Post #569323 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Sat, Dec 18, 2010 5:19 PM

On 2010-12-17 22:59, Haole Jim wrote:
What are your Tiki-oriented or not, animal or pet thoughts?

See, Bigbro? You got suckered into a General Pet Discussion Topic disguised as a Tiki topic.

You should have said something harmless like, "When I was eight, we had a pet Dachshund named Biedermeier", or "Capybara meat tastes like pork and catfish mixed together". But since you answered it seriously, now we can't move it into "Beyond" or "Ohana". So I'll just have keep it derailed. The following are just my opinions and also reflect my love of categorizing things.

Monkeys - Pre-tiki
Monkeys with Fezzes - historically not tiki, now part of Tiki-Revival
Disney Tiki Room Parrots - Tiki
Jimmy Buffet Parrots - not Tiki
Leopards - Tiki Revival (yeah, yeah, I know, but beside the cool but isolated case of Witco leopard-skin furniture and maybe one menu cover, I can't find any examples of leopard being used in classic tiki bars. Leopard, Tiger, & Zebra were used in Safari Bars, Jungle Bars, & Art Deco Bars. Also, Bettie Page is posing with two Cheetahs in that picture :wink: )

Leopard was also used at least once in a pre-Tiki bar, ala the waitress uniforms at the Tropics:

Pigs and Boars - Tiki, but usually on the menu. Luau pigs, ribs, mmmm! Even on the ancient Ku statue from Hawaii, where each of the braids has a small slit "mouth" and is thought to represent a pig head - these were considered signs of wealth and royalty and represented the prime food animal of the islands.

Dead Animals
Not to be too morbid, but Tiki culture has a fine tradition of using dead animals for decor:

• Sea Turtle Shells (common)
• Giant Clams (very common)
• Shark Jaws (uncommon)
• Taxidermy fish (uncommon)
• Crabs & Lobsters (frequent)
• Abalone shell (frequent)

Live Animals in Tiki Bars

• All sorts of fish in aquariums (Kelbos, Bahooka, others)
• An occasional live mynah bird, cockatoo or parrot.
• termites

Animal imagery (mostly PNG) used in Tiki Architecture, Decor & Carving

• Hornbill
  

• Saltwater Crocodile
  

• Pig/Boar

• Shark
  

I'm probably missing a few.

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2010-12-18 18:13 ]