The Castaways, Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL (restaurant)

Dr. Coruba,

Great info on Stanley, what a character.

Here is another cool night shot from a postcard I have.

A better pic of the table topper featuring the Pool Bar and Stanley that was posted before.

And a few feature matchbooks I have seen online.

DC

I got this very early postcard of the Wreck Bar trimmed in bamboo..

If you look at the back wall, you can see some Tiki masks. First time I have spotted a Tiki at the Castaways.

DC

A later version of the Wreck Bar. Groovy, man.

DC

Here is a brochure showing the Polynesian waterfall on Fairyland Island and the Fountain Room.

It appears that the Shinto Room was renamed at some point to the Fountain Room.

DC

Great view of that building from the pool!

Swanky,

Great photos of the Shinto Room building. Nice find. That last one really gives some perspective of the cool layout and the great entrance!

Another Wreck Bar ad.

Madd Maids in Cages, Oh My!
DC

here's a neat thing my mom saved and gave me recently...

i was born in miami beach and have been heavily into tiki since i was a kid.

there's NO QUESTION the Castaways and the Luau on 79th St Causeway were two HUGE influences on my fragile egg-shell mind as a lifelong love of tiki.

it's funny how different times are now. our parents had no problem dropping us off at the Castaways alone for the afternoon as they had a huge indoor swimming poor right next to the Shinto Temple and Wreck Bar. it had massive "stained-glass-style" fiberglass wall panels around the pool that let in amazing colored natural light. keeping with the poly-asian theme, there were incredible chinese dragons for each panel.

between the incredible looking, no-kids-allowed, bars and the pool, you can imagine what effect that would have on a seven year old.

anyhow, here's my attempt to tell my mother what an amazing day we had! (also funny that i'm still lazy when i draw!)

That is awesome! Thanks for sharing Tiki1963!

Thanks also Dusty Cajun for updating this thread on a regular basis and Swanky for the great stuff you posted this morning. :D

Great thread, everyone! Here’s another reason to like the Castaways Hotel… it is the handiwork of two architects that created the best of mid-century Fort Lauderdale, the Yankee Clipper and the Mai-Kai. As pointed out by DustyCajun in the Las Vegas Castaways thread, Miami architect Tony Sherman designed the original Miami Beach Castaways located on the oceanside. He was also the architect for Bob Gill’s Jolly Roger and Yankee Clipper hotels, as well as the original Las Vegas Tropicana Hotel. But, as we learn from the article below, Charles McKirahan, architect of the Mai-Kai, designed the signature Fairyland Island portion of the Miami Beach Castaways in a 1957 expansion of the complex. There's also a bizarre connection with someone who isn’t among the usual suspects for mid-century Poly pop temples, contemporary Fox News pundit, Bill O’Reilly...

Tropic Florida Living & Design December 2012

-Tom

There are brief drive-by views of the Castaways hotel starting about 12 seconds into this Wolfson Archives video of Miami Beach in the early 1970s.

-Tom

Tom,

Nice video. That airplane banner at the beginning of the video is also advertising the Luau restaurant.

DC

From a large folding brochure.

bye-bye.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLNbNGAlIlI

howlinowl

Castaways in this video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSAOmx_2c4

howlinowl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIlMlW22guo

howlinowl

We were very excited recently to discover this new 1976 view of the Wreck Bar. The 70s took its toll, especially with those swag lights:

It probably should be noted on this thread that The Castaways was designed by the same architect who designed the Mai-Kai, Charles McKirahan. It seems like most everything we love about Modern South Florida sprang from his mind: the Sea Shore resort, Ireland's Inn, the Bay Harbor Continental, etc. Too many of them gone! Who's got the time machine this week?

[ Edited by: mike and marie 2015-03-18 20:06 ]

M & M,

I have two oversized postcards from that 70's era of decline.

First one shows the entrance sign.

Another view of the Wreck Bar in a state of well...wreckage!

The back of the card still shows decent graphics.

Interesting signature on the back, it looks like these were home made by Danny, the guy in the motel print shop.

DC

Nice stuff, DC. The late 60s / early 70s party til 5am has taken a toll on the old Wreck Bar -- you can tell they even had to reupholster all the bar stools. And it looks like Liberace was put in charge of the decor!

I just found this today at a local antique store. My first guess was a long match stick box but it is absent of a strike so that's not it. Maybe a box for a hankie? I had to get it of course!! I was donating some items so the owner gave it to me for free!!

Postcard shown for scale

Yee-Haw & Aloha,

The Hukilau

[ Edited by: tiki_kiliki 2015-07-21 14:39 ]

Could be for the complimentary shoe shine cloth many fine motels gave away in your room.

Didn't think of that uncle trav - whatever it was it's nice to add this to my Castaways collection!

On 2015-07-21 14:54, uncle trav wrote:
Could be for the complimentary shoe shine cloth many fine motels gave away in your room.

Yee-Haw & Aloha,

The Hukilau

[ Edited by: tiki_kiliki 2015-07-21 15:58 ]

1966