South Pacific Polynesian Restaurant & Gardens, Hallandale, FL (restaurant)

Last night at Ohana Luau’s New Year’s Eve Party in the Hawaiian Inn (Daytona Beach Shores, FL), Wailana McFall shared several family photos. Wailana leads the group of Polynesian performers there called “Silhouettes of Polynesia.” Her dad was Prince Benjamin Pokii Hele Loa I Ko Aina Kelii Waiwaiole, an actual member of the Hawaiian royalty before statehood. He organized and led a group of performers called “Silhouettes of the Tropics” that appeared mainly at the Bali Hai on Northport, Long Island, but also elsewhere, including at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach and at the South Pacific in Hallandale, Florida. In this photo, he is sitting with his family inside the South Pacific, circa 1966...

Wailana, about 2 years old, is shown sitting in front of her mother, Darlene Dawn Wharton Waiwaiole, on the left. I met Wailana’s mother last night and she gave me the information for this photo. Sitting on her father’s lap is her brother, Kelii. A step-sister is on the right.

Here is an old ad for the South Pacific...

The Miami News August 3, 1963 (page 35)

This note from the Google News archives indicates that the South Pacific opened in December of 1959...

The Miami News November 15, 1959 (page 54)

This article suggests it closed in May of 1975 (didn’t find any evidence that it reopened)...

The Miami News May 7, 1975 (page 32)

Hollywood stars evidently dined there, as in this article...

The Miami News November 5, 1964 (page 18)

Beautiful young ladies served in the South Pacific...

The Miami News March 2, 1961 (page 13)

-Tom

Very interesting, Tom. Maybe with time you can find more material, and post it in the Polynesian Floor Show thread:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=41154&forum=1

On 2010-03-08 11:48, Dustycajun wrote:
The back of the Sun Wah matchbook lists another location in Boynton Beach, Fl. Wonder if that one had any Poly Pop going on? Have not heard of it before.

DC

To answer my own question, I found this ad for the Sun Wah in Boynton Beach that showed some polynesian drink imagery.

DC

Picked up this slightly different oversized postcard from the South Pacific.

It has this funny cartoon Tiki and a decidedly Chinese looking dinning room.

Also saw this ad from the South Pacific online

With a fuzzy photo of another one of the dinning rooms.

The mural on the right in the photo looks like the waterfall on the menu.

And last, a souvenir photo from Arkiva Tropika showing a great scene in another room.

I love the middle-aged woman on the right side holding what appears to be a GIANT keg-o-rum coconut drink!

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2012-06-11 16:05 ]

Nice work, DC, on correlating available information regarding the South Pacific mural!

I found this South Pacific ad in the Google news archive that corroborates the information I previously posted on Prince Pokii ("Prince Pokki" in the ad) as an entertainer at the South Pacific, including the timeframe...

The Miami News May 31, 1966

On 2012-01-01 19:46, TikiTomD wrote:
Last night at Ohana Luau’s New Year’s Eve Party in the Hawaiian Inn (Daytona Beach Shores, FL), Wailana McFall shared several family photos. Wailana leads the group of Polynesian performers there called “Silhouettes of Polynesia.” Her dad was Prince Benjamin Pokii Hele Loa I Ko Aina Kelii Waiwaiole, an actual member of the Hawaiian royalty before statehood. He organized and led a group of performers called “Silhouettes of the Tropics” that appeared mainly at the Bali Hai on Northport, Long Island, but also elsewhere, including at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach and at the South Pacific in Hallandale, Florida. In this photo, he is sitting with his family inside the South Pacific, circa 1966...

-Tom

The following South Pacific ad establishes the opening date of this Polynesian restaurant as December 25, 1959. Note the Maori Tiki in the ad whose origins were discussed earlier in this thread by bigbrotiki...

The Miami News December 24, 1959 (page 51)

The second part of the ad underscores the extent of Mai-Kai influences alluded to in the earlier posts of bigbrotiki, Kailuageoff, Dustycajun and nibblegribitz...

On 2005-02-04 21:13, bigbrotiki wrote:
My my, that was quite a place. A rambling group of huts and structures, it was obviously inspired by the nearby Mai Kai (like every other Polynesian joint in the area).

From the second part of the ad, we can see that the South Pacific architect and the Mai-Kai architect were one and the same, Charles McKirahan...

-Tom

Just in time for the Holidays, a Christmas Day Luau buffet with a Hawaiian floor show from the South Pacific.

DC

I managed to find a Miami Beach guide book that had the South Pacific ad I posted earlier. Some better scans:

The renderings.

Photo of the sign. I had never seen the figure of the carved Maori Tiki at the foot of the South Pacific sign before. And what is that little character with hat to his left?

The dining room with that waterfall mural. The waiter on the back left looks like the same guy from the Mai Kai card posted earlier.

The entertainment.

A nice historical ad.

DC

I picked up yet another oversized postcard from the South Pacific with a few more new views of the interior and exterior.

Close up of the exterior with a nice night-time shot.

Color shot of the interior dining room and those great wall murals.

The entertainment and the cool bridge feature.

One of my favorite old Florida places.

DC

Some more of the entertainment at the South Pacific.

Featuring Chief Fai, Ihilani and the Tahitian Maidens.

DC

Of course Ihilani had the album from the South Pacific. Wonder if that Tiki was located on the premises?

DC

Here's a family photo dat looks like it's straight out of da' pages of da' Tiki Magazine! The man wit da' steel guitar is my stepgrandpa Alfred Mendiha (my grandma Gliceria's first husband). Is dis da' same Prince Pokii???

Just found this nineteen-minute video on YouTube detailing the history of the South Pacific.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw4Zt5pYgts

WOW! Very cool. Nice to see someone post all of the photo shots that came from the in-house restaurant photographers and to hear some live show footage. I have always wondered how many of those types of old restaurant photos are sitting in vaults somewhere.

Many of the exterior images in the video were clipped from Tiki Central, but no credit was given... what?

DC

The video answers the "Sun Wah" question in that when the South Pacific closed in 1975, it reopened one year later under the Sun Wah banner and continued until the restaurant finally closed for good in 1980.

It's so strange that even though my maternal grandparents lived in Hallandale in the 1970s, I have no recollection of Sun Wah. I was far too young to recall the South Pacific--I turned four in 1975, and even though it's silly for me to think this, but I feel, I don't know, "ripped off" by not having grown up during that earlier period of South Florida history LOL (born and raised here).

It is impressive that the South Pacific managed to last as long as it did what with the Mai-Kai being so iconic and popular.

"Many of the exterior images in the video were clipped from Tiki Central, but no credit was given... what?"

Many times my info and or photos plus video footage of mine is used by TC people and they don't give me credit.
Credit was left out by mistake on the DVD of tiki but there are many other times this goes on as people tell me when it goes on.

So credit should be given?

It's good that the info is out there I guess.

The outside of this place is great but the inside was never as good as the Mai Kai it looks like from the photos.

Very nice. A real labor of love. Proves my saying that there must be tons of photos in the attics of ex-dance troupe members. Unfortunately, they begin to look the same after a while, and the decor is mere background.

I had hoped to find out a little more about IHILANI, wife of Kalani, the "guy from Hawaii"...

...and perhaps the "Tiki Records" label...

...but that must have been before the time of the video maker.

The last shots of the place from 1980 are sobering. Where did all the tropical foliage go?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2016-04-21 07:18 ]

Ihilani Silva passed May 17, 2011.
http://obits.staradvertiser.com/2011/06/19/ihilani-e-silva-miller/
Her Brother Ali'i Noa Solva was a dancer/knife dancer, and I performed with him at the Luau restaurant on 79th St in Miami, Fl.
He passed January 5, 2016.

[ Edited by: nibblegribitz 2018-09-22 15:43 ]

Thank you for that info. More Polynesian Pop veterans that have gone to the Big Luau in the Sky.

http://www.last.fm/music/Paul+Page/_/Big+Luau+in+the+Sky

A little bit o history from the South Pacific. It seems as though they stole the purchasing agent, Mr. Harold chase, from the Mai Kai and the Mai Kai sued to prevent the leak of"exotic secrets"!

Kind of funny given that the restaurants ended up trading servers, bartenders and entertainers over the years, like this guy who worked both establishments.

Here is an old news photo with a nice view of the A-Frame and the tower.

Plus an early ad.

DC

On 2017-06-21 16:13, Dustycajun wrote:

Great finds. That last line of the article cracks me up. I guess Mai Kai gets the last laugh as they're still operating.

The South Pacific's entertainment featured audience participation as seen in these photos and newspaper articles.

Souvenir photo, always love the men doing the Hula.

Mickey Rooney was a fan.

The Polynesian twist.

DC

Matchbook with interior:

Sarong-clad maidens! Oh boy!

On 2016-04-21 07:11, bigbrotiki wrote:
Very nice. A real labor of love. Proves my saying that there must be tons of photos in the attics of ex-dance troupe members. Unfortunately, they begin to look the same after a while, and the decor is mere background.

I had hoped to find out a little more about IHILANI, wife of Kalani, the "guy from Hawaii"...

...and perhaps the "Tiki Records" label...

...but that must have been before the time of the video maker.

The last shots of the place from 1980 are sobering. Where did all the tropical foliage go?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2016-04-21 07:18 ]

What do you want to know about her and her husband Terry? She was a wonderful lady and good friends of my mother and father. We used to go over her house in Carol City for lunch and dinner. She was a wonderful cook by the way. She had a studio in her house so I believe Tiki records was from her home. My father was Chief Nakoa he was the knife dancer at the South Pacific, Tiki Room, Samoa, Luau, Hawaiian Village, Tiki Lounge, Outrigger Inn, etc..

The South Pacific was a beautiful place it was more intimate and cleaner than the Mai Kai which eventually became too commercialize. I am in the process of restoring many family photos from those clubs that were damage from Hurricanes but will do my best to get it done. Here are few pics of Ihilani that she autographed for my mother Judy..

Like I said I am in the middle of restoring many photos of those clubs. Here is pops in the gardens of the South Pacific one of the last of the great knife dancers. His knives were sharp as razors and before each show he used to cut through wood and paper to show everyone they were real knives. Today they are just glorified baton twirlers with no risk of cutting off their hands or head.

Here is my mother who also worked in the gift shop in the South Pacific. My dad also carved the tikis that were in front the South Pacific and later on when it closed the Mai Kai took the tikis and put them in front of their place.

Very cool, thanks Nakoa and welcome to Tiki Central!

Yes, wonderful pictures, and good scans. Love the old-style portrait photography. I am a photographer/writer who has done a couple of books on Polynesian pop culture. Do you have any pictures of your dad's Tikis, and the restaurant exterior or interior. I would love to be able to put them into one of my future publications. Here's what I have done so far:

https://www.amazon.com/Sven-A.-Kirsten/e/B001K1N9DI/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

On 2019-09-25 02:15, (carried over from previous page) Nakoa wrote:
Like I said I am in the middle of restoring many photos of those clubs. Here is pops in the gardens of the South Pacific one of the last of the great knife dancers. His knives were sharp as razors and before each show he used to cut through wood and paper to show everyone they were real knives. Today they are just glorified baton twirlers with no risk of cutting off their hands or head.

Here is my mother who also worked in the gift shop in the South Pacific. My dad also carved the tikis that were in front the South Pacific and later on when it closed the Mai Kai took the tikis and put them in front of their place.

Thanks for posting these - beautiful pics! Count me as another vote who'd love to see more!

-Randy

[ Edited by: aquarj 2019-09-25 08:53 ]

Nakoa,

Thanks for posting, would love to see more as well. Here is another group souvenir photo from the South Pacific circa 1971. People having fun!!

DC

A few more entertainers at the South Pacific included Tane and Elana in the Bloody Mary Lounge

DC

On 2019-09-25 06:29, MadDogMike wrote:
Very cool, thanks Nakoa and welcome to Tiki Central!

Thanks for being patient brudda..

On 2019-09-25 08:04, bigbrotiki wrote:
Yes, wonderful pictures, and good scans. Love the old-style portrait photography. I am a photographer/writer who has done a couple of books on Polynesian pop culture. Do you have any pictures of your dad's Tikis, and the restaurant exterior or interior. I would love to be able to put them into one of my future publications. Here's what I have done so far:

https://www.amazon.com/Sven-A.-Kirsten/e/B001K1N9DI/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

I don't have any pics of the tikis outside of the South Pacific many of our photos were lost during hurricane Andrew. It's a pain staking process to restore the ones I do have which is still many of these clubs. Most of the ones that did survive was from the South Pacific, Luau and the Outrigger Inn. Like I said the big tikis he made for the South Pacific ended up at the Mai Kai.

Here is a small tiki he made in the 60's I have a pic of him carving it somewhere.

Here is another small tiki he made for our living room and he made several mini tikis around the house. This is pops with my younger brother the tikis are in the background. Photo taken in late 60's..

Another view of the tiki with my grandfather (mom side) on the left and Faatoia Tufele a knife dancer married to my auntie Hinano.

The last tiki he made he sent it to me and it sits in my den. I drop it and cracked it so I got to figure out how to repair it. He made this from a telephone pole and it weighs around 60lbs. He's too old to make them so I was surprised when he gave me this for my birthday a few years ago. He just uses his hands and a chisel old school style.

[ Edited by: Nakoa 2019-09-26 01:16 ]

[ Edited by: Nakoa 2019-09-26 01:56 ]

My mom working the gift shop at the South Pacific.

Dad doing his thing at the South Pacific.

Momi Lani dancing at the South Pacific. Momi was visiting from Tahiti, my Hawaiian grandmother brought her over to a do a tour with her in the states. Momi stayed with us in Carol City for a couple of weeks and she used to walk around the house naked all the time which pissed off my mom. Unfortunately I was too young to enjoy the scenery.

Momi Lani with my mom's brother (uncle Bob) and friend of the family Wanda Siderman. Photo taken at the South Pacific.

Momi sitting in the gardens of the South Pacific making a face at the cameraman. I believe Ed Clark was the official photographer of the South Pacific.

My auntie Temoana, if you visited the Luau thread she is dancing outside the club next to the tiki and sign along with my father. Temoana was the best hulu dancer hands down. If you ever make it out to Hawaii for the annual Hula contest Temoana is most likely involved, she has taught many dancers in Hawaii.

Last one because I'm tired and there are so many photos left to restore. My pops with his troupe the Aloha Islanders. On the left of him sitting down is Proni Cortez and to the right is Carl Ascension. My auntie Temoana is standing next to the Tiki and on her right is Leonani and sitting down in front of her with the long hair and big smile is Lani Keia. Again these are the dancers on the Luau postcard in the other thread. Lani Keia was in the Elvis movie Bird of Paradise. I don't know who the other people were but my mom said they were VIP's. I am not sure if this photo was taken in the South Pacific or the Luau sorry.

Ok one more I just restored.
Dad burning the hair off his back I don't know which club this is sorry..

Thanks for posting all these wonderful pictures.

On 2019-09-26 02:14, Nakoa wrote:
Ok one more I just restored.
Dad burning the hair off his back I don't know which club this is sorry..

"D" these photos are great!!!
This is Larry Hines. I played many a club date with your dad and my dad(George Hines).

[ Edited by: nibblegribitz 2019-11-12 04:34 ]

Some great photos showing up on this thread! Spotted this cool lighter from the South Pacific. One of the rarer form of collectibles out there.

I can only remember seeing another one from Sam's Seafood and Joe's Sneaky Tiki.

DC

Newspaper clipping from 1960 with unusual Horned-Tiki illustration (Van DerCar?)

Nakoa,.. Really great photos. I know you and your mom and worked with your dad many times. I also knew Ihilani, her sister Lale and brother Ali'i Noa. It's really nice to see to see such memories. Mahalo

Mapuana, my dad George Hines, Ana Luna(Mapuana’s sister), “Chief” Nakoa Willis, Rita and me Larry Hines

[ Edited by: nibblegribitz 2020-03-20 14:10 ]

[ Edited by: nibblegribitz 2020-03-20 15:10 ]

Going through my files (over 7,000) and noticed a striking similarity between a 1957 Pan Am poster and the South Pacific Restaurant ( which didn't open until the end of 1959 ) menu cover. Hmmm,..