Post #422345 by Tom Slick on Fri, Dec 5, 2008 3:43 PM

On 2008-12-04 10:17 pm, bigbrotiki wrote:
Tom, I appreciate that you made the pilgrimage to the old site of "The Tikis", I bet many Tiki newbies do not know of the grandeur of that place, or who Danny Balsz was.

I had to see the site and area for myself Sven, and also search for some thrift mart finds! :D It was a real treat to drive up and down the immediate area in search of tiki, and we found one extremely close to the original entrance to Mr. Balsz "The Tikis" adventure park.
But I also find it hard to believe that this tiki was planted literally one short block away on the same street as the original location, and is purely coincidence? I don't know, but I do agree that this tiki definately has an amatuerish look to it. But to me, it is reminiscent of the illustrations and postcards I have seen of the Monterey Park locale. In any case, I must thank you for giving me some information to work with. The chapter in Tiki Style you did on Mr. Balsz was very interesting, and well done(although I feel it should have been at least 15 pages longer! :P). It's a part of the reason I wanted to take a trip to the location.

On 2008-12-05 11:13 am, procinema29 wrote:
I remember it was the neighborhood impression that this was a surviving piece from the Tikis club, but I don't have any confirmation on that. Certainly, though, its presence so near the club's original site is no accident.

That's exactly what I had thought. The tiki itself has aging, and looks old, so 1970s or even pre-70's doesn't seem like an unreasonable timeframe to me. Also, The style doesn't seem to be that far off from the illustrations/postcards I've seen with tikis in them(refer to Sven's "Tiki Style" published by Taschen on pg 101 and look at the matchbook). Highlighted red lips and hands held close together, almost interlocked, The tiki still stands in the yard facing Potrero Grande.

[ Edited by: Tom Slick 2008-12-05 15:45 ]