Post #676971 by tigertail777 on Tue, May 7, 2013 3:25 AM

Gwen: Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, I really love barkcloth it has this unique vintage feel that nothing else has, and man is it durable!

Littlegiles: Thanks for the compliments, I wasn't really sure how well the placemats were going to work out till I had them up there against the burlap. I was afraid they were going to be exactly the same shade as the burlap and get “lost”, but luckily they were just a bit lighter. I am super happy how spiffy the koa wood looks against the walls.

Mike: I got really lucky on that fabric. After sifting through hundreds of Hawaiian fabric patterns on ebay and other sites I ran across that one. It does have a bit too modern of a feel to it in comparison to the other fabrics (seems to have a 70's vibe to me) but where the heck else am I gonna find a Hawaiian style pattern with tigers in it? :wink:

Sophista-tiki: Hey thanks so much Dawn! I felt kind of guilty after all the trouble I put you through and only ordered one yard, but with any luck I will throw some more business your way in the future. Can't wait to see how it looks on the shelves. I reserved all the front shelves by the desk for your wonderful fabric.

Wendy (and Dan): Thanks Wendy! I am excited about it all too. Here is a nice pic of some of the original 1968 Hostesses in the costumes with the fabric: http://www.disneybymark.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/7-15-68TikiRoomHostesses1-931x1024.jpg After the original sponsorship by United Airlines was dropped they changed the hostess/host costume to the more familiar pattern of this (first photos),

http://matterhorn1959.blogspot.com/2006/04/souvenir-friday-enchanted-tiki-room.html

and also changed some of the audio dialogue in the Lanai for the tikis (originally one of the tikis had a direct “advertisement” for United in its patter). The stewardesses on the United flights for Disneyland also wore very similar costumes with the original fabric as an advertising tie in. I suppose they really had to promote the attraction since it was the only one in the park with its own high price separate admission ticket. I often wonder though how come I can never find any newspapers or magazines carrying any large articles from the time period specifically about the tiki room since it was so incredibly ground breaking. I especially have never been able to find much about the ceremonies or anything for opening day of the attraction despite actively looking for years which really kinda bothers me for something so historic you would think there would be a huge paper trail. Anyways, I digress as usual just thought you'd like to know more on the history of the fabric. :)

[ Edited by: tigertail777 2013-05-07 03:27 ]

[ Edited by: tigertail777 2013-05-07 03:29 ]