Post #590333 by Capt'n Skully on Mon, May 23, 2011 12:44 PM

Or theories on why tikis might have appealed to Hot Rod enthusiasts in the 1950s & 60s?

More than just a theory can link the two... Both Rodders and what could be called Tiki enthusiasts of the day were military men- The GIs returning to their homes at the conclusion of WWII.

In short and basically, you have one group of military men who brought back stories/souvenirs of being stationed in exotic Hawaii... From this birthed the 'Tiki' culture as discussed and is well known here.

At the same time though, some GIs returning from the motor pools in Europe began buying the clunkers that were cheap and readily available- converting them into 'hotrods'... Cars built for speed and excitement. They started racing their cars in the desert outside of Los Angeles and soon were building cars that exceeded 100 miles per hour. From this birthed the 'Custom' culture.

So you have 2 groups of military men in LA/Cali that surely ended up together in social settings (or reunions or via networking looking for jobs) discussing 'war stories' and what they were doing now that they were home... Supporting each other after what they went through in the war, possibly becoming friends in some instances.

There wasn't much crossover in the two or this wouldn't be a conversation, but both groups in LA had to have witnessed and shared the work being done on the separate 'movements' (which, btw, can also be classified as 2 truly American art forms).

My 2¢...

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2011-05-23 12:45 ]

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2011-05-23 12:46 ]