To know me is to know tiki. Actually, I think it’s the other way around. What I’m getting at here is that I am a rabid tiki fan. I’ve been collecting all things tiki for about 6 years now. It all started with a book I picked up at one of our company book sales – The Book of Tiki, by Sven Kirsten. At the time I had no idea that this book was to become the bible for fellow tiki-philes around the globe. As I poured through the pages of Tiki, a little bell went off in my head. Something just really clicked – as if some repressed memory suddenly came rushing to the forefront of my mind. That is when the insanity began, and continues to this day.

Some of you may not be familiar with tiki, or more appropriately, tiki pop culture. While I am by no means an expert on the subject, I am somewhat well-versed. Here is a pretty solid explanation of the tiki culture:

The Tiki culture phenomenon began in the late 50’s and continued through to the early 70’s, drawing influences from the Polynesian culture, encompassing Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, Easter Island and even Africa. Island-influenced casual dress, fruity tropical cocktails, Polynesian-style dishes and music drawing from primitive sounds of percussion and song were staples. This culture was no doubt a result of the end of WWII and the experiences soldiers took back with them during the Pacific Theatre, as well the addition of Hawaii to the U.S.’s 49 states in 1959. Although there are accounts of a jungle or Tiki-themed interest developing in the late 20’s, nothing compared in relevance to this fad during the mid-twentieth century.

Tiki and Polynesian-themed bars, hotels, restaurants and parks popped up all around the U.S. and parts of the world. Famous tiki bars and restaurants included Don the Beachcomber (the first Tiki bar, opened in 1933), Trader Vic’s, Kahiki, Kon Tiki, the Tonga Room, Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room, Tiki Bob’s, The Mainlander, Mai Kai, and on and on.

Unfortunately the tiki craze completely died out in the mid-seventies and gave way to fern bars and discoteques. Very few original tiki-themed establishments remain in the U.S. – most are still located in Southern California, Washington, Florida and of course, Hawaii.

For more information on tiki and tiki culture, visit MythicHawaii.com, AmericanHeritage.com, WikiPedia,
or pick up a copy of “The Book of Tiki,” by Sven Kirsten.

When my husband and I moved into our 1957 house 2 years ago, we wasted no time and immediately turned the wet bar downstairs into a tiki bar. In fact, one of the reasons we bought the house was due to the fact that it already had a fantastic bar installed in the basement – all we had to do was tikify it. The house we lived in previous to this one also had a tiki bar in it – it was one that I built myself. The bar had bamboo embellishments and slate tile. Unfortunately we had to sell it when we bought the 1957 house, but we freel we really traded up. Here are some photos of our current tiki bar in our basement.