Clark's Islander Restaurant, Tacoma, WA (Restaurant) - Locating Tiki

STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Tiki Socialite Carson, California Joined: Aug 20, 2002 Posts: 2813	STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Posted posted on Tue, Jul 5, 2011 5:55 PM tikicoma - thanks for finding and posting that article. It gives all the tiny details that are important for building an accurate view of the pre-tiki era. We learn that owner's time spent in New Guinea and the Philippines during WWII was at least partly the inspiration for this night club. We all generally accept this hypothesis: that one of the roots of the Tiki movement was WWII servicemen returning from South Seas duty, trying to recreate the atmosphere here in the states, but to have some more non-anecdotal evidence to back it up is satisfying. Even better for me is the description of the music played in the bar. It adds to the pattern I've seen with the pre-tiki South-Seas clubs. They tended to play soft Hawaiian and exotic music to add to the atmosphere of the restaurant. By the 1960s, Hawaiian music was still there in some clubs, but not necessarily. You were just as likely to see any of a melange of popular music styles that were more suitable for dancing, including Latin, jazz, polka, go-go, and rock. [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2011-07-05 17:57 ]

tikicoma - thanks for finding and posting that article. It gives all the tiny details that are important for building an accurate view of the pre-tiki era.

We learn that owner's time spent in New Guinea and the Philippines during WWII was at least partly the inspiration for this night club. We all generally accept this hypothesis: that one of the roots of the Tiki movement was WWII servicemen returning from South Seas duty, trying to recreate the atmosphere here in the states, but to have some more non-anecdotal evidence to back it up is satisfying.

Even better for me is the description of the music played in the bar. It adds to the pattern I've seen with the pre-tiki South-Seas clubs. They tended to play soft Hawaiian and exotic music to add to the atmosphere of the restaurant. By the 1960s, Hawaiian music was still there in some clubs, but not necessarily. You were just as likely to see any of a melange of popular music styles that were more suitable for dancing, including Latin, jazz, polka, go-go, and rock.

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2011-07-05 17:57 ]

Post #596294 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Tue, Jul 5, 2011 5:55 PM