Say It Ain't So, Daddy-O !

So,

I'm here at my dad's house in Texas takin' care of Pop while he recovers from a pretty big surgery. I start going through all the old family photos...stuff from the 50's (before me) the 60's (including me) and up. I didn't see any tiki ANYTHING in there...ok, no big deal, I grew up on Long Island, and there wasn't a whole lot of Tiki there, even though there were alot of nautical themed restaurants, and few Chinese places with waterfalls and bamboo bridges, but not much else.

So, I finally just come out and ask my pop...."Dad, did you ever go to Trader Vics or Don the beachcomber back in the day ?"

He tells me no...I prod further...."why not? " he says, "I don't know, I don't think we had one near us"...."but there was one in NY City"....he says that they never went to the city that much.

"So..." I ask...."We never went to any of those great tiki places back inn the day?"

"No, not that I can remember"

"Backyard Luaus?" I asked

"Well, Uncle Freddy roasted a pig in the backyard once"

So, we never went to any tiki restaurants or places.

It's baffling....How the hell did I become so obsessed with tiki ? I remember it from my childhood, but could it be that my only exposure to tiki was Hawaii Five-O and The Brady Bunch Hawaii episodes?

Also, the closest thing to Exotica music in the house was "Whipped Cream and other Delights" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass....

So, where am I channeling these exotica tunes from ? It was never playing around the house, we never went to ANYPLACE that was tiki, we never vacationed in Hawaii, and I don't recall any backyard Luaus....

Maybe I need to go to therapy to find this stuff out, cos, my family is so NON TIKI, it's not funny. No one in my family except for me lives anywhere near a palm tree, or obsesses about tropical climates, palm trees, tikis, or anything else even remotely Tiki or Hawaiian...

So, what's up with my tiki obsession ?

This is freaking me out :o

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2008-04-07 19:29 ]

U.F.O.'s. Definitely U.F.O. induced time travel.
Aloha,
:tiki:

It has got to be the prevalence of TV. It had such a draw on us as kids. There were tons of old movies that had tropical/tiki influence and like you say Hawaii Five-O...that show in itself made you feel like an islander. I do find it curious about channeling exotica music though. How about Grandparents or other relatives or even friends whose parents listened to that style of music? It is in your heart from somewhere. What a mystery!!!

I know exactly what did it for me...Padre Island, "Joe Versus the Volcano" and damn Giligan's Island re-run's when I was a kid...after some google searches and finding this website some years ago, the rest is history.Oh yeah...I remember being dead bored in the summer and cracked open my Dad's old National Geographic Hawaiian record set - Lovely Hula Hands for hours :wink:

Oh yeah, and UFO's.

[ Edited by: Deckhand_Davy 2008-04-07 22:50 ]

Maybe I need to go to therapy to find this stuff out, cos, my family is so NON TIKI, it's not funny. No one in my family except for me lives anywhere near a palm tree, or obsesses about tropical climates, palm trees, tikis, or anything else even remotely Tiki or Hawaiian...

Maybe therein lies the appeal? :D :lol:

There are thoughts in our brain we can not see.
Like childhood things we saw on TV.
And the books that we read,
Remain in our head,
And create our mysterious love of Tiki.

On 2008-04-07 19:27, tikiyaki wrote:

So, where am I channeling these exotica tunes from ? It was never playing around the house, we never went to ANYPLACE that was tiki, we never vacationed in Hawaii, and I don't recall any backyard Luaus....

So, what's up with my tiki obsession ?

Hmmm, I'm tending toward past life experience?

For me, I've traced it to being subjected to the Enchanted Tiki Hut as a child. It could even be from seeing it featured on the "Wonderful World of Disney" before I ever saw it in person, but it made an indelible impression on me. Then, for whatever reason, the seed lay dormant and not even a visit to The Stockton Islander in college could awaken a single tiki tendency. Only the chance discovery of a lowly ceramic coconut shell mug in a thrift shop about 6 years ago brought it roaring to the fore.

Hope you don't mind me telling my own story.

I think in the end, you don't choose tiki . . . tiki chooses you.

I got my daddy-o into tiki

On 2008-04-08 12:42, ManFromT.I.K.I. wrote:

On 2008-04-07 19:27, tikiyaki wrote:

So, where am I channeling these exotica tunes from ? It was never playing around the house, we never went to ANYPLACE that was tiki, we never vacationed in Hawaii, and I don't recall any backyard Luaus....

So, what's up with my tiki obsession ?

Hmmm, I'm tending toward past life experience?

For me, I've traced it to being subjected to the Enchanted Tiki Hut as a child. It could even be from seeing it featured on the "Wonderful World of Disney" before I ever saw it in person, but it made an indelible impression on me. Then, for whatever reason, the seed lay dormant and not even a visit to The Stockton Islander in college could awaken a single tiki tendency. Only the chance discovery of a lowly ceramic coconut shell mug in a thrift shop about 6 years ago brought it roaring to the fore.

Hope you don't mind me telling my own story.

I think in the end, you don't choose tiki . . . tiki chooses you.

I actually encourage people telling their own story.

I think for me, it was moving to LA in 95'....there were some remnants of the cool Mid Century stuff still around, LA being what it is, has a certain amount of Tiki-ness to it, due to the surf culture, and all the Tiki stuff that once was.

I know that finding a pair of Tikis in a the treasure Chest in Hermosa Beach gave it a bump...also, working in Playa Del Rey and passing the amazing Polynesian Apartments there did it too...along with discovering Tiki News in Wacko....

But tiki in my pre-LA past life is a mystery.

Reminds me of something the Special Forces say:

"People don't join us because were different, they join because they are".

Good Point

My theory has always been: the lack of something creates the biggest desire.

[ Edited by: Kawentzmann 2008-04-10 12:12 ]

My Parents had a Tiki in the back yard, but to my knowledge, never stepped foot in a Tiki Bar.
They listend to Martin Denny (I still have her original "Quiet Village" LP)
They had Tiki masks hanging on the wall in the late 50's and early 60's, but probably
never had a Mai-Tai much less a luau. I think in some ways during the heyday it was so prevalent that many people had it around, but didn't really place any importance on it. One of my other obsessions is vintage scooters. I worked for a guy who was a Vespa mechanic and later a dealer. This guy had been associated with Vespas since the early 50's, was trained at the factory. The guy knew every part number for every model.
But, he thought the "Scooter/Mod Scene" was a load, and really didn't like all the gee-gaw, like pins, patches, magazines, etc.
Wouldn't even sell it in his shop at first.
He would even sometimes turn away scooters that he thought were too customized.
To his customers, Scooters were a lifestyle, a Scene.
To him, they were just transportation.
As Tiki again comes up in popularity, and becomes more available, there are people who will buy Palm tree motif and Hula girl items at Target, but have no idea that there is a difference between a Tiki and a Totem pole.

http://www.tikiking.com Neat Tiki and Ukulele Stuff
http://www.download.com/tikiking Hear the King sing!

[ Edited by: Tiki King 2008-04-10 12:21 ]

"In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room!"

I can still hear the song and the animatronic birds' clattering beaks. I couldn't care less about anything Disney, but I have always had a primal fascination with moving water and I think there was an impressive use of water in the Tiki Room show. But, there was more to it than that, something I can't put my finger on, and I realized it then as much as today.

Well, whatever. Why analyze it when you could be living it!?

During my childhood (I'm in my 30's now) my Mom and Dad along with our extended family would take one week long vacation in the summer. The only place they wanted to go was Daytona Beach, FL. The only place they would stay is the Aku Tiki Inn. To me, with all the tiki masks in and around the place not to mention the large moai in the front with its glowing red eyes at night :tiki: made it a magical place. Not to mention all of the fun we would have there!

:drink:

Simple for me - I lived in Hawaii for a time (year and a half) as a wee kindergarden lad and then again (3 months) in my "formative years" in Jr. High School.

Ah - how I miss the Monkey Bar in Pearl City!!!!!

My earliest memories of dining at TVs (NYC) are sketchy. My parents went there a lot before I was born and took me there as an infant and a toddler. I have one memory of the wait staff setting up a high chair for me. I have another as a toddler when they'd have me sitting on the Manhattan phone book, which they used back then before they invented booster seats. As a toddler I was fascinated by the primitive-looking decor. Hmmm. Come to think of it, I'm still fascinated by the primitive-looking decor.

My Dad was stationed in Hawaii in WW II and moved to California after the war, I was born in 1955, we lived in a Ain's Modernique home in Mar vista, (Marina Del Rey) My Pop had the back yard looking like a tropical island with feather rock tikis, palms, bamboo and other tropical plants. We vacationed at Shelter Island Inn and many nights I was sipping a virgin Mai Tai at Bali Hai. My folks used to take me along because I would sit quietly and liked sea food...My folks loved tropical themed restaurants, The Polynesian Restaurant in Torrance was like going to Disneyland for me. I grew up surfing and moved up toward Malibu, I lived in my 1958 VW bus at Malibu for a few years, Tikis, and Hawaiiana decorated my van. As life progressed, marriage and children were the main event for years, then I started using tropical plants in a remodel of my back yard...my daughter at 12 wanted to start surfing...then the biggest push happened, I found Hawaiiana on E-bay! I was hooked again, back to 2 tikis a day! In November 2002 I came across Tiki Central and never looked back. In other words, I was doomed from birth! Thanks for letting me tell my story, there were many other influences but these are the biggest.

Nice stroy BB....There was a Polynesian Restaurant on the Redondo Pier too...now it's Old Tony's.

My dad was stationed in Hawaii for about 3 months in WWII also. He said Honolulu was 4 square blocks. He remembers seeing people living in Grass shacks there too.

Sadly, the "bug" never bit him, but, somehow it managed to get me.

SoCal must have been a great place to grow up for Tiki.

I grew up in Orlando. My parents house is very much a Floridian, Caribbean tropical style, not a south seas tropical style (though not too bad for a couple of native Iowans). The farthest west I have been is bumf*ck Texas.
In my late teens and early twenties, I spent a lot of time hanging around Disney property. I tended to spend most of my time, not in the parks, but at the Polynesian and Contemporary Resorts. It is probably the reason why I took to Shag paintings the moment I saw them.
Now why I choose those two resorts to love instead of the Grand Floridian Resort, I couldn't tell you. I think ManFromT.I.K.I. is right, you don't choose tiki . . . tiki chooses you.