Post #627671 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Mar 5, 2012 10:33 AM

It was wonderful to very recently meet an original Mai Kai Mystery Girl at Hakalugi's house. A Tahitian native, Leilani Doucet-Mann had worked at the Mai Kai in the 1960s, and was surprised to find her photo on page 63 of Tiki Modern at Barnes & Noble one day. Here she is holding Claudette Barjoud's Mystery Girl statue:

And here with her husband David, signing her photo in Tiki Modern:

She was most lovely and lively, and still with a cute French accent, answered many questions about the Mystery Girl tradition. She is looking for the 1968 (?) Mai Kai calendar that had her in it, if anyone has one to spare.

Another interesting aspect of her family story was that her aunt Anne Chevalier had been the female lead in "TABU" as Reri:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=302&forum=1&vpost=510011

I am now even more looking forward to Swanky's upcoming Hukilau Seminar on the Mystery Girl tradition!