Post #472493 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Jul 28, 2009 3:59 PM

I believe that form of categorizing ignores the time line of the evolution of Tiki as a style, which explains its various manifestations quite well:

1.) Don The Beachcomber style bamboo bars in the 30s and 40s: Pre-Tiki Polynesian pop
(It has to be differentiated that Don himself never really used Tikis much)
But 50s and 60s Bars that employed all the Poly pop concepts that Don invented --AND lotsa Tikis!-- are the CLASSIC Tiki Bars.

2.) The amount of Nautical decor employed very simply determines if a place is a Nautical bar, or a Tiki bar.
Example: The Mai Kai with its Molokai Bar-A Tiki Bar
The Wreck Bar at the Yankee Clipper - A Nautical Bar (NOT a Tiki Bar)

3.) Carribean? Those never were Tiki Bars. One Florida Tiki doesn't make a place a Tiki bar

4.) "Hybrid"??? If it doubles as a Sports Bar, it is a bad example of the misuse of Tiki , or simply Tiki (Revival) Devolution

5.) Asian. Just because there are more of those places left on the East coast than classic Tiki places it does not make them good examples of Tiki style, most of them are pre-fab examples of late 70s and 80s Tiki devolution.

I am not negating the right of folks to like each one of these manifestations for their own personal reasons, but these labels are not how I would categorize them in the big Tiki scheme of things. These 5 categories simply are good and bad examples of the style, with some being non-Tiki.