Post #699195 by TikiTacky on Tue, Nov 12, 2013 1:02 PM

I'll answer my own question.

Trader Vic's would likely be more of a visual experience. He apparently did a better job initially of filling the bar with items from his travels, and although it may not have had tikis, I think a lot more than the presence of a tiki denotes a "tiki bar." Vic was a venerate story teller and I'm sure sitting at the bar and hearing him spin a tale would be well worth the price of admission.

But from a historical standpoint, Don the Beachcomber is where I'd go. Donn was truly the grandfather of poly pop (the don, if you will), and being able to see its roots seems incomparable to me. You'd also be bumping elbows with some of the the Hollywood greats. The bar certainly wasn't lax in its decor—the stories claim that Vic wanted to franchise DTB and ended up buying some decorations from Donn to open TV. If you're a stickler for tiki the original bar did apparently have Donn's beloved cannibal tikis on display. I'd order a Zombie, of course.

I can easily imagine a meeting with Vic, since his persona oozes out of everything he's written (which is a lot), but Donn is more of an enigma, and I'd like to meet the man and see what he was like in person. I'd also buy a box of swizzle sticks off the guy so I could retire in luxury in the present day! :wink:

Thanks, JOHN-O, for pointing out the original thread. I missed it myself, although I asked almost the same question word for word down to the title! Although sometimes I lament the "this has already been covered" posts, as years pass and more information comes to light. There's also new faces and new perspectives on things. I don't mind going back and reading old posts, but if nothing new can be added than why not turn Tiki Central into a static archive and close the forums?

I don't mind ATPs sense of humor, but I do feel that the forum of late seems more about witty banter than actual information. When Sven's book first came out everyone was excited and everything was new. Tiki was cool. Now it seems like the old people are hanging around because they're comfortable with the scene, but no one is adding much. New users are often sent away with a "search the forums, this has been discussed," which, in real life, would be just as off putting as it can be here. If Tiki 2.0 is going to continue to be relevant it needs to be welcoming of new members, and that's going to mean answering the same questions over and over. Be a mentor!

Sorry, I go off on monologues sometimes. I'm like a boring Bond villain; all I need is a base in a volcano in to call home.

T-shirts based on vintage tiki matchbooks: TikiTees

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2013-11-12 13:03 ]