The Mystery Tiki with Lightbulb Eyes

You all know how I love to collect any old snapshots I can find with tikis in them.

I picked this one up on eBay. It's got me completely stumped. Where was this tiki located? Obviously(?) near a beach somewhere. Hawaii? Florida? California? There can't have been that many tikis with lightbulb eyes in 1970. Anyone ever heard of it? Apply your CSI skills to the photo and let's see if we can't narrow it down.

Sabu

You can eliminate any place that had a sign saying 'No shoes, no shirt, no service'!

Judging from the guy in the photo....I'd say somewhere near Muscle(Venice)Beach!!

If I had to guess, I'd say Florida. Just a hunch. But wherever it was taken, that is one amazing photo Sabu. And regardless of what Amy says, it had hardened my resolve to start wearing a killer 'stash! I mean, c'mon. Just look at that, you can tell he is a serious ladies man!
-Duke

Then again, maybe I'm under the influence of that mysterious Tiki, look what happens when he reaches around and switches it on...

Looks like he is Inside of a Liquer store some where.

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2009-06-05 17:34 ]

Over the right shoulder of the half visible person in the background of the picture, it looks to me like there is a similar tiki that also looks like it may be connected to the bar or whatever infrastructure it is. Does anybody else see it or am I just seeing tiki faces everywhere I look again :)

Karbora

I'd say Key West, he's got a butt-tickler mustache.

Whoa -- that guy looks just like one of my cousins! But he was just a kid in 1970.

[ Edited by: cynfulcynner 2006-02-12 20:28 ]

I've seen the same concentric circles around lightbulb eyes on a fiberglass miniature golf totem pole before, for what thats worth.

IF it is in the United States, I would say Florida because it is an OUTDOOR tiki bar.

Check the back of the photo.....j/k!

No, really....It resembles the palapas of Mexico. The frame of the palapa is pretty big like it is an outdoor bar maybe on the beach. The tiki is roped to something. It looks like a Mexican bottle of beer and a bottle of Jose Cuervo on the table. The wood on the chair and table seem like dark Mexican wood. (The picture is a little hard to see, but that is what I am seeing.) Maybe Rosarito Beach or Ensenada? Guy was probably on a Spring Break surfin safari south of the border with some buds. And who else puts lights in everything???

[ Edited by: SoccerTiki 2006-02-14 10:47 ]

I agree that it looks like Mexico. Especially with that very "cool" beach vender necklace adorning his fantastic physique!!

I think we have a match, the construction worker.

Well, there goes that thread!

That's probably all the hair the guy could grow on his face! Doesn't mean he's from Brokeback Mountain! I stick with Spring Break surfing trip to Baja California!

Are we sure that's not Billy Bob Thornton? Same cheesy mustache and everything.

Tikisgrl

I'll go with Florida. Notice the sort of backwoods look he's got going? Something with the teeth I think. Also a redneck would find a tiki the sort of novelty item worth taking a picture with. Maybe a redneck from Florida in Baja?

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-15 15:36 ]

On 2006-02-15 17:59, Tikisgrl wrote:
Are we sure that's not Billy Bob Thornton? Same cheesy mustache and everything.

Tikisgrl

That's exactly what I was thinking, Tikisgrl! I think Billy Bob just got off his Pan Am flight from Little Rock, and he's ready to get his Christmas swerve on in Waikiki.

You know, it reminds me of the one at the Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach- the one in the garden off to the right (when standing out front). But that palapa DOES look Mexican. Perhaps it made a journey?
As for the dude, that's easy. Cuz I think I'm married to his kin. The Mr is German and here's what we notice... It appears he is wearing a banana hammock UNDER the shorts. As if an American cousin has said, "Klaus, here in the US of A we just don't wear them things, and definitely NOT with the wing tips!" (You think I jest? The Mr's cousin wanted to go to K-Mart and was sunning in a BH. He slips on his tuxedo wing tips and slides into the car and tells us he's ready to go!!)
Next, he's got that gap tooth weasel look. That gap is indigenous to the folks residing in Nuremberg, particularly, the Schloss of Weber. This is due to the many falls off roofs, dirt bike accidents, bow and arrow mishaps, poorly timed fuses, you get it.
The pasty pallor, the weak chest, the sparse, limp hair...I see it every day.
He's holding on to the Tiki and it appears to be listing a bit. This is another trait of the Nuremberger. They can never seem to drink enough; I have never seen the Mr actually DRUNK, however. He gets clumsy. In Public. With big, expensive objects. I bet after the shutter snapped, that tiki came crashing down!
I think I'm in love.

I thought I saw him in Dazed & Confused'...

Trader Woody

On 2006-02-19 08:28, Trader Woody wrote:
I thought I saw him in Dazed & Confused'...

Trader Woody

"That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age." - Wooderson

HAHA! Thanks for that -- well done!

LOL! Good one.

On a more serious note, since several people are guessing Florida, couldn't the photo/tiki be from Tiki Gardens in Florida? The location fits, the presence of many tikis fits, and it's the kind of place where such photos would be commonplace.

I think I'm going to have to go with Hawaii for this photo. Maybe Florida. Here's why:
So the guy has no tan, definitely a tourist. Now, everyone thinks California is always nice year round, but it can get cold during December, well cold enough that you wouldn't walk around with no shirt. Even tourists. Plus, something like this would be near the beach, so you'd get the onshore breeze and all, making it feel a bit colder. I don't think this is California. I mean, our water parks shut down in October, and stay closed until April or May.
Hawaii has a lot of buildings, including hotels that basically don't have windows or doors. The weather is a nice 70 degrees in Hawaii in January, but usually more like 60 in CA. The main reason I think this is Hawaii, this guy's at a bar or liquor store. You can see the booze bottles in the background. They look like the odd shaped bottles for Tequila, but that doesn't necessarily imply Mexico. You can get Tequila in any bar, right. So, anyway, if this is a bar, and it's open air, it's gotta be Hawaii. These types of structures in the so cal beach scene would be things like surf rental shacks or something, not bars. Well, that's my two cents.

On 2006-02-19 16:08, TikiJosh wrote:
Now, everyone thinks California is always nice year round, but it can get cold during December, well cold enough that you wouldn't walk around with no shirt.
...
The main reason I think this is Hawaii, this guy's at a bar or liquor store. You can see the booze bottles in the background. They look like the odd shaped bottles for Tequila, but that doesn't necessarily imply Mexico. You can get Tequila in any bar, right. So, anyway, if this is a bar, and it's open air, it's gotta be Hawaii. These types of structures in the so cal beach scene would be things like surf rental shacks or something, not bars.

Good reasoning. A theme park like Tiki Gardens isn't likely to have tourists walking around inside without shirts, and wouldn't be openly stocked with booze since those are family places. And California is definitely too cold in December, and I haven't seen any open bars like that near any California beach, either. All of which suggests the guy just walked in from a tropical beach in December to visit an open bar.

Why couldn't it be an open bar in Mexico, though, rather than Hawaii? I think more of the evidence mentioned suggests Mexico: beer, dark wood, light bulb eyes, etc.

One discouraging thought: the photo could have been taken in the summer and the film not turned in for prints until December. Or maybe the guy's girlfriend developed the photos first, and didn't get around to making him reprints of their trip later. What we need is a volunteer from Interpol or something to run an ID on this guy for us. :)

Mbonga .. I was around when Tiki Gardens was in full swing never saw nothing like that .... that picture was taken between 1971 / 1980 not alot STUDS down here back in the 70's had tans...but they had puka and more freaking puka ....

oops didn't see date on photo!! me bad, ollie

Maybe the pictures were developed after x-mas, and on that roll there was this shot from spring break 69?

KK

Duke - hope you didn't have to do a chest waxing ala 40 Year Old Virgin to get
the proper look.

On 2006-02-19 17:07, mbonga wrote:
...One discouraging thought: the photo could have been taken in the summer and the film not turned in for prints until December. Or maybe the guy's girlfriend developed the photos first, and didn't get around to making him reprints of their trip later. What we need is a volunteer from Interpol or something to run an ID on this guy for us. :)

I was actually thinking this very same thing. I don't know enough about photo processing though, to definitely say one way or the other. As for the comments about it being Mexico, it definitely could. Unfortunately, I've never been to Mexico either. I'd ask several questions:

1. Is Mexico (or any part thereof) warm enough during the winter?
2. Are there/ were there bars near enough something like a beach in 1970? I know there are lots of areas in Mexico that probably satisfy question 1 with a resounding yes, but maybe these places weren't exactly developed in 1970.
3. Also, Pacific Coast or Gulf Coast of Mexico? Is one more likely than the other? 4. What type of resorts were big in Mexico in 1970? This guy doesn't look like he went down to Baja for a surfing trip, he's too white. So I'm thinking he went to a resort of some kind.
   Maybe someone with more experience in Mexico could help out.

"AH CAIN'T QUIT YEW"... :)

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2009-06-05 17:43 ]

I didnt know Billy Bob Thornton was into tikis..