Post #682911 by creativenative on Thu, Jun 20, 2013 5:28 AM

I posted in another thread this great book that I’m reading "Hollywood's South Seas & the Pacific War: Searching for Dorothy Lamour" and it fits well with this thread because it covers a lot about Western WWII soldiers in New Guinea. The book is about these soldier’s prewar expectations fueled from Hollywood South Seas movies especially Dorothy Lamour films and their real war experiences especially in New Guinea and other islands of Melanesia. A must read. Interestingly one part of the book is that the authors alluded to the strange phenomena of U.S. G.I.s expecting Dorothy Lamour on the islands but seeing the reality was very different BUT their prewar Hollywood expectations continued after the war.

Some talk on TC on how important the G.I. in the Pacific really was to the tiki movement later. I think these soldiers were very influential just not the direct way one would think. I reason cheekytiki hit on something on page 1 of this thread, the Officers Tropical Club. In my research I have run into others besides in Bikini. One of my favorite stories was in Guadalcanal. Most people don’t know was that after the horrific battles there Admiral Halsey built the biggest rec & recreational center in the Pacific, with a gym, hospital, supply warehouses, ball fields and of course a nice Officers Club. At the club only three people could get in, the officers of course, the nurses of any rank and the Hawaiians from a battalion that generally worked in the warehouses. Why Hawaiians, because they were the hosts of the club, the entertainment, the atmosphere. I contend that this is one way future Tiki bars started. Another theory was that as you know in every group there is one guy or gal that wants to stop and smell the roses. He or she wants to slow down and absorb the local culture. Same in the rank and file. Check out Malick’s A THIN RED LINE and note the scenes where Caviezel and a fellow soldier where hanging out with the natives swimming and canoeing while everyone else were back in their their tents complaining about how hot and miserable they were. Hey maybe one in 100 soldiers where like that but that’s 10,000 G.I.s who return home with an actual love of the South Seas. Another theory that even a 15 year old would agree too is that yeah, war was hell but normally a human’s brain will shove negative feelings to the back and only choose to remember the positive stuff no matter how small these experiences were. Despite the horror and gore of war there are some good memories also. Either way a tiki bar is the best place to escape. I wonder what the percentage of men on the front was as compared to men in the back in support. Finally I think the founders of tiki style whether veterans or not where influenced by war newsreels and the debate of Hawaii’s statehood. Bottom line is money and I theorized that the 1 million Pacific war vets where a huge market to consider and approve funding for any tiki venture.

Following the links, next stop Kailuageoff's Frances Langford's Outrigger, Jensen Beach, FL (restaurant)
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=13970&forum=2&start=30