Retro Tiki Lounges

I got nice feedback on my last post so I decided to share some more postcards. I am trying to post stuff that has not come up before. The theme of this one is "Retro Tiki Lounges with Naugahyde". I know what your thinking, but Tiki and fake leather can go together as evidenced below.

The first one is from Chucks of Hawaii Steakhouse located in Waikiki - note the Tiki behind the bar. There is also a Chucks of Hawaii in Santa Barbara near where I live - they make great Mai Tais.
Hawaiian Tiki Bar

The second one is from the Outrigger Lounge in the Cest' Bon Hotel in Park City Utah. Very cool Outrigger hanging on the ceiling and nice tiki lamps.
Mormon Tiki Bar

The next one is from the Outrigger Restaurant in Prince George, B.C. Great Lamps.
Canadian Tiki Bar

These last ones are from Chin's Islander Lounge located in Buffalo NY. Check out the cool tiki mugs behind the bar.

Oriental Tiki Bar

After putting this together, I think its happy hour!

Fantastic!

Thanks again Dusty Cajun. :D

ooh thanks for sharing your paper collection..

whats the Chuck's like in SB? i dont recall anyone here talking about it!

Very nice, Naugatiki should like this post! I have to admit to a slight confusion about the headline, to me a Retro Tiki Lounge would be a lounge that in this day and age aims to look like a vintage, mid-century Tiki Lounge...like let's say the Lucky Tiki. But these place ARE old, right? Chuck's Waikiki is a goner, for example.

Oh, and here is my candidate for the coolest red Naugahyde Tiki Bar: The Lounge at the Tropicana Lodge in Fresno. With burning modernist Waterfall. By Armet & Davis. :)

Bigbro,

NICE Tiki Naug from the Tropicana, I have never seen that before - it Rocks!

The "Retro" in my title meant old school, like your Dad's bar. I will try to work on my semantics for scholars such as you. All of the postcards are from the 60's except for Chin's which is from the 1970's. Don't know if any are still open, I thought I might learn more about that through this post (that's how it works on TC, right?)

I am on a search for more TIKI NAUGAHYDE!

(Where's Sabu?)

You just can't get quality Naugahyde like that anymore... such a shame... the poachers killed off all the wild naugas and now all we've got are farm-raised.

[Aside: Yes, yes, I know... but I'M that old!]

And they have become highly prized collectibles:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nauga-the-Naugahyde-Monster_W0QQitemZ140218716780QQihZ004QQcategoryZ69855QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

On 2008-03-29 05:48, Bongo Bungalow wrote:
You just can't get quality Naugahyde like that anymore... such a shame... the poachers killed off all the wild naugas and now all we've got are farm-raised.

[Aside: Yes, yes, I know... but I'M that old!]

It turns out you were right BB, the wild naugas are rare indeed! Thanks to Bigbro for the nauga lesson.

I think that all of the red naugas must have been wiped out by the time that the Aku Aku was constructed in Cambridge, Mass. They ended up using the rarer purple, yellow and green naugas for their interior.

(Where's Sabu?)

Sabu comes out of hiding here periodically, albeit rarely and briefly, not in full visual force as he used to.
That Aku Aku entrance is a KILLER! Please allow me to use that for my booklet for my upcoming "The Sound of Tiki" CD. It'll have the Martin Denny/Julius Waechter tune "Aku Aku" on it, this would be a perfect illustration for it. Love that little face on the end of the outrigger beam. Somewhere here is a thread that shows how they deformed one of these Moai in a new location.

On 2008-03-29 10:55, bigbrotiki wrote:
Sabu comes out of hiding here periodically, albeit rarely and briefly, not in full visual force as he used to.
That Aku Aku entrance is a KILLER! Please allow me to use that for my booklet for my upcoming "The Sound of Tiki" CD. It'll have the Martin Denny/Julius Waechter tune "Aku Aku" on it, this would be a perfect illustration for it. Love that little face on the end of the outrigger beam. Somewhere here is a thread that shows how they deformed one of these Moai in a new location.

Bigbro,

I would be honored to help with your Sound of Tiki project. How do you want me to send the image? My scanner at work goes up to 600 dpi, that's the best I can do with technology on this end.

(Come back Sabu)

I have to find out from the label guy, but I think for a CD booklet size image that should be fine...check your personal messages to coordinate...

On 2008-03-29 10:32, Dustycajun wrote:

My initial reaction to all that purple above was that it's a real challenge on the eyes, but places like that just weren't meant to be all lit up like that with such flat lighting. Give it some very low level lighting and some nice sunset lighting on that mural and it would look great. Sometimes I wonder what they were thinking when they took the shots for postcards like these!

Nice thread, by the way, Dustycajun.

Before pleather Uniroyal invented the wonder fabric naugahyde and I understand they gave away these monsters as promos and with the purchase of a sofa. They were made in 2 sizes and in almost every color you can think of. Soon a guy in a nauga suit toured the country promoting the fab fabric and scaring young children in malls across America at the same time. The fact that you can still find a fair amount of these classic monsters in decent shape shows that this material lived up to the hype. Some where along the ride the Eames crowd got word and they became a mid century collectible. Later the mid 90’s tiki friendly lounge The Gentle People knew a good thing when they saw it and also used the monster as a mascot.

Now Uniroyal had the gumption to revive this monster and still sells them and much like the Cabbage Patch Dolls of the 80’s includes adoption papers. They don’t seem to have the nuance of the classic creatures and saw fit to get rid of the fierce teeth which I don’t understand.
http://www.naugahyde.com/promoitems_nauga.html

I enjoy them for their sense of whimsy and the one I have pictured on the right says “Nauga Flame Blocker” on the arm but I know full well that a cigarette lighter would burn it to a crisp. Just something to think about when you’re lucky enough to find one of those pristine naugahyde saloons. I have sad memories of a long defunct gentleman’s club called Club Hubba Hubba where they gave up on upkeep and I ended up sitting in a booth with the gold glitter upholstery repaired with silver duct tape.

Naugatiki,

Glad to see that you joined the thread, it was obviously meant for you.

One more post of some red and blue naugas in action at the Aloha Room.

(Sabu, Sabu?)

Thank you for sharing these great postcards and I like how you are grouping them together.

Chucks in hawaii takes the cake for me - the red nauga mixed with the bamboo and weathered wood (plus all those floats) looks REAL nice. Is the one in Santa Barbara similarly decorated?

Here's the thread bigbro is talking about. Jasper white's summer shack fisherman moai!

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=7128&forum=1&vpost=353513&hilite=jasper%20white's

Wow...so it's actually still in the exact same location!

Don't know if to laugh or to cry. Wonder what happened to its brother...

Maybe the aliens who built the Moai on Rapa Nui saw what happened to that one and rescued the other with a tractor beam from their UFO!

Holy Moly! Talk about de-tikification! The moai to fisherman is most appalling, but so is that brick veneer over the entire building. I weep.

Dustycajun - just to follow up on Bigbro's earlier comment, improper use of Retro is a pet peeve of mine. If something is old and still reflects the design aspects of its era, it is Vintage. Something is only retro if it is new and reflects the design of an earlier time. Thus, a 1965 Ford Mustang is vintage; the current Mustangs are retro.

No big deal, but it bugs. Thanks so much for sharing the postcards - good to see what once was.

On 2008-03-29 16:32, Dustycajun wrote:
Naugatiki,

Glad to see that you joined the thread, it was obviously meant for you.

One more post of some red and blue naugas in action at the Aloha Room.

I have to say 1) thanks, Dustycajun and 2) OH, MY, GOD, that room is painful to look at. My eyes!!!

But why!?: The soothing blue of the Pacific....juxtaposed with with the sacred color red of the Alii.... :D
I wanna know if those figures on that bowl in the left foreground are Tikis!

OK, I got the Retro vs. Vintage thing - won't make that mistake again.

There have been several questions regarding the Chucks Steakhouse located in Santa Barbara. It is Vintage, have been around for a long time now, however, it is not really tikified. Still worth a stop for Happy Hour Mai Tais and free steak bites. Here are a couple of photos.

And here is some history from their website"

Yes, there really is a "Chuck", and his name is Charles "Chuck" Rolles. Chuck graduated from the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant School in 1956, and then moved to Hawaii, and in 1959, opened the first of a number of restaurants that bear his name in Waikiki. After opening his second steak house in Waikiki, he was the first to bring the steak house and salad bar concept to the Continental United States.
Ken Williams was the first of Chuck's partners to bring the concept to the East Coast. Ken opened the first Chuck's Steak House in the East with its salad bar operation over 35 years ago, in West Haven, Connecticut. It was then that Chuck and his partners opened the first of a number of Chuck's Steak Houses that stretch from California to the East Coast.

Customers fell in love with the informal atmosphere, the open grills, all you could eat salad bars and high value concept. By the combining of the finest aged Western choice beef available, with the open hearth cooking, Chuck's Steak House has long established a solid reputation. Many have tried to copy the Chuck's Steak House and salad bar concept over the years. Most have met with varying degrees of success.

BUT, we are the original, and we are STILL THE BEST!

There is also a new RETRO tiki restaurant in the Santa Barbara area (Goleta to be exact) that is called Kona Ranch House. It has a nice little thatched hut bar and some Tikis and Hawaiian stuff on the walls. It is worth a stop if you are in the area. Here are a couple of photos.

Beautiful, Dustyc - that's it! You done me heart good. And thanks for being an image poster - much appreciated.

Found another beautiful color of the Naugas. The orange ones were used for the Outrigger Room at Coffee Dans restaurant.

And some more red Naugas at the bar in the Hawaiian in Long Beach.

that coffee dans is crazy cool!!

Great post. Let me offer up the retro Mai Kai Lounge in Tecumseh Mi. Full of nauga. And even a little Astroturf.

And George Kainapau playing too. Dayum!

Thank you guys for the amazing pictures!! I love the Coffee Lounge Notice the googie sign? WOW!

Does anyone have a Coffee Dan's matchbook (or menu!) that shows the "Outrigger Room" font and logo?:

Dustycajun, is the room shown below the exterior actually the Outrigger Room, or is it the Coffee shop?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-03-31 19:46 ]

This thread reminded me of the old Drum Room in the now restored President Hotel here in Kansas City. Well, they restored everything but the Drum Room. Now it's kind of a Cuban-themed bar/eatery with lots of TVs mounted all around. Oh well, enjoy the VINTAGE photo from their '50s brochure:

Bigbro - I am not sure if the postcard from Coffee Dans shows the Outrigger Room or just part of the coffee shop. This room looks quite a bit different than the other part of the coffee shop that is not shown in the picture I posted. I remember seeing a Coffee Dans matchbook once from another restaurant, so there is probably one out there somewhere. Where did you get the black and white shot of the Outrigger Room exterior? Your archives are impressive indeed!

Siverline - Thanks for the great picture of the Drum Room, that place rocks! Naugahyde City.

On 2008-04-02 17:14, Dustycajun wrote:
Where did you get the black and white shot of the Outrigger Room exterior? Your archives are impressive indeed!

Tricked ya, DC. That zoom-in pic is from Alan Hess' recent book "Googie Redux", the re-issue and update of his 1985 "Googie", a book which was tremendously influential to me and many of my friends. In fact Googie Redux is dedicated to my three best friends Pete, Chris and John from the LA modcom, who picked up the torch Alan lit, just like many TCers did after finding the BOT. :)
Alan is just cranking out books on architecture and modernism these days, all his work is worth checking out.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-04-03 16:14 ]

Two places came to my mind reading this thread... not exactly Tiki bars, in fact not tiki at all but, that said... if you are into naugahyde and vinyl , both of these are alive and well and open for your enjoyment.
First - The Gold Rush Steak House at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, Ca. Probably look up 'garrish' in the dictionary , you'll see a pic of this dining room.
It's not so pink, its actually more red, but it is sooo dark in the room , I had to lighten the contrast and gamma , just so you could see the room!

and the Standard Hotel '24/7 diner' in downtown LA. cool, mod, lots of 'pleather'

sorry, not tiki bars, but just thought some might enjoy seeing 2 rooms that are actually still open. Kinda cool.

This post has languished in obscurity for a while, but I got a very cool postcard today from the Seven Seas in Hollywood with the perfect look for the vintage red Naugahyde Tiki bar theme.

Here is a close up of the bar area with a nice mural on the wall and a cool tiki hanging out in the background.

Here is the dining room.

This version of the Seven Seas is one of the more Polynesian pop looks when compared to the other postcards I have seen from this place.

DC

On 2008-03-29 20:35, bigbrotiki wrote:
Maybe the aliens who built the Moai on Rapa Nui saw what happened to that one and rescued the other with a tractor beam from their UFO!

I've been looking for a poster that shows aliens erecting the statues with the ships. There was also a similar one by the same artist with the pyramids being built a similar ways. These posters were in a UFO book (name I don't recall). If anyone knows what I'm talking about, do you have knowledge of how I can get that image?

On 2008-03-31 19:44, bigbrotiki wrote:
Does anyone have a Coffee Dan's matchbook (or menu!) that shows the "Outrigger Room" font and logo?:

Bigbro,

Here is the matchbook from the Outrigger Room at Coffee Dan'. The logo is different than the shot of the building you showed.

DC

Nice!