Post #305945 by bigbrotiki on Sat, May 12, 2007 5:34 PM

...I'm not gonna let this one go away THAT easy:

While I am still seeking to throw some light on the mystery of the Chinese Tiles in Tiki style, here is what I know:

First, to get a good image of the subject at hand, I will borrow two of Tikiskip's photos from his Kahiki Catalog thread, they are the clearest shot of the tiles I have found, and of how they are lashed in between bamboo frames:


Thanks, Skip!

Here is one of MANY Trader Vic's that used them, the Portland Trader in 1959, left AND right, with Barney West masks hung from them:

Here is the London Trader Vic's, whose other decor shows why I attribute them to the TRADER-style:

Then there was THE LUAU in Beverly Hills (visible on the bottom, in the foreground and background).

It is obvious that these tiles had become part of the standard vocabulary of Tiki Temple decor. But HOW and WHY?

My 1991 Orchids of Hawaii catalog which has TONS of Chinese restaurant crap in it is of NO help, it just proves how far the Tiki Devolution had progressed at the time: Tridacna shells, Tikis AND the tiles were all made out of plastic by then!:

Here is an ad from the 1958 LA Times that shows that the tiles were not only used in restaurants:

Sometimes these tiles are the ONLY proof left that there once was a Tiki edifice. When visiting Bing Crosby's Blue Skies Mobile Home Village during the last Palm Springs Modcom tour...

(No tiles in this shot, just Der Bingle) :)

I was thrilled to find THIS rendering for a Tikified mobile unit in the club house:

(note the awning support post to the left of the Tiki)

After an extensive urban archeological survey of the whole park, I was finally able to identify the site ONLY by the tiles that were left as the last remaining sign of its former glory:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-05-12 21:22 ]