Tiki Goes to College - Yearbook Archeology

I'm opening this thread to catalog Poly-pop and Tiki images from old highschool and college yearbooks, as well as from other academic ephemera from the 1950s & 60s.

I've finally accumulated enough images to make a start but I'm hoping other folks might have a few. I seem to remember Sven winning a yearbook on eBay back in 2002 that had a Moai for a mascot, (I think the team was called The Islanders).

I'll start with the older images first.

These are from the Pepperdine College (Los Angeles) yearbook of 1955. In among the photos of fraternities and sororities, was this popular club:

The Aloha Shirts that these Beachcombers wear are really top-notch. Here's a closeup of the officers:

They also performed valuable services for the student body:

In Torrance CA, El Camino College's Chi Gamma Iotas held their 4th annual "Beachcombers Ball" in 1957:

In the same yearbook was this photo of the Chi Theta Chi sorority; winners of the annual "Spring Sing" competition. Here they are, singing "Aloha Oe":

:up: I like this image because it shows that those goofy palm-frond tiki masks were around back in 1957.

I also recently scored some complete bound-editions of Stanford University's "Chaparral" magazine - a humor publication that parodied the more serious Stanford arts magazine called the "Sequoia". Here's an interesting ad from inside the March 1958 issue:

I got excited, thinking I had discovered proof of a new Tiki Restaurant that I had never heard about. But I should have known better. This is a humor magazine and they were parody-ing one of their regular advertisers :down:

Still, The photo of "Idy's" must have been taken in some real Tiki Bar. I wonder which one?

Best of all was this large, full-page ad from the June 1958 issue of Chaparral. I love the dress, the modernist drapes, and the tapa-trimmed lamp with the tiki base:

That's it for now. I'll keep combing those vintage yearbooks for more.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-01-16 17:45 ]

Wowweee! That was fabulous, and inspiring.

Mahalo.

Another awesome post Sabu! Thanks!

Eye Spy.....How many hidden flat tops can you find in this picture? Take your time kids and real look hard, they're hard to spot.

I count 18 out of 23 guys sporting a flat top (78%). Where can I get an application to join the Beachcomber club?

Zulu

Brilliant post Sabu!

PRETTY nice, Sabu....but now, indeed, behold THIS :

THE Tiki yearbook of all yearbooks, perhaps, from San Diego's Coronado High School 1962. TIKI MODERN readers might be familiar with this image from page 194:

...but did you read the plaque?:

("Tiki". Presented by the student body of 1961- 62)

Here is some more imagery from the pages of this fine, textured hardcover:

I bet that cool Beatnik dude on the right is either the art teacher, or the artist

Of course they had it as good luck charm, too:

Coronado is a peninsula/island outside of San Diego. So the High School paper was called "The Islander", here's its staff:

The appearance of "Tiki" as the school mascot again supports my theory of the craze reaching its peak in the early 60s. Though this is the typical yearbook, full with student photos, "Tiki" reappears periodically:

(Take note of the fire pit)
The "Hotel Del" referred to here is the famous Hotel Del Coronado, location for "Some like It Hot", which also had a Luau Room:

And what was HE doing there !?

Here is a nice collage with "Tiki" at its center....

...when you look at the upper left corner image, it looks like passionate pagan rituals were happening!:

Some of the text below refers to "HIM" also:

The ending is especially haunting, as it seems to foretell the downfall and abandonment of Tiki style:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-01-17 00:52 ]

GREAT thread

Back in 1955 those cats Hawaiians
were standard issue. TODAY collectors
shirts @ big $$$!

Thortiki

PS TC a constant learning
experience!

The Tiki remains the Coronado HS mascot, remains on campus, and still is featured, on the high school T-shirts etc...

Geez - our HS mascot was a crazy Scotsman and the band uniforms were authentic kilts, etc. California has the coolest stuff! How can I get my hands on one of those T-shirts?! LOL

PS - What a fun thread - we need more of these!

[ Edited by: beadtiki 2009-01-18 14:00 ]

Man when we graduated as Spongers (imagine our logo a sponge diver) we presented the school with a concrete bench. So lame in comparison to that Moai statue!

Sabu/Sven I love old yearbooks and this has been one of my favorite posts on here so far. Thanks for sharing these and hope some more pop up soon.

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-01-19 11:54 ]

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-01-19 14:32 ]

great topic sabu!

i am intrigued by the stanford magazine find with the parody of the Edy's advertisement. my best guess is that the students are at the lanai in san mateo.

the lanai -- guesstimate of 1949

skipper kent's

i ruled out the castaway, tiki bob's, trader vics, and hawaiian gardens in looking at interior shots. considering these are college students, its typical to not go so far for drinks or dinner, so san mateo sounds like a pretty safe bet versus oakland or sf.

thanks for all the great pics and history!

got tiki?

[ Edited by: tikicleen 2009-01-19 14:34 ]

On 2009-01-18 11:11, sirginn wrote:
The Tiki remains the Coronado HS mascot, remains on campus, and still is featured, on the high school T-shirts etc...

Wow! I always wondered! Photos, please (of both?). I wonder if they know it's in TIKI MODERN now. Man, I love TC :)

i am intrigued by the stanford magazine find with the parody of the Edy's advertisement. my best guess is that the students are at the lanai in san mateo.

I too was thinking about where those whacky Leland Stanford Junior University kids could have been. One, I thought Skipper Kent's for the look, and The Lanai for proximity to LSJU. Two, I was thinking how The Jab could be in that shot and no one would think twice about it.

Your photo of The Lanai does look pretty similar. Is that tea pot the same in both? My vote goes with The Lanai.

Great topic, Sabu. Interesting, informative, and it has a Dick Nixon appearance! You know if a topic mentions RMN, I am bound to show up.

midnite

Bigbro - That yearbook is phenomenal. I agree that it's probably the most "tiki" yearbook out there. I need to hunt up some other years. There might be some more interesting cover artwork from subsequent years.

Tikicleen - Thanks for posting those great photos. I'm inclined to agree with you and say that the photo of "Idy's" must have been The Lanai.

Here's a closeup of the Idy's tableware :down:

And here's your photo of the Lanai :down:

You can see that the teapots match, as well as what you can see of the lamp (upper right area of the first photo, right next to the man's cheek). What looks sorta like a Skipper-Kent's Moai mug on the left-hand side is probably just a bamboo mug with the man's fingers wrapped around it. But I could be wrong.

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-01-19 18:46 ]

When I was in high school I played Basketball against Coronado High. They were in our league, so we pIayed them twice a year with one of the games at Coronado. I remember they had a Moai painted on the wall of the gym and in the middle of the court where you jump center. The Moai was very much their symbol. I believe it was even used on their uniforms. Being that Coronado High is less than 10 miles from me, it might make for a fun feature in a future issue of Tiki Magazine.

I'm sure Coronado High has every yearbook ever made... too bad I doubt they'll let a TC'er view/scan/upload those pictures. Unfortunately it sounds kinda stalkerish

Awesome photos all - this thread was an unexpected treat!

Trad'r Bill

On 2009-01-19 19:31, nicktiki wrote:
When I was in high school I played Basketball against Coronado High. They were in our league, so we pIayed them twice a year with one of the games at Coronado. I remember they had a Moai painted on the wall of the gym and in the middle of the court where you jump center. The Moai was very much their symbol. I believe it was even used on their uniforms. Being that Coronado High is less than 10 miles from me, it might make for a fun feature in a future issue of Tiki Magazine.

Yessssss! That would be a great subject, mixing vintage material with photos of today! We want to see that mural, and the uniforms! The great thing is that their mascot was clearly a Moai, yet it was christened "The Tiki":

Book of Tiki, page 40:
"...a new figurehead of Polynesian pop emerged: the carved native idol commonly referred to as Tiki. Notwithstanding the fact that the term did not exist in the Hawaiian or Tahitian languages, or that the stone sculptures of Easter Island were actually called "Moai", in Polynesian pop, all Oceanic carvings became members of one happy family: the Tikis."

On 2009-01-16 16:22, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
I'm opening this thread to catalog Poly-pop and Tiki images from old highschool and college yearbooks, as well as from other academic ephemera from the 1950s & 60s.

Hey Sabu,
It's not Poly-pop or Tiki...It's Hawaiiana
It's not Highschool or college...It's junior high
It's not from the 50's or 60's...It's from the 70's
but...
It IS a yearbook from Carson, right there in your own 'hood!

So I thought this would be the best place for this:

There's a stock Hawaii image every couple pages or so. Here's the only tiki one:

The grades were designated Alii, kahunas, and Menehunes:

Buzzy Out!

Cross ref with...
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=18378&forum=1
And the last time I was on campus, there were razing all of the old buildings, and the tiki was nowhere in sight, but it looks like he survived...

"The new school is accented by traces of tradition. The quad has a lava-rock tiki statue donated by the class of 1961, and there are photos of the old Coronado High embedded in mosaic tiling on the bases of planters for the tipu trees. The science building's Seventh Avenue wall mural was preserved in its renovation."

On 2009-01-17 00:43, bigbrotiki wrote:
PRETTY nice, Sabu....but now, indeed, behold THIS :

THE Tiki yearbook of all yearbooks, perhaps, from San Diego's Coronado High School 1962. TIKI MODERN readers might be familiar with this image from page 194:

One and the same Sven!

Umm, Scott, sorry, but I am slightly perplexed as to the meaning of your post.

Sorry Sven, I just had a brain lapse with regards to grammar... argh...

Now, here are the images from the old post, but not all sized reduced and non clickable .

'Nado ( how the locals refer to the island) High provided folder.

The Moai in the Gymnasium that was mentioned in this post earlier.

Team Uniform T-shirt

Another one. School colors were green and white.

Yearbook cover

I think thats Coach Dupre looking suave in his Islander Cap

Helmet wearing Moai on the Varsity squad football helmet.

Scrimmage line.

The "Tiki" In the quad. There was another one if I recall correctly. Thinner in style.

[ Edited by: TikiGardener 2009-05-28 12:11 ]

Fantastic thread!!!!!!!

Time to add to this thread. Here's a photo of the Tau Kappa Epsilon men at the University of Wisconsin, Madison from their 1966 Badger yearbook. All of the fraternities and sororities had great, creative portraits, but these guys take the cake. Shades of Animal House:

"Some houses have dogs for mascots, but the TKE's settled for nothing less than a minor god — the idol in the picture. Their tiki was prominent in many of their theme parties — the Hawaiian luau, the shipwreck party, and the Aku- Aku party. Homecoming with the Kappa Delta's had a 23 Skidoo theme, but the good luck god must have been used for Badger Song Fest since the TKE's teamed with the Kappa's for first place. Little did those stone figures on Easter Island realize the effect they could cause as far away as Madison."

:down: Another fraternity tiki - this one lived with the Pi Phi's at USC. This photo is from their 1961 El Rodeo yearbook:

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2011-10-05 20:35 ]

This one's from the 1941 "Promenade" yearbook from Pepperdine University in Southern California.

"HOALOHA, a Marilyn Hall social club, was organized in 1937 under the name of Triple E. The name was changed to Hoaloha in 1939, and at the same time an Hawaiian theme was adopted. The club strives at all times to promote deeper friendships among the girls of the college, to assist in activities for the betterment of the school, and to help members fulfill the ideals of Christian womanhood. In the past year club members enjoyed an initiation party at the home of their sponsor, Mrs. Squire. Dinner parties in Clifton's Hawaiian room and elsewhere, a lawn party for new students, and the traditional formal banquet of the spring quarter were other notable dates in the club calendar."

:down: Here they are at Clifton's Pacific Seas:

" fulfilling the ideals of Christian womanhood" in pagan environs, right on!

Love that Tau Kappa "Long Ear" Aku head, too! Wonder if it still exists.

Time for a bump of one of Sabu's great old posts. Found this cool photo on-line from the 1953 Beachcomber Days at the Harbor Junior College in Los Angeles.

That Wahine on the table was captivating!

DC

Just read this entire thread for the first time. Great stuff, thanks for bumping it DC.

SoCalSavage,

Your welcome. Always nice to see some of Sabu's old posts.

Found an article about a Go Native Tiki event that was sponsored by the guts at the Darwin House and the gals at the Dalton House at the Florida Presbyterian College.

Great looking looking Tiki set up.

The story:

DC

Here's a little different twist, the Hale Mai Kai Tiki student apartments Humboldt State College.

They opened in 1963.

DC