Post #511668 by artsnyder on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 4:30 PM

This entire discussion is of interest to me and to others involved in the Tiki culture, of course--if for only the fact that Don, when he invented Tiki, used the 1930s version of popular fantasizing about the people and life of the "South Seas" as the fabric on which he painted the fantasy world of Tiki.
We who enjoy the Tiki culture have truly little interest in the anthropology of Micronesia and Melanesia, except to know what was really going on there during the time of Donn's creation of our "world of fantasy and friendship" that influenced his creativity.
Or, perhaps, as the result of living in Don's world, we have become interested in the peoples and their homelands whose handicrafts (or fantasy copies thereof) we collect. The study of their history and traditions and indeed the story of their being brought into the Western world with or without their desire or permission, is a meritorious one that should be undertaken by more around the world. But it is truly not the story of Tiki.
Actually the study of WWII in the Pacific is likewise worthwhile as we learn from it the merit of bravery and heroism expressed by sacrifice in battle (eg: John Basilone). But once again, while of great interest to us as Americans and as human beings, it is not the story of Tiki.
So, with a tip of the hat to the amateur anthropologists and historians who have entertained us so much with their research and writing here, I believe that it is time to return to the world that Donn created for us, but that never existed except in our hearts and minds.