Post #783562 by HotelCharlieEcho on Thu, Feb 1, 2018 6:02 PM

I think I came across a couple of historical photos of this place in the Long Beach Fire Department online collection available through the Cal State Dominguez Hills online archives (online here: https://cdm16855.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/search/advanced). The photos were purportedly taken in January and September 1953 and show the interior of an unidentified "South Sea theme" bar in Long Beach, California. The provenance says the restaurant was located at 200 Ocean Avenue, but I think either the addresses changed at some point or that was an error.

Here are the two photos:

I think this place is the South Seas because, if you zoom in on the upper right of that first image (easier to do at the CSDH site directly here: https://cdm16855.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/LBFiremen/id/2913), you can see the drink menu, and at the top you can just make out "South S...."

There's also some pretty neat stuff in the pics to feast your eyes on. I don't think I've seen that art before in any other historic tiki bars (is that some kind of early black velvet painting?), but maybe some of the old-timers can educate me.

And check out the drinks advertised: the "Monkey's Tail" ("You keep the monkey for a guide!" - is the South Seas Monkey an undiscovered crypto mug?), the "Banana Bazooka" ("World Famous", apparently), listed among standards like the South Seas Cooler, the Zombie, Planter's Punch and Singapore Sling, and others. There's also a funny little match/hula girl doll behind the bar, and a neat mish-mash of wall coverings.

I should note that there are several other photographs in the collection that are also labeled as a bar at 200 Ocean Avenue, but those photos look like they are of a completely different bar. Or maybe it was remodeled at some point?

[ Edited by: HotelCharlieEcho 2018-02-05 17:57 ]