Believe it or not...there was once Tiki in Baltimore!

I have uncovered initial evidence of a lost Tiki temple in Baltimore Maryland. I was browsing through completed auctions on Ebay and happened across a skull mug from the Hawaiian Room at the Emerson Hotel. I noted that the seller was from Baltimore and I thought, “that’s odd.” I entered Emerson Hotel on the usual Ebay search and low and behold I found a couple postcards that identified the location as Baltimore Maryland. I went to Yahoo and did a quick search for Emerson Hotel Tiki and came across a tiki mug! http://www.wildsscene.com/tiki/tcup_mh1.html
Wow! I was on to something!!! So, I searched a little bit more – couldn’t find any other mugs or actual info on the Hawaiian Room and retired my archaeology project for the night. So this morning I’m on the phone with my dad who lived in Baltimore in the late 50’s/early 60’s and asked him if he ever heard of the Emerson Hotel. He informed me that the hotel was demolished a bunch of years back and was replaced with an office building. Then I asked him if he ever heard of the Hawaiian Room and he said yes!
My dad then went on to tell me a story about his experience with the Hawaiian Room at the Emerson Hotel.

He was in the ninth grade and attended a school dance – so he was about 14. Halfway through the dance my dad, his friend and their two dates stepped out of the school, into a cab and went to the Emerson Hotel. They went in to the Hawaiian Room and ordered 4 drinks! At 14!! They actually got served!! My dad recalled that the drinks were served in coconuts. Anyway, they sat at a table and watched a Hawaiian floor show with hula dancers, fire dancers, etc. (in Baltimore!!) My dad was not too worldly at 14 and was in awe! He also told me that the Hawaiian Room had the reputation for serving anyone – obviously!
I tried to get more info from him about the décor but he said he couldn’t remember any details.

So now I pose this question to the other more experienced urban archaeologists, where do I go now? I want to try and accumulate as much information as possible about the Hawaiian Room, hopefully I can find some artifacts as well. Does anyone have any relics from this place or know where to find some?

Johntiki
:drink:

the mugs from there are hard to find. But you can find postcards from the Emerson hotel Hawaiian Room on Ebay. Look for "emerson hotel" or "hawaiian room" you'll see one eventually, I've seen a bunch in my day

well, whaddya know- here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2112445174

Thanks for the input - I'm gonna keep an eye for items on Ebay!

Johntiki

heres a skull mug you missed:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2029325930

It may or may not be a long shot, but... If you are a regular antiquer in the area, you likely have your favorite haunts. If so, ask them to be on the look-out for anything to do with the Emerson's Hawaiian room. Those guys have contacts we don't and may come up with more than you hoped. Leave them a card with you contact and what you are looking for.

Sounds like a great quest. Maybe you can serve your day in a Hawaiian Room mug one day soon.

My hunt for Hawaiian Room at the Emerson Hotel artifacts has been going well - I bought the Easter Island mug, the Aztec looking mug and the skull mug - I even found a swizzle stick from the place...I'm just bumping this up to see if anyone has any other artifacts from this long lost tiki bar that they would be willing to trade or sell...I'm really dying to see what the place used to look like so if anyone has a postcard from the place let me know, I don't even know if any exist.

:drink:

Hiya John,
I get the Emerson Hawaiian Room confused with the Lexington Hawaiian Room. Baltimore and New York. Until recently I did not know the Emerson was in Baltimore. I have the "aztec" mug and have seen a Sun God mug from the Emerson.

I see many postcards, but now I am thnking they are from the New York (Lexington) Hawaiian Room. Will keep you mind if I come across anything.

I'll be sure to give ya the usual Tiki Central discount! 3% :D

:drink:
midnite

johntiki,
The 4th mug (brown) from the left in my signature bar is from the Hawaiian Room at the Emerson Hotel. I found this mug early on in an antique store - it was one of my first "tiki" mugs. I only hung on to it because it was marked Hawaiian Room - Emerson Hotel. It actually reminds me of an Oktoberfest mug for some reason.

On 2002-10-29 21:34, PolynesianPop wrote:

The 4th mug (brown) from the left in my signature bar is from the Hawaiian Room at the Emerson Hotel.

That is the mug that I've been looking for - it was actually one of the first Hawaiian Room mugs I came across searching on Yahoo. It is an odd looking mug, kinda reminds me of a pirate...

:drink: