Blackface / Ban on Blondes at the Mai Kai?

I came across this recent article about the Mai Kai from the Broward-Palm Beach New Times newspaper. A focus of the article is the rockabilly angle, due to Slip and the Spinouts who were playing that night, but I was most intrigued by the following sections that highlighted some of the Mai Kai's past. I do know that the Molokai does have blonde servers today.

Quote #1

"In the 1950s, when the Mai-Kai opened its doors, the NAACP had begun campaigning against blackface entertainment. At the same time, the Mai-Kai's tribute to the South Pacific included non-Polynesian servers and dancers who used make-up and wigs to juice up their "South Seas" look — without public outcry."

Quote #2

" .....She and the other servers were "hot girls who all wore stuff like this," Barker said, gesturing to the servers in their tropical print bandeau tops and mini sarongs.

With one difference. "Here you can't be blonde," I said.

Eden Scanlon, 36, once a Mai-Kai server herself, said I spoke the truth. A blonde co-worker had been required to wear a black wig, said Scanlon, who's still Miss February on the Mai-Kai calendar

Read the full article here .....
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2007-12-13/news/from-here-to-eternity/

That is interesting, but not terribly surprising. Places like the Mai-Kai were all about the illusion of a South Seas paradise. Same as when you step into Adventureland at Disneyland, you have the illusion of being in a tropical jungle even though you know you're still in Anaheim. Isn't that why Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic hired lots of Filipinos in the first place? Because they had an exotic appearance to them (from a 40s-50s white American perspective)? It wouldn't surprise me that the Mai-Kai wouldn't allow blonde servers any more than Disney not allowing their cast members to show tattoos or piercings. It might destroy the illusion they are trying to create. Although, as you said, I know the Mai-Kai has had at least one blonde server that I know of.

I talked to one of the current Molokai servers once and asked her if she was from a Pacific island. I can't recall where she said she was from (darn those Jet Pilots), but it was far from the Pacific. She said she gets asked that all the time because she looks the part.

And about the quote in the article "I don't think you could build something like this today without offending someone." I am still trying to comprehend the idea that a place like the Mai-Kai or any other Polynesian themed place could be seen as offensive to some. I know that some of the tiki images are part of their culture and all. I get that. But these places are (were) about fantasy escapism, not about accurate representations of Polynesian culture. Would someone be offended at Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room? What if someone in Japan opened an American themed restaurant with servers dressed like George Washington, Ben Franklin, etc. Should we be offended? I don't mean to go off on that. It's a sensitive subject. But it's something I've had difficulty understanding. I don't see anything at the Mai-Kai (or Trader Vic's) that demeans another's culture. Instead, its aim is to romanticize it.

Anything offends someone.

And that sort of walking-on-lightbulbs hyper-sensitivity offends me.

I'm offended by people who walk on lightbulbs. There are people in Bangladesh who go without lightbulbs.

I am offended by people who are so callous in their treatment of light bulbs, they have feelings too. (Well, they have two feelings..... it is kind of an on-and-off thing for them)

On 2007-12-18 05:53, GatorRob wrote:...And about the quote in the article "I don't think you could build something like this today without offending someone." ...

There is something for everyone, even in the "That Offends Me" category.

We had a friends friend head down to our end of Florida and we, of course, recommended the Mai Kai. They drove by and said it looked like a tourist trap and they went to Cheesecake Factory instead. That is the type of person who would be offended by something in the Mai Kai, current or vintage.

Now I like the Cheesecake Factory (avocado eggrolls!), but I would not pass up a trip to the Mai Kai for anything.

Now, off to dig up the picture I have of the elusive Blonde Molokai Maiden......

Found it.....

Look in the distance, trying to fashion a primitive tool, the rare Blonde Molokai Maiden.

They were hunted almost to extension in the middle of the last century. Thanks to places like the Mai Kai, these kind and gentle creatures now have safe places to live and their numbers are starting to increase for the first time in over fifty-years.

If you would like to know more about these rare and delicate Maidens, stop by the Mai-Kai and visit them up close and personal in their natural habitat.

Yeah, Cheesecake Factory sounds better.

Me - I'll take Appleby's or TGIF's any day over some creepy, local, one-of-a-kind tourist trap. I mean, if you don't know the menu before you go in, what's the point? They might try to give you something you've gasp never had before! They might try to make you forget for an hour that you're not in some run-of-the-mill neighborhood in an average American city. I wanna see perky, All-American young people, dammit, not scantily-clad Asian goddesses or Asian waiters with 30 years under their belt at the same, creepy establishment.

Give me quick turnover from disgruntled employees!
Give me average food with weak cocktails!
Give me Hard Rock Cafe or give me death!!

Hey, don't go knockin' Hard Rock or I might get offended! :)

After hiding in the bushes for hours, I managed to spot another one of the elusive creatures:

Although, upon further inspection, we think this one might not be a genuine blonde server but instead might have used what the natives refer to as "hair dye" to impersonate the rare species. Notice she is hiding to avoid our detection. Charges are pending.

On 2007-12-18 05:53, GatorRob wrote:
Isn't that why Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic hired lots of Filipinos in the first place?

Doesn't "the lore" say that Vic hired only people of Chinese decent and Donn only Filipinos?

They were hunted almost to extension in the middle of the last century.

Hunted to EXTENSION?! I've never heard it put like that before...

Brother, I'd like to hunt 'em with my "extension"......

I'll get me coat. :oops:

I point you to my Blather for a bunch of photographic evidence. Not many blondes in that batch.

On 2007-12-20 05:06, Chip and Andy wrote:
Found it.....

Look in the distance, trying to fashion a primitive tool, the rare Blonde Molokai Maiden.

..and judging by the confused look on her face, i'd say she is also representative of the dumb blonde stereotype....just the same, ....she can fashion my primitive tool anytime.....

..and who ruined that good table lamp by writing all over the shade!!!!!

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2007-12-20 16:18 ]

On 2007-12-20 16:17, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
..and who ruined that good table lamp by writing all over the shade!!!!!

Heh, they are ALL like that. Once upon a time all the lamp shades in the Mai-Kai had nice tapa patterns, but I guess in a cost saving move at some point, they were all replaced with plain shades and given the graffiti look. Wanna make some tapa shades for them Mr-Cool-Lamp-Maker? :) Or maybe TikiSkip?

Spectacular! He caught 3 of them!

On 2007-12-21 11:25, GatorRob wrote:
Spectacular! He caught 3 of them!

Smart Man! The elusive Blond Molokai Maiden can almost always be drawn out of hiding by the wearing of a Fez.

There are some who speculate that the Fez has religious influence. Others scientists suggest that at one time in the distant past that the Fez wearers where in power over the Mai-Kai civilization and that those seen wearing Fez are automatically trusted from some deep cultural memory handed down from one generation to the next.