1964 Trader Vics Ski Weekend

Did you know, that is 1964, Trader Vics hosted a ski tournament - up in the mountains near Lake Tahoe, with real snow, Tahitian dancers, and bars serving mai-tais and hot buttered rum? And tiki trophies presented to the best skiers?

Here is the proof.

"Tiki Ski Weekend" ??

Fantastic find !! Skiing is Tiki. :)

History bears repeating.

A-ha!! :o

Mystery solved! Nice work Vern!

There's still a missing link somewhere. Sugar Bowl and Squaw are two separate hills and the mug predates the TV Tiki Ski event by 4 years.

???

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2012-07-14 15:22 ]

the 1960 Winter Olympics were held in Squaw Valley - perhaps Trader Vics hosted one or more parties during this event?

It appears this was an annual tradition for quite some time. See this article as well...

"For years, the social highlight of the year was the end-of-the-ski-season Tiki Race hosted by "Trader Vic" Bergeron. Outfitted in grass skirts, leis and sarongs, skiers slalomed around artificial palm trees to the bottom of the hill, where a dugout canoe was filled with mai tais."

And as recently as 2009 :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2012-07-14 15:39 ]

Also you know what else is interesting ?

It's the use of the word "Tiki" to describe an EVENT... in 1964 !!

Was that perhaps the contest that produced the tiki ski trophies in BOT?

Better memory than most, Alice, thank you :)

Thank you Vern for the journalistic research to these images

On 2012-07-15 11:38, JOHN-O wrote:
Also you know what else is interesting ?
It's the use of the word "Tiki" to describe an EVENT... in 1964 !!

Fascinating! I hear that around that time even bars, motels and apartment buildings bore the name "TIKI" !!!

Yep, that's what I was thinking of, BigBro!
Who could forget that hilariously phallic holding of her "tiki" :lol:
(I knew somebody would scan and post it faster than I could.)

The little skiing TV logo is too cute.
I love the whole juxtaposition of balmy, beachy paradise with snow.

Fascinating! I hear that around that time even bars, motels and apartment buildings bore the name "TIKI" !!!

True but those examples use the term to highlight Tiki iconography from a architectural or a marketing design perspective.

What struck me odd about the article was the use of the term to brand a one-time or recurring EVENT in much the same way we see in the Tiki Revival. This was 35 years before the first Tiki Oasis !! :)

Point taken. The Trader was a trailblazer here, too. That's why I used this material in the BOT: As another example of the widespread, multi-category use of the term and image during that brief period in pop history. This of course doesn't change the fact that such terms (and concepts) as "Tiki Style" (as an art genre) and "Tiki Culture" (as a lifestyle) did not exist as a widespread classification of the phenomenon back then, but are a creation of the last two decades.

If only.