Post #623839 by Dustycajun on Mon, Feb 6, 2012 4:25 PM

I finally got the postcard from Rummy's Polynesian House.

Some close ups confirm it had all of the classic Poly Pop elements - bamboo, lauhala, murals, Leetegs, Puffer Fish, fishnet globes and Tikis.

The outside was a little sparse, but the front doors did have two big Tikis.

The proprietor was Warren "Rummy" Steinle.

I found and article on-line about Rummy's wife, Marian Steinle, who was 101 years old in September of 2011. If contained the following information:

Rummy (a nickname alternately explained by his love of a card game, rum mixed in his cocktails or childhood stories) loved life, enjoyed people and decided to be in the vanguard of the Polynesian-themed restaurant craze of the '50s '60s and '70s.

"One time he went to a Trader Vic's (a popular national chain) and said, 'That's the kind of restaurant I'm going to have,' " Steinle said. "After that, he was always bringing back what he called his 'artifacts' from around the world to decorate the place."

What was once simply Rummy's Tavern (the business was open from 1941 to 1989) became Rummy's Polynesian House.

It was decorated with fish tanks, bamboo, tiki wooden statuary, blowfish lights and even a life-sized flexible manikin of an American Indian at the bar.

I also found some news print ads for Rummy's extending from the early 1960s to the late 1980s.

Here is an article about an attempted Tiki theft in 1972 with gun play!

And an article from 1989 when it sold. Opened in 1941 and switched to Tiki in 1961.

Nice to finally get some history on this one.

DC