Old Tiki Found in Mar Vista, CA - General Tiki

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Tue, Nov 19, 2002 3:54 PM Fine urban archeology, Sabu, that one would have been hard to recognize even without the hedge obscuring it. I can tell you are suffering from (or blessed by) advanced Tiki oversensitization. This is usually diagnosed when the "Tiki-in-the-corner-of-the-eye" symptom occurs, which is a drive by phenomenon. Cruising through urban blight and clutter, all of a sudden one believes to have seen a Tiki in passing. Most of the time it turns out to be a hedge or a sign post, sometimes one can see the shape of a Tiki in it.But some discoveries like this one have been made that way. The Mar Vista Bowl was built by Armet& Davis around 1961, and it used to house the Makai Cocktail Lounge. If you look at the street photo, behind the green/blue Buick/LTD car there is an open door, to the LEFT of that door is a sign "Cocktails", and to the left of of THAT is a small A-frame entrance, behind which you could find the Makai Room. Once, that is, but no more. It does not seem to have been around for long (70s?), because when I inquired about it at the Bowling Alley in the mid-90s, no one remembered it, not even the oldest beehived waitress. BUT I found some great B&W interiors of it at Armet & Davis back then. It was very minimalistic modern: Lava rock, bamboo poles, strange mod/prim. masks on the wall. And I remember seeing the MENUS on the tables in the coffe shop photos, which together with the napkins had the logo Tiki (BOT p.197) on it. Those menus were suoercool, Googie design and Tiki in one. NEVER have found one. My pal Jeff Berry has a cheapo glass ashtray with the Tiki on it... Unfortunately, when I went back to A&D in the end-90s with my friend John English (the A&D archivist now), those photos were nowhere to be found, or they woulld have been in the book. Hey, lets bowl THERE some time!?

Fine urban archeology, Sabu, that one would have been hard to recognize even without the hedge obscuring it. I can tell you are suffering from (or blessed by) advanced Tiki oversensitization. This is usually diagnosed when the "Tiki-in-the-corner-of-the-eye" symptom occurs, which is a drive by phenomenon. Cruising through urban blight and clutter, all of a sudden one believes to have seen a Tiki in passing. Most of the time it turns out to be a hedge or a sign post, sometimes one can see the shape of a Tiki in it.But some discoveries like this one have been made that way.

The Mar Vista Bowl was built by Armet& Davis around 1961, and it used to house the Makai Cocktail Lounge. If you look at the street photo, behind the green/blue Buick/LTD car there is an open door, to the LEFT of that door is a sign "Cocktails", and to the left of of THAT is a small A-frame entrance, behind which you could find the Makai Room. Once, that is, but no more.

It does not seem to have been around for long (70s?), because when I inquired about it at the Bowling Alley in the mid-90s, no one remembered it, not even the oldest beehived waitress.
BUT I found some great B&W interiors of it at
Armet & Davis back then. It was very minimalistic modern: Lava rock, bamboo poles, strange mod/prim. masks on the wall. And I remember seeing the MENUS on the tables in the coffe shop photos, which together with the napkins had the logo Tiki (BOT p.197) on it. Those menus were suoercool, Googie design and Tiki in one. NEVER have found one. My pal Jeff Berry has a cheapo glass ashtray with the Tiki on it...
Unfortunately, when I went back to A&D in the end-90s with my friend John English (the A&D archivist now), those photos were nowhere to be found, or they woulld have been in the book.

Hey, lets bowl THERE some time!?

Post #14234 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Nov 19, 2002 3:54 PM