Post #678139 by bigbrotiki on Tue, May 14, 2013 10:38 PM

Here is a great TC threat about the Pacific theater of war, one of my all time favorites threads here!:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=35520&forum=1

There is an amazing amount of images on the Pacific war on the internet now - not so much collectible, just great historic material. But images and objects that connect Polynesian pop and WWII are pretty rare.

This is one of my pet subjects. James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific" and the resulting musical and movie "South Pacific" played a huge part in the evolution of Polynesian pop in mainland America, all the way into the Tiki era.

Because I am dissatisfied with the way The Book of Tiki description on Amazon simplifies and homogenizes the effect of WWII on the U.S.A....

"Tiki is the manifestation of exotic visions of island culture borrowed from tales told by American soldiers stationed in the South Pacific during World War II: trees loaded with exotic fruits, sleepy lagoons, white-sand beaches, and gorgeous people wearing grass feathers as they danced half-naked during all-night orgies of food and music. Americans seized these visions and incorporated fantasy into reality: mid-century fashion, popular music, eating and drinking, and even architecture were influenced by the Tiki trend."

...I like to present a more differentiated view of this history:

Indubitably, just like Lieutenant James Michener, the were many servicemen who were lucky to be assigned behind the front lines, on some sleepy island outpost, or in the supply units that came after the action.. And Yes, Hawaii was a dream assignment, which produced many happy memories (and marriages :) )

But the fact is that many soldiers landing on an island did not find a South Seas paradise like this:

...but like this:

So much so that it was the subject of war cartoons:

Of course this kind of scenery didn't exactly make for a good back bar mural :)

The fact is that the South Seas fantasy had existed BEFORE the war...

...and was perpetuated during it...

...and after

Nobody wanted to remember stuff like this...

..and the veterans deserved their share of fun and recreation for sure. The South Seas pop myth proved stronger, functioning again as what it always was:
An escape from harsh reality!

I drink to that! :)