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Tiki History - South Seas, Boston

Pages: 1 36 replies

Z
ZuluMagoo posted on 11/03/2004

Here are some scans from an oversize postcard from the South Seas Restaurant & Lounge in Boston, Mass. and Hartford, Conn.

I thought I remembered a previous thread about this place, but I couldn't find it.

[ Edited by: ZuluMagoo 2006-12-30 08:51 ]

STCB
Sabu The Coconut Boy posted on 11/03/2004

Zulu -

That postcard is awesome! Never seen that one before. All I've got is the matchbook. I dig those fernwood tikis. Wonder where they got so many?

Sabu

T
tikigreg posted on 11/03/2004

I always wondered where the South Seas in West Hartford was located, since I live less than 20 minutes away. This is what resides there now:

http://www.maxrestaurantgroup.com/locations/oyst_index.php

[ Edited by: tikigreg 2006-12-30 09:27 ]

B
bigbrotiki posted on 11/03/2004

As always Zulu, a fine find!

Didn't we once make a thread with the most searched after postcards? Meaning interior/exterior shots of lost Tiki palaces that SHOULD exist out there?

Like the Mainlander in St.Louis....and has there been an interior of the Islander Stockton found yet?

Then again, some places just didn't seem to see the necessity in having paper items made. I remember when I went to photograph the Hala Kahiki with James T.:
We got all excited when the owner told us that they were going to open a time capsule they had planted in the 70s in one of the bar posts, but to our (well conceiled) dissapointment the napkin, matchbook and swizzle it produced were generic!
There is only one Hala Kahiki matchbook design I know, and it seems to be the only branded item they ever produced (apart from having their name on mugs).

So we might be lookin', but if it was never made, it ain't there. But this is part of the fun: You never know!

P
puamana posted on 11/03/2004

Thanks for posting pics of that postcard ! I had wondered what the interior of the restaurant looked like. Here's a few menus from the South Seas, both from 1969 :

Dinner menu :

Cocktail menu:

TW
Trader Woody posted on 11/03/2004

On 2004-11-03 15:39, puamana wrote:
Here's a few menus from the South Seas, both from 1969 :

Dinner menu :

Wow, love those graphics. They remind me of the elaborate tiled walls of some of the Spanish Tiki bars, which, I assume, were done in the early 70's. Interesting to see how Tiki design went through the artistic styles of the age.

Trader Woody

L
Lukeulele posted on 12/30/2006

Found this recently.

ALSO:
I heard there was an "Islander" in Manchester, CT. Does anyone have any info on this?

JC
Jeff Central posted on 12/30/2006

Abstract Tiki at its finest!!

This is what Picasso's Polynesian restaurant menus would look like!

I would love to see the interior shots again. ZuluMagoo? Anyone? Looks like the original pics are gone.

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

B
bigbrotiki posted on 12/30/2006

The South Seas' fine menu cover is of course an excellent example of, and will be found in, TIKI MODERN...thanks to puamana!

Z
ZuluMagoo posted on 12/30/2006

I fixed the broken pic links from Shutterfly and moved the photos over to the TC server, now they won't get lost.

Only 328 broken Shutterfly links left to repair (SIGH!!!)

[ Edited by: ZuluMagoo 2006-12-30 08:59 ]

G
GatorRob posted on 12/30/2006

Thank you Zulu for taking the time to fix the broken images! The wealth of these posts is often in the pictures and without them, they are a terrible tease to new readers.

JC
Jeff Central posted on 12/30/2006

GREAT!!

Thanks ZuluMagoo. Much appreciated. The pictures are very nice!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

M
mzoltarp posted on 01/01/2007

Loved the coctail menu. Gave me some great ideas for creating one for my backyard tiki garden bar.

U
UtopianDreem posted on 08/23/2007

Here's a pic of the South Seas storefront on the CT History Online webpage.

T
Tiki-Kate posted on 09/19/2008

It's truly fabulous to find a great old thread with the pictures still intact. Oh how I love those menu graphics.

I picked up this match cover recently.

B
bigbrotiki posted on 09/19/2008

Hey, it's that Trader Vic's/De Young Tiki, in a nicely stylized version!:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=24081&forum=1&start=0

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-09-18 22:37 ]

BK
Big Kahuna posted on 05/16/2009

Found a mug from the South Seas/Hawaiian:

D
Dustycajun posted on 10/13/2011

All of the matchbooks, mugs, menus, ashtrays, etc. from the South Seas reference two locations.

Boston and West Hartford.

We also know that the Hawaiian was affiliated with the South Seas from Big Kahuna's mug.

Could there have been another South Seas???? YES!

I picked up this postcard from a third South Seas located in New Haven.

The cool thing about this one is that the sign font matched the cool abstract logo on all of the ephemera.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/4e962bd6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=a054de3bbf18ffd1a9df63b5cc68849a

Here is a different version of the sign from the New Haven location.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/4e962b92.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=53fe1bc75bbf926d68909b91357dd19a

Now we need to find a shot of the Boston sign.

DC

BK
Big Kahuna posted on 10/13/2011

Nice work DC.

D
Dustycajun posted on 10/13/2011

Thanks Big Kahuna. Always nice to find a new place.

I did a little more digging and found another partial picture of the Hartford South Seas sign. It looks like the larger two tiered sign with the palm tree has been removed and all that is left is one just like the New Haven sign.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/4e966c36.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=dbf06ad28be4ade03ba150b3a513a017

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/4e966c50.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=a6520624fd8819d54bfb3fd721421ad0

If you compare the photos, you can see that the adjacent Hartford Federal Savings also changed signs, most likely due to a downtown sign ordinance.

While we are updating the thread, lets ad Rev Thumper's awesome swizzles from the South Seas and the Hawaiian.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/4e966db5.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d4a6d084a426810c5250f690eeef37ba

DC

BK
Big Kahuna posted on 10/13/2011

Oooo! I've got a couple of the South Seas swizzles, but I've never seen that one from The Hawaiian.

D
Dustycajun posted on 11/10/2011

And here's the yellow version of the very cool South Seas swizzle courtesy of a trade with Big Kahuna on his recent trip to the Rumpus Room.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/4ebb4449.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=a521bc199c11a41b640b86b0b6f1978a

Thanks BK.

DC

D
Dustycajun posted on 03/24/2012

Ok, so I just got this really great picture from the South Seas in Boston. It shows a waitress, Mai Chin, with THE signature Tiki that was obviously the inspiration for the mod menu art.

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Now the story on the back of the photo gets more interesting. The photo and news article were published in an attempt to recover a second matching female Tiki that was STOLEN!!

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DC

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Sumyumgai posted on 12/17/2012

I can't believe a site like this exists. I actually found information about my uncle and fathers restaurants here. Amazing!

B
bigbrotiki posted on 12/17/2012

Great find with that photo, DC, I had missed that post previously.

D
Dustycajun posted on 04/20/2013

Thinking of Boston with a heavy heart...

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A nice double ad from simpler times with the South Seas and The Hawaiian.

DC

BK
Big Kahuna posted on 05/14/2014

Matchbook & swizzle I picked up, today.
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Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/6956/5373ef91.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=e0f8c9a70a298c33bcbc6143dc203753

D
Dustycajun posted on 06/11/2014

BK,

Nice Swizzle from the Hartford location! Is that your only one? (trade?)

Found an article from the opening of the Hartford location dated November 1961.

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More on the opening, the place sounds pretty cool.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/5397d482.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c409d08642b95cccfb86806350df672e

DC

D
Dustycajun posted on 09/23/2014

Red South Seas swizzle.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/5420b8b8.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=335b0bf081a7c6bd29c9077bee482529

And telephone book ad with the South Pacific.

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DC

D
Dustycajun posted on 11/27/2014

I picked up a couple of matchbooks from the South Seas that show the three locations.

One from West Hartford.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/5476953c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=8bdfb66fdbbb50b49a3e31f746212f98Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/54769537.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=2826a60de3ef9c42e0a5eec530448f2aImage Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/54769540.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=58433b6f30c7ad6066b9a7826f945462

And this one from New Haven.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/5476959f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d559a3c54e77a1cfdd51c172e026b4ecImage Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/5476959b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=6d4ed6d5b094739e5ef3fa69f4898b49Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/54769596.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=eace768e13ec49da85e1f824e8f49f4b

Also found this great photo of the sign from the West Hartford location.

Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/8169/5476950b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=077c55f0cd0c7fe376a9fea9fdd96751

DC

BK
Big Kahuna posted on 12/06/2014

Nice detective work, as always, DC!

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Sumyumgai posted on 04/05/2015

any chance of getting a scan of the Hawaiin restaurant menu???

TP Image Missing: https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/12da09821bc86e7471acb9888854b6e6?d=blank&s=192&fit=fill
The Professor posted on 03/24/2022

Having fun going through this old thread, and was disappointed to see that the images of the South Seas menus are no longer accessible. I am posting images from my menus, since the artwork is amazing. They don't seem to be available anywhere else on TC, and they belong in the archives.

Dinner menu (as seen in Tiki Modern, p. 43):

IMG_8896Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/85107/623bb4777e0df.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=13977bcbb0cec4486dc60e1cffcdd1d0

IMG_8898Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/85107/623bb47d2c65d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3bf471c2e4b88e6d0ac1842dde0f19bf

IMG_8897Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/85107/623bb49f6ac3c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=adf672322453e5d299b76a2debc66ac3

Cocktail Menu:

IMG_8899Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/85107/623bb4de079a1.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c247388817b745498506355129ef26f0

IMG_8900Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/85107/623bb4e2e9ec4.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=5854a82758e50f9b3c150de724e9f37f

IMG_8903Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/85107/623bb4ea928ef.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=1c9ed6db8d9cd56b37637e8647bf695b

[ Edited by The Professor on 2022-03-23 17:05:23 ]

T Image Missing: https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e60dcf1c2dbbf6ab1b56a5f31ba910e9?d=blank&s=192&fit=fill

Adding photos of a mug I found to this very old threadIMG_8039Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/19540/65121362b3a7c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=561f94afa29084c3f82d64287ef01962IMG_8038Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/19540/65121362cd35e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=4457d56fe3bc7e7818aee93965fc6fcb

[ Edited by traderjeff on 2023-09-25 16:10:34 ]

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bamalamalu posted on 09/27/2023

Wow, great find!

OGR Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/11023/65676d78c1dd4.jpg?sharp=10&fit=crop&w=96&h=96&s=126f000780613ee9f91a4bbdfb7ddcc5
Or Got Rum? posted on 09/28/2023

Sweet...great Grab

OGR Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/11023/65676d78c1dd4.jpg?sharp=10&fit=crop&w=96&h=96&s=126f000780613ee9f91a4bbdfb7ddcc5
Or Got Rum? posted on 09/28/2023

Sweet...great Grab

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