eBay: fireside menus from wisconsin..

I always wondered about the fireside in wisconsin....finally (not my auction) i see 2 different menus on ebay for it....all i ever saw was the moai mug with the fireside logo so it's interesting to see what the menu looked like.....inside they show a picture of the moai mug and it once served the maui love potion ...the customer was encouraged to keep the glass...which is why so many mugs found their way into the wild.....

Cool, Tipsy. Thanks for posting.

I just found 4 of the Moai mugs at Goodwill yesterday. They can be pretty common up this way, but it's been probably a year since I found one in the wild.
I figure it was the good mana built-up from finally ripping the vinyl of the Fireside's "Hawaii Calls" to MP3 the night before - which is surprisingly pretty good!

Only saw one menu on ebay

Because I bought the other:

No it's not Tiki. But it's such a great graphic! For ten bucks. I am gonna frame it and hang it next to my fireplace. :)
This fireside was in Allentown, Wisconsin. And I bought this matchbook:

That is from the same Fireside that the remaining menu on e-bay is from, Ft Atkinson Wisconsin -but I like this graphic much better than their menu cover. I am just a sucker for cool mid-century design.

From which one are those Moai mugs? And what is that Hawaii Calls album about?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-04-13 14:37 ]

hmmmmmm......wondering if there was a relationship between the 2 restaurants? I was only aware of the Ft. Atkinson one, which is where the Moai mugs are from & also the home of the Hawaiian dinner show of the same era.

All of the mugs I have found are specifically printed with "The Fireside Ft. Atkinson, Wisc." on the back. The size/style of the printing varied over the years, and sometime included a logo, but the information remained the same.

& the "Hawaii Calls" album was a recording of the Dinner Show music. Interestingly, the recording wasn't done until 1984, though it is my understanding that the show had been around for much longer. & it sounds like it was likely recorded in a studio (no clapping, good sound quality). The "star" of the show (at least the version on album) was a Hawaiian named Blue Pau. I'll post a picture of the cover, too, for your viewing enjoyment.

Here's the album cover:

Gee, check out those costumes! It's Vegas in Wisconsin! :) So...is the place still there?
Maybe my menu will have some info about other locations inside, I will post it once I get it.

Still there. Still open. Still a dinner show.

No polynesian show or Moai mugs today, however :(

website: http://www.firesidetheatre.com/
Which also gives some history on the theater, but no specific mention of the Polynesian Review

Interesting to note that the original pyramid-shaped building was designed by Helmut Ajango, the mad genius behind THE GOBBLER!

http://www.lileks.com/institute/motel/index.html

The original Fireside looks like my kinda place! here are some Int/Ext shots from Helmut's website:

an A-frame entrance, a pyramid dining room, and check out that sign! (...if you can, in that bad quality)
Unfortunately, I don't think it looks like that anymore:

"...The place burned down or I should say a good portion of the place burned down and it was rebuilt with additional sitting added on.
It was then remodeled again and the theater was added and the tourist buses started coming in from all around for the playhouse.
They really have something going on here, but I think it is really the play house and not the food. I mean there is better food in the area, but if one wanted to go to the playhouse then the convenience of the two together makes for a nice night out..."

Oh, here's another one of Helmut's buildings, the Hope Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois:

I kinda like it...I wonder why? :D

I see there is no posting for this restaurant under the "Locating" page so I will leave that up to someone else if they feel it warrants having it's own thread. Judging by the above pictures, I think it should! Great building, Polynesian dance show and a pretty cool Moai mug should make for it's own post!

Anyways, I picked a pair of these neat paper coasters up the other day for this establishment. Thought they were kind of cool so here's a shot:

Oh, and how many Tiki restaurants had their own Polynesian Shows and had records made on site??!! Make a Locating Tiki thread already!! :)

TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2009-05-19 16:45 ]

Nice post guys.I several tiki mugs from this place.Killer A frame building.
The fact that there was even tiki influence in Wisconsin is a miracle within itself,
if anyone has ever been or lived there.Kinda like the pictures of the Kahiki covered
in snow.

these were on ebay recently.

thought i would post the picture. cool tiki menu featuring the mug.

I attended one of their Polynesian review dinner shows with my wife in the spring of 1988. It began with some traditional hula to hapa haole music and progressed to a few Vegas style numbers where the wahines wore metallic foil ribbon hula skirts! I didn't see any Moai mugs at that time. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera.

Regarding the Gobbler, it can still be had for a song at buythegobbler.com. It bears a strong resemblance to the flying saucer Don the Beachcomber restaurants with the addition of Marquesan tiki shaped picture windows. I drove past The Gobbler on I 94 and heard their silly jingle on the radio many times but never went there. You just don't appreciate what you have until it's gone!