looked fake, or contrived. It all seemed as though it had been there, for ages.
After I had grown, I went searching for The Islander, only to find it was gone, and I was profoundly saddened to learn I would never eat there, again.
It was quite a place, and the pictures just do it no real justice. To walk through the place was truly an out-of-Boston experience! You were instantly transported to another place.
I can't think of another restaurant that's done that, to me! It was my first experience with Polynesian food, too, and as I remember, it was quite delicious!
That was one night I will never forget!
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-10-30 8:38 pm Permalink
A nice matchbook with that same Tiki rendering, and a nice little saying from Bob.
DC
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Tiki-Kate
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 21, 2003
Posts: 1700
From: Yucaipa, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-06 7:10 pm Permalink
The tiki looks a like more like a totem, but I love the mini drink menu.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-06 8:34 pm Permalink
Tiki Kate,
That is an awesome matchbook! It is from that transition period when Bob Lee was going from the Lantern House and Aloha Lounge to the Islander.
This is the early postcard that goes with that matchbook - same Tikis.
You really scored on the matchbooks.
DC
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-01-26 10:36 pm Permalink
Wow, Tikis got big ears!
I don't think I have ever seen this version of these S & P shakers before from Bob Lee's Islander, recently sold on ebay for $$$.
Is this out of an Otagiri or OOH catalog, or a custom type job?
DC
[ This Message was edited by: Dustycajun 2010-01-26 22:46 ]
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LOL Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 06, 2007
Posts: 932
From: San Diegoish
| Posted: 2010-01-27 11:04 pm Permalink
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On 2010-01-26 22:36, Dustycajun wrote:
Wow, Tikis got big ears!
I don't think I have ever seen this version of these S & P shakers before from Bob Lee's Islander, recently sold on ebay for $$$.
Is this out of an Otagiri or OOH catalog, or a custom type job?
DC
[ This Message was edited by: Dustycajun 2010-01-26 22:46 ]
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They had a similarly designed mug (sans Dumbo ears) which was manufactured by OMC; they probably produced the shakers as well.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5093
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-06-02 3:07 pm Permalink
I picked up a postcard showing the cool sign from Bob Lee's Lantern House restaurant in a Chinatown night scene.
I also found pics of another double postcard with some more crazy images of Bob Lee's Islander.
That Bob Lee was quite a showman.
DC
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