What originally brought you to Tiki Central?

Hi everyone!

It's so nice that Tiki Central is back up and so many familiar faces are returning. I've been having fun looking at old posts and walking down memory lane. As I was looking at some of my initial posts when I joined in 2005, I noticed that some of the photo links were not working anymore, so I am starting to update them.

All of this reminiscing got me thinking about what brought all of you to Tiki Central.

My story is that my wife and I were expecting the birth of our first child in early 2005 and I was looking online for all things Tiki because I was planning on making a tiki-themed nursery for her. So, because I get obsessed with such projects, I scoured the web for ideas to decorate her room. This is what led me to Tiki Central. I had no idea such a repository of tiki existed and I was so happy to find it. Here is link to one of my posts with photos of my daughter's room:

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic_id=14212&post_id=153344&start=0#post-153344

Until I found Tiki Central I really took tiki for granted. Growing up in the Ft. Lauderdale area I went to the Mai Kai all the time for birthdays, happy hours, etc. I didn't realize just how special and rare it was to have that grand palace in my backyard. (I can't wait for it to return). One day I was driving by the Mai Kai before it opened and I visited the gift shop to pick up a few things and Sven Kirsten just happened to be there visiting. He was kind enough to sign a copy of Book of Tiki for me and his tiki mug. I cherish both of those to this day.

Well, fast forward 17 years, and my daughter Sydney, who I designed the room for, is now almost ready to go off to college! Where did the time go?

[ Edited by joefla70 on 2022-03-20 17:10:34 ]

Back in highschool, roughly 2004 or so, in art studio I was sculpting a tribal-style mask. This led me to start really researching artwork of the pacific islands. This then led me to TC. Fast forward to 2022, and my wife and i are die hard tikiphiles. Checked off a bunch of locales along the way, and our mug collection is growing every day. However, the next member to the tiki community is about to be born here within the next week or so! Be prepared to say aloha!

Congrats Pocky! Very exciting.

Looking for inspiration to build my own home tiki bar

I had a friend call to tell me that two guys were on TC writing about Kohalacharms and I bidding against each other on eBay. He said log on now. So, I joined really fast and sat back and had fun watching them post. I chimed in and said hi, so they knew I had read what they said. The rest is history. I was so happy to have joined. Most all of my close friends have come from here and the world of tiki. Cheers, Wendy

So cool! My son grew up among tiki splendor as well. Good job, dad!

I saw so many references about it from others who'd been in the scene for many years. Personally I enjoy forums for discussions rather than Facebook. The topics are more organized easier to find, so when I heard it was back, I had to sign up!

Long story short, the summer of 2016 we were floating in our pool and The Wife said, "We need a tiki bar." So I looked up various plans online and built a bar outside and thought very highly of myself. Then, maybe in December of that year, for some reason I did an online search for "home tiki bars" and Tiki Central came up. My mind was blown.

Mind you, we had no idea tiki existed as a culture outside of the 1950s. So it was a very deep and twisty rabbit hole I tumbled down.

In 2006, I got a copy of Sven Kirstens more compact Book of Tiki since the original was sold out. Long story short I found the TC website at the same time. It helped me create my tiki room and gain understanding of Tiki culture. Bottom line without TC I wouldn't be where I am today. Thanks Hanford!

[ Edited by Thortiki on 2022-04-20 00:32:02 ]

I came here looking for photos of the Goof on top of the Bali Hai Restaurant in San Diego to use as the masthead for my now defunct weblog, "The Eye of the Goof".

I was putting together my first home tiki bar, stumbled on this website and discovered I was doing it all wrong.

IIRC, it was a thread discussing the old "Exotic Trilogy" compilation tapes that led me here. I had just branched out from my Hi-Fi LP hobby after discovering that the Randy Van Horne singers not only provided the vocals for the Flintstones theme, but also the tantalizingly termed "Zhu-zhu" vocals for the one and only J.G. Esquivel. That rabbit hole opened me up to the world of Space Age Bachelor Pad music, which by extension led further into the wide world of Exotica.

That said, I have always adored the Tiki aesthetic, and in fact was partially known during my school days for being "that weird kid that wears Hawaiian shirts every chance he gets." It was only once I discovered Tiki Central that I realized that there was an entire community of weirdos like me!