Kamuualii - The Amazing Pre-Tiki Tiki of The Royal Hawaiian Hotel

If you search for tiki postcards and photos on eBay for more than a few years you will probably eventually see an image of this fellow:

Here's another:

:up: (photo recently discovered my martian-tiki on eBay)

He was located at the big pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu and you most often see him posing with sailors and servicemen stationed there during World War II. Sometimes you even see him posing with tourists from the 1920s and 1930s. But wait a minute... tikis didn't appear at hotels in Hawaii until the mid-1950s, when Ed Brownlee and that other Fern-Wood carver started reviving the lost art of tiki carving.

So this guy must not be a tiki at all. I mean, look at the silly hat on his head. He must be some fanciful westerner's idea of a menehune or Hawaiian elf. Those legends were around in the 1920s. That must be it. Right?

Another mystery about this carving is the fact that it never decayed. There's a beautiful color postcard of him from the 1960s. Tiki-Kate had one in her collection. They're hard to find because they're simply captioned "Royal Hawaiian Hotel" so they don't show up under tiki searches. But in that postcard, he takes up the whole image, and looks exactly the same as the old photos from the 40s and earlier. So I eventually came to the conclusion that he must be made of cement, not wood. But who made him?

Recently I found the following newspaper article from 1953:

The photo's caption reads:

"Statue, looking like wood, is cement mixed with black lava sand. It was moulded by Homer Merrill, an island artist, more than 40 years ago."

And the Headline and full text reads:

HE SCARES SHARKS! - *Hawaiians claim this face frightens man-killers

HONOLULU, Hawaii. There's an idol here that's so ugly it's claimed to scare even sharks! It's a statue of Kamuualii, the Shark God, known as the Fisherman's Friend. This mammoth version, six feet high on a three-foot base, stands on the lawn of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel here.

Fishermen carry smaller versions. They claim that one look at those bulging eyes and sharp teeth and net-raiding sharks head for the open sea. Can't blame them!*

========================

There's also this photo from 1955:

:up: "Vacationing in Hawaii at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Mr. and Mrs. D. W. Thomas of Harrisonburg and her sister, Mrs. Anna C. Witt of Roanoke, discovered a replica of an old shark god on the hotel grounds..."

I looked up Homer Merrill. He designed the Historic Hawaii Theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii in 1922:

He also helped create the artificial palm trees and foliage inside the Waikiki Theater in the 1930s:

This cement statue must have been one of his earlier creations, having been done in the 1910s or slightly earlier.

Was Homer Merrill truly inspired by small carvings of a shark god carried by local fishermen? Or was that just story that the owners of the Royal Hawaiian were promoting in the 1950s.

The statue shares a few traits with true native Hawaiian carvings. The cockscomb-like crest on the head is typical of several old idols, as well as the bulging eyes and grinning, tooth-filled mouth. However, the hands are wrong - they should be at the sides, and what's with the funny ears and the hat that looks more like a leprechaun's cap than a tiki's headdress?

The name Kamuualii doesn't show up on the internet associated with any Hawaiian gods. The Shark God of Molokai is listed as Kauhuhu, which is sort of close, but not really.

If this sculpture was indeed inspired by ancient Hawaiian gods, then it would be one of the earliest "tiki" statues done by a modern artist in the name of tourism. It would pre-date the Poly-pop tiki movement by 40 years. We might call it The Exception That Proves The Rule.

The fact that it was readily accessable to tourists at the Royal Hawaiian may well have helped, (along with the tikis on display at the Bishop Museum), to inspire Donn Beach and architects Wimberly & Cook to hire Ed Brownlee to carve tikis for their own hotels and restaurants.

We've discussed this tiki briefly a long time ago in another thread. And I believe Phil Roberts provided a photo. Unfortunately the photo is long gone. I used to own a couple more but can't seem to find them at the moment.

If you've got photos of Kamuualii in your collections, please post them here. Maybe we can eventually solve more of the mysteries of the Amazing Pre-tiki Tiki.

Three S's to you from LB. Stellar Stuff Sabu!

Aloha,

Excellent history and research as usual, Mr. Sabu! I dig your kung-fu. Mahalo Nui Loa!

**A name (Kamuualii) and a creator (Homer Merrill) !!! **

There is loads of important information here to digest about this very important statue, and I will take my time with it. I will go to the library this weekend.

Martha Beckwith's "Hawaiian Mythology" does not document this name, "Kamuualii." But I do find legends featuring Kamohoali'i, the shark brother of Pele. 167, 169, 170, 171, 172, 192, 206; 90, 129-130 and 142. If you like to read Hawaiian legends, you should own this book. It is the best source and published originally in 1940 by Yale University!

*Here is the original photograph that you mention in the long ago thread. I did indeed buy the 8 x 10 from the e-bay auction. It cost a pretty penny if I remember (This was about 2004 and I simply don’t remember but I think I won it for $29.95.) That set me off on a mission to find it. *

While I did use a few photos of this statue in "Waikiki Tiki: Art, History and Photographs," I referred to it as a menehune. I had often thought this might be Trader Vic’s inspiration for the menehunes he often used in his menu graphics. After dissolving the partnership with Granville “Granny” Abbott (four months after opening the “lost” Ward Avenue Trader Vic’s in 1940.) his next gig was supervising cocktails at the “Royal Hawaiian Hotel” from afar.

• from the Dustycajun archive* I did use the full drink menu from the "Surf Bar" in "Waikiki Tiki."

The statue is pictured with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funichello on an album that I don’t own. I’ve got to search my archives, as I have quite a few pictures of this icon of “Hawaii’s Tiki Age.” (It seems everybody wanted a photograph with it.)

I do know that it was originally at a private residence (Merrill’s?) I did use that pic with the statue wearing a loin cloth and was donated to the RH around 1928.

The hotel management was apparently never too keen on it but wouldn’t remove it. They came up with a novel solution.

Allow the plants to grow over and around it and thus it simply disappeared. One night Tiki_Bong messaged me. He’d been looking around the hotel and alerted me to the location. I sped there and did some photographs. This must have been around 2005.

By 2008, the statue was un-covered by the groundskeepers and I took great pride in showing it and shooting it with visitors. In 2009, I heard about the renovation of the hotel and wondered if it would survive. It did not.

I DO have a story (heard second hand from an employee who was a witness at the time) about this event to share sometime in the future...

Ah. Wow! If the folks renovating the hotel only knew how old it was or who created it, they might not have destroyed it. They might have realized it's value as a historical piece and moved it to a better location. Such a shame!

Thanks as usual, Phil for a nice piece of history and reviving that old photo. Can't wait to see what else you dig up.

Sabu,
The book I have says Kamohoalii is the King of sharks. The book describes him swimming in the ocean and sees a beautiful woman on the shore. He crawls from the ocean over the black lava sand transforming into a human, a cheif. He finally finds her. Her name is Kalei and the have boy named Nanaue. Nanaue becomes legendary as the Shark-Man of Waipio Valley who finally had to be killed for he learned to eat meat and was insatiable.

On the net Kamohoalii is described as God of Steam. This makes sence as he is the brother of Pele. Other sites mention he protected fisherman guiding them back to shore if they gave him awa (kava).

Erik the Red

http://www.greyhoundog.org

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-09-30 07:47 ]

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-09-30 08:24 ]

Great detective work, thanks for sharing (and documenting)

The name Kamuualii doesn't show up on the internet associated with any Hawaiian gods. The Shark God of Molokai is listed as Kauhuhu, which is sort of close, but not really.

With only 13 letters in their alphabet, all of their words are "close" :lol:

One of you carvers needs to market your services to the Pink Princess,
as it needs to reclaim its historical Tiki!

Great post Sabu! It's nice to see a post with an actual Tiki in it. It's a nice rescue from the Sea of Shit that's been flooding Tiki Central lately. :lol:

Like your post above Boris!!

From the 1960's Tiki Erotica thread 4 days ago:

On 2010-09-26 15:44, martian-tiki wrote:

Searching through auctions....well...This has a tiki in it.

On 2010-09-26 15:47, Zeta wrote:
Whoa! Martian-tiki! Super weird! What's the story behind that picture?

On 2010-09-26 17:34, martian-tiki wrote:
The only story is sometimes more than hula girls show up on ebay.

ebay Item number: 200523360219
"This auction is for a group of 3 candid black and white photographs from an early bodybuilding competition, circa 1955, in what is almost certainly Hawaii. There are three bodybuilders posing in front of a giant Tiki carving of some sort.The images are 3 by 3 inches, on single weight paper"

On 2010-09-26 21:54, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
That "tiki" was on the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Hawaii and is "pre-tiki" in origin. It is made of cement even though it looks like wood and represents Kamuualii, the Shark God.

He shows up in quite a few old snapshots from the 1910s through the 1960s. The fact that he never seemed to age through the decades made me suspect he might not be wood. If you look closely at the base, you can see the sculpture marks in the cement. I've got a few photos of him myself. Thinking of doing a post about him. Phil Roberts knows about him as well if I remember right.

Pretty important sculpture as it may be the first pre-runner of the new "Tiki Age" (after the 1800s). However a huge gap between when this sculpture was created in the 1910s and the first tikis carved Ed Brownlee in Hawaii in the 1950s that sparked the Tiki movement in America.

---

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2010-09-26 23:53 ]

Legendary, super cool, Mahalo Sabu and martian-tiki! My questions have been answered, kinda...
Phillip, when will you tell us the story of how and why it was removed?

Nice! Thank you Sir-bu and Phillip. Very inspirational....my mind is ticking.

It was really cool to see the Waikiki Theater for the first time too. What a place; I love the way the foliage cast those magnificent shadows on the ceiling...

keep it comin' gents :)

This just posted by Maddog here

Will the real Hawaiian Shark God please stand up?

On 2010-09-30 10:01, Bora Boris wrote:
Great post Sabu! It's nice to see a post with an actual Tiki in it. It's a nice rescue from the Sea of Shit that's been flooding Tiki Central lately. :lol:

I have to wholeheartedly agree with Boris on this. What has happened to the quality of posts around here, and all the excess crap postings that we all have to wade through these days just to find a few gems?!? :-?

Thanks, Sabu, and thanks, Phil, for the great post and info! Some of us that have have slowly transformed into lurkers still appreciate this stuff!

A few more images of Kamuualii, the Shark God:

This first photo is undated but very early :down:

And just like this previous photo from the 40s...

... You can see the same roofed structure to the left of the tiki. On the back of the first photo is written, "A statue beside the Moana Hotel".

In this second image from the 60s, you can see that there is no longer a roof to the tiki's left.

Either that building was torn down, or the first photo was truly by the Moana Hotel, and the statue was moved.

Even more fascinating is the discovery of another cement tiki in Honolulu from the 1940s:

This may be another tiki by Homer Merrill. The tiki is clearly made of concrete like the Shark God, and has similar feet and cement base:

However this one is much more authentic looking and appears to be patterned after an example in the Bishop Museum.

The brochure has a rubber-stamped date of Oct 21, 1948 on the back but the images inside look to be from the earlier 1940s.

Can't find much info on this hotel. It was located at 1030 King Street and it looks like the property was subdivided in 1951. So the original structure and tiki were probably destroyed at that time.

Another really early example of a Poly-pop tiki, (post-1800s) in Hawaii, pre-dating the Fernwood tikis and the ones carved by Ed Brownlee in the 50s.

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2010-11-27 20:43 ]

On 2010-11-27 20:10, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:

... You can see the same roofed structure to the left of the tiki. On the back of the first photo is written, "A statue beside the Moana Hotel". Either that building was torn down, or the first photo was truly by the Moana Hotel, and the statue was moved.

The building in both backgrounds is the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. I think that the handwritten caption on the 1st photo is wrong. While at the time, only the Moana and the Royal were on the beach, the statue was never associated with that place. Btw, the 1st photo has a sign in it, Sabu... "Hawaii and South Sea's..." Can you make any more out of it? Does it say "Shark God?" I cannot make it out...

Even more fascinating is the discovery of another cement tiki in Honolulu from the 1940s. Another really early example of a Poly-pop tiki, (post-1800s) in Hawaii, pre-dating the Fernwood tikis and the ones carved by Ed Brownlee in the 50s.

Yes, another trip to the library is needed. Excellent stuff Sabu. I dig your Kung-Fu!

Waikiki Tiki; Art, History, and Photographs.
Available now from Bess Press Hawaii.

[ Edited by: Phillip Roberts 2010-11-28 11:48 ]

Aloha,

I knew I had a shot somewhere of the cement statue in the overgrown plants at the Royal Hawaiian.

btw, Sabu can you show a close up of the top of the Na Pua statue?

Waikiki Tiki; Art, History, and Photographs.
Available now from Bess Press Hawaii.

[ Edited by: Phillip Roberts 2010-12-03 20:15 ]

He definitely didn't look like wood.

This's some very nice collective archaeology work. Good job.

Finally...
my new mini-paintings are on my site:

http://www.robbhamel.com

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2010-12-17 16:24 ]

On 2010-09-29 22:25, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
If you search for tiki postcards and photos on eBay for more than a few years you will probably eventually see an image of this fellow:

Another excellent post!

Another view of the Royal Hawaiian Tiki.

There was a second one on the grounds.

DC

Aloha,

Hmmm. That one looks like hapua fern.

Yes, looks like fern wood to me too.

It also looks like it was carved by the same person who did these at the Waikiki Shopping District on Kalakaua Ave. Is the photo dated, DC?

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2011-10-11 13:58 ]

Sabu,

The photos are dated 1954. The set also included another photo of the fern Tiki in front of the shopping center, also from 1954.

Sure looks to be the work of the same carver.

DC

DC - that 1954 date is awesome. It fits in nicely with other data I've been accumulating. However, looking at the photos closer, I'm wondering if the second tiki you have marked as on the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian, might not actually be the Kalakaua Ave shopping center tiki, just shot from the store-window side. Notice how the planter around the tiki's feet and the base look the same. In any case, it's a tiki by the mystery fernwood carver who was very active in Waikiki/Honolulu from around 1954-1957; just prior-to or at the same time Ed Brownlee started carving hardwood tikis in Hawaii. This fernwood carver's tikis share a lot of similar attributes:

:down: DC's photo, dated 1954 and Hina Tiki, 1955 which was shipped to Honolulu Harry's in Chicago:

:down: The two tikis on Kalakaua Ave, from a postcard postmarked 1955, (notice the headdress on the first is almost like a cigar-store indian's and how the tiki is a dead-ringer for the one in DC's black & white photo):

:down: Tiki from Alex Stordahl's "Magic Islands Revisited" lp and a similar tiki from the 1957 University of Hawaii yearbook, (again notice the almost indian-style headdress):

:down: And finally I would argue that the Tiki from Don The Beachcomber, Honolulu (1955) and the Trader Hall's tiki are also by the same carver, based on facial features and body styles:

As Bosko noted in another thread, this local carver really was making a name for himself at the time. I just wish we know what that name was. He's still a mystery.

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2011-10-12 00:47 ]

Getting back on track, with DC's great 1954 photo of Kamuualii, the Shark God...

... I went through my postcard collection and spotted him again in the background of this classic 50's tourist card:

Nice Sabu, I'm going to have to find that postcard!

I don't think the picture of the second Tiki from the Royal Hawaiian could have been from the shopping center, as that arcade was located directly adjacent to the street.

I am guessing it may have been moved there.

Here are some more modern color photos of the the Royal Hawaiian Tiki.

DC

aloha,

From a 1960's Paradise of the Pacific.

Waikiki Tiki; Art, History, and Photographs.
Available now from Bess Press Hawaii.

[ Edited by: Phillip Roberts 2011-11-12 14:00 ]

Time to bump this great thread with another photo of our Tiki hanging out with a lovely Hawaiian maiden.

DC

nice...

Btw, when I go tour with peeps and show them the stump, one of us has left a tiki figurine there...

Whom? Fess up...

DC - that's a great photo!

Here's another one:

This is the Bushnell family. The photo is dated Jan 19, 1968.

Another couple of tourist photos of our man.

People sure loved posing with that guy!

DC

While lookin for him recently,
An employee asked me what I was looking for,
You should have seen his face when I said:
"FEET"

:)

what is the story of its senseless destruction

On 2013-12-31 22:56, martian-tiki wrote:
what is the story of its senseless destruction

From Page 1 of this thread...

By 2008, the statue was un-covered by the groundskeepers and I took great pride in showing it and shooting it with visitors. In 2009, I heard about the renovation of the hotel and wondered if it would survive. It did not.

I DO have a story (heard second hand from an employee who was a witness at the time) about this event to share sometime in the future...

OK, I guess the future is now. I'm still reeling from the loss of the International Market Place. Well, the story I heard second hand went like this...

A day after the hotel reopened in 2010, I went to confirm that it was indeed gone. It was and all that remained was the stump and a foot. There were concrete shards everywhere. I started asking questions of the employees. Most, refused to provide any details. After all, they were still employed. One of the shop ladies told me to ask one of the maintanence workers. He passed me on to one of the grounds keeping crew. Finally, I started talking to one of the construction workers clearing some rubble on the other part of the property.

He told me he'd been there and was witness. The management had ordered the statue removed. They had always considered it an eyesore. The local workers on site refused to touch the statue, afraid of any bad luck that might be associated with it. Days passed and the statue still stood until the day before the grand opening. The powers that be were furious and issued a direct order that it be removed. Finally, a foreman from the construction company declared he was not afraid, wrecked it with a backhoe, and carted the remains to the dumpster.

Kinda what you expected, huh?

Waikiki Tiki; Art, History, and Photographs.
Available now from Bess Press Hawaii.

[ Edited by: Phillip Roberts 2014-01-01 00:34 ]

While being no fan of senseless destruction of anything worthy, let me again put my head on the tiki chopping block and say we/it were unbelievably lucky that it remained in position and condition as long as it did. Really, what else were they to do with something that didn't fit in at all with the changing surroundings, looking way out of place if not in fact ugly with little to no purpose? That it was allowed to ever exist is surprising as it was about the least attractive tiki-esque figure ever seen, but those were different times/attitudes and the figure got away with being there infinitely longer than most truly good things that got the premature axe. Maybe it would have been nice if they would have merely moved it or saved it for whomever wanted it, or put it on ebay, but that just doesn't happen much in our world now. Be glad it lived to an old age, especially in tiki years, and that we have plenty of pictorial documentation.
But I do love that the hotel workers were not going to touch it, now THAT'S priceless!
Thanx for the research and update, Phillip. I hope we can respectfully bury this poor guy's spirit once and for all without too much sadness.

Thanks for the update. I would think that it could have been saved and moved to a museum or a private estate with just a few phone calls and free shipping. The dumpster bit is really sad.

DC

The local workers on site refused to touch the statue, afraid of any bad luck that might be associated with it. Days passed and the statue still stood until the day before the grand opening. The powers that be were furious and issued a direct order that it be removed. Finally, a foreman from the construction company declared he was not afraid, wrecked it with a backhoe, and carted the remains to the dumpster.

Apparently that foreman never watched the Brady Bunch! Deeedleleedleleee!

ultimately the same sort of thing - albeit at different scales in multiple senses

Look's like our pal's brother was hanging out at The Moana...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-1942-large-wooden-carved-TIKI-at-Moana-Hotel-Hawaii-Photo-/390831579300?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5aff60a0a4

Nope. That's just a mislabeled auction. That building in the back is the Royal Hawaiian, btw.

[i]On 2014-01-01 00:28, Phillip Roberts wrote:
A day after the hotel reopened in 2010, I went to confirm that it was indeed gone. It was and all that remained was the stump and a foot.

Mahalo for pointing out that bit of "Waikiki Tiki: Art, History" while it was still there.

A few more photos of our Tiki from ebay.

A favorite with the servicemen.

DC

Large, free-standing Tiki statues were always a welcome photo op for tourists and restaurant visitors back in the day.
Thanks to the internet, these snapshots sometimes pop up and provide proof of otherwise lost artifacts.

Sailors loved that Tiki!

DC

Cool thread... I'm both getting into Twenties/Thirties pretiki a bit (just ordered 1939's Honolulu and 1942's Ship Ahoy off Amazon) and looking into a possible trip to Hawaii for next year, which would be our first time. This thread got me looking up the Royal Hawaiian and its heyday... We've been advised against going to Oahu by friends, but if we do stop there I think I know where we might try staying...

On 2015-06-12 16:32, EnchantedTikiGoth wrote:
We've been advised against going to Oahu by friends, but if we do stop there I think I know where we might try staying...

ETG, don't let your friends discourage you from going to Oahu. Yes, it's very developed, and "touristy," but mostly only in the confines of Honolulu. I always find many good things to see and do there -- it is a whole island, and not just the bustling city of Honolulu with its tourist traps, so keep that in mind. Some examples of things worth seeing/doing:

• On your first trip, enjoy some of the "tourist trap" things like Waikiki. Tourists go there because they have fun, and you will too. Just don't make your entire trip itinerary tourist things. More details below.
• Cocktail-wise, there are some amazing bartenders/mixologists along the Waikiki beachfront. It's mostly non-tiki, but it is tropical and there are cutting-edge drinks to be found and enjoyed. I had several "aha" moments in some of the hotel bars on the waterfront.
• There is a lot of history to see on Oahu. About 1 or 2 miles from the Dole Pineapple Plantation (HUGE Dole Whips to be had there, in carved-out pineapples, share with your friends, YUM!) you will find the birthing place of Hawaiian royalty. This is a very special site, and it's free, and it is REAL Hawaii.
• Great gardens, museums, beaches. The Bishop Museum in Honolulu is a must-see for anyone interested in seeing real Polynesian history and culture. Beautiful carved tikis, and a lot of other stuff, in a very elegant museum. World-class beaches at Waikiki (touristy, but gorgeous) and about 10-15 miles drive from Honolulu around the point is one of the top beaches in the world which is very non-touristy and mostly locals. And there are many gardens/parks with great things to see.

I could go on and on. The other islands are very nice as well, with much to see, and you can't do it in one trip. For your first trip to Hawaii, don't avoid Oahu. It's everything you've seen and heard, both good and bad. Just read guidebooks, make your own decisions, and really be careful with advice you get from friends. There's a fair amount of Oahu-bashing out there, don't let it cloud your own judgment, go where YOU want to go. You can't see it all on one trip, and you will likely make plans to come back multiple times to see new and different islands.

Hope you go soon, and enjoy your trip! I usually go in the fall, before the real rainy season picks up, because if I will be driving any dirt roads, they are most passable at the end of the dry season. I have a history of being very hard on rental cars in Hawaii, hahaha... Some of the very cool places may involve some dirt roads.

I could go on and on. The other islands are very nice as well, with much to see, and you can't do it in one trip. For your first trip to Hawaii, don't avoid Oahu. It's everything you've seen and heard, both good and bad. Just read guidebooks, make your own decisions, and really be careful with advice you get from friends. There's a fair amount of Oahu-bashing out there, don't let it cloud your own judgment, go where YOU want to go. You can't see it all on one trip, and you will likely make plans to come back multiple times to see new and different islands.

Hope you go soon, and enjoy your trip! I usually go in the fall, before the real rainy season picks up, because if I will be driving any dirt roads, they are most passable at the end of the dry season. I have a history of being very hard on rental cars in Hawaii, hahaha... Some of the very cool places may involve some dirt roads.

Thanks for the advice! Most recommendations we've been getting are for the Big Island because of its variety and relatively rural character, there seem to be some halfways decent travel deals for Kona for Novembers, and that's where the active volcanoes are. Plus we're definitely more the nature and cultural history traveler types than resort-goers. Because we're hoping to do the Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce Canyon/Petrified Forest/Route 66/Las Vegas loop in a couple years, we're trying to keep trips on the cheap for the next while (this year we're driving down to Yellowstone, via Great Falls and the Sip n' Dip). There are just so many places to go in the world!! >_<

Back on topic, The more I see of the Royal Hawaiian, the more I'm loving it! Photos even got an "awww!" out of my wife, who is very into the Twenties right now :) To be honest, being into an expression of pop culture that peaked in the Sixties is pretty current for us :) I see photos like these and think that this is when we should have gone...

I was looking around some more today, and in keeping with the topic, found this site selling MP3 CDs of vintage radio shows from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's ballroom... http://www.otrcat.com/royal-hawaiian-hotel-p-48709.html It's kind of a fun listen if you're into Big Band era broadcasts from glamourous hotels with the top Tinsel Town stars of the Twenties and Thirties.

I had to pull the vines back again

I spoke to a shop owner at the Royal Hawaiian
He also said (confirmed) that it was taken down at night because
none of the employees would remove it.

He seemed to remember it being in a movie back in the 60s
Something with a girl surfing

Well what do you know
Found it
:)

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2016-01-19 10:21 ]