Post #555346 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Sep 22, 2010 7:05 AM

Absolutely fantastic, stellar research, Sabu! This place is a jewel of Tiki Modern!

You know when I was straining my eyes looking at that grainy shot that DC found, I was kinda thinking "that pole on the left of the A-frame reminds me of that Surfrider/intl. Marketplace PNG totem pole...but naaaaw, couldn't be..."

But I'll be darned! What a find! The irony is that I have known and loved the menu cover for the Surfrider Lounge since the 90s, when I first marveled at it in Oceanic Arts menu collection:

And I had recognized the artwork as being a pretty exact copy of the carvings that Edward Brownlee did for Don The Beachcomber for the entrance of the International Marketplace:

But somehow, despite this being one of my favorite menu covers, and though Oceanic Arts supplied that place, I never found much on it and kinda stopped looking, and when this place came up in Bakersfield, I just didn't put the two together. I had no idea that the PNG poles (and the canoe) actually existed, and were fronting an A-frame like that! This place sounds like it had all the bells and whistles, and then some. What a parade example of the style.

Lee Linton, who is mentioned as the interior designer, was an architect with Googie Tzars Armet & Davis, and worked on Vegas casinos also. How much more Tiki Modern can you get: Googie and Tiki united! Being in Germany, I am kind of hampered in doing further research. Let's find out what Bob and Leroy remember about this place! What an exciting discovery, thanks Tim and Scott!