Did I miss out on something big here?

You know those moments when you find out something you never knew but wish you had and now you're banging your head on the wall?
Emailed my aunt and told her I was building a tiki bar and got this email back:

"Your timing is so off. ________’s uncle had a room that was completely tiki. The whole basement. It was designed and built by the person who did the tiki in Waldorf hotel (in Vancouver) which was known for it’s Polynesian bar. Also did Trader Vics at the Bayshore when it was still there. His basement had everything. BUT - We sold most of it (basically gave away) to a store in Chinatown and sold some at garage sale and threw out the rest. You would have gone nuts – it was so well done.

His uncle and aunt did it in the early 60s I believe and parties at their house were a real hit. Everyone wanted to go there because they had a pool and then you went into the 'Tiki Twilight' wreck room. Literally everything was Polynesian, dishes, accessories, the room itself with the walls and ceiling in that woven rattan stuff. All the furniture etc.etc. You would have gone nuts. I'm so disappointed that you weren’t into Polynesian when we got rid of everything. That room was mind bending when you walked down stairs and into it."

bangs head on wall

Oh no! Wow!!! Maybe they have some photos?

Now you have a mission - to re-recreate _____'s uncle's Tiki bar.

On 2016-02-19 14:19, MadDogMike wrote:
Now you have a mission - to re-recreate _____'s uncle's Tiki bar.

...and to throw some rockin' great parties when you're done!!!

Did they ever take any pictures of these parties or the tiki bar?

Not sure to be honest. Just asked this morning but I'll see if they did. That would actually be a little treasure itself. :)

If you can find pictures of the place, it is not really gone...

Just hit my head against a wall for u

:(

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2016-02-19 21:14 ]

Yep, you should bang your head really hard! And a couple more times!!

It's all true! Not an exaggerated South Seas tale at all!! Years ago I heard about a large house in Vancouver that had a pool and was based on the Waldorf. But nobody knew who owned it or where it was. I kind of just put it under my hat and hoped to one day learn about it.

About five and half years ago or so when I was moving, I heard about a house for sale in Vancouver that had a Polynesian lounge that was based on the Waldorf. This had to be the same place I heard about years earlier. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get out there to find anything out. I tried looking on line but also couldn't find any listing.
My good friend Peter, PePe LeTiki, called me and said he had a friend who knew about it and was on his way to check it out. I need to ask him about it again and see if he got any pictures. He told me he did get to go to the house and said it was unbelievable and was like a time capsule. Just like it was described in the above email.

The "store in Chinatown" was Funhauser Décor (closed now) but I'm not sure how much he actually got. I kind of forgot about this so I will have to ask him and see. Well, as the email goes "and sold some at garage sale and threw out the rest" who knows what and where the rest ended up. People would have bought some items from the garage sale and this stuff will probably never be seen again. At least with the direct history of it being in this lounge decorated with the Waldorf fame. There are some who collect in Vancouver that don't post on here so who knows, maybe it will resurface again one day.

I actually managed (and was lucky enough) to get 3 hand carved paddles that were hung on the wall along with a small and quite unique end table from this house. I got these items from Funhauser. I was going to tell this tale on the Waldorf thread but just haven't had the opportunity yet. I'll have to dig them out and post a pic.

"That room was mind bending when you walked down stairs and into it." I love that line!!
You have to try and get pictures!! If it's in your family or a family connection, there must be some around. Somebody's got some pictures somewhere and we would love to see them! Who knows, maybe there's a relic like a mask or another carving that somebody had to keep instead of getting rid of.
You should start asking other family members too! Good luck!! TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2016-02-21 13:09 ]

Welcome back TabooDan !!!!! Great to see you posting again.

Amazing story!

VanIsles, how cool to have this as part of your history - sorry you missed out on seeing it but there MUST be pictures out there. It may not be much of a consolation but members of this forum probably now own pieces from that bar picked on on eBay, Craig's List, and at thrift stores.

Awwww, I hear that. My Dad had these bizarre Witco style elephant and giraffe carvings on the wall of his living room. I'd have loved to have given them a new home but they likely vanished into the shadows of some long ago garage sale.