Post #704505 by Chip and Andy on Mon, Jan 13, 2014 2:38 PM

On 2014-01-13 12:23, nomeus wrote:
true but i meant on a commercial level....the blend of cocktails (rum) and tiki idols

You aren't going to find a proverbial Patient Zero, or in this case Tiki Zero because there isn't going to be a specific origin point. At least not one that can be tracked so specifically.

Donn and Vic's original designs were simply escapism. Places that were unlike the work-a-day world where you could get away from it all but still be home in time for the Late Show.

People who traveled through the Pacific would have seen things, brought back things, photographed things, and shared them with Don and/or Vic. And any and everyone else who built a tiki bar. "Hey, Donn! I just got back from Bora Bora and found this cool thingie that made me think of you and your bar...."

Let me share a quick story....This won't help your quest to find Tiki Zero, but it will give you an idea of what you are up against and maybe some ideas of where to look for more information....

Bob and Jack Thornton wanted to build a "tiki bar." They weren't yet called Tiki Bars but to keep the story simple. They did some research, found a deal on some land, and then built the Mai Kai which opened its doors at the end of 1956. Before the Mai Kai opened, the Thorton brothers went on a buying junket through the pacific going to many of the islands and filling shipping containers with stuff to decorate their bar. Some of the stuff they bought were tikis. Masks and/or idols mostly, stuff that would be displayed on the walls as 'house gods' from whatever island. A pacific themed bar should have things that were actually from the pacific, no? And of course your average company man at the time, especially in Florida, had only ever seen this kind of stuff in the pages of National Geographic.

The Thornton brothers weren't the only ones to do this kind of buying. All of the 'big' places did. Or went to wholesalers who shopped the pacific.

Each place that opened wanted to outdo what came before so each place needed more bamboo, less fabric in the waitresses outfit, bigger fountains, taller tikis.... a kind of frenzied one-upmanship that made it so none of the bars had any actual tikis and then suddenly all of them did.

I hope this tiny sliver of information is helpful in some way. Your quest is a worthy one and I wish you the best of luck in your journey.