The Beachcomber, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (restaurant)

Name:The Beachcomber
Type:restaurant
Street:10138-100A Street
City:Edmonton, Alberta
State:
Zip:
country:Canada
Phone:422-5126
Status:defunct

Description:
The Beachcomber opened at the end of October, 1963. I'm told it was owned by Zane Feldman who was the first owner of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team (he passed away earlier this year). I have only the vaguest memory of this place from my one and only visit shortly before it was bulldozed in July, 1980 to make way for a bank tower. I remember crossing a small bridge at the entrance, and that's about it -- I certainly don't recall the marvellous decor in the pictures below. I'm sure emspace will have a thing or two to add.

Note the carving on the pillar, far right -- a woman's naked body with a tiki head (?). There's a black velvet wahine on the wall, right. The tables have lamps with tiki bases and wooden (?) tiki salt & pepper shakers.

-Sweet Daddy Tiki

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2010-01-14 16:01 ]

I have something to add right away: THANK YOU SWEET DADDY TIKI! These images are wonderful. I knew it was lavish inside due to hazy childhood memories as well as the description on the menu fartsatune gave me. I pictured it a bit darker - and it may very well have been when it wasn't set up for promo shots. I hope we can locate an exterior shot some day - I'm pretty certain the "blockhead Tiki" was also a big sculpture at the entrance, along with some nice carving on/around the doors.

aloha and mahalo,
emspace.

Wow, this would've been the closest Tiki bar to me geographically (that I'm aware of). Too bad I missed it by 23 yrs.

Sure, there is a "tiki" bar here in Calgary...if you can call it that. Maybe I'll go take some photos of it and post them here so we can all share a laugh.

On 2003-10-03 00:18, Slacks Ferret wrote:
Maybe I'll go take some photos of it and post them here so we can all share a laugh.

Do it man! I'm serious, I need to know whether it's worth a visit...if not maybe you, me, SDT, and coconutz can all meet in Edmonton some day. Or at the James Joyce for a Guinness...

:)
emspace

On 2003-10-07 21:44, emspace wrote:

maybe you, me, SDT, and coconutz can all meet in Edmonton some day.

You can add Tiki A. Moaikingbird to that list -- my friend I've been bugging to join up. He finally did, tho' he hasn't posted yet.

Do it man! I'm serious, I need to know whether it's worth a visit...if not maybe you, me, SDT, and coconutz can all meet in Edmonton some day. Or at the James Joyce for a Guinness...

I promise to get something up soon. I'm gonna take my camera and try to get some photos. My biggest problem is my camera is not digital. Oh yeah, and I'm not really motivated to go back real soon...

Seriously, the Bamboo Room isn't terrible. It even has some tikis in it. It just seems so...sparse.
It could have been so much more kitschy (which, I'll admit, is what attracted me to tiki culture in the first place). There's just not enough eye candy. Everything seems...NEW. And you can forget about getting a drink in a tiki mug. Nothing here refers back to tiki's glory days.

I really need to post some photos so you can see what I mean. Right now I'm feeling like a big snob. But you'll see what I mean once you get photos.

Still, in a pinch, the Bamboo Room is better than nothing. It just would've been so great if they just filled the space with more tiki-ness. sigh

This monkeypod tiki just arrived from Edmonton today. The lady I bought it from said it came from the estate of a woman that owned the "Polynesian Beachcomber" in Edmonton. She also sold some unusual mugs on ebay that I didn't buy. I really like this tiki because it is a female, and I have never seen one like it.

Of course, six of you will now tell me you have one that is identical to it.

Well, I don't and I would like to, that' beautiful.

Woohoo, it was YOU Geoff! Congrats, I am happy for you man. Now, about that LP project - check yer email...

:)
em.

On 2003-10-10 12:23, Kailuageoff wrote:

Of course, six of you will now tell me you have one that is identical to it.

Hello everyone. Pardon me for piping up here without having introduced myself first. I've been lurking here for awhile and just registered recently with the intention of posting when I had come up with something suitably witty or edifying to say. But I had to comment that, although not in hand at the moment, I am indeed supposed to have a tiki identical to this one on the way to me. I was the one who won the auction for this tiki on ebay that just ended a couple of days ago. So I must admit to some confusion. Was there another auction for one of these? Or did you buy one directly from someone else? Just curious but also a little concerned I guess, since I don't actually have it yet. Or concerned that there are dozens of these around. I'd appreciate it if you would let me know. Thanks.

Randy

Randy, the seller had two of those tikis up on ebay, and a whole schwack of other stuff from the Beachcomber purchased at an estate sale. i've been kicking myself almost daily that I missed that estate sale, but I'm starting to get over it.

On 2003-10-10 23:24, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:
Randy, the seller had two of those tikis up on ebay, and a whole schwack of other stuff from the Beachcomber purchased at an estate sale.

Thanks for answering. I can't believe that I missed the auction for the other one since I unquestionably have an OCD about checking ebay every day for any vintage tikis. And Shag stuff. And hula nodders. And tiki mugs. And somebody help me, please! Maybe I did just introduce myself. Probably not much more to tell.

Randy

Here's another photo. Taken Nov. 15, 1967:

Betty Bouffant doesn't look too happy.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2008-04-21 15:14 ]

Betty Bouffant is P.O.'d that she has to go to dinner with Casper Milquetoast!

On 2003-11-13 20:02, tikifish wrote:
Betty Bouffant is P.O.'d that she has to go to dinner with Casper Milquetoast!

His posture's as bad as mine! :)

Here's another for all the curious:

emspace,

That photo is remarkable. Is that a postcard?

I'll try to post pictures of the matchbook soon.

Sabu

That, dear Sabu, is a small resize of a scan of an 8 x 12 print, taken from a transparency in the City of Edmonton Archives. I wish like hell I could find a postcard. Moreover, there are swizzlesticks out there somewhere featuring the "blockhead Tiki" mascot seen on the menus. Glad you enjoyed it, it is a sweet photo, and it was a sweet restaurant. Drinks were served in Tiki mugs, the walls and ceiling were thick with Tiki as you have seen - a classic place at 53 degrees N. latitude, where Tiki was most desperately needed!

aloha,
em.

Aw man that place is SWEET!
Brings a tear to me eye, it does.

On 2003-10-08 21:33, Slacks Ferret wrote:
I promise to get something up soon. I'm gonna take my camera and try to get some photos. My biggest problem is my camera is not digital. Oh yeah, and I'm not really motivated to go back real soon...

I can get access to a digital camera if we wanted to do a Calgary meet-up! We can show off both the minimalist wonder and our mugs (as in, our faces, since Bamboo doesn't have any mugs...) in one shot :)

You forgot to mention the House, Trance and Urban music that they play there too... Brr...

Hey Enchanted,

Sounds good, we should meet up at Bamboo. I was there about 2 months ago and took some photos to post, but alas, I loaded the film incorrectly...god I suck.

Anyway, the manager is a friend of one of my friends, so I was shown the place even though it was closed. He was kind enough to answer my questions and let me ake photos. He may even be open to suggestions. My friend told me that they do have tiki mugs there, however in what kind of capacity, i have no idea...

-Slacks

I've restored all the photos of the Beachcomber to my posts. And here's the photo of the exterior that was in emspace's post:

Sweet Daddy, I can re-add that photo to his post if you like?

That's right, as moderator/goddess you have the power to mess with mere mortal's posts, don't you? As you see fit, TW.

Wow! Thank you for restoring those photos, Sweet Daddy T! I wish I was born about 30 years earlier. Actually, I wish this place stayed open about 30 years later. Where was that? That must be Rice Howard Way, going by the address. I might as well add these photos to this thread. Sorry about the 2nd, out-of-focus pic.

I've got a couple of these swizzle sticks myself , though I never had the pleasure of the first hand drink in that awsome place !

hi-

i have just recently won some red and some blue paddle swizzles on ebay for the beachcomber, like those pictured above......i did however miss out on some of the other colors and a different style tiki swizzle from the same tiki bar.....

if anyone here was one of the other folks that won those auctions and would like to trade me one or two of their swizzles for one or 2 of mine please p.m. me.....i am trying to get at least one of each color of the paddles and one each of the smaller tiki ones......i'm missing the green and yellow paddle and have none of the red green or yellow little tiki swizzles.....

thanks!!

so I have won some yellow and red paddles....and have some little red tiki toothpics!
also A copy of the food and the drink menue!
Funny how ya gotta win em on ebay but at least the last seller was from the city anyway !....
pm me if ya wanna trade colors as I dont have any green or blue!
( boy are we a bunch of nerds huh ? lol)

Sweet Daddy Tiki,

It is great to see all of the old Beachcomber photos back in this post, thanks for that.

I just picked up the drink menu from The Beachcomber in Edmonton.

Here is the front of the menu.

Here are a couple of close ups from the drink menu. Great illustrations.

I also have this cocktail pick from The Beachcomber.

DC

here is what I have to add!


and I just won some napkins on ebay as well .....
Just found this !

[ Edited by: TIKIVILLE 2009-05-05 12:49 ]

[ Edited by: TIKIVILLE 2009-05-29 12:43 ]

found this at the library in the old phone books!

Tikiville,

Great ad! Interesting to see that the Beachcomber also borrowed the tiki mask/torch/shield design from the Leilani for the ad copy.

Did you find any other phone book ads for other unknown Tiki restaurants? If so, add them to the Canadian Tiki thread.

Thanks

DC

Cool find there TikiVille!!
I bet there are a few more Ads in those books to be found. Almost every year the Beachcomber was here in Vancouver there was an Ad for it. Most of the Ads were the same designs though. I found quite a few different restaurants that were tropical in name when I went through a bunch of old phone books so who knows what you may find. Keep hunting!!

This Ad you posted is really cool as it has their logo Tiki drawn on the left side and then an obviously copied piece of art from another Tiki establishment.
Great Ad!!
What year did you get this one out of??
I am thinking it is an early one as it is quite original for the Beachcombers Ads (Even though they did copy some of their art). I mean, most of the Ad's are the same with the logo Tiki on them.

I gotta say DC, your idea of the Leilani is close but I gotta say it's much more like the Kon Tiki Sign from Tucson, Arizona:

It has the same style of Mask, Torches, and the background even has the same cross-like style. Less of course the Kon Tiki name!
Guess the Beachcombers artist either paid a visit or saw a menu or something from the Kon Tiki.

Mahalo, TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2010-01-14 15:18 ]

On 2010-01-14 15:10, TabooDan wrote: Less of course the Kon Tiki name!
Guess the Beachcombers artist either paid a visit or saw a menu or something from the Kon Tiki.

Yeah, like this one:

Aaah, I'm so proud of my Urban Archeologists, ping-ponging each other! :D

This menu rendering has been in use there until fairly recently (still is?), in various color combinations. I even got a T-shirt with it there.

I stand corrected, the Kon Tiki it is. Thanks for the clarrification. What did Uncle Trav call that? The Tiki Transmission Tradition!

Sven that sounds like a cool shirt, post it on Zeta's T-Shirt thread.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2010-01-14 16:26 ]

"The Chain of Tiki Transmission", also....(a term I took from the Sufis), as a more polite term than "Rip Off" for the re-use of a logo Tiki from restaurant to restaurant

Ouh man, the T-shirt thread, that's a whole PROJECT in my closet.

Here is another table card and the matchbook I received from TabooDan to add to the thread. I wonder why more mugs from these locations don't show up?

I've never seen a mug labeled for The Beachcomber. From this photo, it looks like they at least used a coconut mug and a PMP Peanut mug:

Their drink menu shows these and a few more interesting-looking mugs, the likes of which I've never seen in the wild. My guess is that their mugs weren't marked in any way for the Beachcomber. For all I know, one or two in my collection could very well have come from there. It's too bad - that's probably the only thing that separates them from most of the famous American Tiki temples. I've yet to find any trace of the wooden S&Ps that were found on every table, although I believe SDT managed to get his hands on one of those lamps!

OH BOY!!!!

( found in a "BILLY'S GUIDE" Edmonton hand out magazine 1975)

Here is a napkin from the Beachcomber.

And another ad from Edmonton.

It just struck me that the Beachcomber Tiki looks a little like the Popular Mechanics hobbyist Tiki!

DC

i just saw the motherload of items from the beachcomber today. i need help from people in edmonton. i saw at storage locker of most of the items that we must save. there are all the tables and chairs in the pictures. there are 3 large tikis including the one in the file photo on this thread. i purchased another. there are lamps, mugs, a giant sea shell, floats everything. people please read this to save these items

I picked up a couple table lamps , a chair and a glass float ... Saw the statues and he had 2 both are way overpriced though ,
Sad about it I really would've loved to get one
The situation being that somebody told the seller ( after their purchase ) that they didn't know what they had and were selling too cheap smooth move ... So his prices went up to an almost unaffordable range .
So the stuff that's been in storage for 30 years may sit a little longer unless somebody with deep pockets comes along ,
Can't express my disappointment enough , I wasn't there to cheat him just give what he had a good home
Well that's the cut throat world of hunting I guess ....

Okay here is the story. A storage locker was put on Kijiji Alberta last weekend. All stuff from the Edmonton Beachcomber which closed in the late seventies or early 80's.
Full of chairs, tables, some mugs, table lamps, and fish floats. Oh and four big Tikis. I took what I could afford but there are still 3 very cool and vintage tikis left for someone.
When I found out I said to myself I must be having a great dream, this does not happen. A virtual time capsule. Everything was dirty but in good shape. The mugs are in mint shape wrapped in newspaper from 1975

The 2 Tikis here are 6 feet tall and weight around 400 lbs

Wowsers! That's the big Maori style Tiki from the archives photo.

The Kijiji ad says everything's sold except tables and chairs. Is the locker in Edmonton or Calgary?

It was all in Edmonton and all from that Beachcomber. All from the Late 60's or early 70's. I can not believe I walked away with out one of those Tiki's. They were massive. 400 lbs or more I bet.


What do you think the lamps would go for on ebay? There are just the 2 parts and no glass which is easy to find.

Hey Kilaueakyd,

Some Beachcomber stuff turned up at the antique mall this week. I bought this lamp and mug:

The lamp was $65. I jumped on it at that price because the last one I saw on eBay (also from the Edmonton Beachcomber) went for over $200.

Too bad you didn't buy one of the big tikis. I would have helped you carry it :)

A great score indeed Mike. I have a couple I am going to put on Ebay soon. I am also going to sell some of the Vintage Bamboo mugs for anyone interested.

I did some research on the Mugs and met the artist Dave that made them. He said the were done in the early seventies. I asked if they had any lead in them and he said no they knew about lead by then and had never used it in their products. He said the molds got thrown out years ago, too bad. He told me the markings on the bottom were on newer versions only. The feds started to insist on it he said.

They came in this box addressed to the Beachcomber Edmonton. All mugs were wrapped in Calgary Hearld newspapers from 1975.