Hemisfair 1968 San Antonio TX

Aloha gang

I have been in correspondance with a woman who wrote to me via the TBRP asking if I knew about a Polynesian Village or some sort of Poly Pop exhibit at San Antonio's Hemisfair '68. She's looking for any Tiki memoribilia from that event. I have never seen any, a TC search for 'Hemisfair' brought no results, and a web search yeilded a few web pages, but none with any Polynesian Pop mentions.

Anyone got anything?

Mahalo

JT

Just came across this OMC mug that possibly came from the SA Hemisfair!

Further research pulled up this Polynesian food and cocktail menu:

Note the Puka Po-'o - with the take-home mug!

[ Edited by Bam Bam on 2024-06-01 22:59:17 ]

Bam Bam, WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT MENU!? I've been chasing down info on the Polynesian Gardens from Hemisfair for several years now and never seen that! I've found two photos of the place--nothing from the inside. The official Hemisfair archive at UTSA has nothing on it apart from a brief listing on the fair map. I did track down the son of the owner--Moultray--who ALSO ran the Moultray's Polynesian Restaurant at the '64 NY World's Fair. He agreed to discuss the place with me, as he worked there while it was open, but the guy ghosted me before any interview took place.

I suspect the mug above is not from Polynesian Gardens but rather a Riverwalk dance club/bar from the 80s called B'wana Dik. I'm not sure, but these places are less documented than most tiki elsewhere across the country.

Fun fact: None of the drinks on that menu contained rum--or any spirit. They were wine- and liqueur-based, all well below 40% abv. It was illegal in Texas to sell mixed drinks containing liquor until 1973.

[ Edited by Prikli Pear on 2024-06-03 09:06:38 ]

I found the menu in a recent ebay listing!

That's the second time someone has suggested the Riverwalk establishment. I find it interesting that it doesn't have the name on the mug, just "San Antonio"

EDIT: Speaking of menus - here's B'wana Dik:

One would think that such a distinctive mug would have been included in their menu illustrations. 🤔 I'm on the fence, but leaning toward the mug still possibly being from the Hemisfair (even if it were but wine and fruit juice!)

[ Edited by Bam Bam on 2024-06-03 18:25:31 ]

I found the menu in a recent ebay listing!

Say it ain't so! I've had "San Antonio tiki" and "Polynesian Gardens" among my Ebay alerts for years now and have not gotten any hits. Damn! I don't suppose you won the auction? What search terms did you use? I've seriously been hunting that menu and any other ephemera for a long, long time!

I'm also wavering a little on the mug. The thing tipping the scales against it for me is that there's no mention of Hemisfair on it. EVERYTHING was branded Hemisfair, or World's Fair, of "Confluence of Cultures." They were big on branding. But Moultray seems to have invested less in this restaurant than the one he had in NY.

IIRC, I Googled 'San Antonio hemisfair polynesian' and the listing popped right up. Here's the link

Thank you for the link. Clearly your Google-fu is superior to mine. I shall try to dig up those two photos and share here--they're on a mothballed computer so it may take a few says.

I saw this thread yesterday and it got me looking around on the Interwebs..

I found this one photo of the Polynesian Restaurant at Hemisfair '68

I also saw the story about the monorail accident at the fair.. crazy!