Under the influence

One of my favorite things about TC is when an old thread gets dug up by a new member who has memories of one of the many long gone places documented here. It just goes to show how a Tiki themed restaurant or business influenced folks back in the day. Allot of the posts are by people who remember a special night out for dinner as a young kid. Most of the restaurants back in the heyday of Polynesian pop catered to adults so to be allowed into the realm of an adult night out must have had a big effect on the kids. A night out was an event to be remembered for a long time, a thing I think people are jaded to these days. Some posts are from family members or employees of restaurant owners looking for pieces of the past. Some of these folks have allot to add to the history of a location and help fill in the empty spaces of it's history. Other's post a short memory and are never heard from again. I always enjoy the memories that people have of these places even after a visit as a kid forty years past that no postcard or menu cover can capture. I think this quote from Sven's Book Of Tiki by Karl Woermann says it all "Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream". Goes to show that after years and years some folks are still under the influence of Tiki and don't even know it.

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2010-10-03 05:32 ]

Uncle Trav, it's one on my favorite things to! Urban Archeology is not only fun but it provides a public service to the community. I have received many letters from "non-Tiki people" wanting information on this or that or just wanting to talk nostalgic about their favorite old restaurant. So many times when I have mentioned the Islander to people they get a big smile and they light up with fond memories running through their head.

Last week I got this letter in the mail;

"Back in 1975, I married a man from San Bruno, Ca. - who took my family one time to a Tiki sort of restaurant in San Mateo. They served drinks called Side Winders. In a big brandy snifter type glass. He died last month and I found a picture at this restaurant that a photographer - who walked around the restaurant - took of our whole family. I can't remember the name of the place. But when I saw your write-up's here, I thought it looks the same, the chairs, etc.
Someone in the family told me they thought it was the Tiki Room in San Mateo, but your website mentions the name Castaway. Do you know ?"

Well i new right away it was most likely the Castaway or the Lanai. I found a Menu for the Lanai and spotted the Sidewinder on it. Then tracked down a bunch of pictures from the place and sent them all to her. She was so happy.

One of the unique qualities of mid-century Tiki culture is indeed that a lot of people experienced it in the guise of a special event, either a birthday, or graduation, or somethig like that, so most often it is associated with a pleasurable memory.

I chose the quote using the "feverish dream" metaphor not only because it well describes the obesession that Tiki collectors like us feel today when on a hunt, but also because at the time of my BOT research in the 1990s, the term "Tiki" had completely dissappeared from public consciousness (in fact it had never been used to describe above experiences). Even worse, Tiki restaurants themselves had become so extinct for so many years that indeed, for many people the memory of above mentioned experiences had become so pale that they were unsure if they had really happened, or, if they just had been a FEVERISH DREAM.

Once I shared my materials with them, memories started flooding back and they were happy to be confirmed in the fact that these events had actually happened.

i would suggest that since alcoholic libations were an integral part of the experience as well, that might have attributed to the foggy memories of the adults who had had these tiki experiences.