I have never, ever heard of this. The Diamond Head Game, with your host, Bob Eubanks! In his ’70s best! This was submitted by Bora Boris, who does remember it, and says it was pretty much all downhill after the opening. Which I can believe. The video quality here isn’t great, but it’s still pretty captivating.

So, what’s the grand prize for a game show that’s being played by people already on a dream vacation to Hawaii? A dream vacation to Paducah?

• Diamond Head Game Open [YouTube]

A weekly review of my favorite among the many items Mimi Payne has posted to her Arkiva Tropika website in the past seven days:

Trader Vic’s Trading License, from Arkiva Tropika

This is a souvenir Trading License, given to customers in the ’40s at Trader Vic’s, granting the recipient “trading privileges.” This one was granted in 1945 to a couple after having dinner & a scorpion at the Oakland location.

Detail of a menu from the Islander in Stockton, from Arkiva Tropika

This is a bit hard to make out here, but I love this bit from a menu from the Islander in Stockton. “The Gourmet Deluxe Dinner” (“For those discriminating people”) cost $4.75 per person, and was served with a bottle of Paul Masson Rose Wine. Also: “The Islander is available for private parties, fashion shows or any special activity.”

Menu from Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, from Arkiva Tropika

This 1952 dinner menu, from the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, is just dag-flippity gorgeous. The artwork and color palette look like they could have come straight from a vintage rayon aloha shirt. The Halekulani, and its famous House Without a Key restaurant & bar, are still operating today.

’60s or ’70s postcard from the Hanalei Hotel in San Diego, from Arkiva Tropika

With the sad news about the remodeling of the Islands Restaurant at San Diego’s Hanalei Hotel this week, Mimi pulled out a lot of great Hanalei & Islands items from her collection. Above is a great postcard from the ’60s or ’70s, showing how the front of the hotel used to look, including its famous sign, which was sadly removed a few years back.

’60s brochure for the Hanalei Hotel in San Diego, from Arkiva Tropika

This brochure from the 1960s has lots of full-color pictures from the Hanalei’s heyday, inclulding views of the Islands Restaurant.

’60s postcard for the Hanalei Hotel in San Diego, from Arkiva Tropika

Another postcard from the Hanalei has two different views of the Islands Restaurant.

Page from a ’60s cocktail menu from the Islands restaurant, from Arkiva Tropika

And this ’60s cocktail menu, from the early days of the Islands restaurant, features some fantastic illustrations of tropical cocktails.

’60s appetizer menu from Aku Aku in Las Vegas, from Arkiva Tropika

Another item inspired by a recent closing — this 1960s appetizer menu is from the Aku Aku in Las Vegas, which was part of the Stardust Casino for 20 years. Aku Aku closed in 1980, but the Stardust closed just last week.

’60s postcard from Trader Vic’s in Seattle, from Arkiva Tropika

This postcard shows the exterior entrance to the Trader Vic’s in Seattle, which was in the Benjamin Franklin Hotel (today it’s the Westin). The Seattle location was Vic’s second restaurant, after the original Oakland location; it was initially named the Outrigger, and was renamed Trader Vic’s later on to be consistent with the rest of the chain. This picture is from the 1960s. Trader Vic’s used birdcage lamps like these in several locations; when the Seattle Trader Vic’s closed in 1992, some of these lamps went to the then-new Crocodile Cafe a few blocks north, where they can still be seen today — perhaps even the lamps in this very postcard!

Gadzooks, Mimi went on a posting rampage this week! This is truly just a smidge of all the great things she posted — be sure to check it all out yourself at Arkiva Tropika.

• Arkiva Tropika
• souvenir certificate from Trader Vic’s - Oakland, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
• Trader Vic’s, Oakland [Critiki]
• dinner & cocktail menu from Islander - Stockton, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
• The Islander, Stockton [Critiki]
• dinner menu from Halekulani Hotel - Waikiki, Hawaii [Arkiva Tropika]
• Islands Update: Here Come the Jackhammers [Humu Kon Tiki]
• postcard from Hanalei Hotel - San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
• Brochure from Hanalei Hotel - San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
• postcard from Hanalei Hotel - San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
• cocktail & appetizer menu from Islands- Hanalei Hotel, San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
• Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, San Diego [Critiki]
• Islands Restaurant, San Diego [Critiki]
• appetizer menu from Aku Aku - Las Vegas, Nevada [Arkiva Tropika]
• Aku Aku, Las Vegas [Critiki]
• postcard from Trader Vic’s - Seattle, WA [Arkiva Tropika]
• Trader Vic’s, Seattle [Critiki]

In my post earlier this summer about a totally groovy, early-’70s Hanna-Barbera-themed party I went to, I mentioned a “Scooby Doo, Where Are You?” episode where the gang goes on a Hawaiian vacation; the episode had generated some discussion on Tiki Central. It’s titled “A Tiki Scare is No Fair,” and it aired on October 17, 1970. I haven’t seen the whole episode, but Warner Bros. has posted the last two minutes of the episode on YouTube to promote Scooby-Doo.com. This clip includes a dramatic chase through a thatch-covered hut, a giant robot-monster-Aztec-tiki god thing (which probably makes more sense if you’ve seen the episode), a suspicious witch doctor, and the requisite totally-shocking unmasking. It’s worth watching for Fred & Daphne’s spastic dance alone, but those who have harbored a secret Velma crush will thrill to see her swingin’ her hula hips.

• Scooby Doo - Tiki Scare [YouTube]
• My Travels: Cartoon Caper in Balboa [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Scooby-Doo.com [Warner Bros.]
• Scooby Doo - Tiki Scare is No Fair [Tiki Central]

Last remnants of Don the Beachcomber
at Waikiki’s International Market Place,
photo from Fil Slash

A tragic and shocking development in Waikiki: these two moai posts, which are the last reminders of Don the Beachcomber’s glorious presence at the International Market Place in Waikiki, have reportedly been sent to the dump.

These moai used to stand sentry at the Dagger Lounge and Bora Bora Bar part of Don the Beachcomber. The original Don the Beachcomber location in Hollywood kicked off the entire Polynesian Pop trend; he led the charge once again after he moved to Hawaii, and created the International Market Place with his Don the Beachcomber restaurant as the centerpiece. The International Market Place also held a Trader Vic’s, and became a major tourist hub in Waikiki.

This space is being renovated to accomodate a new Quicksilver store, and local tikiphiles have been keeping a close eye on the renovations. Despite assurances that there were no plans to remove the structural moai posts, they are now missing. Remarkably, the construction crew reportedly tossed them in to a dumpster that was taken to the dump.

It’s a terrible shame that a lovely piece of the International Market Place’s history has been treated so shabbily, and that the location of these tikis is now complately unknown. It seems hard to believe that anyone would actually throw them away; perhaps they went home with a member of the construction crew. There have been rumblings about Don the Beachcomber re-opening in Las Vegas; I’m not sure how that’s coming along, but surely that would have been a better home for these historic tikis than the dump.

UPDATE: Holden Westland, owner of Tiki Farm, passes along this news via Tiki Central:

I am happy to let you all know that I received a phone call with the whereabouts of these 2 special Moai and they are safe and will soon be revitalized in a place very befitting of their dignity not too far from their original location.

Verrrrry mysterious… but it sure sounds a lot better than the dump.

• I weep for the recently departed… [Tiki Central]

Annette Nahinu at La Mariana, photo by Gregory Yamamoto for the Honolulu Advertiser

Annette Nahinu, owner of Honolulu’s La Mariana Sailing Club, is looking to sell. La Mariana is a longtime institution, the last of the true old-style tiki bars still in operation on the island. Nahinu is turning 92 later this month, and wants to ensure La Mariana will continue after she’s gone; she has no heirs, and needs to make plans now before it’s too late. She plans to donate some of the proceeds from the sale to the University of Connecticut, her alma mater; she says it was the only university willing to admit her. One of her special terms: she wants to continue to live in the apartment home above La Mariana until she dies.

One of the regulars quoted in a Honolulu Advertiser article says:

It’s the last authentic taste of Hawai’i… It’s the absolute, true feel of old Hawai’i.

This is interesting, since La Mariana, like the many other restaurants, hotels and nightclubs that sprung up in Hawaii during the heavy tourist years of the 1950s and 1960s, wasn’t authentic Hawaiian — it was manufactured to deliver on visitors’ idealized expectations of Hawaii. These expectations were partially set by tourists’ visits to Polynesian restaurants back home — which in turn had their basis in the minds of Hollywood-type decorators and designers, probably more than any actual knowledge of the then-exotic islands. The restaurants and bars of Honolulu did, however, develop their own local character that set them apart from their mainland forebears, thanks especially to the wonderful musical performances there, and the unique social world of the people who lived and worked there. La Mariana likely does deliver a feel of old Hawaii, if your definition of “old Hawaii” is the middle of the last century.

La Mariana was opened by Annette Nahinu more than 50 years ago, and it has become a sort of resting place of Waikiki’s storied Polynesian Pop past; tikis there came from the Sheraton’s Kon-Tiki, lamps came from the Trader Vic’s, and tables and chairs came out of the Don the Beachcomber. It’s all a bit worse for the wear, but thank goodness it’s still somewhere to be admired and enjoyed. With luck, someone who respects the history represented at La Mariana will purchase it and ensure its continued longevity.

• La Mariana for sale: $3 million [Humu Kon Tiki]
• La Mariana Sailing Club, Honolulu [Critiki]

Postcard from the Waikikian Hotel

I recently found this postcard from the Waikikian Hotel in Waikiki; it was one of the most dramatic examples of modern Polynesian architecture, designed by Pete Wimberley. It was one of the main tourist hotels during the height of the midcentury love for all things exotic and tropical and Hawaiian. This is a nice view of the lobby, but what I love best is what’s written on the reverse:

Reverse of postcard

2/ And here is the Waikikian - built like the prow of a nature ship - where I spend my final week in a “jungle suite” + my “half gone native” room mate with her Hawaiian boyfriend hovering. Now that I’ve moved to the centre of tourist activity “on the strip” I begin to be glad of the Waikikian week - believe it is rightfully the best surviving proponent of old Hawaiian hospitality - despite the bell boys who persistently put an arm across my shoulder + an obsequious manager who persisted in addressing me as Miss Jones! The “Jungle” tapers off to a bay lost beyond this picture - to the right beyond the glaring electric sign. Lobby illumination so “full of atmosphere” too dim to even read newspaper headlines.

It’s apparently #2 in a series of postcards used to log someone’s trip. It’s far more interesting than the typical “The weather is amazing here, I don’t want to come home!” business normally to be found on these old postcards.

• Waikikian Hotel, Waikiki [Critiki]

There have been rumblings about true ‘okolehao becoming available again for the past couple of years, but I don’t think anyone was holding their breath for it to actually come to fruition. Now comes word that it’s getting much closer to being a reality.

‘Okolehao is an old-fashioned, moonshine sort of a liquor, made by Hawaii locals using the root of the ti plant. In recent years, a liqueur labelled “Okolehao” had been available, but it was almost cordial-like, and bore little resemblance to the real deal. There are a few old cocktail recipes that call for ‘okolehao, and some also like sipping it straight — it has a taste a bit like a sweet tequila.

The new production is being done by Sandwich Islands Distilling Company, on Maui. An article nearly three years ago in the Honolulu Advertiser laid out the company’s plans to produce a true ‘okolehao, and today a representative from the company announced on Tiki Central that they are planning to start selling under the “Nine Islands Okolehao” label this summer. No word yet on how we will be able to get our grubby little hands on the stuff.

• okolehao, anyone got a lead,1/5/05- article on new production of the spirit pg 2 [Tiki Central]
• Will new ‘okolehao be your cup of ti? [Honolulu Advertiser]

I Dream of Jeannie goes Hawaiian

On December 26, 1967 and January 2, 1968, I Dream of Jeannie went to Hawaii. In the first episode, “Jeannie Goes to Honolulu,” Don Ho guest stars, and filming took place on Waikiki Beach and at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Duke Kahanamoku’s. The second episode, “Battle of Waikiki,” has a great tiki scene at Ulu Mau Village, and a luau. Sabu the Coconut Boy has put a series of fantastic screenshots up in a thread on Tiki Central, highlighting lots of great aloha wear, leis, tikis, tropical cocktails served in tiki mugs, and scenes of late-’60s Hawaii. He has also posted links to download both of the entire episodes.

• I Dream of Jeannie: Hawaiian Style [Tiki Central]

Oahu radio personality (and rabid tikiphile) Fil Slash is guest hosting “Heckathorn’s Hotplate” all this week, while regular host John Heckathorn is in Greece. Fil has taken this opportunity to line up some tiki guests for the Hawaii-based talk show. The show is about wine, beer and events around Hawaii, and airs Monday through Friday between 12:05 p.m. and 1 p.m. on 1420 KKEA-AM. The tiki guests are scheduled to come on right about 12:35 each day (that’s 2:35 p.m. here on the west coast, 5:35 p.m. on the east coast). Here’s the lineup:

Monday — Fluid Floyd of “Don Tiki.”
Tuesday — Hawaii Music Award nominee, Henry Kapono of “C&K,” and solo fame…
Wednesday — Hawaii Music Award nominee, TC’s own Pablus of the “Crazed Mugs”…
Thursday — (We have his contact #, and the producer is trying to book him in time) Al Harrington.
Friday is a short program, so no third guest…

Wednesday in particular should be a great listen. The show is streamed online — to access the broadcast, go to the KKEA website and login (registration is free and painless), then under “Now Playing” on the main page, click “listen here.”

• Today, Don Tiki! Kapono, Pablus, and Al Harrington. Great Tiki guests you can listen to… [Tiki Central]
• 1420 KKEA-AM

Hanford Lemoore at the Reef Bar in
Palm Springs for NYE 2005

If you’re still pondering the right place to be for New Year’s Eve 2006, you’re running out of time! You can probably still get into these great events happening around the country:

San Diego NYE Tiki Weekend: Last year’s tiki event at the Caliente Tropics was hugely successful, but the hotel has gone seriously downhill in terms of tiki-friendliness this past year. Thanks to the organizational efforts of Monkeyman, this year’s big Tiki Central New Year’s event is happening in San Diego. A home bar tour is planned for daytime Saturday, and the main event is taking place with a Polynesian spectacular at the Bali Hai restaurant. Things will also be afoot on Sunday, with possibilities including brunch, bowling and trips to downtown San Diego. It’s sure to be a special evening. The number of tickets available for the Bali Hai is dwindling, if you’re interested, read the thread on Tiki Central for details on how to make reservations.

San Francisco Trader Vic’s: A special dinner event is planned for NYE, with a floor show by Spirit of Polynesia dance troupe, and a full multi-course prix fixe meal. This is where Hanford & I will be spending our NYE. For reservations, call Trader Vic’s at (415) 775-6300.

Forbidden World of Don Tiki in Waikiki: A special performance by Don Tiki in Hawaii, at the Pacific Beach Hotel Grand Ballroom. Tickets to the show are $80 and include two drinks; in addition a bar & buffet are available. Visit the Pacific Beach Hotel website (link below) for details.

Dave’s Birthday at the Purple Orchid in El Segundo: I haven’t seen an official announcement, but New Year’s Eve is the birthday of Dave, owner of the Purple Orchid in El Segundo (near Los Angeles). In years past, there’s been a great band booked, and birthday cake & appetizers for all. Contact the Purple Orchid for details at (310) 322-5829.

Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale: A group is getting together to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Mai Kai — if I lived in southern Florida, this would be a no-brainer. To make reservations, contact the Mai Kai at (954) 563-3272, if you’d like to be included in the Tiki Central group, read the thread on TC for details.

Chicago area, Trader Vic’s: New Year’s Eve is the last night that the Chicago Trader Vic’s will be open. It has the potential to be rather depressing, and not for the faint of heart, but it also might be special to be there for the final night.

Chicago area, Chef Shangri-La: Performances by the Windy City Islanders, a roast pig buffet for $18, full regular menu available, drink specials, and no cover — an unsually affordable tiki NYE event, and the bar and drinks at Chef Shangri-La are above par. Call (708) 442-7080 for reservations.

Chicago area, Tiki Terrace: This new bar & restaurant is having a New Year’s Eve event with a performance by the Cocktail Preachers, and a raffle featuring a tiki by Lake Surfer. Contact Tiki Terrace for details at (630) 788-0395.

If your part of the country isn’t listed here, don’t fret — simply look for a bar near you in Critiki, and give them a call. Many places will have something planned for the evening.

• new years eve 2005- so cal**WOW- 35 RSVPs at the Bali Hai for TC** [Tiki Central]
• Bali Hai Restaurant, San Diego [Critiki]
• New Years Eve 2005 - No. Cal. SF Trader Vic’s - NEW INFO! Read on… [Tiki Central]
• Trader Vic’s, San Francisco [Critiki]
• Celebrate New Year’s with Don Tiki! [Tiki Central]
• Pacific Beach Hotel
• Purple Orchid Exotic Tiki Lounge, El Segundo [Critiki]
• New Years Eve at the Mai Kai! [Tiki Central]
• Mai Kai, Ft. Lauderdale [Critiki]
• Trader Vic’s, Chicago [Critiki]
• “Chicago– New Years Eve at Chef Shangri-La” [Tiki Central]
• Chef Shangri-La, North Riverside [Critiki]
• Tiki Terrace New Years [Tiki Central]
• The Tiki Terrace, Prospect Heights [Critiki]

Edward Malcombe Brownlee,
from the collection of Bongofury

Bongofury has posted about an article he’s found from 1958, profiling a youngun’ from Oregon who’d moved to Oahu to work on his Masters in Art at the University of Hawaii. Edward Malcombe Brownlee started his post-Masters career by carving idols for restaurant and hotel developments in Waikiki, and went on to do many tikis for the International Market Place. Hawaii radio personality Fil Slash has a book featuring Brownlee in the works, set for release next spring. Today, Brownlee (who goes by Mick) lives in Neahkahnie Beach in Oregon with his wife, Phyllis and his Airdale, Mr. Bones, and carves from jade.

• The Man Behind The New Tiki Craze (1958) [Tiki Central]
• Mick Brownlee [Carnegie Arts]

Hawaiian trip scrapbook, from the collection of the jab

The Jab made a fantastic discovery at a recent estate sale — the scrapbook from a woman’s vacation to Hawaii in 1961. Quoth the jab:

Miss Lorraine Penniman of Oakland booked an escorted cruise tour through American Express for passage on Matson Lines’ SS Mariposa from San Francisco to Honolulu. According to the tour itinerary the ship arrived in Honolulu on the 6th. day, she toured Waikiki for the 7th. through 11th. days, flew to Maui and then Hilo, Hawaii on the 12th. day, stayed in Hawaii until the 15th. day, when she flew to Kauai, and returning to Honlulu on the 17th. day. But there is a receipt from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki for 11 days lodging so I’m not sure if she stayed in Waikiki or went on the tour.

The cost for the cruise and tour was $907 ($395 for the cruise and $512 for the tour and lodging). The Royal Hawaiian Hotel receipt showed a charge of $194.59 for 11 nights. Miss Penniman flew home on Pan Am to San Francisco for $133.

For those keeping track at home, Miss Penniman spent at least $1235 on this trip — that’s right around $8000 today, accounting for inflation. And a deluxe trip it was — her scrapbook is full of menus, napkins, cruise directories, maps, brochures, receipts, greeting cards (Bon Voyage!), postcards, postcards and more postcards. The Jab has posted many photos of the scrapbook on Tiki Central.

• Savage Renewal: scrapbook of 1961 Hawaiian vacation [Tiki Central]

Hotel King Kamehameha, from the collection of Sabu the Coconut Boy

In the 1950s and ’60s, it was common for a hotel to provide its guests with postcards, which would promote the hotel to the folks back home. These postcards provide an excellent look at what staying at these hotels might have been like, with many of the postcards offering views of the hotel room. While a basic hotel room may not sound very exotic, these are no basic hotel rooms — with the variety in the bed and lamp designs, room layouts, and photo staging — it’s quite an exercise in time travel. Tiki ephemera collectors Sabu the Coconut Boy and puamana each have impressive collections of these interior shots, and are sharing them tag-team style on a thread on Tiki Central.

• Pictures from the Heyday of Hawaiian Hotel Rooms [Tiki Central]