Post #617945 by Swanky on Tue, Dec 20, 2011 9:15 AM

Well, the salad days of Tiki are over... just as I am making my first Tiki bowls! And working on a book! Perhaps we need to move to Australia where it is taking off!

Whether more people are posting on TC or less is not an issue is it? It is if you are selling something. You have to figure out how to get your stuff to people's attention.

True story:
When the first Hukilau happened in Atlanta in 2002, we started doing all we could to get the word out. We had put flyers around town. A friend down there who is a member here from way back saw the flyer. He is a regular at TV, so he decided to come to the event. It was crazy packed and off the hook.

He told me when he saw the flyer he though "Tiki? Is anybody still into that?"

I'd just say that Tiki has always been a sub-genre of Vintage and Retro-50s culture. That had its heyday a bit ago when Combustible Edison was around. The Kar Kulture is part of it and I'm sure someone can speak to that genre's popularity. You can sell more Tiki at a car show than anywhere now, though not so traditional. Those of us who came of age when the 50's buildings and artifacts were dissappearing and showing up in thrift stores cheap, and we had a real memory of it, we were the ones who dug into the Tiki the most. There are older folks here who were into it before, and younger ones since. But, us middle aged people are the most attuned to the aesthetic. Those younger than us are fond of the freakin 70s and bell bottoms and sunburst and avocado appliances! And now you are seeing 80s coming back and I swear I saw Madonna at the Mall. Like early Madonna. And I hate the 70s crap! I keel like to old goomers who hated the 50s stuff and were tearing it down all around me!

Yes. Tiki is dead. Long live Tiki!