Post #697013 by tiki mick on Tue, Oct 22, 2013 7:40 AM

That's very true, WD.

For some like me, growing up in boring suburbia makes one yearn for something "different" and "exotic"...then you find that there actually is a design aesthetic that embraces it, and it's also from the mid-century and manages to tap into some ancient almost ancestral memory....

Growing up in southern calif, it was impossible to not see and be exposed to the numerous apartments, motels and old restaurants that were tiki inspired, and wonder what inspired them....

And then there is something to be said, irrespective of time period, for good craftmanship and great music. Apart from the Kitsche factor, I actually like the music of Denny, Baxter and Lyman VERY much and I liked it way before the 90's swing/cocktail revival. I also like the look of a well made tiki mug. I like the look of bamboo, and fish floats, etc...I like all of it.

I even like the fact that, should I come across some decrepit old run-down tiki themed motel, the ancient plaster and concrete and fiberglass is in NO way authentic polynesian. It's easy to close my eyes and imagine that it IS authentic. Everyone knows that a real tropical lagoon does not contain clorine, or Koi fish. Likewise, when we order "Hula" chicken made with "polynesian" sweet and sour sauce, that it is nothing like eating breadfruit or poi, or fish with tons of bones in them. I know that in the jungle, there are no saxaphones, and that the ideophones do not have rotors attached to make a tremelo effect. I also know that in any typical jungle or tropical enviroment, you are unlikely to find groupings of ornamental, tropical foliage arranged as they are in Anaheim, California. I really dig the "fakeness" of all of it, but I also dig the authentic cultures all of this was inspired by. It's pure escapism for me, but escapism married with the pursuit of knowledge. Being into tiki, absolutely makes me want to travel to the real jungle some day.