Post #484993 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 2:40 PM

Thought I'd continue a dicussion over here that started (and hopefully isn't finished) on the Tiki Finds thread.

Tiki-Kate found this very cool postcard from the California Spring Garden Show, dated 1951.

... That seems to have a connection to Skipper Kent's.

The California Spring Garden Show was held in Oakland, CA every year (very near Skipper Kent's). Plus both tikis seem to appear in Skipper Kent's restaurant images.

Here's the tiki on the right in one of my S.K. postcards with a 1953 stamp & postmark (photo could have been taken earlier)

Both tikis appear to show up inside the restaurant in Polynesiac's Feb 1953 'Ford Times' illustration:

Dusty Cajun provides this exterior shot with another eerily similar moai, with slightly longer neck.

The moai in Kate's postcard also seems similar to Skipper Kent's signature mug and salt shakers.

We also know that Skipper Kent was a horticulturist. On the back of one of his early menus it states that all the rare tropical plants and flowers in his restaurants were grown in his private hot houses in Walnut Creek.

So let's speculate: Did Skipper Kent help design the 1951 display in the Spring Garden Show, using his own tikis and plants? Or was he inspired by it?

The 1951 and 1953 dates seem like very early appearances by tikis in a South Seas restaurant. Was Skipper Kent a groundbreaker in this regard? Or was he influenced by Trader Vic over in Oakland? Trader Vic was using Hawaiian Tikis and Cannibal Carvings in the 1940s. Who used the first Moai in their restaurant?

I thought Bigbro or others here might have some insights. (Sorry, I really get into this geeky kind of historical research).

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-09-24 14:57 ]