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Tiki Gardens, Indian Rocks Beach/Indian Shores, FL (restaurant) |
Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
|  Posted: 2009-01-14 5:40 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-13 16:49, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
not my auction......but did anyone else get one of these on ebay??
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Tipsy,
Thanks for the tip, I snagged one.
DC
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1531
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2009-01-26 4:22 pm Permalink
A little Tiki Gardens goodness from my postcard collection. The first six are individual cards. Enjoy!
Trader Frank's
Interior shot.
The gardens
The Parakeet Bell Tower.
The Garden Chapel.
Tiki Lagoon.
These next five are all from a card folder.
_________________
"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann
[ This Message was edited by: uncle trav 2009-01-26 18:21 ]
[ This Message was edited by: uncle trav 2009-01-26 18:22 ]
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1531
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2009-01-29 5:37 pm Permalink
Thought I would put a larger image up for Trader Frank's
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2009-04-22 04:01 am Permalink
I started playing on the google timeline - man does it suck up the hours!
I found this great article on Tiki Gardens from the St. Petersburg Times, March 1, 1964.
I tried to sharpen it and put it together so that it was easier to read, and improved the photo a little, but then I realized that TC must limit picture size, because I can't get the article big enough to read here. So, since I can't sleep tonight, here's the text:
1963 Fire Destroyed 14-Year Attraction
Signal House, Tiki Gardens Near Completion in Polynesian Style
Indian Rocks Beach South Shore - The Signal House, for 14 years an attraction here, before a fire last May, has been rebuilt by owners Frank and Jo Byars.
Now operating with 16,000 square feet of floor space, compared to the 11,000 at the time of the fire, the gift shop has been changed into a series of tropical buildings built around the old Tiki Gardens.
The main building faces Gulf Boulevard and is crowned with three high pitched roofs, in south pacific architecture. The main entrance leads into the International Shop, which combines a lobby type area and the offices. Mahogany paneled, with glass front and rear walls, the area is centered with an unusual lighting fixture of three chandeliers which drop 30 feet from the pitched ceiling.
Off the main lobby is the Polynesian Shop. On the other side of the lobby is the oriental Shop, entered through a gold and black Moon Gate. To the rear is the Basket and Furniture Mart, which contains one of Florida's largest selection of baskets. Just completed, to the rear of the Mart and now circling the garden, is the Florida House which contains souvenirs and novelties.
Still to be built around the shopping mall is Trader Frank's Snack Bar, where light meals will be served, and the Lotus House, which will offer oriental party foods and gourmet items.
The Tahiti Hut, on the far side of the mall, features Polynesian merchandise that is "way out and wild" according to Byars. Also built since the fire are large warehouses to store merchandise as it arrives from all parts of the world.
Nearing completion now is the entirely new attraction, Tiki Gardens, situated on almost four acres on the bay adjacent to the Signal House. Mrs. Byars, who has created the designs for the buildings and gardens, says the new Tiki Gardens will be a Polynesian Paradise in Florida. They include tropical plantings of shrubs and trees, birds, monkeys, a fire mountain, islands, and a waterfall.
Photo caption: They Rebuilt Tiki Gardens - Frank and Jo Byars opened their new Tiki Gardens at the Signal House in Indian Rocks Beach yesterday for a sneak preview before the formal opening March 15. A fire last May nearly destroyed the attraction.
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http://tabooisland.blogspot.com/
[ This Message was edited by: Mo-Eye 2009-04-22 04:04 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Mo-Eye 2009-04-22 04:16 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Mo-Eye 2009-04-22 04:44 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-04-22 11:28 am Permalink
Great work, much appreciated. I noticed that that search engine is very St Petersburg Times-heavy. Is that because they just used the terms Tiki and Polynesian more than anyone back then?
Found places (and ads for them) on that engine that I had never heard about, like the Outrigger Inn, and Guy Lombardo's Port of Call ...(!?)
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2009-04-22 11:56 am Permalink
I think its a little bit of both.
There are dozens of great articles about this place, and a few other good ones, that I'll post as time allows. I did notice that their OCR program doesn't work that great, and when you just search the word "tiki" it will bring back a lot of other 3 and 4 letter words that start with "t". Still, a lot of little gems to discover there.
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2009-04-22 12:27 pm Permalink
Here is another article with some good info from the St. Petersburg Times, Aug. 25 1963.
Byars Family Builds New Tiki Gardens
Indian Rocks Beach South Shore - Tiki Gardens are now under construction by Jo and Frank Byars, owners of the Signal House which was devastated by fire last spring.
The new gardens, which will be offered to the public on a paid admission basis, are now under development adjacent to the old Signal House and will reflect the Polynesian Atmosphere ans way of life in gardens filled with exotic plants and flowers from all over the world.
Included in the gardens will be a man made lake, four wild life islands connected by oriental bridges and flowered walkways; cascading waterfalls; and an 18 foot volcanic mountain to complete the south Sea atmosphere.
Landscape architect Robert Lewis Malkin of St. Petersburg has designed the gardens' topographical development and plant placement. Working with Malkin and Mrs. Byars is Virgil Meares, co-owner of Indian Rocks Nurseries, who is now gathering the tropical plants which will make Tiki Gardens an Unusual Showplace.
The present Tiki Gardens with its Tiki gods designed by Gordon Keith Originals of Columbus Ohio, will be the focal point of the new main Signal House building, six specialty shops and a tropic restaurant - "Trader Frank's."
Patterened after the world renowned International Market Place in Honolulu, the gift shops, restaurant and the new gardens are scheduled for opening near the first of December. The first of the garden shops, the Tahiti Hut, is already open to the public.
The entire development will cover a total of seven acres overlooking the bay and Gulf of Mexico.
The article included a photo of construction, but the scan is so bad on google that it's not worth trying to save here. Also, only shows the Byars and the Malkin with a dirt background - no tiki images!
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2009-04-22 12:30 pm Permalink
Now, here is something really interesting -
The guy who designed the tikis - Gordon Keith Originals - is still in business. They have a website and everything.
http://www.gordonkeithoriginals.com/Testimonials.html
I just sent them an email....
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http://stores.ebay.com/Taboo-Island
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talo ka
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Jul 26, 2007
Posts: 451
From: tampa, fla
| Posted: 2009-04-29 11:01 pm Permalink
ahhhhh, i remember going to tiki gardens when i was much younger. my aunt lived about 1 block away from it.
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2009-05-02 3:06 pm Permalink
I found this booklet a couple weeks back and figured I would share a little.
It is a booklet called "Trader Frank's Exotic Menu Recipe's".
It was available at Tiki Gardens and was drawn, published and printed by Jo Miller Byars (Mrs.Trader Frank) and has a copyright of 1967.
Here's a picture of the cover:
Cool cover!
Inside the book:
Here's the preface page:
Nice picture on the contents page of the outside of Trader Frank's:
The following picture is at the beginning of the beverage pages:
Each page is decorated with little drawings that Mrs. Trader Franks did for the book. Kind of neat and a little personal touch that makes this booklet kind of cool.
I won't go through the whole booklet as that is pretty much it for photos. The rest of the pages have all the recipe's for drinks, desserts, lunches, dinners, salads, how to prepare dinner and Hawaiian words to remember. anybody needs something, let me know.
Here is a close up of my favorite shot in the book as it shows the inside of the restaurant and has the man himself, Trader Frank, sitting at a table!
I love this shot!! Check out the table fully loaded! You can clearly see coconut mugs with glasses in them and also the famous peanut styled PMP mugs! These same two mugs are drawn on the cover in the first photo as well. Also, note the large Tiki, glass float and plenty of bamboo and tapa cloth.
Mahalo, TabooDan
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-05-04 6:16 pm Permalink
Thanks for scanning all that, Dan, a Tiki Folk art classic!
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2009-05-14 5:22 pm Permalink
No problem Bigbro!!
I didn't see too many actual collectibles on here (besides paper) from Tiki Gardens so here's a couple I have seen around.
Moai Tiki Mug by Daga:
The "Lono" Tiki Logo and name on the reverse:
I always liked this style of Moai mug. They were used at quite a few different places.
Next one is a pretty touristy souvenir type of mug with the logo:
I lost my pictures of the Trader Franks shot glass so maybe someone can post it here. They are pretty common. It would be cool to see what else is out there besides the unbelievable amount of different postcards. I know there's more out there!
Mahalo!
TabooDan
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Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 3388
From: HELL
| Posted: 2009-05-14 5:57 pm Permalink
..i lost the auction for 2 tiki gardens coconut mugs recently on ebay.....they were very cool....never saw them before
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2009-05-14 9:03 pm Permalink
Hey Tipsy, Yeehhhh........that's right! Forgot about those! They were very cool and I too had not seen them before.
That's why I saved the picture:
They look like they may have been Daga coconut mugs but hard to say.
Close up:
I think $106.00 took them which really isn't too bad for both of them. The auctions have been all over the place recently on Ebay so it's hard to say what they would sell for individually but they are probably a guaranteed sale to go over $50 each everytime they are offered.
I also saw one of these cool coasters, probably from Trader Franks, offered not too long ago:
I hadn't seen these before either so it's good to see some items other than the postcards. Not that the postcards aren't pretty cool themselves just more commonly seen.
TabooDan
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-05-27 12:32 am Permalink
Another great glass from Tiki Gardens.
And the place mat
DC
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