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Skipper Kent's, San Francisco, CA (restaurant) |
MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6400
From: The Anvil of the Sun
|  Posted: 2009-07-31 3:38 pm Permalink
Thanks Sven 
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Aug 20, 2002
Posts: 2784
From: Carson, California
| Posted: 2009-09-24 2:40 pm Permalink
Thought I'd continue a dicussion over here that started (and hopefully isn't finished) on the Tiki Finds thread.
Tiki-Kate found this very cool postcard from the California Spring Garden Show, dated 1951.
... That seems to have a connection to Skipper Kent's.
The California Spring Garden Show was held in Oakland, CA every year (very near Skipper Kent's). Plus both tikis seem to appear in Skipper Kent's restaurant images.
Here's the tiki on the right in one of my S.K. postcards with a 1953 stamp & postmark (photo could have been taken earlier)
Both tikis appear to show up inside the restaurant in Polynesiac's Feb 1953 'Ford Times' illustration:
Dusty Cajun provides this exterior shot with another eerily similar moai, with slightly longer neck.
The moai in Kate's postcard also seems similar to Skipper Kent's signature mug and salt shakers.
We also know that Skipper Kent was a horticulturist. On the back of one of his early menus it states that all the rare tropical plants and flowers in his restaurants were grown in his private hot houses in Walnut Creek.
So let's speculate: Did Skipper Kent help design the 1951 display in the Spring Garden Show, using his own tikis and plants? Or was he inspired by it?
The 1951 and 1953 dates seem like very early appearances by tikis in a South Seas restaurant. Was Skipper Kent a groundbreaker in this regard? Or was he influenced by Trader Vic over in Oakland? Trader Vic was using Hawaiian Tikis and Cannibal Carvings in the 1940s. Who used the first Moai in their restaurant?
I thought Bigbro or others here might have some insights. (Sorry, I really get into this geeky kind of historical research).
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[ This Message was edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-09-24 14:57 ]
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TikiG
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Jun 17, 2008
Posts: 1519
From: Palmdale, California
| Posted: 2009-09-24 3:03 pm Permalink
No need to say Sorry Sabu, I love reading these threads.
I have a burning passion researching lost amusement parks and roller-coasters
Carry on...
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TikiG
tiki since '67!
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2010-01-19 6:11 pm Permalink
I love the interior shots of this restaurant. They are so detailed and there is so much going on! Probably one of the best interiors that we see!!
Here is another shot that is different from the above photos but still shows the same Tiki:
TabooDan
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-01-19 6:35 pm Permalink
Taboo Dan,
I tried for that postcard too, but it went for more than my budget. Here are a couple of cropped close-up shots of the card and the Tiki. Check out that drink bowl on the table. Looks like the one with the fishes on it used at the South Pacific and the Aku Aku.
DC
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-02-10 10:58 pm Permalink
Saw this matchbook on ebay with a nice combo of the Tiki face from the menu and the surfing Wahine from the Skipper Kent Mug.
Mug shots from eab21's collection on Ooga Mooga
DC
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Trad'r Bill
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 14, 2008
Posts: 450
From: Hercules, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-21 3:53 pm Permalink
I finally made it out to the old Skipper Kent building, now Kennedy's Irish Pub and Curry House. I wasn't expecting to see much tiki, but I was pleasantly surprised.
You can easily see the original Skipper Kent's through the new "decor":
...on the back of the building, I fond some lauhala matting and bamboo trim:
...more bamboo on this peak in the front of the building:
inside, the bar area is also very reminiscent of SKs
You can actually see evidence of SKs everywhere you look... driftwood walls:
old wooden latch:
faux bamboo support pole:
piling support poles:
and lots of *big* palm trees:
-Trad'r Bill
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Atomic Tiki Punk
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 19, 2009
Posts: 4018
From: Costa Misery
| Posted: 2010-03-21 6:28 pm Permalink
I have walked past Kennedy's Irish Pub and Curry House everytime I am in Northbeach, I always point out those famous places
Like where "Dirty Harry" & "Bullitt" where filmed and of course old Tiki places like Skippers, my wife does an excellent job
of feigning interest.
I tend to go off about,how the Tonga room used to look like with Tropical storms, erupting volcano, etc.
my first time there was in 1970.
[ This Message was edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2010-03-21 18:31 ]
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-21 7:21 pm Permalink
Trad'r Bill, thanks for the archaeological update, good work there. Although it saddens me to see these historic places devolved and flippantly modified to quench the thirst of the modern ignorant masses and owners, it is great to see significant artifacts of the past exposed and documented. Mahalo
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JONPAUL
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 12, 2010
Posts: 134
From: Venice, California
| Posted: 2010-03-21 9:30 pm Permalink
Back when we were exploring the site in 2005, there was still Tapa cloth and rope at the top of some of the support beams (see page 23 of the Spring 2006 Issue of Tiki Magazine).
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-03-22 01:39 am Permalink
I still harbor that faint hope that one day, a full-on shot of that great cocktail islands map on the right will surface:
I mean that MUST have found use in menu form, no?
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Trad'r Bill
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 14, 2008
Posts: 450
From: Hercules, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-28 1:25 pm Permalink
bifcozz was extremely nice in sending me these great shots of SKs - THANKS BIFCOZZ! He is very busy right now and unable to post these, so he gave me to ok to post:
Enjoy!
Trad'r Bill
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 582
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-28 6:09 pm Permalink
Awesome!
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Aug 20, 2002
Posts: 2784
From: Carson, California
| Posted: 2010-03-28 10:33 pm Permalink
Sweet!
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1961surf
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: May 03, 2007
Posts: 1894
From: Newport Beach, Ca .
| Posted: 2010-03-29 09:02 am Permalink
Great pics Trader Bill ....thanks.
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