In Search of Frank Bowers...

Cool Painting, I like that one a lot.
But so Not Tiki.
when is this thread getting moved to beyond Tiki?

Jeff(btd)

When are you changing your name to Big Baby Dude? :lol:

why is it ok for you to be a old Curmudgeon before your time,
but not me?

I call bias on this one, because you like it, and have participated in it.

Jeff(btd)

Yes, I'm guilty of liking this one. It's good.

Good, I agree,
just not tiki.

Get OFF it already, Jeff! If you would study this thread you would see that this artist has been involved in numerous Tiki and exotic bar projects, with his Polynesian murals being reproduced on post cards, menus and matchbooks. With that, his whole body of work and his life are quite relevant to Tiki research!

Your Surf music post got moved not because it was deemed "not Tiki", but because it clearly belonged into "Tiki Music", not "General Tiki"!

ok fine,
Can we then maybe "try" to post more of his "tiki" related works then?

Or is that asking too much?

Jeff(btd)

You go out and find 'em, brother, and post 'em here! :)

I'm not an Urban archeologist.

Jeff(btd)

This was a reply where I forgot to quote Sven,
telling me to start doing my Own Urban Archeology,
and by the time I posted it, he had, or did it himself, deleted his post to me.
wonder why? Hmmmmm?

I love Old school Tiki and PolyPop, and even Happa Haole music (Lucas)
Just don't have the time,money and or Patience to do the homework or Urban Archeology for it.
And admittedly I Do have ADD. So I am not the candidate for being that guy.

I appreciate and love all the Historical work you and others do here on TC. and its Sad to see some of it being ignored by the mass majority of those TCers that think that Facebook is the new Hip place to be.
I have noticed a drastic drop in amount of quality posts and replies here and on Surfguitar101, since the whole Facebook thing started.

As for this thread,
I think its great, I just wish it had more of his Polynesian Murals in it.
Is that too much to ask?

Now back to my surf/tiki crossover plot.
:o

Jeff(btd)

[ Edited by: bigtikidude 2011-09-14 21:13 ]

This is where Frank Bowers was laid to rest along with his parents at the Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach, California. According to the very helpful caretaker his ashes were transferred here from South Pasadena in early 1965 and although there is some documentation regarding having his name put on the marker it was never followed up on and or paid for.

Nice job, Boris!

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2011-09-15 00:05 ]

That shall be stop #5 on the Frank Bowers tour. :)

Excellent work Boris, how'd you track that down ??

Back when you posted this "Breadcrumb" on August 3rd -

On 2011-08-03 08:25, JOHN-O wrote:

Frank Bowers died in 1964 in Los Angeles, Ca. , he had a short bout of Cancer that was to give him four short months, and was buried in Serra Madre, Ca.

I did a search for Sierra Madre Cemeteries and came across a "Find A Grave" site which gave me this -

So I dragged a friend with me and we went to Sunnyside, the cemetery is pretty big so after looking with no clue she called the caretaker who was able to point us in the right direction, he later was able to show us the paperwork, verifying that Frank had been transferred there.

I was hoping for more but I'm happy with the results.

Dang, Bora Boris that is some nice work. Tiki-Kate would be proud.

DC

Boris,

Frank Bower's ghost told me to tell you he appreciated the Tiki and cocktail umbrella, but next time bring booze !!...

OK, East Bay folks-I have a project for you. Check out the mural at the Washington Club at 1746 Washington Ave in San Leandro. I went there once about 7 years ago (before I knew who Bowers was). Possible Bowers mural- Also , at the Dog House on San Bruno / Millbrae border at 130 El Camino there is a mural.
Note- just found an bad image of the mural. Probably not Bowers-but who knows!?!?

On 2011-11-11 00:13, mrsmiley wrote:
Also , at the Dog House on San Bruno / Millbrae border at 130 El Camino there is a mural.

Here's a blurry, but wider, shot of the Dog House mural. This artist might be a couple pegs below Bowers. But you can't beat the theme and originality of Dogs Tending Bar! Or is it Dogs Playing Foosball?

-Randy

[ Edited by: aquarj 2011-11-11 08:54 ]

Thanks Randy! Now for the East Bay folks-I have a project for you. Check out the mural at the Washington Club at 1746 Washington Ave in San Leandro. I went there once about 7 years ago (before I knew who Bowers was). zazz!

OK, I was in SF last week for work. I called the Washington Club to confirm they were still in operation before driving across to the East Bay. While on the phone I asked about the mural and whether they knew who the artist was. The bartender replied "I forget the name but it was an Asian man who was a local art instructor". :(

Now I'm sure the Washington Club may be a worthy dive bar in its own right but based on that intel I decided to focus my urban archeology on the peninsula.

Here's my ground-breaking Tiki discovery...

There are no Frank Bowers murals at Smugglers Cove !! And I spent several hours there looking. :)

John-O, you're such a lush! Well, here is MY groundbreaking discovery -except it's not really mine, it was BORIS who discovered this previously unknown piece of Bowers ephemera, and I thank him very much!

I apologize in advance/ in retrospect if I outbid anyone on this (Sabu? John-O?), but I just had to have it:

I show most but not all pages, Bowers' style was definitely Pre-Tiki, more 30s/40s...

The animals were drawn by his wife Vicki.

And here's what WE like, the...

My favorite is actually the back cover:

Sven,

Fantastic find! I see characters from half the Bowers murals in that how-to book. And the Ceramic Specialty reference? That needs some more investigation.

DC

Exactly what I thought! The only thing I came up with was this brochure, in the same format than the "Here's How" one:

Unfortunately it had no info regarding Bowers, and no Polynesian designs in it either.

The only thing is that by viewing the back...

....we now know that there is a "Revised Edition" of the Bowers sketch book out there:

What puzzles me is how little the Bowers book has to do with ceramics. His style is good for tiles, maybe, but vases and bowls? Maybe. Or maybe W.R. Hardcastle and Bowers just shared a fondness for exotic women.

Perhaps some collectors of California pottery know something about "Ceramic Specialties" in Artesia.

Here is a matchbook I saw on ebay from the Casino restaurant located in Long Beach.

Looks like another Frank Bowers art job in his favorite town of Long Beach. Could be another mural location.

DC

On 2012-02-27 21:06, Dustycajun wrote:
Here is a matchbook I saw on ebay from the Casino restaurant located in Long Beach.

Looks like another Frank Bowers art job in his favorite town of Long Beach. Could be another mural location.

DC

Sorry, but I cannot concur on the Bowers origin of the graphic. It looks too slick, like a graphic designer did it. Besides the facial features, the hair alone is quite different. Which does NOT negate the possibility that there was a Bowers mural at that place.

OK Bigbro, how about this one.

A brochure advertising four different restaurants owned by Vivian Laird.

Frank Bowers?

DC

GREAT brochure! ...but not Bowers-illustrated, no way. His style was more painterly, or like sketches, not like a commercial illustrator's single line art.
But I just found another one of his paintings, "The Gamblers", 1949:

It's still hanging, at this bar...

...in this town:

Frank sure got around!

Ah, 2005 I was IN Ketchikan. Of course, had no idea about the mural.

While I am working on a promising lead regarding Frank Bowers research, in the meantime, if any Tiki agents are going to Ensenada, South of Tijuana, please look up this lead:

"HI MR. MY NAME IS ALFREDO DEREK IM WORK IN CONVENTIÓN CENTER RIVIERA IN ENSENADA MEXICO , IN THIS PLACE WE HAVE A PAINT OF FRANK BOWERS
HERE IN MY TOWN IN MY WORK EX-HOTEL PLAYA IS A MURAL PAINT PLIS CAN YOU
MORE INFORMATIÓN OF THE PAINT OF THE MASTER BOWERS PLIS.

ALFREDO DEREK
CENTRO SOCIAL CIVICO Y CULTURAL RIVIERA DE ENSENADA"

(Disclaimer: This is not some Engrish parody, but a genuine request by a Mexican native of Ensenada)

As far as I can gather, what was the Hotel Playa is now the Cultural Center in town. This place had a "Beachcomber Bar", about which Ron posted here 8 years ago:

On 2004-11-16 18:38, bongofury wrote:
Looks like a young Elvis......checkin his fly? This place was a Hotel/Casino opened in 1929 by boxer Jack Dempsey (with alleged backing from Capone). Fell into decline in 1933 and eventually closed. Restored and re-opened in 1977 as the Civic & Cultural center of Ensenada.

Of course, all the pictures are gone on TC! I dimly remember some paper ephemera, but please folks, re-post anything from there here. Adding it all up, it now seems that Bowers painted a mural for it, and it is still there! If I wouldn't be in Munich right now, I would drive down there right now!

Here's further incentive for an expedition to Ensenada:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=40057&forum=1

Sven,

Here are a couple of exterior panoramas of the Riviera Social, Civic and Cultural Center of Ensenada...

This one is by Luis E. Argote B. on Flickr...

And here is one by Ruth Rieckehoff from her November 12, 2011 blog about visiting Ensenada, Tanama Tales...

In the Spring 1983 issue of The Journal of San Diego History is an article about the history of the Hotel Riviera del Pacífico by Maria Eugenia Bonifaz de Novelo...

Note that the cited original mural artist was Alfredo Ramos Martinez, but as you read through the history of the hotel, much of his effort was apparently destroyed. There certainly would have been opportunities for a Frank Bowers contribution along the way.

It’s odd that I keep running into Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) in these history threads. As noted above, his name appears in the hotel register.

I found what appears to be the web site for Centro Social, Cívico y Cultural Riviera. In looking through the photo galleries, I found a bar photo with a mural in it. I’m no Frank Bowers expert, so I don’t know if this could have been his handiwork...

-Tom

Aaah, travel by internet, very good, Tom. What a story of human foibles.

Though the mural in the photo might very well be a Bowers, it clearly - and regretfully - does not depict a Beachcomber motif. I was deducting that the Hotel housed the Beachcomber bar from Bonogfury's post in this thread:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=11894&forum=1

So, either:
A.) It was a misunderstanding, and the Beachcomber Bar was not at this hotel
B.) There was another bar than the one in the photo at the hotel called the Beachcomber - but the mural went away with the bar
C.) - see B.) and the mural is still there, just not shown on the website

I would appreciate it if Messrs. Bosko and Bongfury would chime in here for clarification.

Sven,

While we’re passing time awaiting someone with more definitive information, I did some more internet travel and came across a “Beachcomber Bar” sufficiently steeped in history near Ensenada, but actually on the seaside at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. The hotel itself opened in 1925 or 1926, and the bar was constructed in 1940...

I couldn’t find a photo in their gallery that seemed to represent the Beachcomber Bar, but the old part of the hotel seems well adorned with stained glass, mosaics and murals...

None of what I see here features any female nudity, a Frank Bowers trademark, but the Beachcomber Bar might have treasures to be viewed that wouldn’t be displayed on a family-friendly hotel web site. There are possibilities to explore here...

And here’s a bit of serendipity brought to you by DustyCajun, filed under Zeta’s Aloha Cafe, Tijuana, Mexico (bar) thread on TC...

On 2011-02-13 13:01, Dustycajun wrote:
It seems as though the Aloha had a sister restaurant located in Rosarito called the Beachcomber. I picked up and old drink menu from the Beachcomber.

Nice drink selection from south of the border.

The back of the menu has the same image as the Aloha menu. Unfortunately the information above the image was gone from the glue that held the menu to a scrapbook, so hard to tell the relationship between the two.

DC

-Tom

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2012-05-13 17:00 ]

Thanks Tom, very interesting. I have been to the Rosarito Beach hotel, many moons ago - before my Tiki days. Don't remember any Beachcomber mural... it now seems more likely that this was where the napkin Bosko mentioned was from. If I only could see it again...

Big Bro,
I have been going to Ensenada since 1971. I have a beach house just south of Ensenada and aware of the cultural center. I have never been inside the bar and was unaware of the Frank Bowers mural. I have made friends that were born there and know some history of the Cultural center.

I will be going to my beach house May 18th for a couple of days. I will try to get into the bar area and take as many pictures as possible. I will try to contact Alfredo Derek and get as much information as I can including any information he may have about the Rosarito Beach Hotel or any other places that may have had any Frank Bowers murals.

I will try and stop by the Rosarito Beach Hotel and speak to anyone that can give me any insight into any Frank Bowers murals.

Tiki Vato,

Thanks for volunteering for this mission. Look forward to seeing what you find out.

DC

That's great! TC agents coming through again! :)

Check here for the cocktail napkin to show up eventually - Bosko might be in Europe...

Bosko came through and sent me an image of the napkin, which as I expected clears up any right or wrong assumptions. It is obvious, by the amount of female nudity alone, that we have a Bowers here. The crude features of the Beachcomber on the left match his style also:

Further obvious is the fact that there WAS a Beachcomber Bar in the Ensenada Riviera also. I seems that the Bowers mural posted by Tom above might be in the former Emperador Cocktail Lounge or dining room. Now the Beachcomber mural must have been a sight to behold ! - yet, because of the amount of nudity in it, I fear the worst for its chances of survival in a social, civic and cultural center. But who knows, maybe political correctness is less pronounced in a Mexican resort town, still.

If we only had Senor Alfredo Derek's e-mail address, we could send him an image of the napkin and ask him if the mural still exists. But even if it doesn't, maybe Tiki Vato can find its original location and see if it was painted over...

Great find Bigbro, thanks to Bosko for sending the napkin over. A Bowers rendering for sure, that must have been a really nice mural (I may have a little more Bowers to add, soon...)

DC

I kinda recall a "Bowers" like mural on a wall in the bar at the Bahia hotel in downtown Ensenada. In the 70's the bar was dimly lit,musty,etc but not quite a dive. More a Americanized Ol Mexico noir 30's bar( as opposed to a lounge.) Bourbon and water, jack,or a "sangria preparada estlilo de Guadalajara would have been the appropriate drink request. The Bahaia's website reflects the possibility that there has been a remodel some years ago (new ownership? ). I was last there about ten years ago and not much had changed in the bar. Yesterday I put a bug in my Brother Tikivato's ear. He's gonna try and check it out.
Cheers

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2012-05-17 10:46 ]

I'm hopeful because Senor Derek referenced a Bowers using the PRESENT tense...

"...MY NAME IS ALFREDO DEREK IM WORK IN CONVENTIÓN CENTER RIVIERA IN ENSENADA MEXICO , IN THIS PLACE WE HAVE A PAINT OF FRANK BOWERS..."

And although the (non-Beachcomber) mural that Tom posted could be a Bowers, it looks to be in a style evocative of Bower's earlier work in the 1930's. I doubt that a single location has 2 Bowers' murals separated by that much time. Thus the Bowers mural being referenced by Senor Derek is most likely the Beachcomber mural (I hope, I hope, I hope). :)

(Edited to remove the double napkin on this page)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2012-05-18 09:50 ]

My first stop was at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. I was able to track down a bartender (Fernando) that has worked there for 39 years. He was unaware of any paintings or murals by Frank Bowers. He said most of the murals in the hotel were painted by Diego Rivera. (Not the famous Rivera but someone before him)Circa 1943

He was unaware of any murals ever in the Beachcomber bar. I went to the Beachcomber bar and was disappointed to find that the walls were made of glass. Fernando said that this bar was never remodeled during his employment.

I found Alfredo Derek at the cultural center. He said that the painting above the bar was wrongfully called a Ramos Martinez painting. Derek has a college degree in Art and art restoration.

Derek said his research found that Frank Bowers painted the Mural at the Playa Hotel in 1929 while the casino was being constructed next door to the hotel. The hotel and casino were left abandoned for decades. Derek was hired to restore the mural and that took him 5 months to accomplish. There is no signature on the mural.

I took several pictures (with no flash) of the murals. I am by no means an expert on Frank Bowers and have only seen a handful in person. Although the mural was disappointingly not the beachcomber we were hoping to locate, it appears it might be a Bowers. I will leave it to the experts to declare.
I must say, the more I drank at the bar, the more it looked like a Bowers. I will return to the cultural center and try and interview Derek. I will show him the picture of the napkin and try to locate the Hotel Riviera del Pacífico. Derek was adamant that there were no other paintings or mural by Frank Bowers in Ensenada.
This was a long day but I will try to gather more information tomorrow.
The lighting inside the bar was poor and caused some glare on the pictures. Some of the glare was caused by the restoration. Derek said the mural was covered with filth and an oily film.

You are thee sleuth!

Thank You Vato for your research. The style of the painting is very early Bowers, if he indeed painted it in 1929 he was only 24. As John-O mentioned, he worked with another California artist during that period:

On 2009-10-02 11:38, JOHN-O wrote:
In an earlier post, I noted there were 1930's-era Bowers murals at South Gate City Hall......I noticed that works of this era were done in conjunction with an Arthur Prunier.

A painter, teacher, designer and commercial artist, Arthur Prunier studied at the Massachusetts Normal Art School; Washington State Teacher's College; the Art Students League of Los Angeles; the San Diego School Art & Crafts........During the 1930s he was active with the Federal Art Project. Under their auspices, he painted a mural in the Ruth Home School in El Monte with Frank Bowers.

Thanks for your quick response Big Bro. I am on the way to town and the cultural center. I will try and speak to Alfredo and clarify his understanding of the name of the hotel and any and all bars in the hotel and the adjacent casino area.
ALfredo Derek is about 29 years old and is eager to learn as much as he can on the life and works of Frank Bowers. I will direct him to this site and have him read the threads that everyone has written about Frank Bowers. I did get his email address yesterday and I will check with him if I can post it here. At the least, get his permission to give it to Big Bro and John-O. I will try not to drink as much as yesterday and stay on course.

TikiVato, I thought the drinking was a big part of the fun?!!

Awesome field reporting, and great photos too. I vote that we take a collection for your "bar fund" to help you keep circulating out there a bit longer.

I agree: As Tiki archeologists, we work for cocktails! Your valiant efforts are much appreciated, but your vow of abstinence for doing field research is entirely uncalled for. :) The seasoned Tiki explorer knows that it is essential to join in in the imbibing of native potions to gain the trust and confidence of the local populace. Your skills of recollection of the imparted secrets must be honed by practice.

Superb Job little brother. your tenacity has paid off again! . TC'ers how about a big shout out for El Alfredo Derek down south.

I never said I wasn't going to drink today, I said I wasn't going to drink as much as yesterday. But I think I was telling myself a lie.
I got to the cultural center about eight this morning. Bars don't open til 10am in Baja. I so wanted a bloody mary to ease the pain.
Alfredo Derek had not arrived to work yet. I was able to track down the operations manager (Alfonso Gonzales Vega) who has worked there nearly as long as the place had started with the renovation. Alfonso took me on a one on one guided tour of the Hotel and Casino. This is his account and history of the cultural Center:

The Hotel was first named the Playa Hotel. It was later renamed "EL Hotel Riviera del Pacifico". The bar that I went to yesterday was part of the hotel. When the hotel was completed, construction was started on the casino and in between the casino and the hotel was a lounge area used for dinning and dancing (Emperado dinning and Emperado Lounge), now called the Salon Catedral).

Attached to this area was a separate room that housed a bar. I was able to convince Alfonso to grant me access to the room and allow me to take photographs. There were several paintings behind the bar. At first glance, my jaw dropped. The paintings appeared to be done by the same artist of the bar in the hotel. Unfortunately the signature read "Ramos Martinez". The mural had demons and all, I could have sworn this would be a Bowers mural and I was devastated that I found the Martinez signature.






Read "Ramos Martinez"

I asked him if he knew anything about a bar within the hotel or casino named the beachcomber. Alfonso contacted the curator, Maribel Quintero. She told Alfonso that there was a bar on ground level, below Los Emperado. That bar was named the Beachcomber. Alfonso said the bar was completely destroyed by vandals and looters. It was turned into an art school.The Beachcomber was located on the other side of these windows.

I was able to convince Alfonso to use his key and let me into the place just to say that I was there. He allowed me in and I took photos of the area.
Bar area:
more bar area:

Kitchen area for the Beachcomber:

Alfonso and Maribel were extremely gracious and I hope to do a return trip with anyone wanting to see the cultural center and drink a $4.00 Casadores margarita. Sven, I did purchase a book the the 75th anniversary of the Del Hotel Ensenada. Lots of pictures of a lifestyle long ago. Unfortunately no pictures of the Beachcomber bar. I can take it to IMP at Don's in June and you can browse through it or borrow it for a few weeks.