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Tiki Central / Collecting Tiki

Vintage Trader Vic's Aloha Shirt

Pages: 1 17 replies

I found this today. Can anyone shed some (port) light on the date of this shirt? Was this for staff or for sale to the public?

Hey FZ!

If I'm not mistaken, I think this shirt is known as the "Golden Ticket" shirt.
That is, any time you wear it into a Trader Vic's, all your drinks are free.

Or maybe not.
F

What a beautiful shirt!
My guess is 60's or very early 70's possibly? Great find!

On 2009-05-02 20:28, Formikahini wrote:

all your drinks are free.

Or maybe not.
F

why must you torture me so?

-Z

1

Don't believe I have seen this Trader Vic shirt before...far out print for sure.
Where did you find this gem??

Thrift Store. I think it's a size medium... to small for me :(

T

Since there was no Trader Vic's in the Bahamas, I think Trader Vic's was the name of a shirt company, and does not have anthing to do with the Trader Vic's restaurants.

Are you sure, I can't see a corporation like Trader Vic's allowing some clothing company to produce clothing under their name without shutting them down. I've seen knitwear under the same label, perhaps some sort of clothing side project.

L

You could just send an email to TV from their website and ask if there was ever a location there. Or perhaps they planned on having one there and then it didn't work out.

On 2009-05-06 11:52, TikiHula wrote:
Since there was no Trader Vic's in the Bahamas, I think Trader Vic's was the name of a shirt company, and does not have anthing to do with the Trader Vic's restaurants.

Aah! An interesting theory! But....how can you be so certain? I have read that from 1954 to 1976 Trader Vic's opened an average of two restaurants a year, that's 44 locations. Do you have all those accounted for?

For example, the T.V. franchise in St.Petersburg, Florida opened in 1972 and closed in 1976. So Nassau might have been even shorter lived. Plus I don't think that anyone in such a tourist mecca such as the Bahamas would dare to steal the name of such a well known giant in the hotel industry at the time.

Wait, seen on KNITWEAR!? I see, the label could be interpreted as "Made in Nassau, Bahamas, expressly for Trader Vic's" ! This might have been manufactured for the Trader Vic's GIFT STORES then. And it makes sense to have that done in the posh Bahamas, it would match the country club clientele of the Trader.

1

I have seen several other Trader Vics shirts in the past with that label.
I believe these shirts were made for Trader Vics by a mfg. located in the
Bahamas in the 60's and 70's .

T

Looks like I stand corrected...

On 2009-05-06 13:30, bigbrotiki wrote:

Wait, seen on KNITWEAR!? I see, the label could be interpreted as "Made in Nassau, Bahamas, expressly for Trader Vic's" ! This might have been manufactured for the Trader Vic's GIFT STORES then. And it makes sense to have that done in the posh Bahamas, it would match the country club clientele of the Trader.

I think your closer with GIFT STORE based in Nassau as the Scots Bonnet I used to own had a label that said "MADE IN ENGLAND EXPRESSLY FOR TRADER VIC'S NASSAU, BAHAMAS". Was Trader Vic's not involved in a Golf Resort in Nassau?

This planet's deep mysteries are so perplexing, sometimes!

J
JonPez posted on Sun, Jun 6, 2010 5:28 PM

I found this one recently. Any news on whether there was actually a Trader Vic's in Nassau?

On 2010-06-06 17:28, JonPez wrote:
I found this one recently. Any news on whether there was actually a Trader Vic's in Nassau?

Well if THIS store can use the name..

....I don't see why a shirt maker in the Bahamas can't. :)

J
JonPez posted on Sun, Jun 6, 2010 8:35 PM

On 2010-06-06 20:26, bigbrotiki wrote:

Well if THIS store can use the name..

....I don't see why a shirt maker in the Bahamas can't. :)

I think I had a drink there. Very strong, with too much falernum. The swizzle stick was rusty :wink:

Trader Vic's shirt. I guess they sold them in the gift shop? I searched online, found nothing like it. I did find out on a Vintage clothing site that "Paradise Hawaii" used that style tag in the 60's.

I don't wanna assume that just because the tag is made in honolulu that they were automatically sold in the Hawaii location, but...seems likely right?

Pages: 1 17 replies