Tiki Archaeology: Moon Islander, South Titusville, Florida - General Tiki

T TikiTomD Grand Member (6 years) Flagler Beach, FL Joined: Sep 20, 2009 Posts: 700	T TikiTomD Posted posted on Sun, Oct 11, 2009 2:07 PM Our pet sitter mentioned in the previous post, Carol, went deep diving into her closet and uncovered Moon Islander artifacts from her days as a waitress and bar tender there. One item was a post card showing exterior and interior scenes, as well as a description and street address, 3575 South Washington Avenue, Titusville, Florida. If you look closely at the lower left post card photo, you may be able to see tiki table lamps like the photos on my prior post. Other unearthed Moon Islander artifacts include three small hula girl ceramic cups with "Import by Otagiri Co" and a seal "OMC Japan" on the base where OMC represents I believe Otagiri Mercantile Company, a larger dark brown hula girl ceramic bowl imprinted with "Orchids of Hawaii Japan" on the base, and a pineapple mug with a yellow and gold seal "OMC Japan" like the small hula girl cups. Carol stated that the Moon Islander's owner, Moon Lueg, had a previous successful restaurant at Ft Pierce, Florida, but he closed it and moved to Titusville to start the Moon Islander after one of his daughters was struck in the head by a mirror on a passing truck and killed while walking in front of the Ft Pierce restaurant. She believes that this was in the early 1960s. Carol began working at the Moon Islander circa 1979; her daughter was already working there as a waitress. She stayed about five years, leaving in the early 1980s along with much of the existing staff a while after Moon Lueg sold the restaurant to a local realtor. The restaurant closed within a year or two after the sale. Moon Lueg built a home and moved back to Ft Pierce, where he passed away in 1984. According to Carol, the elder Asian gentleman who frequently walked up and down along US Hwy 1 in Titusville lived above the restaurant and was a family friend or relative known as Uncle Louie; he had a special fondness for shoes and would buy and wear them even when they were many times too large. He more or less looked after the restaurant facility. The owner, Moon Lueg, lived with his wife about a block away at 231 Narvaez Street. Among Carol's unearthed treasures was a spiral bound set of index cards containing the Moon Islander drink recipes and prices. I've attached several examples, including the "Islander Special" ($3.10), "Mystery" ($7.50 for two, $9.00 for three, $10.00 for four), "Tahitian Punch" ($3.10) and "Witch Doctor" ($3.25):

Our pet sitter mentioned in the previous post, Carol, went deep diving into her closet and uncovered Moon Islander artifacts from her days as a waitress and bar tender there. One item was a post card showing exterior and interior scenes, as well as a description and street address, 3575 South Washington Avenue, Titusville, Florida.

If you look closely at the lower left post card photo, you may be able to see tiki table lamps like the photos on my prior post. Other unearthed Moon Islander artifacts include three small hula girl ceramic cups with "Import by Otagiri Co" and a seal "OMC Japan" on the base where OMC represents I believe Otagiri Mercantile Company, a larger dark brown hula girl ceramic bowl imprinted with "Orchids of Hawaii Japan" on the base, and a pineapple mug with a yellow and gold seal "OMC Japan" like the small hula girl cups.

Carol stated that the Moon Islander's owner, Moon Lueg, had a previous successful restaurant at Ft Pierce, Florida, but he closed it and moved to Titusville to start the Moon Islander after one of his daughters was struck in the head by a mirror on a passing truck and killed while walking in front of the Ft Pierce restaurant. She believes that this was in the early 1960s. Carol began working at the Moon Islander circa 1979; her daughter was already working there as a waitress. She stayed about five years, leaving in the early 1980s along with much of the existing staff a while after Moon Lueg sold the restaurant to a local realtor. The restaurant closed within a year or two after the sale. Moon Lueg built a home and moved back to Ft Pierce, where he passed away in 1984.

According to Carol, the elder Asian gentleman who frequently walked up and down along US Hwy 1 in Titusville lived above the restaurant and was a family friend or relative known as Uncle Louie; he had a special fondness for shoes and would buy and wear them even when they were many times too large. He more or less looked after the restaurant facility. The owner, Moon Lueg, lived with his wife about a block away at 231 Narvaez Street.

Among Carol's unearthed treasures was a spiral bound set of index cards containing the Moon Islander drink recipes and prices. I've attached several examples, including the "Islander Special" ($3.10), "Mystery" ($7.50 for two, $9.00 for three, $10.00 for four), "Tahitian Punch" ($3.10) and "Witch Doctor" ($3.25):

Post #487552 by TikiTomD on Sun, Oct 11, 2009 2:07 PM