My dear tiki brethren,

I just received in the mail an extraordinary postcard that I won on Ebay recently. My apologies to any other Tiki-Centralites who may have been among the bidders fighting for this one. I hope I can make it up to you a teensy bit by posting some photos of it.

This is Sam's Seafood the way it looked back in the 1960s:

Here are some closeups. First, the bar we Southern Californians all know and love:

It still looks pretty much the same today, except for those nice peacock chairs that no longer exist.

Next, The Gift Shop, which definitely no longer exists:

The thing that excites me about this image is that you get to see one of the rare glimpses of the Tiki Mug (Ceramicus Vintagidae Tikiform) in its original habitat:

If you look at the larger photo of the giftshop, you can also see the Volcano Bowls at the bottom edge. Did Sam's have custom mugs and bowls? It appears so, since they match the logo on the menu and the photos of the mugs and bowls inside the menu as well. They seem close to the Kona Kai mugs, but they're in a kneeling position. Here's the pictures from the menu:


Has anyone ever found one of these mugs or bowls? (I think I may need to start hitting the estate sales in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach from now on).

Here's some more closeups of the restaurant as it was:

Including the kitchen:

Here's the text from the back of the postcard:

*World Famous Sam's Sea Food and Hawaiian Village Family Restaurant, is a beautiful and dramatic dining show place for the entire family, where the surf meets the sand; conveniently located on Coast 101-A Hwy, in Surfside, Calif.

Tourist for 40 years acclaimed this visit as a high spot in dining thrills. Look for the sign of the swordfish where Sam's own fishing fleet delivers its catch fresh daily. Sam's Sea Food menu is world famous and has ardent followers in the South Pacific Isles, along the Cape Cod Coast and on the European Continent.

Swordfish. . . the Steak of the Sea; Albacore, Yellowtail, and Rock Cod from our own deep blue Pacific; Fresh Trout from cold mountain streams; Chinook Salmon from Washington's rushing rivers; Lobsters from the coves surrounding Catalina Island; Jumbo Frog Legs from the marshes of Louisiana; Prawns from the South Seas; Curries in the Bombay manner; Abalone from the Monterey Coastal Crags. Eastern Corn-Fred Aged Steaks, charcoaled to perfection. Tender Mild-Fed Chickens.

Attractively Prepared Children's Special Plates. We are located between Long Beach and Huntington Beach at 16278 So. Pacific Coast 101-A Hwy. in Surfside, Calif.

Your Hosts: Nick, Ruth and Richard Katsarsis*

Again, this postcard was so cool, that I had to share it with the rest of you as soon as I could. I didn't even know such a postcard existed, but I'm happy it does.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-06-13 13:02 ]

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-06-13 13:04 ]

I'll take the whole shop!

Sabu TCB,

Thanks for posting that, and how appropriate in that we'll be there tonight!

Note the lava water falls in the back of the dining area. In the early 1980's me and my punk brothers used to go in there and drink like, well, punks. One night, after heavy consumption, I attempted to balance myself on the fence railing that borders the water fall. Oddly enough, I fell into the waterfall and sliced off the tip of a finger on the lava rock and was bleeding like a stuck pig.

Needless to say, the other diners did not find it appetiizing and complained to management about our all-together barbaric behavior. Management promptly booted us out and told us not to return for at least 22 years. Which I believe is tonight!

Anyone for rail surfing?

Sam's Seafood matchbook:

Here's how Sam's looked in the 1940's:

Note the very rare Surfside postmark on the card, a tiny beachfront city across the street from Sam's.

Now I need to find a Sam's Seafood Tiki mug! Saw one on Ebay years ago, guess I should have gone for it... was pre-mug craze days!

Look at that gift shop ! I could spend hours in there.That's a nice linen postcard, too. Looking forward to seeing the bar interior in real life one day...its great that it still looks the same.

The tikis in the bar aren't painted. I wonder who was the genius that decided to paint 'em. I'm surprised that none of us have come across a Sam's mug before.

Do you think that Christian's Hut had mugs or was that before the days of the tiki mug? That would be a cool score!

Pup,
What did the post card say on the back?

WOW.........Thanks for the post Sabu

I do have a Sam's Seafood mug, not like the ones in the postcard. This one looks newer, kinda like the tiki lighter in BOT 174-175, dark brown with white inside, Daga Hawaii on the bottom, Sam's Seafood printed over glaze on the back. Haven't been there yet, do they still sell mugs?

They don't sell mugs anymore but I would love to see a picture of yours.

Go see the other pictures at collecting tiki

Sabu,

You did it again! Very cool postcard and I those Sam's Tiki Mugs give me chills, man!

Awesome find! Thanks for posting this.

Also, thanks to TraderPup and Bongofury for sharing your finds as well.

Now let's go out and find those mugs!!!

http://www.311music.com

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-10 13:53 ]

[ Edited by: filslash 2007-01-02 13:40 ]

Wasn't there another Sam's in Santa Ana or somewhere?
Or am I confusing it with the Royal Hawiian?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

[ Edited by: bigtikidude 2006-03-30 18:42 ]

If you look real close at the Menu, for the Zombie drink, it says( limit 2) how funny.

you'd think that would be something you would see in todays PC times.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2006-03-30 18:49, bigtikidude wrote:
If you look real close at the Menu, for the Zombie drink, it says( limit 2) how funny.

you'd think that would be something you would see in todays PC times.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

This was fairly common in tropical drink menus for the zombie. I think Don The Beachcomber set the 2-drink limit originally.