Post #289356 by bigbrotiki on Sat, Mar 3, 2007 8:10 AM

Wow, cool stuff. The first thing that strikes me is the "What's missing in this picture" effect between the two shots of the bar at the Tiki Lounge. In the one with the waitress smoking (as far as I remember, everybody was smoking everywhere all the time back then) there is a very seductive black velvet nude painting on the back wall, which is replaced with a rather mean looking native in the one a couple of photos below. I bet that some of the more conservative churchgoin' folk had complained, maybe that native was a joke about that....
That nude is a known motif, a wahine drinking out of a shell, and I think it was done by Tyree, not Leeteg.

Most the folks here know this postcard image, but I wanted to show YOU this. Here is a Mai Kai mystery girl carrying that famed mystery bowl:

It has been reproduced since, but not with the same detail. A you can see in your photo of the Luau table, the straws went in thru the Tiki's mouths.

And here is a late 60s ad for Calvert's Leilani Rum, showing the Tiki Leilani mug they practically gave away as a promotional item. (See close up of text below)

Now that modernist BOTTLE sometimes stood in a vacu-form display that looked like this (flash-lit):

This is the Tiki you see as a centerpiece on your buffet table. It came with a light bulb inside to light the sign and make the Tiki glow, and a light bulb outside to back light the bottle (shot without flash):

This is a rare item now, that vacu-form plastic is very fragile, but TC's Swanky just scored one on e-bay for very little money.
I wanted one ever since I had seen them on the walls of the Tiki Ti in LA, where they have been re-engineered as wall sconces lighting their cocktail menu (sans feet). Can someone maybe post a photo of that?

I vote that some TCer who has a bunch should send Volcano Girl a Tiki Leilani mug for her wonderful thread here! (And send me a Leilani Rum bottle for my display! :wink: )

I won't be posting for the next two weeks, because I'll be in Havana, but will be back with Trader Vic's pics and stories. Aloha all.