is there anyone under the age of 30 in the tiki scene??

..just an observation....it seems there aren't many, if any younger folk in this scene....who will carry the torch years from now???...lookin over the hukilau pics and oasis past pics i have noticed more older folk than young attend these events..don't get me wrong...i'm no spring chicken...i'm pushin 40 as it is, but it seems that most of us, cause we are older have some connection to the tiki world either by growing up in or alongside it or somehow being exposed to it in our past. This might explain the age issue in terms of where tiki is at now....but are younger folk getting exposed to tiki these days? or are they even interested in it? or is just us and our nostalgia....maybe they are still under the age of 21 so why bother going to hukilau if ya can't drink, right?? LOL

Distinguish Gent like yourself I thought you where pushing 60!
Last one on Tiki Central please turn the lights off.

I am on a campaign to push Tiki to my only underling. I am 54 and have no kids...only one Neice who is married and lives in Omaha. They were just here to visit with me and I threw a Tiki party for them. I send them Tiki stuff (including BOT and TM and Grog Log, mugs, etc.) Doing my best...one youngster at a time.

Sometimes my lights are already out. :D

On 2008-06-19 14:52, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
..just an observation....it seems there aren't many, if any younger folk in this scene....who will carry the torch years from now??

I think it is not just Tiki suffering from this.... this...... not sure what to call it?

When I got out of school, I couldn't get a job because all of the 'old guys' weren't going to give up their position until they were dead. Now, 20 plus years later, they are all retired/dead and all of the business are scrambling trying to find someone, anyone, who can do the job. Not enough people with the skill set now.

Basically, more people are retiring/dying and there are fewer people in the next generation to replace them. It is everywhere, not just tiki.

The good news, as the older tiki-philes die off the younger ones can get their mug collections.

I don't mean that in the cut-throat hurry-up-and-die way that it sounds, I mean that as long as someone is trying to carry the torch things are OK. The younger generation just may have more torches to carry....

We need to educate them young'uns. I took my son (19) and daughter (17) to Tiki Invasion, they loved it.

I'll be 29 for another month, so there you go.
My parents were hippies and shunned the tiki stuff. That would have been more of their parents' generation, but even my grandparents didn't do tiki.
My first exposure that I can recall was at Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room. I have wonderful memories of that. The tiki love lay dormant for some time, then when my husband began carving tikis about 12 or so years ago I became hooked.
Honestly we didn't even know there was such a huge tiki scene till the last few years or so. I wish I would have known back in my drinking days :P

In my (still somewhat limited) experience selling tiki stuff... I have found that some of our best customers are kids - kids love tikis! At a show we did a year ago, a little girl came and bought a little Marquesian guy and proclaimed that she was going to make him a bed and keep it in her room next to her bed. That was the 2nd Marquesian we sold that day to someone under age 9, go figure.
"A Night At the Museum" apparently has a big Moai called Dum Dum - we hear a lot of that from the younger set.

Our daughter is already a little tikiphile - she could say "tiki" before the age of 1, around age 1 1/2 she began drawing pictures of "tikis" and just recently at 21 months began sculpting "tikis" out of hot pink play-dough (wants to be just like her Daddy). Her favorite band is the Martini Kings. This is just from exposure to the art and attending/vending events, no encouragement otherwise.
I believe kids are just naturally drawn to tikis because they are fun and playful-looking.

It helps that kids are welcome at most of the big tiki events (esp for people like us who don't use babysitters much and would not likely attend otherwise)... It's all laying the groundwork for future generations of tiki-lovers!

Terra
Swangulo Tikis

I'm doing my part! Although I have no kids of my own, my favorite nephew received a bone pendant that I commissioned from finkdaddy for his 16th birthday. He had seen one that finkdaddy carved for me, along with a Paipo original and some resin copies, and commented how cool he thought they were. His mother reports that the only time he takes it off is for sleeping and bathing. He also is regularly subjected to our family's tradition of making the Enchanted Tiki Room the very first destination of the day whenever in Disneyland. We've had that tradition since it opened in 1963, and to this day, we all stick to it (much to the chagrin of my best friend who is sick of ETR)! My nephew has even asked for me to leave the mug collection to him when I die (he did seem a bit too eager for my comfort, however). He's not into exotica, and isn't yet old enough to appreciate a finely crafted cocktail, but the seeds are being planted, and I see a few sprouts! :)

Just for the record, I'm 27 and I don't know anyone my age who's into this stuff. And it's not just Tiki, either. I've seen the younger generation, and there's no hope for the future...

Maybe its time for Emo Tikis? :cry:

I just recently had my living trust and will set up. There is a sheet you fill out in the will to leave individual items to whomever, so when my Neice & hubby were here I asked them what they would like in my house (beside the financial things I have doled out to folks). They aren't too materialistic and said, well only the things that have some value to you...so I listed them to receive a bedroom set passed down from my Mom & Dad (it was their first set and very kewl), then an antique recliner (passed down from the parents that I refinished and upholstered myself), my Dad's refinished desk, then my two Golden Retrievers :) and a few other things. Then my Neice's husband said...how about all the musical instruments you have...I could donate them to a school...so thoughtful...I liked that idea. Then I said what about the Tiki bar it is a classic and then they both said...well your whole Tiki lounge is what is most representative of you...enough said in my book...they get the whole enchalada. I think they get Tiki and don't even know it. :lol:

I agree with you C&A....the majority of people in the United States will soon be an older generation. The current younger generation is not as skill/work oriented as those of us in the Baby Boomer generation...so it is going to be up to us to be sure we really save for retirement (since our Social Security System is not stable like it used to be in our parent's generation). We need to do whatever we can to help future generations with everything on this planet...especially ecology, as it will affect them more than it does us now. We definitely need to preserve our Tiki lounges and the great collections so many people have.

Start hoarding your booze and tikis now...the end is coming soon. :o

Part of the appeal for the Tiki events for me is that alot of the people are around my age...i'm 45, and, honestly, it's really difficult for me to have a conversation with someone in their 20's.
Most people in their 20's don't seem to have any reverence for anything from 50 years ago. Their idea of retro is the Talking Heads and Television in the CBGB's days....

That was high school for me ! So, I'm OLD...that much I know.

SO....as for me...I like hanging with people my own age who have "been there and done that" because I can relate. I don't expect the younger folks to relate.

I just feel sorry for them because they'll never know what it was like see any of these amazing places like The Mai Kai or a Googie Style coffee shop, or be in a bowling league when they are like 10 years old.

I do think that if younger people, and I'm talking pre-teens, were exposed to a place like the Mai Kai, they would flip out. Every little kid likes fantasy oriented places with waterfalls, tikis, and other Dinseyland-like features....it's just too bad that no one builds places like that anymore.

I think teenagers and twenty-somethings are "too cool" to wear an aloha shirt and a lei around their neck...especially now with this current trend of insipid, Paris Hilton fueled, empty headed fashion mongering. So I think that the 20-35 year olds will be a black hole in the tiki demographic. But once those people grow up, take a Hawaiian vacation, and catch the bug, they will learn to appreciate the "Island lifestyle" we all love so much.

As for the future of Tiki, well, I think what people on TC, Sven, Otto, the carvers and artists and everyone else doing something tiki related, this stuff will be important down the line. The work these people have done to revive tiki will not go in vain, in my opinion. It may take a while to see the reverberations of it all make an impact, but I think we will.

Eventually everything great sees a resurgence, and now with some restaurateurs taking a chance and creating Tiki Themed restaurants, there IS hope. I just hope that people let go of any preconceived notions of "Cheezy Hawaiian Themed" stuff and just enjoy it, because it really IS fun.

Besides, once those teens start drinking and get the taste of some REAL Tiki drinks, that will be all they need to start embracing tiki.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2008-06-19 16:57 ]

On 2008-06-19 16:13, TikiMango wrote:
Maybe its time for Emo Tikis? :cry:

With Peter Murphy playing in the background, Emotiki lights a Big Lots tiki torch before gouging himself with a chisel just to feel something. :( He creates tapa with eleven shades of gray, cursing the day he was carved. Later, while sitting on a termite mound, he chisels in his journal and weeps at how pointless it all is. :cry:

I'm 29, I like Tiki bars, tropical drinks and the almost impossible, new urban archeological discovery. Beachbum Berry's books led me to bartending and the study of Don beach and Trader Vic have given me a historical context for restauranteurs, entrepreneurs and the history of "theming." I really enjoy learning new things and the preservation of history worth celebrating. However the internet age has enabled small niches of hobby and personal interest to flourish that otherwise might be consumed in broader subcultures without it. Maybe dedicating oneself to being a "tikiphile" is somewhat superficial, although I'm not one to judge because I spend a lot of time on very trivial sports teams and the daily minutia of their existence. I don't think having these Tiki-cons is a bad thing, I'm just not going to attend them. Partly 'cuz everyone is like fifty years old and they look boring in the pictures. But I'd rather go to a tiki party or tiki bar than to some trashy american apparel hipster event.

I think it is a generational thing. My (our) generation grew up finding vintage items in the thrift store. Relics of the Atomic Age. We grew up visiting a few of those places and see them fading away. Tiki is a part of that. The younger people seem to think of the 70's as we think of the 50's and 60's. And the funny thing is, I can't understand liking the 70's! Tear it down!

But it's also a maturity thing. 20-somethings drink shooters. Or, well, these days, I think 20-somethings aren't drinking at all any more... But, they want quantity and not quality in their drinking. Well, that's how I was.

Same reason you don't meet many 23 year old Masons...

My husband and I are 31. Close enough to under 30 I think :)

Because we were married at the Mai-Kai a few years ago, many of our wedding guests have since started searching out info on tiki culture and visiting vintage establishments.

My 16 year old brother has a few of his own tiki mugs and had my husband do a fire tiki painting for him.

I dont know about the rest of you but Im just over 40. feel like Im just over 30 and act like Im just over 20.

On 2008-06-19 17:11, Registered Astronaut wrote:
I'm 29.......
I don't think having these Tiki-cons is a bad thing, I'm just not going to attend them. Partly 'cuz everyone is like fifty years old and they look boring in the pictures.

Yep.
Like old and, like, boring. :roll:
That's why we're there: expressing the angst and ennui of our pointless, dull existences. Discussing life insurance, gout, the senior citizen homes we've picked out - the usual.
Weltschmertz. The pictures of our tiresome discussions at these Tiki-cons tell it all.

That's why I was laughing my ass off at Hukilau for SIX DAYS STRAIGHT! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Reg. Astro, pumpkin, you gotta get out more! :P You are missing out on a great deal of pleasure that life (and the tiki scene) has to offer.

Happy happy happy to no longer be in my twenties (although I wouldn't mind having the wrinkleness forehead from then),
Old and boring Formikahini

P.S. In your defense, you're feeling what most everyone feels at some time: an affinity for people their own age. I've found in the last decade that I LOVE being with people right around my age. I have great friends both way up and way down the scale, but my best times come with folks only about 5 years up or 5 down from me. There will come a time when you'll tire of twenty-something scenes too. :wink:

P.P.S. The funny thing is that the bulk of my pals from the tiki scene are former punk rockers. We hung in the places and with the people that are now Legend. We stopped being so damned angry and negative, and learned to enjoy happy clothes, yummy drinks, and not trying to look mean or ugly. And we found Others Like Ourselves. And We congregate at Hukilau, Tiki Oasis, NETT, HotRod Hula Hop.

P.P.P.S. Have a cocktail. :drink:

I am 28 and my wife is 26. We are both into tiki. We are currently working on our tiki room in our new home. We both love the art, the atmosphere, the people, and of course the cocktails. My grandparents went to Don the Beachcombers and my Grandma foundly remembers the Zombies. My parents frequented Kelbos, and I remember going there a few times before it closed. My wife was a waitress for a short time at Sams. While we may have missed out on the "Good ol' Days", our generation still had the opportunity to be exposed to "authentic tiki".

We try to get to as many old and new Tiki places as possible and we are lucky to have many in our area. Hopefully, they will survive for others to enjoy.

Jeff

LOL, I was thinking about this not too long ago!!I have always been into trucks and car shows,But since I hit 30 I wanted to really try something friendlier! I think the Tiki lifestyle is way cooler so far!here I am @ 34 and still into the Tiki!!! :)

On 2008-06-19 18:06, Sophista-tiki wrote:
I dont know about the rest of you but Im just over 40. feel like Im just over 30 and act like Im just over 20.

Sophista-tiki,
You said a mouthful! I'm right behind ya on that one!! :wink:
K.

On 2008-06-19 18:19, Formikahini wrote:

On 2008-06-19 17:11, Registered Astronaut wrote:
I'm 29.......
I don't think having these Tiki-cons is a bad thing, I'm just not going to attend them. Partly 'cuz everyone is like fifty years old and they look boring in the pictures.

Yep.
Like old and, like, boring. :roll:
That's why we're there: expressing the angst and ennui of our pointless, dull existences. Discussing life insurance, gout, the senior citizen homes we've picked out - the usual.
Weltschmertz. The pictures of our tiresome discussions at these Tiki-cons tell it all.

That's why I was laughing my ass off at Hukilau for SIX DAYS STRAIGHT! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Reg. Astro, pumpkin, you gotta get out more! :P You are missing out on a great deal of pleasure that life (and the tiki scene) has to offer.

Happy happy happy to no longer be in my twenties (although I wouldn't mind having the wrinkleness forehead from then),
Old and boring Formikahini

P.S. In your defense, you're feeling what most everyone feels at some time: an affinity for people their own age. I've found in the last decade that I LOVE being with people right around my age. I have great friends both way up and way down the scale, but my best times come with folks only about 5 years up or 5 down from me. There will come a time when you'll tire of twenty-something scenes too. :wink:

P.P.S. The funny thing is that the bulk of my pals from the tiki scene are former punk rockers. We hung in the places and with the people that are now Legend. We stopped being so damned angry and negative, and learned to enjoy happy clothes, yummy drinks, and not trying to look mean or ugly. And we found Others Like Ourselves. And We congregate at Hukilau, Tiki Oasis, NETT, HotRod Hula Hop.

P.P.P.S. Have a cocktail. :drink:

Yeah, what she said! Well put Ms 'boring' Formikahini!! :lol:
Only, PPPS: have 2 cocktails, you'll need 'em to keep up with us old folk...
:drink: :drink:

:wink:

K.

Well, I'm 20 and I'm into tiki... That being said, I don't know anyone else my age who's into it.

Well, I'm 2... ah, 3... ah, well 5...!

Can't believe it, and hadn't noticed it until SOMEONE POINTED IT OUT!

Look, Tiki is for us adults. I was at a "kids" concert bar the other week and they were drinking something call a Papa Smurf! It was blue Kool-aid with vodka! They aren't ready, nor worthy.

Somebody once said, "Never let children make cocktails. It's unseemly and they use too much vermouth."

I'm 33, and I came to Tiki through rockabilly, if that makes sense. We do all the big rockabilly events every year (Viva Las Vegas, the Hootenanny, Ink and Iron, etc.) It seems though that more and more the rockabilly scene is being taken over by twenty-something kids that just want to wear grease in their hair and kick people with their engineer boots. Last year, we attended our first Tiki Oasis, and one of the first things we noticed was that the crowd was a bit older than us. But that observation faded very quickly as we started talking to people, and found out that the Tiki scene is full of a whole lot of nice people who want nothing more than to see their thing flourish, and to meet new people, and to walk around wearing an aloha short while drinking a cocktail with a bunch of fruit in it. Nobody gets their ass kicked at a Tiki event. There's no contest to see who's the toughest, or who has the most tattoos. Since last year, we have also attended the Tiki Farm parking lot sale, and Tiki Invasion II. I have a Ken Ruzic painting on the wall, a Bamboo Ben mini-tiki bar, 20 kinds of rum in my liquor cabinet, Tikiyaki Orchestra, the Martini Kings, Martin Denny, and Arthur Lyman on my iPod, one of Cammo's mug racks full of Tiki mugs, and a closet full of Hawaiian shirts. I still love my rockabilly music and going to the shows. But it's very refreshing to be a part of a scene where people can actually talk to each other and exchange ideas. There are so many facets of Tiki - it's a way to decorate your house, it's what you eat and drink, it's what you wear out of the house, it's where you spend your free time. I'm actually glad Tiki is an older crowd for now...but judging by the amount of Tiki that has crept in to the 50's rockabilly events, we don't have to worry about who's going to carry on after we're gone. The seeds are planted in other places, most definitely. OK enough rambling...I have a bag of limes, a bunch of rum, a clean glass....and NO ICE. Off to the store.

On 2008-06-19 19:29, Jason Wickedly wrote:
There are so many facets of Tiki - it's a way to decorate your house, it's what you eat and drink, it's what you wear out of the house, it's where you spend your free time.

Right on....I've been assessing the whole Tiki Event thing, and, although I'm an Avid Tikiphile for at least 10 years, I never attended events because I just thought to myself "I don't drink, what's in it for a guy who doesn't drink ?"...

Well, you nailed it....Tiki is many faceted : Art, Architecture, Music, fashion, interior decorating, Mixology, Urban Archaeology, history, culture, all of it. Yes, it mostly revolves around all of those things from a certain era....it's basically retro lifestyle. And yes, there are lots of Rockabilly folks in the Tiki scene, as well as ex punk rockers, surfers, metalheads, freaks,geeks and all other types.
To the 29 year old who doesn't wanna hang with us old farts...your loss brah. Not everyone is old and surely, NO one acts like it at an event like Hukilau and Oasis.

Besides, Bamboo Ben (in his 40's) will party you and your 20-something buds under the table. :D

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2008-06-19 19:46 ]

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2008-06-19 19:46 ]

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-20 20:34 ]

On 2008-06-19 19:29, Jason Wickedly wrote:
Nobody gets their ass kicked at a Tiki event.

Great line, Jason! Somebody should use that in their signature.

So yeah, I'm as old as most of the farts I mean folks here, but I'm doing my part to ensure a Tiki Future.
I posted this in one of the chop threads a while ago,
but this pic of my granddaughter carving fits well in this thread.

She's nine, and has three tikis under her belt.

What Jason said!! thats what I had in mind to say,But I could not come up with those words!Thank you for what you said! word for word.:)

17 here! started when i was...16 maybe? just bored one day and always loved the little tiki guy in the Crash Bandicoot game. also anything tiki was facinating for some reason.

I'm 47, and I was at Hukilau, and I felt that the average attendee was likely in the 35 to 55 range, more or less.

On late (1:30 am?) Friday evening that weekend, I stopped by the Kreepy Tiki event, and I felt the average age range there was younger, in the 25 to 40 range. This was partly due to the late hour, but it was still a nice vibe, although different from the feel of the Hukilau event.

At Hukilau, I felt I could turn to almost anyone, start a conversation, and we would likely share the same pop-cultural references. I didn't have that feeling at Kreepy Tiki - that generation has their own bounding cultural references.

The older Hukilau crowd has the ability to apply more resources to their tiki habit - probably a higher income to afford trips to tiki events and to buy artwork for their walls and home, or to indulge in the higher priced liquors or harder to find drink ingredients. Having lived through more things, we might be a bit more certain about what we like, and what we wish to pursue during our free time.

The younger crowd certainly had curiousity and the desire to experience more of the variety that is out there. I got the feeling they were into tiki, liked it, but maybe weren't quite ready to make it a more central part of their life. (They probably hangout at a site called Tiki Periphery) They seemed to be just happy to stand there in their loose groups, observing, and soaking it in a bit .... and perhaps the wheels in their minds were turning, and scheming of new possibilities.

I remember a quote that Pete Townshend of the Who said, about his reputation of being an elder spokesperson of rock. He said something like 'my role isn't to stand here and direct these people on what to do or how to do it .... my role is to get the hell out of the way and give these younger kids the room and space to develop new things on their own." And that is somewhat what I did that evening, just stood back and did some observing myself.

I have made it to every Hukilau event - the first ones you attend are really amazing new experiences, and then after awhile they are still amazing, but they are becoming a bit more familiar, and after a few more, you can almost predict how the events will go .... and you attend anyway, because you know you fit in well with that crowd.

This year, I felt a real freshness at the Kreepy Tiki event. It really wasn't a familiar feeling, but it had the sense of something fresh and new coming over the horizon, and it was really enjoyable. I almost felt that if too many people my age had arrived at the event, it might have spoiled the vibe and magic that I felt.

So my gut feeling is that the younger generation might be discovering tiki, and some of them might seek out the wisdom of the elders on our site. But the collective scene will hopefully continue to germinate and evolve (some of us might say de-evolve) on their own, and that process will probably happen outside our immediate view, and we who are older will not quite understand it when we see it, but that is OK. And there we will all be, our respective generations, all enjoying tiki in our own ways.

When I first got into Tiki I was 18 and joined TC when I was 19.

I'm 22 now and still lovin tiki!
I never pay any attention to the "age" thing as I can carry on a relatively good conversation with someone twice my age :P

So...yeah there are a few of us under 30s here!

:)

*On 2008-06-19 19:29, Jason Wickedly wrote:*NO ICE. Off to the store.

see you in a year! heh... just kidding :D

I think Swanky hit the nail on the head when he analogized tiki with the Masons. You also don't see very many 23 year old memebers of the Elk or Moose lodges. Just because most kids aren't into tiki before they enter their 30's doesn't mean that they won't after they turn 30. I'm 38, but didn't get into tiki until I was in my 30s (although I suspect if I was introduced to it earlier and knew of the existence of other tikiphiles at that time, I would have gotten into it sooner).

I actually got into tiki while researching online how to throw a luau, including the menu, music, decorations, etc. I was frustrated that mainstream idea of luau music (like what you would find on a luau music CD at a place like Party City) was songs such as "Hot, hot, hot" and Beach Boy's music. And the deocrations were so...cheesy. I wanted something more authentic. That search led me to this community where I discovered a world that I did not know existed. (Actually, it was Swanky's music that was playing on the 2005 Hukilau website that introduced me to exotica and I knew right then that I had found the music that I wanted to play at my luau.) I spent so much time researching and planning for that luau and had so much fun doing it that I became a member of the Tiki Central community. And I now have a much better appreciation and a fondness of all things tiki then I ever did before.

Since joining the Tiki Central community a few years ago, I've seen many others join our community much the same way. So, I guess I'm pretty optimistic about the continuance of the tiki lifestyle. That being said, lots of things are cyclical. To many who are not that devoted to tiki, tiki is a merely a fad that had its heyday back in the 50s and 60s and recently experienced a resurgence. For those, tiki will not continue as an important part of their lives. However, for many people who are part of this community and those -- who, like myself, will stumble down the rabbit hole and discover for themselves the wonderous world of tiki -- tiki culture and lifestyle will endure.

[ Edited by: joefla70 2008-06-20 12:55 ]

Rav...you bring up a good point...about the "age-thang"...for some of us it just doesn't get in the way. If you broaden your horizens and open your mind, conversing with almost any aged person can be enlightening. I keep up on my Alternative Rock by chatting with my Neice...and I keep up on the Financial Pulse of America when I talk to my 89 year-old Mom. I have friends and colleagues in all age groups and think it helps to slip into any mode when it is needed.

i'll speak up for the younger crowd here, i'm 26. i agree that there are many different facets to the whole tiki scene and it can be a little overwhelming for the pocketbook. when you have an entry level job, it can be a little rough to justify spending $9 on a drink or $50 on a decent mug for the collection. Also, i would love to be more active in the scene but it's not like there's a tiki bar on every corner. As great as public transportation here is, there is no way to make it to places like hala kahiki or the tiki terrace without a car. i guess, what i am saying is that it is not the most accessible scene for the kids.

I guess it depends on how deep peoples involvement needs to be. I came into my interest of tiki via hot rods - there are many young guys and gals interested in traditional hot rodding that appreciate the tiki culture to some extent as well...

I am 41 now and it has been very strange for me. I became a Master Mason five years ago and love it. My grandfather was a Mason and an Oddfellow and an Elk. As a kid I looked up to him and thought it was cool. My grandmother was never alone during his meetings due to the fact that the ladies also had very tight social circles that were tied into these fraternal organizations. People now say that the woman were left alone, but it was never more far from the truth, my grandmother was very busy. I saw it first hand. I then became a Shriner and work with the Shriners burn hospital in Boston. While I am doing all this, I have seen many Third Degrees with a good number of twenty and thirty year olds, however, they never come back to regular meetings or functions! Why? because I have found that the older guys are a real pain in the ass with any type of positive change. I am young and went into something old and felt that they really were not interested in me even though the Masons and Shriners have great camapaigns to get younger brothers.
Its all kinda funny really, when you look at it all from a distance. A few years ago I decided to obtain my Amateur Radio license.....here we go again.....mostly old men telling me that because I do not know Morse Code, I was not "a real Ham". Here is my overall observation: I love tradition, and without places like TikiCentral and events like Hukilau and .....Kreepytiki, the younger generation might be blind to the overall experience. I THANK the creators immensely!! I have always felt welcome, except for those F.O.M. folks who have black balled me (ONLY KIDDING). I feel that the younger generation has/have lost critical social conversation skills. As my father once said: "Talking about the weather is not always easy, but you have to start somewhere". I think we are all responsible for preserving tradition, so go, go fast and don't spill your Mai Tai and with stealth go disable Trumps bull dozer before he knocks something else down that we all love. Remember he's the guy that put a gym where Trader Vics used to be, in The Plaza in NYC. I would love to stay and preach some more, but I think I hear an Elk calling me.

How timely this thread is by the way - I bought a fez at the antique market last weekend and I was wondering, "how does one actually go about becoming a Shriner?" So I looked into it, found out about having to be invited and becoming a Master Mason before joining a Shrine. Which to my typically lazy self sounds like a whole lot of work. I'll just wear my badass "Al Malakaiah" fez while I drink myself silly. Oh and maybe I'll get one of those little cars too. Sorry, way off topic!

I am probably going to hang myself on this note, but with ALL due respect it has to be said: I realize that some wear the Shriners fez without any harm done, but when you have been through the ritual of becoming a Master Mason and then a Shriner, (because you can not be a Shriner without passing your third degree) We are a little insulted. You will find out why and thank me. The Shriners have fun, but we work hard. I would NEVER wear a F.O.M. fez unless I earned it. I am sorry to sound so self important, I do not mean it in any way. Please understand my position.

On 2008-06-20 12:55, VampiressRN wrote:
Rav...you bring up a good point...about the "age-thang"...for some of us it just doesn't get in the way. If you broaden your horizens and open your mind, conversing with almost any aged person can be enlightening. I keep up on my Alternative Rock by chatting with my Neice...and I keep up on the Financial Pulse of America when I talk to my 89 year-old Mom. I have friends and colleagues in all age groups and think it helps to slip into any mode when it is needed.

Exactly! I'm not gonna let the fact that I'm 22 get in the way of getting to know a lot of great people and have the opportunity to learn from them. :) I'm fortunate to have found such a great community of tiki lovers and great artists too! Being an animation student, it's refreshing to see a collection of varying artists.

davealmost - I see what you mean about $$ being an issue to go to events...regardless I still try and make those that I can afford; not to mention you don't always have to drink at these events and can save wisely, ya know? However, not having a car puts a major dent in your plans... You can always try convincing friends with cars to go with you and then you could introduce more folks to tiki! :D

On 2008-06-20 13:50, bodotikiman wrote:
I am probably going to hang myself on this note, but with ALL due respect it has to be said: I realize that some wear the Shriners fez without any harm done, but when you have been through the ritual of becoming a Master Mason and then a Shriner, (because you can not be a Shriner without passing your third degree) We are a little insulted. You will find out why and thank me. The Shriners have fun, but we work hard. I would NEVER wear a F.O.M. fez unless I earned it. I am sorry to sound so self important, I do not mean it in any way. Please understand my position.

No, I totally understand, and I even questioned that when I bought it. I even looked online, but I couldn't find anything about non-Shriners wearing fezzes. It was only after I made the purchase that I looked online to see what being a Shriner actually entails. In no way would I try to take away from the work that the Shriners do in the community. The fez will remain as a bar decoration only. Thanks Bodo for the insight, and again sorry for the thread hijack.

Wear it, have fun, learn, teach, then do !! How is California doing? I was born in Santa Monica! PM me so I don't clog this thread. Sorry all for the strays.

I love Fezes too...and no disrespect to the organization. :)

I'm a nurse, and when I see those "head nurse" outfits (holes in the knees of stockings and a short white uniform and starched hat) at a Halloween Parties or in a Porno Film...I am soooooo offended. JOKING!!!!!

I brought my 89 year-old Mom to some of Tiki Oasis last year and I am going to try to get her there this year too...she is a hoot. We are best friends, even with the generation gap, and she doesn't really care for my Tiki stuff, but she is supportive of my insanity. :)

My wife says I'm about as mature as a 25 yr old. Does that count?

Ok so I'm now 29, got into tiki through the hotrod scene at around 23, attended my first Tiki Oasis (06) at 27 which was my first overseas trip from Australia and built my second (and quite extensive) tiki bar at 28, I have met so many people, older and younger and made many great friends in the process.

The cost of some events can make them far out of reach for the younger set but i am fairly comfortable with paying the debts off later. Also it is very hard to have a home tiki bar or tiki environment when you are on the rental cycle as most youngens are, and it's horrible and heart breaking to have to pack-up/leave all your hard work to the point that it's not really worth starting...trust me..

If anyone thinks these events are full of old peeps well i guess to a degree they are right but I would never let that get in the way of a good time, just thing of the old uncle at the family weddings/functions that gets drunk and dances badly, cusses like a sailor and blows chocolate coated macadamia nuts at you from his nose.... if you love that guy and encourage him with his antics while your mom tries to pull you away then you will love the "old folks" at the tiki gigs...

The sad part is that there will be almost no real old school tiki architecture or experiences left for the new generations, I am truly sad about all the places i never got see or experience and they are getting fewer very quickly.

I am a very pround younger member of the Tiki Movement.

TikiTony is in his twenties and even though I am 54 we get along very well and I consider him a good friend. We both have our own age group that we hang with most times. I think most of you know how much Tony is into it through his art.

I started with Pacific Ocean Park and Disneyland plus as I got older (20s-30s) I was going to Trader Vic's, Don The Beachcomber, Bahooka, etc. growing up here in the L.A. area and took most of these places for granted until I saw Sven's book and realized that many of these places in other areas had closed. None of my friends and co-workers that are my age are into the Tiki/Beachcomber lifestyle at all. Most of their 1990s-2000s stucco tract homes are of a similar country-chic decor and are more into wines than rum.

While I may be trying to bring back a more care-free simpler time, we tend to forget some of the not so simple things we or our parents were facing.....WWII, Korea, the cold war with the threat of the atom bomb......Viet Nam......Hippies.....While the current generation is bombarded with video, computers, entertainment news, fasions, commercials, Iraq, shakey-cam quick edit movies, etc. we probably seem a bit boring compared to their fast-paced world.

I remember my grandparents seemed soooo old listening to Lawrence Welk, Polka Parade and music from the 30s and 40s, but I am sure most of us old folks grew up with Rock n Roll, Rockabilly, Surf, Punk, and Heavy Metal. In the 60s I thought my cousin was the coolest cat ever riding his Harley in a black leather jacket and watching him practice pedal steel guitar for the country band that he gigged with at a biker bar in Tujunga......good times....don't miss out! I think if you got to know us we wouldn't be as boring as we look......

On 2008-06-19 17:49, Swanky wrote:
I think it is a generational thing. My (our) generation grew up finding vintage items in the thrift store. Relics of the Atomic Age. We grew up visiting a few of those places and see them fading away. Tiki is a part of that. The younger people seem to think of the 70's as we think of the 50's and 60's. And the funny thing is, I can't understand liking the 70's! Tear it down!

But it's also a maturity thing. 20-somethings drink shooters. Or, well, these days, I think 20-somethings aren't drinking at all any more... But, they want quantity and not quality in their drinking. Well, that's how I was.

Same reason you don't meet many 23 year old Masons...

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

"I think 20-somethings aren't drinking at all anymore..."
Next time you`all come down here. I'll take you to a little place called Ybor City, Tampa, Florida... where the 20-something's don't stop till the break of dawn !!!!

"I think 20-somethings aren't drinking at all anymore..."
Next time you`all come down here. I'll take you to a little place called Ybor City, Tampa, Florida... where the 20-something's don't stop till the break of dawn !!!!

i knew it!! ybor city is drunken frat boy central!!...It's tampa's answer to rush street here in chicago.....that really speaks volume about you!! I was right about you all along.....you are one of em'!!....now go run off to the drunk barns that line the street there and get back to your true element......try not to step in the puke!! Har!!