Post #323476 by bigbrotiki on Sun, Aug 5, 2007 10:39 PM

You are correct on all counts, Sir:

"To be fair to the Times, I don't know that Donn considered himself or his restaurants "Tiki" - the images he seemed to use were much more polynesian- caribbean-nautical.... I just looked at that 1941 menu currently on eBay, and not one drink has a tiki name."

--See Book of Tiki, page 46, the Evolution of Polynesian Pop: Don the Beachcomber was created in the PRE-Tiki era, which lasted until the 1950s. Before Steve Crane and Tiki Bob's, there never was a mention of the term Tiki, or Tiki Mug (exception: Trader Vic's Tiki Bowl)

" I grew up in Rosemead, so I recognize I have a warped perspective, but tiki never disappeared for me."
--It just never was CALLED Tiki before the early 90s

" Tiki torches were always called tiki torches"
--Very true. The TIKI TORCH is the ONLY product where the term became a lasting coloquialism...mainly because it was the manufacturer's brand name.

"big apartment buildings had lava rocks, bamboo and waterfalls"
--but were not called "Tiki" either...maybe, by some contemporaries, referred to as "Kon-Tiki style", or "Polynesian" apartment buldings

"and there has always been a Bahooka."
--which technically was never "Tiki" per se, but more Beachcomber/nautical style. And never mentioned the term Tiki anywhere until the Tiki revival. :D

And I know you are an exception, but people drove by these places and did not see them. It was the great Tiki memory loss in the consensus consciousness.