Life Magazine Archives

Life Magazine has made their photographic archives available through Google. You can get to it from the following link:

http://images.google.com/hosted/life
(link fixed)

Show us your best Tiki find within the archives. Here's mine from the Beachcomber Restaurant in Chicago:

[ Edited by: SoBeTiki 2008-11-20 09:25 ]

[ Edited by: SoBeTiki 2008-11-20 09:25 ]

Nice photo. Dead link.

Yup.

(Retract that. Bora Boris' post below and subsequent follow-up indicates the link works now...)

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2008-11-20 09:33 ]

Mutiny On The Bounty Filming In Tahiti.

Patrons dining at Trader Vic's.
Location: San Francisco, CA, US
Date taken: September 1955
Photographer: Nat Farbman

The next one isn't Tiki but damn if it ain't a cool building!

Oh dear...

[ Edited by: TikiGardener 2008-11-20 09:42 ]

[ Edited by: TikiGardener 2008-11-20 09:46 ]

Tahiti 1954
Eliot Elisofon

(Scooped by TG! Had to re-post... :))

Mahalo nui, SBT, for this wonderful link to LIFE's fabulous archive!

"Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a Spot,
Where Blowfish all wore sunglasses,
and Tiki-times were hot..."
SOK

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2008-11-20 09:41 ]

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2008-11-20 09:53 ]

SoBeTiki,

This is so cool, thanks for sharing. Here is a nice photo of the Mauna Loa.

Those are live Flamingos by the way!

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2008-11-20 10:13 ]

Rickshaw vehicles used for customers of 'the islander' South Sea Island Restaurant.
Location: Los Angeles, CA, US
Date taken: August 1960
Photographer: Ralph Crane

75-year old woman sipping "Husband Killer" at new Exotic South Sea island-type restaurant called `The Islander'.
Location: Los Angeles, CA, US
Date taken: August 1960
Photographer: Ralph Crane

Listed as Disneyland...

[ Edited by: TikiGardener 2008-11-20 10:41 ]

On 2008-11-20 09:34, TikiGardener wrote:

Patrons dining at Trader Vic's.
Location: San Francisco, CA, US
Date taken: September 1955
Photographer: Nat Farbman

I believe that's Vic B. himself reflected in the float.

Here's Nixon at a luau:

and an old photo from the Polynesian Cultural Centre:

[ Edited by: Slacks Ferret 2008-11-20 10:50 ]

Wow, Scott, that La Cienega Islander color exterior is amazing, with that sign's glowing eyes (see also the BOT opening pages). But how can that shot of the old lady Tiki mugging be owned by both, LIFE and Getty Images? Anyway, that photo is great too, but it also reveals the attitude of the "hip" LIFE photographer, basically making fun of Tiki style, relegating it to the old generation's amusements. Proof again that the cultural elite of the country (which LIFE was part of at the time) did not consider Tiki Style a veritable art form....kind of like today, still, no? :)

Don the Beachcomber - Chicago:

I was wondering where the photographer is in the reflecting float picture! It's a great photo and he was REALLY talented.

Even for professional photographers it was difficult to capture the real atmosphere of these places back then. The emphasis on the ceiling texture is a valiant attempt, but it still is not quite it, now is it:

Note the cannibal carving post which also showed up at the Waikiki Beachcomber:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-11-20 15:23 ]

click for full size picture

Don the Beachcomber, Chicago
June 1952

Check out that lava rock wall!

full size picture here

Manga Reva cocktail, garnished with pineapple & drunk through straws from a coconut shell is a Surf Club specialty.

Miami Beach, FL
February 1940

New Zealand
Photographer: George Silk

I love this site!!

Here are some photos of Henry Kaiser and his Hawaiian Village hotel in Hawaii.

DC

The Rum Pilot Plant storage cabinet where all Puerto Rican brands of rum are kept.

i second that motion

[ Edited by: Coco Joe 2008-11-20 22:16 ]

On 2008-11-20 09:34, TikiGardener wrote:

Patrons dining at Trader Vic's.
Location: San Francisco, CA, US
Date taken: September 1955
Photographer: Nat Farbman

The next one isn't Tiki but damn if it ain't a cool building!

Oh dear...

It just occurred to me that most of the Tiki places that were torn down would still be here if they had just booked "Don A Ho" and most of all featured a "Bottomless Show". There was no longer a bottomless show when the Dunes was torn down. Coincidence? Hell no.

[ Edited by: TikiGardener 2008-11-20 09:42 ]

[ Edited by: TikiGardener 2008-11-20 09:46 ]

I think the photo tag info for this picture is incorrect. It is tagged as Ernie's restaurant, no location, no date.

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=restaurant+source:life&imgurl=3ee3470bfe741a39

You found it!

I looked and looked for this picture in the LIFE archives but made no hits (tropical, rum, Tahitian Pearl...).

In the LIFE Picture Cookbook it's labeled Trader Vic's San Francisco...

In the wild clutter of the oriental and South Sea Images and mementos...Trader Vic's specializes in Polynesian food and drink. Favorite drinks starting with the glass in foreground and reading clockwise, are the Tahitian Pearl, coffee grog, Samoan Fog Cutter, Scorpion for four (with straws), Kamaaina (in coconut) and Mai Tai. All are made with rum.

Just found that this picture made it into the Locating Tiki thread Trader Vic's San Francisco - Cosmo Place, San Francisco, CA.
(In the LIFE Picture Cookbook the picture on the opposite page is of Ernie's in San Francisco which may be why the above photo is tagged "Ernie's".)

woofmutt
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
For inside sentiment see back of package.

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2008-11-23 08:55 ]

Katherine Dunham-Negro Dancer
Dancer Katherine Dunham dances Melanesian love-ritual dance w. other dancers during performance of show "Tropical Revue".
Location: New York, NY, US
Date taken: 1943
Photographer: Gjon Mili

Outside, in the garden, guests sitting on ground, having dinner.
Location: Manila, Philippines
Date taken: May 1958
Photographer: James Burke

Polynesian Culture Center Hawaii
Photographer: Leonard Mccombe

Carved stone figure marking sacred hula grounds in the Typee Valley; part of South Seas photo essay.
Location: Marquesas Island
Date taken: 1955
Photographer: Eliot Elisofon

Carving by Solomon Islands natives, late 1800's.
Location: New York, NY, US
Date taken: February 1957
Photographer: Nina Leen

Catholic missionary, Father Sebastian Englert, standing beside one of the mysterious Easter Island statue heads.
Date taken: April 1965
Photographer: Carl Mydans

Palawan clam shells sold on Basilian Island.
Location: Philippines
Date taken: November 1957
Photographer: James Burke

I always wondered: Are these now practically extinct because of the Polynesian pop craze?
Yet, checking under "Tridacna" on Wikipedia, it seems that, though they have been over-fished in some places, they are still around and commercially raised and farmed...but they sure aren't as cheap as they were back then ! :

http://www.conchking.com/Giant-Clams.htm?gclid=CNnH28DalJgCFRo-awodC2zVng

Yma Sumac, Peruvian Singer
Date taken: August 08, 1950
Photographer: Peter Stackpole

On 2009-01-17 13:41, Bora Boris wrote:

Yma Sumac, Peruvian Singer
Date taken: August 08, 1950
Photographer: Peter Stackpole

Dang, that's a SKULL she's slicing into !!! :o

American nurses & officers clowing around aboard an outrigger canoe in the lagoon of the Tarawa atoll several months after routing Japanese forces in the area.
Location: Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands
Date taken: March 1944
Photographer: J. R. Eyerman

King Kukulele and Polynesiac entertain fellow Parrotheads.
Location: Margaritaville, No Bikini Atoll
Date taken: March 1958

Polynesiac just before slipping in the Poi and injuring his Opakapaka

President Harry S. Truman, arriving in Key West wearing Hawaiian shirt.

[ Edited by: tikipaka 2009-01-18 03:26 ]

Bartender working in bar at Shepheard's Hotel. (Home of the Suffering Bastard)
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Date taken: 1942
Photographer: Bob Landry

Does the caption for the Bikini Atoll party boys mention their names? They look like the Bali Hai boys to me.

Sorry Sven, no names listed. Let me know if this enlargement photo shows their faces better for you to decide?

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=Tarawa+atoll+source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTarawa%2Batoll%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den&imgurl=6031525ee8d37183

Or maybe you already looked?

:lol:

Hi Sven,

Here's the link to the entire set of photos, called Moorea, Paradise Island. I wasn't able to find any info in the captions:

http://images.google.com/images?q=paradise+moorea&q=source%3Alife

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-01-18 10:47 ]

Dang, there are 200 freaking pics of Yma there!

They are all dated August 8, 1950, but I think it unlikely that she did a costume fitting, an English lesson, a photos shoot in the desert, a recording session, and a concert all in the same day... before settling in after a long day to slice open a sheep's head with a butcher knife.

Wow, great resource! If I was drinking something I would've done a spit take when I saw the Moorea Paradise Island pics, because I remember reading the accompanying article in the last year or so. It's incredible, because there are far more pics in the online archive for that than there were in the original article.

Of course, I have no clue which issue it was, in the mountain of Life mags we have, but now I wanna find see if I can find it. I wonder if there's any easy way to find out the issue from the online archive.

Anyway, thanks, hunters and gatherers!

Not tiki, but here's one that caught my eye...

Men playing pool in bowling alley
San Mateo, CA
February 1958

I can't tell for sure, but it looks like it might be Bel-Mateo bowl, which is still standing, and just around the corner from the former Lanai. Today the Bel-Mateo Bowl has the Totem Room, where this billiard room was, if it's in fact the same place.

-Randy

Feel free to issue me a cocktail demerit, but I will stake a claim that this is a picture of the original TV's at 3500 San Pablo in Oakland. Neither the Garden Room bar or the Captain's Cabin bar at Cosmo Place looked remotely like the one pictured. I never ventured upstairs at Cosmo (way too much of a neophyte then) so I can't say so with authority, but I highly doubt Vic would have used the checkered table cloths at his very elegant San Francisco flagship. Not trying to be cranky, but with the number of times "authentic" is bandied about this place, it is good to accurate. Regardless, what a damn cool resource!

Cheers!

On 2008-11-23 08:32, woofmutt wrote:
You found it!

I looked and looked for this picture in the LIFE archives but made no hits (tropical, rum, Tahitian Pearl...).

In the LIFE Picture Cookbook it's labeled Trader Vic's San Francisco...

In the wild clutter of the oriental and South Sea Images and mementos...Trader Vic's specializes in Polynesian food and drink. Favorite drinks starting with the glass in foreground and reading clockwise, are the Tahitian Pearl, coffee grog, Samoan Fog Cutter, Scorpion for four (with straws), Kamaaina (in coconut) and Mai Tai. All are made with rum.

Just found that this picture made it into the Locating Tiki thread Trader Vic's San Francisco - Cosmo Place, San Francisco, CA.
(In the LIFE Picture Cookbook the picture on the opposite page is of Ernie's in San Francisco which may be why the above photo is tagged "Ernie's".)

woofmutt
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
For inside sentiment see back of package.

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2008-11-23 08:55 ]

Could this be King Kukulele's Grandfather?

I just discovered the Life Magazine archive while trying to search for the Don the Beachcomber photo that is used in Jeff Berry's article that was in Caribbean magazine. Well, I found a ton of amazing California Beach photos along with the ones posted here already!

Scan from January 3, 1948 Life magazine:
Tatha Om Ahbez was born Oct. 9th to songwriter Eden Ahbez
(Nature Boy) and wife Anna. Tatha means "Fully Enlightened One."
His nickname: Zoma.

All of Life Magazine's full issues are also archived

For example a Tahitian issue

http://books.google.com/books?id=61MEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Richard Chamberlain going native at a Tahitian Beach Party for MGM Contract Players.

South Seas, March 04 1954 - Photographer: Eliot Elisofon.

I was looking for a particular image and figured this was worth a bump.