From Sky Queen to Beachcomber!

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[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-15 15:30 ]

What a great site! Check out this cutaway view of the Stratocruiser and note the "Lower-deck Hawaiian Lounge"!

Flying sure ain't that fun anymore...:(

On 2006-01-01 14:34, filslash quoted:
This ancient Hawaiian version of the totem pole is one of Kathy's favorites. He may not be a cute kid, but then a stewardess prefers the strong, silent type.

...which, upon viewing the idol, brings up the question of it's origin again, especially for you local Hawaiian archaeologists:

This Tiki might be the first truly stylized MODERN Tiki, with its simple facial features and three horizontal lines as crossed fingers. It seems to have been a favorite image for "Hawaii" photos:
It appears on postcards with that gorgeous "Miss Hawaii" Eurasian model posing with it, also on a PANORAMA Columbia Record Club slide card, and with Martin Denny and band next to it. It's location is only identified as a "similar fern forest" as the Mauna Loa tree fern forest.

This Tiki's significance to Polynesian Pop lies (as previously mentioned) in the fact that it was among the first Tikis imported by Trader Vic. The original Oakland Hinky Dink's hut sported two of them as guardians (BOT p.82) when it was turned into Trader Vic's, and in the first outpost in Seattle, one of them can be seen right behind the waiter in the postcard on bottom of p.86

So the question is: WHERE in Hawaii was this Tiki, and WHO carved it, (and others just like it for Trader Vic)????

On 2006-01-01 22:12, bigbrotiki wrote:
So the question is: WHERE in Hawaii was this Tiki..

It looks like Boyd Rice knows...

According to the Industrial Culture Handbook this tiki was located on Maui and has "since been removed".

On 2006-01-01 15:10, MrBaliHai wrote:
Flying sure ain't that fun anymore...:(

I wonder what it cost to fly the Stratocruiser to Hawaii in those days. Certainly it was more expensive than taking the Matson Line.

On 2006-01-01 22:12, bigbrotiki wrote:

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-15 15:30 ]

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-15 15:33 ]

Thanks for keeping this alive.
It must have been some kind of tourist/reconstructed village setting...

I know this postcard and it always reminded me of another Polynesian Pop mystery:
WHERE was the cover of Martin Denny's "Quiet Village" album shot? There are no credits, but I doubt it was in Hawaii, all others were from California, and there were certainly enough bamboo huts around then...

But the origin of this Tiki is more important!

Here's another:

That tiki design is very probably based on carvings from Tonga and Samoa, many of which were carved in ivory out of whale teeth on a MUCH smaller scale.