Post #445734 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Apr 8, 2009 1:03 PM

Zeta, here is the perplexing interior:

I have always wondered how the heck they (and who!?) came up with that design! A menu I have lists the opening date as 1962, but this place looks more like a late 60s/ early 70s "Hollywood Regency" Eleganza version of Art Nouveaux...

The whole concept for this particular franchise seems like a conscious attempt to "update" the classic Beachcomber/Bamboo style: The typeface on the building is very modern, the Beachcomber figure himself also, and totally different than any icon used for him before (and after!):

The card's text reads: "..in a setting of modern Cantonese splendor." I have a hard time detecting anything Cantonese OR Polynese!

The whole style reminds me of the Tropics Motel's Congo Room: It's purple too, and just as far removed from the theme:

I used to own a giant size postcard of that Sahara Beachcomber interior that shows its weird style even better, can someone please post that?

In the late 60s, when the Getty Corporation took over the chain and built the Marina Del Rey and Dallas UFOS, the interiors went back to the full-fledged Oceanic Arts style.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-04-08 15:06 ]