Post #543073 by bigbrotiki on Sat, Jul 17, 2010 11:36 AM

I agree. Just look at all the great Barney West photos that JonPaul unearthed for his Tiki Magazine article. Just because he dug a little deeper. I am always hoping for veterans of the style, be it artists or restaurateurs, to come out of the woodwork and share their material. At this point, it's likely going to be their descendants, but there are still many untapped sources out there.

Just a while ago I heard from a TC member who had found the wife of the now deceased artist who sculpted the Leilani Wisconsin Tikis. I am still hopeful she will respond to our interest.

A year or so ago Mo-Eye got on a Florida newspaper archive kick and unearthed not only amazing articles about Tiki Gardens, but also other, previously unheard-of restaurants and Tiki artists, opening our eyes to the lost and under-appreciated Tiki world of the Florida Gulf Coast.

I personally would like to know more about:

The owners of Christian's Hut, and why they wandered from place to place, including Waikiki --and how the character of the Goof came about.

And the Tiki- life of Ren Clark. Even after the amazing find of his home bar, it is still an enduring mystery.

I am also always hopeful for photo-album finds, though most of the time family snapshots, just like restaurant photo folders, feature the people and rarely the decor. I believe that Polynesian show performers and musicians might still yield some finds, there were so many.

The only thing I am worried about is that the dedicated Tiki archeologists are a dying breed. With the BOT being out of print now for years, the understanding of the context and history of original Tiki culture is more and more replaced by Tiki revival stuff and the single-minded search for drunken fun -Yeah yeah, nothing wrong with that, blah blah, ha haaa.....but you know what I mean.