Photos of Ladies at Tiki Establishment-IMAGE HEAVY

While digging through snapshots to post on my Disneyland photo blog, I found this group of four photos of ladies enjoying a meal at a Tiki restaurant. The restaurant was in Los Angeles area as that is where I found the pictures. Let me know if any of you can place the restaurant. Photos are dated June 1970. Thanks.

Wow...the year (and month) I was born!

Are you sure they were all taken at the same place?

Look at the different decor, the chairs, the table cloth (or lack of table cloth).

I think the 1st and 4th photos are from one restaurant, and the 2nd and 3rd are from another.

Cool photos, though!

Ookoo Lady- I am not sure if they are the same restaurant. Looking at them now, I agree with you. Photo number 2 and 3 are from a different restaurant. I was thinking that all were the same restaurant due to the orange menu seen on the tables, but that might have been their club roster or something else.

That was my birthday party last year.
How did you get that?

hmm .. didnt find the bars but found good website for older places like them in L.A.
http://www.latimemachines.com/

The menus! That's the clue. 1 and 4 do appear to be the same. A hi-res scan of the menu will get us much closer to figuring out where this is.

The Swank Pad Broadcast - If it's Swank...

[ Edited by: Swanky 2006-05-30 12:09 ]

i did as much as i could with psp , couldnt read it, also the banner the lady has around ehr shoulder could help*, have been searching for the mural on the wall now
but no luck on it

also, whats up with the half and half hats?

Last pic, lady on the right. Kathy Bates?

:o

The candle holders and ashtrays look the same in all of the photos. Could it be the same chain of restaurants but different locations? Or the bar area and the dining area had different tables.

[ Edited by: Rob Roy 2006-05-30 17:09 ]

i agree, it looks like photos 1 and 4 are the dining area/banquet room, and photos 2 & 3 are in the bar area banquet room? the menus and candles look the same (as well as the women) so it is probably the same restaurant. now the chairs in photos 1 and 4 are the same chairs i have in my dining table set. those are specifically from the 60's so we can maybe assume this restuarant opened in the 1960s. the question is, what polynesian restaurant had a pirate mural/pirate themed bar/banquet room area?

..the place is steve cranes luau -in beverly hills...look closely at the menu..it's got that cool tribal tiki staue on it........

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2006-05-30 20:17 ]

I have looked at the photos using a magnifying glass and cannot make out the name of the restaurant. Looking at the Luau menu, the design does not seem to be similar. Here is a scan of just the menu laying on the table, it looks like a guy in a sombrero hat:

I believe this group of ladies was with weight watchers or another similar group. They are all dressed in black with pink sashes or name tags.

OK, here's my stab at photo forensics. I took the blowup pic of the menu and rotated it. Here it is:

I downloaded a clean-up program, and this is the result:

Not a whole lot better, but to me, the words "Pirate's Table" appear on what looks like a pirate with a beard,earring and knife in his mouth, the words written on his hat.

An internet search for Pirate's Table turns up this link:

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/bhflavor/index.php?reid=51

Everything jibes except for the timeframe, but that could be explained by change of ownership. A short excerpt from the review makes it sound like this might be the place:

"The restaurant’s extensive stonework mimics a pirate’s cave with palm trees and walls creating cozy dining hideaways. Beautiful air-brushed murals give the effect of dining while overlooking seaside beaches. Or treat your friends and family to dining in the Captain’s Quarters, with décor that resembles a ship’s interior."

Discuss.

..damn...ther's just no foolin' you tiki geeks!!

arrrghhh! now let us get out to the pirates table and see what we can plunder to sell on ebay!!!! arrrrggghh!!

Tikigreg, you win the tiki CSI award hands down. That is awesome forensic work. I really am quite impressed.

I found a handful of reviews for this place and it certainly sounds like you have nailed it. do we have anyone here from SD that can confirm this?

Also, could you try the same technique with that clear plastic stand up "specials" placard in pic #1? I'd be curious to see if any text can be pulled from it at all.

Ahu

Applaudes!!! sounds good to me!

But that's assuming this is all right. Maybe that menu image is upside down. It seems good, but we may be reading into the images too much from what is assumed... I am not 100% convinced. I need to Photoshop that image myself and see what I can get out of it...

I think a South Dakota TCer making a road trip is what we need. Shoot, it occurs to me that I know someone up there. It may take time, but I could make a phone call.

?

Ahu

Fraternal Order of Moai

[ Edited by: KuKuAhu 2006-05-31 12:09 ]

I cropped and tried cleaning up the pirate face some more, but this is the best I could do. It doesn't appear to reveal anymore clues.

Well, now we have it: It's all a carefully planted hoax by Bamboo Ben!

...but really guys, great work! Reminds me of the Bladerunner scene with the holographic click-zooming into the photo.

On 2006-05-31 13:11, tikigreg wrote:
I cropped and tried cleaning up the pirate face some more, but this is the best I could do. It doesn't appear to reveal anymore clues.

Laff!

OK, the ball is back in the California court! I called the Pirate's Table in South Dakota, and talked to Ron Beshara, son of the owner, Jim Beshara. Real nice guy that was happy to answer all my questions. I described the photos to him, with the mural and the menu. He said that the mural wasn't anything they had, and the menu was similar to an old one of their's, but he couldn't remember. So I mentioned that these photos were from 1970, and he said they've only been there since 1984.

Now for the money shot... Ron said the only other Pirate's Table he knew of was in Anaheim, possibly in the Holiday Inn. It was where his dad got the idea to open his place! So we have a connection to Disneyland as Matterhorn1959 originally posted!

I feel like friggin' Colombo! Arrrrr!!

OK, now it's up to you orange-eaters in Anaheim to take it and run!

..isn't there a drink in the grog log(first issue) from the pirates table in anaheim??

..maybe it was the captains table...any connection??

Sabu has a postcard (or brochure?) from that Holiday Inn, what I remember of it seems to match. Sabu?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2006-05-31 16:03 ]

okay, the hat grew up in anaheim and he says he sort of remembers a place like that. it was on Euclid and La Palma in Anaheim.

socal detectives, go for it!

On 2006-05-31 05:39, Matterhorn1959 wrote:
I believe this group of ladies was with weight watchers or another similar group.

Mary Kay, perhaps? A restaurant is the least likely place to hold a Weight Watchers meeting. :lol:

On 2006-05-31 19:36, cynfulcynner wrote:

On 2006-05-31 05:39, Matterhorn1959 wrote:
I believe this group of ladies was with weight watchers or another similar group.

Mary Kay, perhaps? A restaurant is the least likely place to hold a Weight Watchers meeting. :lol:

perhaps the .."mai tais templar".....

Maybe that group is an early incarnation of that "Purple Hat" lady group...I don't know if they only exist in California, but I am sure everyone here has seen them, I don't know their exact title and agenda, but they are out to have fun...

On 2006-05-31 23:30, bigbrotiki wrote:
Maybe that group is an early incarnation of that "Purple Hat" lady group...I don't know if they only exist in California, but I am sure everyone here has seen them, I don't know their exact title and agenda, but they are out to have fun...

...they are called the "she-woman man-haters club"!!!!!! aaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

On 2006-05-31 23:30, bigbrotiki wrote:
Maybe that group is an early incarnation of that "Purple Hat" lady group...I don't know if they only exist in California, but I am sure everyone here has seen them, I don't know their exact title and agenda, but they are out to have fun...

The "Purple Hat ladies" are an only in California group comprised of only female California Raisins .

(sorry couldn't find photos of the group)

The RED HAT SOCIETY is a much larger group of human women who often have raisin-like wrinkled skin! :)
http://www.redhatsociety.com/

Mr. Smiley is the most thirstiesterest of
all!
Have a nice Tiki Day!
If you like it,it is ZAZZ! If you don't, give it a RAZZ.

[ Edited by: mrsmiley 2006-06-01 16:09 ]

Tikigreg - your call to Ron Beshara was spot-on, but just not in the way you anticipated. You called The Pirate's Table in South Dakota because it was the only place you could find to match the name on the menu in the photos. Rob Beshara told you it couldn't be the right place but that his dad based his restaurant on a similar place at the Holiday Inn in Anaheim. It turns out that the restaurant at the Holiday Inn in Anaheim is actually the restaurant in those snapshots. So we come full circle. Funny thing, coincidence, eh?

How do I know? As bigbro said, I've got a Holiday Inn, Anaheim brochure from the 1960s. It was across the street from Disneyland on Harbor Blvd. It had two restaurants, the "Polynesian Dining Room" and the "Ship's Lounge". I'll post photos later on today, but let me assure you, photos 1 & 4 on the first page of this thread were taken in the "Polynesian Dining Room" and photos 2 & 3 were taken in the "Ship's Lounge". I suspect that by the 1970s, the two rooms were sharing the same menu and had been renamed the "Pirate's Table". It makes sense too. Being across the street from Disneyland it would seem fitting to re-name the restaurant to take advantage of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" popularity.

Photos 1 & 2 match perfectly the tiki column, the rock waterfall, the bamboo pillars, the ferns, the hanging lamps & the chairs in my brochure photo of the "Polynesian Dining Room". Photos 2 & 3 match perfectly the wall mural, the tables the chairs & the masts in my brochure photo of the "Ship's Lounge". When I post closeups of my photos you'll have no doubt.

So cool to see more photos of this obscure tiki location! I kick myself that I passed that Holiday Inn all the time throughout my life and never ventured inside. That hotel is now gone and I think we all missed out.

Matterhorn1959 - I think you can definitely add the photos to your Disneyland blog. The connection is valid - just half a block down the street from Disneyland, with two themed restaurant rooms patterned after Disneyland rides, the Tiki Room & Pirates of the Caribbean. Didn't quite a few restaurant and hotels in the area theme themselves like Disneyland?

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2006-06-02 02:03 ]

Sabu- Thanks for the confirmation. And yes, most of the hotels around Disneyland in the early 1960s picked a theme. Some that still exist are the Candy Cane Motel and the Vagabond motel. During the beautification of the Disneyland Resort area by Anaheim in the late 1990s, most of the great neon and design was lost and a unified bland theme now prevails. I can't wait to see the brochure as I do collect outside hotels and motels around the park and have not seen the Holiday Inn one. Thanks to all who helped. I also enjoyed the Bamboo Ben Pirates Hat menu and the comments about the ladies.

the menu scan looks like the Shroud of Tiki to me...

Man, this is a cool thread.

I wish I could put this team on payroll to help me find stuff from the Bali Hai in Canton, OH.
I'm about stumped.

Ok, here are the promised photos:

:down: First, the cover of my brochure. 1850 South Harbor Boulevard, Anaheim, CA 92802.

:down: And the "Polynesian Dining Room"

:down: Compare Matterhorn1959's snapshot and a closeup from the brochure:

:up: Everything seems to match. I wonder who carved that nice tiki pole?

:down: You can even see a few of these chairs in the closeup above.

:down: The clincher, though is in the comparison of the "Ship's Lounge"

This next photo shows how the Pirate and Polynesian themes overlapped at the Holiday Inn. It's a picture of Prince Liufau and his Polynesian Review performing in the Ship's Lounge :down:

:down: A map of the Holiday Inn's location:

:down:...And some other photos from the brochure.

Thanks Sabu- now I have to find one of those brochures. A menu from the restaurant would also be great to find.

There's no date on my brochure but it states that the Angels Stadium and Convention Center were "New". The stadium opened in 1966, the Convention Center in 1967, and Pirates of the Caribbean in 1967. I'm guessing that my brochure is probably from 1968. An attached price sheet lists double-occupancy rooms at just $18 a night during the off-season and $22 a night during the Summer.

Sabu

What a great history. The Pirate's Table owner's dad being inspired by this place to create his own themed joint falls right in line with restaurateurs like Trader Vic and the Mai Kai's Thornton brothers being inspired by the Hollywood and Chicago Beachcombers, or the Kahiki's Bill Sapp by either Trader Vic's or a Beachcomber restaurant.

I like that Ship's Lounge's (what an imaginative title!?) Polynesian floor show photo, can one assume that the audience always consisted of Bikini-clad lovelies?

Which brings up another thought of a yet completely untapped source of Tiki Bar interior snapshots: The numerous mostly family owned Polynesian dance troupes that toured these establishments beginning in the 30s thru the 70s must have lots of material (if they kept it)! ...but I do not want to digress from the post here.

My God - what an amazing post!!!!!!!!! I wish I had more time to dissolve it all in my brain.....

Hat Tip to TikiGreg--- still laughing ...owe you a nice warm PBR!!!

On 2006-05-31 08:50, tikigreg wrote:

Everything jibes except for the timeframe, but that could be explained by change of ownership. A short excerpt from the review makes it sound like this might be the place:

"The restaurant’s extensive stonework mimics a pirate’s cave with palm trees and walls creating cozy dining hideaways. Beautiful air-brushed murals give the effect of dining while overlooking seaside beaches. Or treat your friends and family to dining in the Captain’s Quarters, with décor that resembles a ship’s interior."

Discuss.

I have no intimate knowledge of the situation but it is POSSIBLE that the "22 years ago"
was "appropriated" from the menu, which may have been a subsequent version of the original
menu and the copy never updated to reflect the passage of time. Some people never think to
update details like that or consider the change to be an unneccessary expense.

-That's some damned fine tiki archeology, Sabu! Dead on. If you notice above the ladie's heads you can even see the lamp sequence matches from the angle they are sitting..

You all are just nuts - this thread just made me laugh and laugh! I am in awe of your detective work - you all deserve a Cap'n Crunch treasure chest for your efforts!

Dang, only from 2006 and all the images are gone! :(

Sabu, is there any resemblance between the Anaheim Holiday Inn and THIS photo:

If so, this mysterious Polynesian hideaway started its life as a DOBB'S HOUSE in 1968: I found this lone photo and an invoice for decor in the Oceanic Arts archives last week. This would explain its fully decked-out interior: A Dobbs House outfitted by O.A.!

I don't recall an Anaheim location mentioned in the extensive list of Dobbs locations. Maybe this opened at the tail end of the company's existence? Does anyone know how long Dobbs Luau/Tiki House chain lasted? Swanky?

That looks likes the Holiday in on my brochure, Sven. I think that's it.

I'll find my old photos and fix those links when I get a chance.

Thanks,

Sabu