Post #427890 by Tiki Shaker on Thu, Jan 8, 2009 4:34 PM

I have mixed feelings about what you wrote jpmartdog (no offense).

I, like you, am saddened when I see pics of how amazing things use to be. Most of the past flows with my personal taste and style.

But it is a tricky argument when you say the country is sad where greed is the inspiration for development and change.

Hasn't this always been the case? Do you think Kona Lanes was built because they wanted to be original? Or that they wanted to invent a new style? No, they were picking up on what was popular so that they could attract the most people and make the most money. Just like every other tiki inspired place. I would bet that some of the the older tiki establishments might have replaced something that was amazing from the 1800s. Especially the tiki places in New York. It just happens that we prefer the tiki/googie style. It just happens that it is not that popular now. Can you imagine how awesome we would think things were, if back in the day, tiki/hawaiian/tropical style was as popular as the faux Mediterranean look has been the past 10 years?

Are our kids/grandkids going to lament the destruction of all of the faux Mediterranean stuff 50 years from now? Though we feel that construction today is cheap compared to the past, the 50's/60's construction was cheap compared the the hand crafted wares of the past.

The bottom line is it is almost impossible to upkeep anything custom today, with out it costing an arm and a leg. I can't imagine how much it would cost to upkeep a vintage tiki restaurant compared to a franchise. I personally like knowing that my latte is going to taste correct every time I go in to a Starbucks. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to know that your Mai Tai is going to taste amazing every time you go to a Trader Vic's? Hell, half of the complaints on this site are from people complaining about bad drinks they got at restaurants!

I guess part of this is the libertarian in me. I always have mixed feelings when people try to prevent people from doing what they want to do with their own property. The bottom line is it is based on personal taste and preference (or lack there of).

I've always thought that the best way to solve the complete cultural destruction of the past is education. Educate the people you know. Let them know why tiki is good and important. Let them know the importance of googie and space age. At least then they will develop an appreciation for it. Or at least a respect for it. Once that happens, they will understand the importance of preserving some of the things from our past.

For example, I live in an apartment building in Oceanside CA. When I moved in, people thought things were looking odd when I was bringing my furniture in. Then they saw me set up shelves to display my cocktail shakers. They started asking questions. I had extra barware and one day I invited everyone over and let them take cocktail shakers, barware and other fun things I had. I was going to sell the stuff, but I thought it would be fun to give it to people. After a while they would ask me about my furniture. They would look at a eames chair and said it reminded them of school. Then they would sit in it and think it was comfortable. After a while, most of my neighbors have grown an appreciation for MCM and tiki.

I always thought that the best way to prevent amazing buildings from being destroyed would be by having Historical/Style Suggestion Committees. How they would work, is before anything is torn down or "remodeled" the committee would invite the owner/developers over. Present them with historical photos and descriptions of how and what their property use to be. Give them a style suggestion packet describing how they could remodel or update their property and at the same time, preserve or reintroduce it's historically significant style. I know a lot of times, people buy property and don't even know what it was. Especially if they have already been altered before they purchase it.

I don't know, that's my ramble for the day. It went in a couple of directions but I thought I would introduce other perspectives.