Post #654801 by bigbrotiki on Sun, Oct 7, 2012 11:15 PM

Thank you M&M, that is great background info about the mingling of some major Polynesian pop players. Note that the only impacts that can count in having influenced Ernest Beaumont Gantt's choice of moniker for his 'cafe' logically have to lie in the period before its inception in 1934. Ernest might not have been aware of Blanding's early 1923 private publication, but after the 1928 Vagabond's House came out, it had 6 years to gain considerable popularity and be hard to miss for a South Seas fan like Gantt.

The Trader Vic's logo actually dates back to a common style of early museum display, when native weapons were presented less in a scientific manner and more as trophies - a concept which was later applied to Tiki bar wall decor and roadside signs. And before that, the 'Shield and crossed weapons' concept was used in European heraldry, and as martial castle wall decor. (In fact, it might have never been used in 'primitive' societies :) )