Home Bars New Orleans Area (image heavy)

Attached are pictures of some home bars from us in New Orleans. I figure I should put these up now as we are in hurricane season and it would be nice to have them somewhere else just in case for insurance purposes.

The first set of pictures come from my friend Gary. I refer to him as Gary The Lurker as he visits TC but doesn’t post.

He refers to his bar as The Beachcomber. Anyway the style is Classic/Surf/Woody or maybe that should be Surfing With A Classic Woody. I say Classic in the traditional sense as he keeps true to the original styles with lots of thatching and bamboo.

The bar actually covers a full length mirror on the wall.

The bar top has a thatching then on top of that some pictures and then finally a glass top. This might not have been a good choice as one of his bamboo poles dropped and cracked the glass.

A side view of the bar as you can see the Woodies. The life preserver came I believe from a bad storm. These hurricanes can really kick up some good stuff for display in bars. You just need to go dig through it off of Lake Pontchatrain.

Some pictures from the back of the bar.

This is a picture of what he says is an umbrella stand in the back yard. More about this later.

On to the next New Orleans home bar. These next set of pictures are from Gary’s brother Ray. Ray refers to this as Florida style and he didn’t give me a name. I refer to it as “I can’t believe you let this thing fall into such disrepair you dumb. . . “. I have no idea what the metallic thingy is on the right side. Looks like some kind of engine parts. Maybe it should be a NASCAR Tiki Bar.

About the mugs and umbrella stand. From what I understand their mother has a kiln and they have the molds for these mugs. They use to produce them whenever they had huge blowouts but I don’t think they have done it for quite some time. I am trying to convince them to fire it back up.

Ray’s collectibles he keeps inside in a china cabinet

A final picture from Ray’s house is this which I have posted before. This was rescued when the Bali Ha’i was being torn down.

Finally we come to my bar which I refer to as Tonga Isle. This bar was named after a glass given to me with the inscription of it. I believe the bar was in Baton Rouge at one point. My place was originally the garage converted to a bed room converted to woodshop (when we bought the house it had an inch of sawdust on the floor and tons of left over wood).

My bar is what I refer to as Started-Out-As-Carribbean-Until-I-Was-Introduced-To-Tiki- Made-From-Recycled-Materials-And-As-Cheaply-As-Possible-Based-Upon-My-Limited-Skills. Actually it is Tonga Isle and that is the Tongan flag not Switzerland in the window. The bar frame was actually in the house and was used to hold much of the wood that makes up the bar and the shelfs. I consider my style very popish. I also believe that paint is the cheapist thing you can use for decorating.

This is an old and outdated tribute to just some of those that I took inspiration from. There are many people that are left out (PJ, Benzart, Sven, etc.). So my next project is to take out the reference to the tikifiles from TC and include specific names all over that back wall. If you would like to be immortalized in my bar these are your options:

1. Include a 1,000 word essay on why you should be there
2. Forward a trinket for the bar (yes I am not above selling sponsorships)
3. When in New Orleans look me up for drink
4. Ask

If you want your name removed from bar see 1 through 4 above.

The dart board was modified based upon suggestions from TC. As opposed to using the traditional products I painted the ceiling to save money. The hieroglyphs are Shecky, Tongan Goddess, Outrigger, etc.

I didn’t want to paint again so I took the Hula Calendar (I think that someone on TC did it) and cut it up and pasted on the cross beams.

What you see in the background is the plywood to board the windows for storms. I think I am going to paint Tiki’s on all of them. It should make a cool effect when I have to put them up. For hurricane people: Plylocks Are Your Friends

The wall has Rongo script on it. The figure head is a loaner from Gary the Lurker (his wife won’t let him display it). The furniture I got for a song at a resell and as opposed to spending a lot on new pads I went to Lowes and found these patio cushions during the winter and they fit perfectly.

One thing I do is I like to repeat images sort of a subliminal thing. For instance the mugs I have a painted on the panels. Tiki’s are taken from various sources and repeated throughout. You will also see the number 3 show up a lot. Such as the hula girls cut with a coping saw.

This is suppose to be retro/Witco inspired interpretation of the trinity of Capture, Eat and Assimilate.

This is my backyard. Boy what I could do with this but my son told me to quit tikifying the house. This is actually his 4 foot skateboard half-pipe. I made surf boards out of the left-over. I didn’t have pictures of his bedroom but he had a loft bed that we hung a hammock under and then put a thatch overhang. It was “sweet” for about a month. Teenagers!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, I have described this before. This is how I hung a tapa in the hallway using bamboo poles, binder clips, and rope in a hitching knot.

Anyway, this has been a long day getting this together. Thank you for looking.

You mean you still don't have the PJ shrine finished YET?
The nerve...

I love, love, LOVE those Witco-homage cannibals.

And yes Plylox ARE your friend!

wow.i really like those coping saw hula girls (and the witco inspired guys too) ~ the ceiling is great!! did you use stencils or did you draw those by hand?

great space you got there..keep it safe from those damned hurricanes!! great idea to ward off the winds with tiki plywood shields! (good way to get on TV news too!)

thanks for sharing!!
elicia

PJ,

I need to get with you on obtaining more of your stuff as I gave away the others that I bought. I love all the that you have created. I keep waiting to see them being thrown from the Mardi Gras krewes.

Dogbytes,

No I did not stencil just freehanded it as the ceiling tile was not looking all that good and I wanted to clean it up.

Gary (yes we are drinking and having cigars) just informed me that the mask over Ray's sink is in the BOT on page 187. Its referred to as the Tahitian Love Mask and he paid $3 in 1967. Time for us to done the super spy equipment and re-steal it back.

Well Katrina took out The Beachcomber. I don't really have anything else to say.

Deeply sorry for your losses 410. You ok?

We are very sorry to hear of your loss. Our prayers and thoughts are with you.
Ann & Wesley

Tonga Isle (my bar) came out okay. We were one of the "lucky ones". Seeing it happen to our friends, I don't feel so lucky. Gary has had the greatest influence on me and the endeavor to build my bar. That is the reason why his name is first in the dedication above my bar. We will be hanging in mine for a while. I'm hoping to assist him with his re-building.

Thank god you're OK. Pieces can be replaced, bars can be rebuilt from scratch, you can't.

On 2005-09-28 12:17, freddiefreelance wrote:
Thank god you're OK. Pieces can be replaced, bars can be rebuilt from scratch, you can't.

Amen