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Tiki History - The Tahitian Village in Downey, CA |
Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3946
From: Santa Barbara, CA
|  Posted: 2009-01-04 7:24 pm Permalink
I recently tried to win this really cool menu mailer on ebay.
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-01-05 02:04 am Permalink
Time for a little brochure archeology (courtesy of nichols). Now, we all know the tall Tahitian Village sign from the "Book of Tiki", and the great Tahitian Village Armet and Davis rendering from "Tiki Modern":
An impressive development, with Motel, restaurant, bar and coffee shop:
Zooming in shows a great swooping Googie roof:
...which did not quite turn out that way. Here is the shot from Tiki Modern of the restaurant's A-frame in the 90s, by then a Mexican night club:
...and here the original entrance on the cover of the brochure:
It featured the typical bridge with Tiki posts and anchor chain railing, a waterfall on the right...
...and, if you can look past the babes, check out the weird Tiki-painted door:
That was not there anymore when I photographed it in the early 90s, but the Tiki posts were:
Now for some more pure Polynesian pop poetry from the brochure:
And next, lets blow up every photo of the brochure, even if the different rooms were not quite as elaborate in Tipsy factor as one might have fantasized:
The Bamboo Room
The Aloha Room
The Underseas Bar
The Coffeshop was even more basic:
We can make out the logo on the place mats. Tiki place mats must be the rarest paper ephemera out there, but we have a napkin:
And now let's go outside to the Motel courtyard:
When I stumbled on this lost paradise, the waterfalls had dried up,
...and the lush foliage had been reduced to a few hardy survivors:
Only one Tiki had survived, and he was horribly defaced by rot:
I am pretty sure it was the very Milan Guanko Tiki pictured on this menu cover:
May he rest in peace, and with him the Tahitian Village.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-01-05 4:25 pm Permalink
One more thing: Most Polynesian Hotel/Motels had very sparsely themed rooms, here is the one from the Tahitian Village brochure, more modern Asian in decor (I do like that drinks are already waiting!):
Obviously, the Motel interior decorator industry had nothing to do with the restaurant designer business, and favored less costly modernism to all-out Tiki decor. The Ocean House down in San Diego had a bit more Polynesian feel to their rooms, I dig their A-frame beds:
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tikiyaki
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 2677
From: The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-05 5:01 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-05 16:25, bigbrotiki wrote:
One more thing: Most Polynesian Hotel/Motels had very sparsely themed rooms, here is the one from the Tahitian Village brochure, more modern Asian in decor (I do like that drinks are already waiting!):
Obviously, the Motel interior decorator industry had nothing to do with the restaurant designer business, and favored less costly modernism to all-out Tiki decor. The Ocean House down in San Diego had a bit more Polynesian feel to their rooms, I dig their A-frame beds:
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Isn't that what you'd call "Tiki Modern" ?
I've always said this, but I love the fusion of Tiki Aesthetic and Modernism/Asian Minimalism.
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http://www.tikiyakiorchestra.com
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-01-05 6:13 pm Permalink
"If it says Tiki on it, it should have Tiki in it." Without primitive art, these interiors are somewhat generic, I would call them Tropical Modern or Exotic Modern. I like that, too, but it's not Tiki Modern.
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tikiyaki
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 2677
From: The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-05 7:16 pm Permalink
The Lamp in the second interior (with the bamboo A Frame headboards)...is that a TIKI lamp ?
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-01-05 7:22 pm Permalink
Nope. There were some Hawaiian hotels that had Tiki-shaped bases, notably The Waikikian, never seen them used in American hotels.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3946
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-06-13 10:26 am Permalink
Bigbro,
Those old brochures a so great for their wealth of material. I finally scored one of the postcards of the interior restaurant dance floor area that Sabu had started this post with (now a Red X).
Also found some more Tahitian Village ads on the internet.
This is a cool matchbook photo with each match stick advertising something from the hotel. An on-site drug and liquor store, no wonder it was so popular!
DC
[ This Message was edited by: Dustycajun 2009-06-13 10:27 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3946
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-08-22 12:20 am Permalink
A nother coool ashtray from one of my favorite Tiki places in the So Cal hot bed of Tiki.
Missed it buy that much.
DC
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3946
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-09-12 4:39 pm Permalink
Picked up an oversized postcard from the Tahitian Village that has some shots from the brochure and a nice view of the tiki in the pool area.
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-09-12 10:04 pm Permalink
Dig that A-frame sectional lay-out, a smart idea that more Tiki temples could have used.
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Aug 20, 2002
Posts: 2784
From: Carson, California
| Posted: 2010-01-15 7:55 pm Permalink
Ad from a local Long Beach paper:
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-01-15 8:31 pm Permalink
Nice collage, using that Milan Guanko Tiki three times!
What year is that newspaper?: Calcutta Room? Attitude Adjustment hour? Sounds kinda late 70s to me.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3946
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2012-06-13 6:23 pm Permalink
This is a great old thread!
I picked up another matchbook advertising the "New Tahitian Village".
DC
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3946
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2012-06-15 07:45 am Permalink
An illustrated drink menu from the Tahitian Village.
DC
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