Tiki matchbooks

My mother has collected matchbooks ever since she was a teenager, and keeps them all in a huge glass jar. Walking by it when I went to visit her over New Year's, I spotted a tiki one! She let me paw through the jar and pull out whatever I wanted. There were only two with tikis, but I thought I'd post them here since I couldn't find much in the way of references to them when I used the search function on this site.

First up is one I saw first, Tonga Lei Polynesian Restaurant. 22878 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA (213) 456-6444. On the other side if the box is Ted's Rancho Restaurant. 18002 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, (213)454-0355. One the side of the box it says "Ocean View Dining. Cocktails Seafood Steaks", which I assume must refer to both establishments?

Sorry the pictures are a little pixellated- I think it's a Shutterfly thing.

The other one is from The Tahitian, with addresses on the back for both Studio City (Ventura Blvd) and Pasadena (South Lake Ave). The phone numbers are the best! PO 9-0674 TR 7-0531 etc. Inside the book it advertises Catering Banquets and Luaus, with Polynesian and French cuisine.

[ Edited by: snarkoutgirl on 2003-01-16 14:54 ]

Hi Snarkoutgirl!

Nice finds. The Tonga-Lei collectors are absolutely fanatic. The postcard goes for over $40.00 on E-bay every time it comes up and the matchbox goes for over $20.00 regularly. There must be great sentimental value to all the old surfers who used to frequent the place.

The Tahitian is much more affordable. I've got two of those myself. They can usually be picked up for 2 to 5 dollars on E-bay,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2154159208&category=477

but they're one of my favorites. Doctor Z even found an ashtray from the Studio City Tahitian at a local swapmeet for dirt cheap. Really nice Andres Bumatay-inspired tiki logo. The similarly inspired mug, on the other hand, I hear is one of those "holy grail" items.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-01-16 17:39 ]

As, I posted in this thread,

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=2092&forum=5&1

My Mom has a coffee can full of these. Here is a picture of the laminated and mounted poster from Kinkos. They were as impressed as I, with how well it turned out. Now I just need to make the bamboo frame for it.

After I left, the Tahitian matchbook cover jiggled a memory for my mom, so she dug out her old scrapbook...

Here's what she sent me! She had saved it from when she and my dad went there on a date in 1964 (they were 18 years old). If only they had taken a picture, too! sigh

Napkin, reciept, and sugar packet. Sugar still intact, even!

Stefani

[ Edited by: snarkoutgirl on 2003-01-21 11:41 ]

Awesome finds!

We have a couple and I look for them on ebay all the time.

Swanky and I have a great matchbook collection that we have yet to display. I'll try to post a couple of interesting ones later.

Would love to have that Tahitian!

"Would love to have that Tahitian! "

This just got relisted. I already have one and couldn't bring myself to buy a duplicate.

Tahitian matchbook

cheers,
midnite

Thanks Doll! I'll put them on my watch list.

Although he is quite modest about it, Sabu has amassed a tiki matchbook and postcard collection that is second to none! It must be seen in person to be fully appreciated, and if you are one of the few folks that have seen it (or even just one of the volumes), I'm sure you'll agree - it's simply incredible!

Maybe he'll post some gems from it soon...