The Tropic Isle Restaurant and Cabaret Ltd., Surrey, B.C., CANADA - Locating Tiki

T TabooDan Tiki Socialite Coast of BC now in Crowsnest, AB., Canada Joined: Jul 18, 2004 Posts: 691	T TabooDan Posted posted on Tue, Dec 4, 2007 10:59 PM Okay, here is a few more pictures that are in COLOR for you all to check out. This first one is a picture of the outside of The Tropic Isle from across the street. It is from around 1971 and is from a hard to find Tropic Isle postcard. Unfortunately, this is one of only three pictures that I have of the outside and they are all pretty much from this distance and angle which don't show the front doors. The front doors of the Tropic Isle were large wooden carved doors which had Tiki motifs and designs on them. As of yet, I have been unable to find a picture of these. The Tiki Lounge would have been in the back left side of this building. The Ming Room would have been off to the center right. The next picture if of the Chinese themed "Ming Room". This is where the Smorgasbord was served. It sure is a much better picture of the Ming Room than the black and white one shown above in the previous postings. Okay....and now the room everybody wants to see in color....The Tiki Lounge!! Now you can really see and get a good idea of what this room originally looked like! A few things to check out is the cool Tiki Hut running the length of the wall along with Masks leading down to the large colorful wall mural that has some cool lighting. You can also see a large glass float above the bar where I think there was 4 or 5 of these running the length of the bar. And check out that ceiling with the cool design and lighting. The ceiling itself, along with the lighting, is very close to the same style and design of the Vancouver's Waldorf Hotel in the Tahitian Lounge. Even the wall mural and palm trees are there! Below is a picture from an old postcard from the Tahitian Lounge just for comparison: The Tahitian Lounge opened in 1955 some 15 years prior to the opening of the Tropic Isle so I wouldn't be surprised if the designer/s for the Tropic Isle went to the Waldorf for some local inspiration. The twilight ceiling with it's lights and curved design are very similar. Truly a nice classy touch and it creates a great atmosphere! As another example of this type of style and design, I'm going to add a picture from an old postcard I have of another restaurant that was once located on Vancouver Island, in Victoria, called The Rendezvous. Check out that ceiling design: The Rendezvous also had twilight stars in the ceiling, the blue (moon) lighting and curved design. Just thought I would add this as a bit of a side note. More to come!! Mahalo, TabooDan [ Edited by: TabooDan 2010-01-16 18:31 ]

Okay, here is a few more pictures that are in COLOR for you all to check out.

This first one is a picture of the outside of The Tropic Isle from across the street.

It is from around 1971 and is from a hard to find Tropic Isle postcard. Unfortunately, this is one of only three pictures that I have of the outside and they are all pretty much from this distance and angle which don't show the front doors.
The front doors of the Tropic Isle were large wooden carved doors which had Tiki motifs and designs on them. As of yet, I have been unable to find a picture of these. The Tiki Lounge would have been in the back left side of this building. The Ming Room would have been off to the center right.

The next picture if of the Chinese themed "Ming Room". This is where the Smorgasbord was served. It sure is a much better picture of the Ming Room than the black and white one shown above in the previous postings.

Okay....and now the room everybody wants to see in color....The Tiki Lounge!!

Now you can really see and get a good idea of what this room originally looked like! A few things to check out is the cool Tiki Hut running the length of the wall along with Masks leading down to the large colorful wall mural that has some cool lighting. You can also see a large glass float above the bar where I think there was 4 or 5 of these running the length of the bar. And check out that ceiling with the cool design and lighting.

The ceiling itself, along with the lighting, is very close to the same style and design of the Vancouver's Waldorf Hotel in the Tahitian Lounge. Even the wall mural and palm trees are there!

Below is a picture from an old postcard from the Tahitian Lounge just for comparison:

The Tahitian Lounge opened in 1955 some 15 years prior to the opening of the Tropic Isle so I wouldn't be surprised if the designer/s for the Tropic Isle went to the Waldorf for some local inspiration. The twilight ceiling with it's lights and curved design are very similar. Truly a nice classy touch and it creates a great atmosphere!

As another example of this type of style and design, I'm going to add a picture from an old postcard I have of another restaurant that was once located on Vancouver Island, in Victoria, called The Rendezvous.
Check out that ceiling design:

The Rendezvous also had twilight stars in the ceiling, the blue (moon) lighting and curved design. Just thought I would add this as a bit of a side note.

More to come!!
Mahalo, TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2010-01-16 18:31 ]

Post #347834 by TabooDan on Tue, Dec 4, 2007 10:59 PM