Post #758159 by bigbrotiki on Sat, Jan 30, 2016 9:32 PM

Wow Anders, what great stuff! That photo of Ed Crismann carving the pool root ball - man how I'd love to have that in good resolution.

And to see that pic of his 1st wife - what a twisted fate that he ended up with that insane fury Sante that ruined them both! (…not that he was an entirely innocent operator)

I got to visit the home he and his first wife shared (the ones after, with Sante, were torched for insurance scams). It is very much "Tropics Moderne":

Note the platform on the front lawn, which I am certain was once the base for a Tiki….

….probably like this one in the back yard (what's left of it), also carved by Ed Crissman. Here's the backyard as viewed from the Tiki:

When I first discovered the Tropics in the early 90s, a lot of the Tikis were in comparatively good shape, like this one seen in the article above:

That one was just gone one day. Others just succumbed to the inevitable "shrinking", like this big one outside the front office:

On 2016-01-27 17:48, A Frame wrote:
I found some interesting historical info, photos & articles in the Desert Sun on the Palm Springs Tropics recently, seems to have been the place to be in ’63!

Photo from November 23, 1962 showing the installation of a Ed Crissman carved Root-Ball Tiki.

On March 21, 1963, the Sun helped hype the Tropics grand opening by devoting 4 full pages with photos, stories and advertisement's!

You could get the latest Hawaiian fashions and other gifts at the Tropics Hotel.

Pancakes, Steaks & Cocktails were served at the hotel.

Introducing your team owners....

...and their team manager.

It's clear that this Tropics Hotel was beautiful and a very big deal for Palm Springs...  

So much so that the Federal Government wanted in on the love fest too...

And it worked out beautifully for the sites land owner as well!

Ultimately, it was the Tropics Polynesian décor that tied it all together, especially the OA supplied Ed Crissman Tiki's.

Question.  Where are all of these paintings?

Finally, how could any newspaper article regarding the Tropics be complete without a photo of Mrs. Ken Kimes (this must have been an earlier wife of Ken's). Enjoy!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2016-01-30 21:35 ]