Post #56459 by Luckydesigns on Wed, Oct 22, 2003 11:48 PM

Very good point, Pop. People get into tiki for all kinds of reasons. I see the connection between tiki and surfing and I think that it's pretty strong but mainly from the movies of the sixties. My Dad was a 'pro' (free wetsuits when they came about and pics on magazine covers) surfer back in the early sixties in Malibu. He even parked cars at the Tonga Lei but he never owned a tiki necklace or a mug. The real tiki connection was from the movies. Bong's right about the Hawaiian connection though.

My opinionated answers to your questions ikitnrev:

1. Surfing today has really nothing to do with tiki. A lot of longboard surfers may collect tiki but having worked for a long time at Rusty Surfboards designing tee shirts, I can tell you that the youth has little to no interest in tiki. The longboard and tiki thing may go hand in hand at places like San Onofre though where 'old school' still reigns supreme.

2. Any surfer that says a perfect mai tai is better than a perfect wave is not a surfer and does not deserve to be in the water, period.

3a. I feel great in any tiki bar, especially in the midwest.

3b. Depending on what beach and whose there, a mid westerner might feel very comfortable at a beach party. If it was with our OC tiki clan, you'd definitely feel very comfortable. A surfer party is a very different thing though.

3c. Yes, it is nice to have the tiki/ surfing link even if it is through the skewed view of 1960's Hollywood.

Great post/ topic Vern!