Unpopular Tiki Opinions

Robert Drasnin couldn't get gigs playing Exotica back in the 1950s and 60s. It was incredibly unpopular music, except in Hawaii. (He told me this himself.)

There's no real market for "collectible" Tiki mugs; as an investment they're laughable.

They're also easy to break, making shipping & trading a dicey deal at best.

They wouldn't have even SAT a tattooed guy or a group of "Pinup Girls" at a classy Tiki restaurant in the 1950s.

Ties and jackets for the gentlemen & escorts for the ladies, natch.

On 2018-05-04 19:26, Tiki Roa wrote:
....and olmec heads should be reclassified as TIKI.....ta-dow!

I vote for that one, I made some Olmec mugs a few years back :D

There was never a dip in Tiki's popularity, so there's never been a "rediscovery" of it. The 1970s were supposed to be a low point - but actually saw the opening of the Polynesian Village Resort at Disney World, Hawaii 5-0's biggest popularity on TV, the Brady Bunch going to Hawaii, Waikiki's high rise building boom, and a huge expansion in sales for Hawaiian clothing manufacturers. The demise of small local Tiki bars was because it all went big nationally, not the opposite.

Just ask Magnum. You'll find him, Rick and TC at the beachside bar of the King Kamehameha Club.

How about some love for the 70s?

The MASSIVE expansion of the Mai Kai that turned it into what we recognize today was done in 1971. Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's corporations--as well as many smaller tiki restauranteurs--were still opening thriving establishments throughout the 70s and even into the 80s (especially in the midwest, which was late to the game). Some of Les Baxter's best exotica was made in the 70s (Que Mango, Bora Bora, African Blue). Martin Denny was tearing it up live in Hawaii and Arthur Lyman was still going strong. Hawaii 5-0 was kicking ass in the Nielsens.

The awful syrupy drinks we associate with the 70s and 80s were less a product of their time and more a product of frugality of bars and chain restaurants as corporate mentality of operations became the norm. The places that were good and survived (e.g. Tiki Ti, Mai Kai, Trader Vic's), generally stayed good. And the best bar guides I have found that actually feature authentic tiki drinks from the pre-Grog Log era are from the 1970s (Trader Vic's Bartenders Guide 1972ed. and Playboy's Host and Bar Book)

The 70s were by no means a "low point" and if anything you could point a period from the late 80s to about 2000 as the low point, culminating in the closure of the Kahiki.

On 2018-05-07 10:46, Cammo wrote:
There was never a dip in Tiki's popularity, so there's never been a "rediscovery" of it. The 1970s were supposed to be a low point - but actually saw the opening of the Polynesian Village Resort at Disney World, Hawaii 5-0's biggest popularity on TV, the Brady Bunch going to Hawaii, Waikiki's high rise building boom, and a huge expansion in sales for Hawaiian clothing manufacturers. The demise of small local Tiki bars was because it all went big nationally, not the opposite.

Just ask Magnum. You'll find him, Rick and TC at the beachside bar of the King Kamehameha Club.

[ Edited by: Quince_at_Dannys 2018-05-08 08:36 ]

i disagree on Aztec stuff..its NEAR tiki but lets WAY too much kitsch in that is unrelated...

i like only TIKI KITSCH--snobbery!! YAY

also on a discordant note...the whole forum tends to dwell on the past entirely too much to a degree-
this I KNOW will stir controversy but it IS basically a lifestyle and taste choice based on ersatz interpretation as opposed to reality, which..well, considering REALITY these days is actually

A REAL GOOD CHOICE

i am an anachronistic culture dweller so all is good

On 2018-04-25 15:48, Iakona wrote:
Express any opinion that's related to Tiki/Polynesia that would most likely get you eaten alive by the majority of people on the Internet.

e.g. Whether it’s authentic Tiki/Polynesian or cartoon, it’s all good.

No thanks, been there done that already. :)

The "Trader" you see scribbled all over the history of Tiki (Trader Vic's, Trader Sam's, Trader Mort's, etc...) is actually African Big Game Hunter in origin; lifted from the book and incredible 1931 film "Trader Horn" - which also started the whole Jungle/Tarzan/Hunter/Explorer/Hippo/Crocodile/Native Girl & Bikini fascination that still haunts us.

This has become less the unpopular Tiki opinions thread and more the "interesting facts I didn't know" thread :)

I did know about "Trader Horn" though. When "Tarzan the Ape Man" was released, it was actually advertised as "The Trader Horn of 1932". It was also referenced in the 1932 cartoon "Trader Mickey" and the 1950 Donald Duck cartoon "Trailer Horn".

On 2018-05-09 13:44, Cammo wrote:
The "Trader" you see scribbled all over the history of Tiki (Trader Vic's, Trader Sam's, Trader Mort's, etc...) is actually African Big Game Hunter in origin; lifted from the book and incredible 1931 film "Trader Horn" - which also started the whole Jungle/Tarzan/Hunter/Explorer/Hippo/Crocodile/Native Girl & Bikini fascination that still haunts us.

Cammo, wasn't the fictional character of the South Seas trader well known in literature long before Trader Horn came along? I seem to recall South Seas traders figured prominently in works by Robert Louis Stevenson, for example. Trader Horn itself was, as I recall, a film version of the "biography" of the real-life Trader Horn. And I think there were South Seas traders in films before 1931 also (see, for example, White Shadows in the South Seas from 1928).

Or are you just saying that "Trader [Name]" wasn't used before Trader Horn came out?

On 2018-04-27 08:51, Iakona wrote:
Guys, can we please not start a flame war? This is supposed to be a place where we can freely post our own opinions on Tiki.

I'm just glad we got back on track and avoided a hateful flame war.

Now back to posting your own opinions.
As long as they are not "flamie"

"Or are you just saying that "Trader [Name]" wasn't used before Trader Horn came out?"

Yes.

African carvings are better than Polynesian ones. That's why Tiki bars frequently used them instead of real South Seas carvings; Americans have never been able to tell the difference.

eg. Yes, those Tikis you see on Les Baxter's "Ritual of the Savage" album are all African.

I'm kind of living for this thread right now...and loving it. And agreeing with most of it. :)

"Hawaiian Hi-Fi" Radio on Live365.com
https://live365.com/station/a52179
"Kaiwaza" Youtube Hawaiian Record Collection videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/Kaiwaza
"Hawaiian Leisure Hour" Vintage Hawaiian vinyl playlists
https://8tracks.com/hawaiian-leisure-hour

[ Edited by: Kaiwaza 2018-05-10 13:01 ]

The whole idea of burlesque girls taking off their clothes and dancing in front of drunk guys as being "empowering" is about the most comically ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.

But I'm all for it nonetheless, of course.

On 2018-05-10 22:14, Cammo wrote:
The whole idea of burlesque girls taking off their clothes and dancing in front of drunk guys as being "empowering" is about the most comically ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.

I've heard from more than one dancin' gal that seeing suckers, er, men, falling totally under their spell and throwing money at them can make a girl feel pretty damned empowered sometimes!

Polynesian restaurants were never popular in the 1950's and 60's; steak houses, Chinese restaurants and diners were. It's just entertaining for us to think Tiki places were trendy.

Spot-lit Tiki bars DO look good on film, which is why they pop up once in a while.

[ Edited by: Cammo 2018-05-11 17:03 ]

Due to Olfactory and Sensory Fatigue, and the burning action of alcohol on your tongue you can't taste a cocktail after the first few sips.

The taste you are getting after the first 30 seconds is your brain actively remembering what the first sip tasted like.

On 2018-05-12 21:25, Cammo wrote:
Due to Olfactory and Sensory Fatigue, and the burning action of alcohol on your tongue you can't taste a cocktail after the first few sips.

The taste you are getting after the first 30 seconds is your brain actively remembering what the first sip tasted like.

I wonder if that's why I only put in enough alcohol to flavour, without going overboard? Hmmm...

EnchantedTikiGoth - Yup, that sounds like a good plan. Also surround your drink with dishes of lo-cal snacks to freshen your taste buds!

By the way, I'm just getting started with these unpopular opinions, stay tuned...

I don't know if they are "unpopular tiki opinions". They are more like "Interesting facts".

GROG - Thank you!

Shag's (sort of Tiki, well, he used to be anyway) recent work for Disney is crap. It looks like somebody trying to imitate the Shag style on a computer but doing a terrible job at it.

... and these new Shag shirts are scratchy as hell!

Flamie!

Despite new "Tiki Artwork" to the contrary, there were no land snakes, monkeys, toucans, macaws, parrots or Fez hats on South Sea islands. Again, that's all Africa and South America.

Don't get me wrong, I've got no problem with any of these things, they look funny & colorful; they just aren't Polynesian.

Cammo there are monkeys in the Philippines and Indonesia, also there are 4 types of parrot in New Zealand and 3 in French Polynesia all in the South Seas I believe. :P

And Papua New Guinea is crawling with snakes...

According to this site for kids, there are plenty of parrots in the South Pacific: http://www.parrotfunzone.com/explore-parrots/parrots-in-the-wild/where-do-parrots-come-from/parrots-of-the-pacific-islands

The Philippines and Indonesia are not part of Oceania at all and PNG is technically part of Melanesia, not Polynesia.

Stonehenge was just a seated area around a huge fire pit for a race of giants which occasionally took vacations on easter island and played a monolithic chess game with the moai

"The Philippines and Indonesia are not part of Oceania at all and PNG is technically part of Melanesia, not Polynesia."

Swizzle, of course, is right.

The problem is the classic one of our ethnocentric culture ganging together ALL of the tropics into one big misunderstood culture.

No, you don't look good in a Hawaiian shirt.

I believe hippy rock culture, and youth culture in general, killed off tiki. And i have always been surpised that tiki people really don’t like vintage hawaiian and exotica music for anything except bragging rights and the album covers as decorations. I don’t understand how tiki people can be such purists when it comes to decor and drinks, but have an “ anythimg goes” attitutude towards the music. There. I said it.

It’s unpopular to acknowledge tiki culture is highly materialistic and revolves around buying and selling. You can’t participate in the tiki lifestyle without spending money. Usually large amounts of money. It’s a fun hobby and a very pricey consumerist hobby. Once called out on the practice of grossly marking up products and services the producers / vendors/promoters claim that skeptics are cheap and not ‘ohana’, in other words won’t write a blank check.

On 2018-06-02 13:07, Cammo wrote:
No, you don't look good in a Hawaiian shirt.

Hear, hear!

Here’s an unpopular opinion: this thread blows

Hey, "Lucas" - check out my earlier post:

"There was never a dip in Tiki's popularity, so there's never been a "rediscovery" of it."

Tiki is more popular now than ever before. There are more mugs, festivals, art, trips to the tropics and yes - tropical bars of one kind or another now than in the history of the planet. Enjoy it brah!

On 2018-06-02 16:55, santa wrote:
It’s unpopular to acknowledge tiki culture is highly materialistic and revolves around buying and selling.

But did it ever have the pretense of not being materialistic? I'm reminded of a guy I worked with whose band was starting to get popular, and he was starting to get e-mails about how they "sold out." His reply was just "dude, we never were counter-culture rebels. We always wanted to be famous rock stars!"

This is a good complaint for cultures like Steampunk, that had all the pretense of being counter-culture rebels, but whose entire culture was based around costumes and materialism.

Actually, I have a pretty big Exotica vinyl collection and have never paid more than $1 per album.

And most of the classic old mugs I have were $5 or less.

Making drinks at home is about 1/10 the cost of buying them at a trendy bar.

If the Tiki Kustom Kulture thing is something you have to buy your way into, it's sure a heck of a lot cheaper than golfing.

There’s a lot of spewage about ohana and friendship and love sandwhiched between obsession on collecting and drinking. It probably depends on ones level of fanaticism. Hitting a tiki bar once a month, not materialistic. Attending events and chatting on forums weekly that consist mostly of buying or talking about buying stuff is primarily consumerist and materialistic . That’s defiantly a game of one ups manship and keeping up with the other collectors.

It’s true that drinking at home is far cheaper per drink then at the latest hot bar. But you have to amortize the thousands $$ you spent on your home bar over years to make it cheaper overall. And not buy expensive designer liquor , trendy tikis and boutique mugs

Reggae and yacht rock and DJs suck. Yea I said it!

On 2018-06-02 16:31, lucas vigor wrote:
I believe hippy rock culture, and youth culture in general, killed off tiki. And i have always been surpised that tiki people really don’t like vintage hawaiian and exotica music for anything except bragging rights and the album covers as decorations. I don’t understand how tiki people can be such purists when it comes to decor and drinks, but have an “ anythimg goes” attitutude towards the music. There. I said it.

What you spend on a 5-day tiki con can buy you a week in Hawaii if you know how to shop airfare and lodging.

Unpopular opinion: The scantily clad waitresses at the Mai Kai make me not want to go. I don't want a tiki version of Hooters.

On 2018-06-04 08:57, Cutcarefullyplayloud wrote:
Unpopular opinion: The scantily clad waitresses at the Mai Kai make me not want to go. I don't want a tiki version of Hooters.

I would say this is the winner in the Unpopular opinion debate.
To compare the classy Mai Kai waitresses to the waitresses at Hooters is not only an Unpopular opinion but really unfair to the Mai Kai waitresses.

Might be better if they had Star Trek Orion “animal woman” as waitresses.
The Mai Kai needs more Star Wars and or Star Trek.

On 2018-06-04 05:30, AceExplorer wrote:
What you spend on a 5-day tiki con can buy you a week in Hawaii if you know how to shop airfare and lodging.

Excellent point. We went to Waikiki Beach last summer, supposedly the most expensive area, and it was incredibly cheap. We ate at the local's favorite places (just ask the guys on the beach) and hit ALL the free lagoon snorkeling in front of the big resorts up the coast. No-cover sunset luaus every night at the outside bars. Fireworks. Tiki torches. Incredible Hawaiian shirts. More Spam Musubi, please.

We spent less than 1/2 the money we expected. Best vacation ever.