Post #427213 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Jan 5, 2009 2:04 AM

Time for a little brochure archeology (courtesy of nichols). Now, we all know the tall Tahitian Village sign from the "Book of Tiki", and the great Tahitian Village Armet and Davis rendering from "Tiki Modern":

An impressive development, with Motel, restaurant, bar and coffee shop:

Zooming in shows a great swooping Googie roof:

...which did not quite turn out that way. Here is the shot from Tiki Modern of the restaurant's A-frame in the 90s, by then a Mexican night club:

...and here the original entrance on the cover of the brochure:

It featured the typical bridge with Tiki posts and anchor chain railing, a waterfall on the right...

...and, if you can look past the babes, check out the weird Tiki-painted door:

That was not there anymore when I photographed it in the early 90s, but the Tiki posts were:

Now for some more pure Polynesian pop poetry from the brochure:

And next, lets blow up every photo of the brochure, even if the different rooms were not quite as elaborate in Tipsy factor as one might have fantasized:

The Bamboo Room

The Aloha Room

The Underseas Bar

The Coffeshop was even more basic:

We can make out the logo on the place mats. Tiki place mats must be the rarest paper ephemera out there, but we have a napkin:

And now let's go outside to the Motel courtyard:

When I stumbled on this lost paradise, the waterfalls had dried up,

...and the lush foliage had been reduced to a few hardy survivors:

Only one Tiki had survived, and he was horribly defaced by rot:

I am pretty sure it was the very Milan Guanko Tiki pictured on this menu cover:

May he rest in peace, and with him the Tahitian Village.