Tiki Central / General Tiki / Tiki Culture - Geographical Origins
Post #586095 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Fri, Apr 22, 2011 3:54 PM
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
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Fri, Apr 22, 2011 3:54 PM
Speaking of the progenitors of "Tiki" in California, the name of Frank "Skipper" Kent needs to be added to the pantheon. In fact I would place him in the top three with Don The Beachcomber & Trader Vic. The more I research his history, the more I see how influential he was in the movment.
Like Donn Beach, Frank Kent was also a world traveller - sailing extensively thoughout Polynesia, the East Indies, and the Caribbean in the 1930s, collecting artifacts, plants, & rum. All these elements will go towards the ambience of his future restaurants. In 1938 he settles down briefly in Berkeley and opens a cocktail bar called the "Skipper". It is here, we assume that he begins to experiment in tropical cocktails, because by 1942, when he opens the Zombie Village in Oakland, the drinks on his vast cocktail menu are credited as his own creations. This must be taken with a grain of salt, of course, as there was probably much cross-pollination of drink recipes between Frank Kent, Donn Beach, and Victor Bergeron, though his documented history of rum-collecting travels in the Caribbean lend credence to at least some of his claims. His Zombie Village drink, the "Tabu" is said to have contained 7 different types of rum and was served in a glass vessel of beautiful design. Though no tikis have been spotted in the numerous photos and drawings of the interior of the Zombie Village, it is said he had a shrunken head on display as well as a carved "tabu" grave marker dating from the 17th century that he collected on a south sea island. He was using "tiki-ish" Indonesian and Tongan iconogrophy on his 1940s drink cards:
In 1950, Frank Kent opens a sister-restaurant; "Skipper Kent's" in San Francisco. It is here that the tiki first takes it's place as part of the south-seas decor of his restaurants. This card is postmarked 1953, but the image probably dates from 1950-1951:
Frank Kent was also a horticulturist and built greenhouses in Walnut Creek where he grew the tropical plants for his restaurants from specimens he had collected on his travels. In 1951, according to an issue of Orchid Digest he donated a large quantity orchids (as well as some decor) to the 1951 Spring Garden Show in Oakland. Here is a postcard, showing his display tikis, perhaps the earliest introduction of a moai as part of poly-pop decor:
In this Feb 1953 issue of "Ford Times", both the Marquesan tiki and the Moai again show up as part of the decor at Skipper Kent's.
...and when he opened the Polynesian Village in Chicago, in 1955, the use of tikis was carried over to this location as well:
In this location he also used decor from Java, Bali, Sumatra, Indonesia, as well as Melanesia and New Guinea (he had first sailed there and collected artifacts way back in 1944). Thus, he was also among the first to use New Guinea iconography on his menus:
So while Bob Bryant is credited with first using a Tiki as a logo and as part of a restaurant name in 1955 for "Tiki Bob's", it could be argued that perhaps Frank Kent introduced the tiki as restaurant decor. Fascinating too how Skipper Kent was plying his trade cheek-and-jowl with Trader Vic in the bay area during the same time period: 1934 - Victor Bergeron opens his sandwich shop, "Hinky Dink's" in Oakland at 6500 San Pablo Ave.
[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2011-04-22 16:37 ] |
