Hawaiian Eye Mug by Kevin Kidney

Kevin Kidney is the A#1 lover of all things Hawaiian Eye, the 1959-63 Warner Bros. TV show… he’s also, in my opinion, the A#1 Polynesian Pop artist. No one does Polynesian Pop in true keeping with the midcentury style of the art form like Kevin does.

So this is a natural: a tiki mug, sculpted by Kevin (he paints! he draws! he sculpts! he’s unstoppable!), based on the Hawaiian Eye tiki. Kevin says this is a project in the works, with a squishy estimate of it becoming real in early 2009. It’ll have a bisque finish, and a lid with a straw hole.

Sing it with me now… HAWAIIAN EEEEEEEYE - AH!

• Hawaiian Eye Tiki Mug by Kevin Kidney [Flickr]
• Hawaiian Eye [Wikipedia]
• HAWAIIAN EYE tv show opening [YouTube]

Tiki bar by Wes Bailey

Tiki bar construction is a bit weird — it’s an effort to intentionally create something that looks a little haphazard, a little goofy, and frankly… a little ugly. Now of course, I find it beautiful — and you probably do, too — but you have to admit, it’s not likely to wind up in the pages of House Beautiful.

I just got a really nice email from a professional woodworker who normally specializes in a much more conventionally refined style, and was asked to create one of these delightful little monsters for the first time:

My name is Wes Bailey, and I am a furniture maker in Atlanta, GA. A few months back, a client came to me and requested that I design and build a Tiki Bar for his basemant renovation. I must confess that, at the time, I was woefully unaware of the well-established sub culture of the Tikiphile. So I did some internet research and came across your terrific site, which helped give me the requisite inspiration to deliver the goods! It turned out great, the customer loved it and hasn’t been sober since, so I view that as a real success.

I have to admit, it makes me warm & squishy. I get lots & lots of really wonderful emails along the lines of this one, and they always make my day… but this one is a favorite because, well, I just really like the bar he built. A lot of credit goes to the owner, who has done a great job decorating the room. But the bar itself is really nice, especially for a right-out-of-the-gate effort. Tikis: check. Not too clean in the design, but still with a sense of balance: check. Organic feel: check. I especially like the detour from the standard thatch roof: wood slats that look like they’ve been through a hell of a storm, and loved it. It floats my outrigger.

• Wes Bailey, Fine Craftsman

Michael, photo by Biotron2000

Fulton Burley, who was the voice of Michael the Irish Parrot at the Enchanted Tiki Room, passed away this past Monday at the age of 84.

Wait, wait, we forgot to wake up the glee club!

Burley was better known for his many performances as the host and master of ceremonies at the long-running Golden Horshoe Revue. Burley was honored as a “Disney Legend” in 1995. He was married to his wife Terry for an amazing 62 years, until she passed this past January.

Laughing Place has a nice, long tribute, with quotes from his performing partner Wally Boag. [via The Disney Blog]

• Legendary Golden Horseshoe Performer Fulton Burley Passes Away [Laughing Place]
• Disneyland Golden Horseshoe Performer Fulton Burley Passes Away [The Disney Blog]
• The Enchanted Tiki Room, Anaheim [Critiki]

Momma Monkey, by Atomikitty

Susannah Mosher, a.k.a. Atomikitty, has started a coconut monkey refuge:

Captured and brought to the states as souvenirs of exotic tropical vacations, or with servicemen after their tours of duty in the pacific, these coconut monkeys took up residence in american homes and became an icon of the tiki and cocktail culture of the 50’s and 60’s.

As rumpus rooms and home tiki bars fell out of fashion, so too did the coconut monkey. For decades they have been discarded by their owners, stranded on garage sale and flea market blankets, and forgotten in dusty attics as their coconut husks fray.

Over the past 10 years I have made it my personal mission to seek out these weary travelers and to open my home as a sanctuary for them. Here they are restored to a place of honor among the bamboo, tiki mugs, and exotic rum bottles to be enjoyed and appreciated by all.

Portrait and subject

A saintly effort, and worthy of support. How can you help the Coconut Monkey Project? You can buy Atomikitty’s fabulous coconut monkey portraits — each print that is purchased can support up to five coconut monkeys for a year! You can also commision your own coconut monkey portrait, for that special coconut monkey in your life.

Of course, if you know of a coconut monkey in need of a home, you can send it to Atomikitty’s refuge, and rest well in the knowledge that it is leading a better life. If you have any doubts about Atomikitty’s sincerity, and her ability to provide a good tiki environment for these monkeys, know this: aside from being a stellar artist, she is a spiffy tiki bartender, and has served time behind the bar at both the Lucky Tiki and now the Tonga Hut in Los Angeles.

If you’d like to purchase one of Atomikitty’s truly lovely varnished and bamboo-framed coconut monkey prints, they’re available for sale at Yessy.com. If you’d like to keep up with the latest goings-on with the Coconut Monkey Project, check out the official MySpace and blog.

• The Coconut Monkey Project Portait Gallery [Yessy.com]
• The Coconut Monkey Project [MySpace]
• The Coconut Monkey Project Blog

Sippin’ Safari, by Jeff Berry

Tikiphiles have been anxiously awaiting Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s new book, Sippin’ Safari, for many months now. The release is finally drawing near, and Berry will be giving seminars at both Hukilau and Tiki Oasis this summer. Now comes another exciting development: Beachbum Berry’s Grog Blog. Yep, Jeff has added a blog to the site. Welcome to blogland, ‘bum!

I’m incredibly excited for Sippin’ Safari. Jeff has put incredible effort into rooting out the history of Polynesian Pop. It’s a colorful history, and has been well-documented in images — but there are a lot of stories to be told, and Jeff has been finding them, and documenting them. Those who were at Jeff’s seminar at last year’s Hukilau got a taste of what Sippin’ Safari holds. This is not a recipe book (though some recipes are included — thanks to his tireless efforts to track down original bartenders). This is a book about how tiki came to be — not about the world it grew up in, but how it actually, really came to be — how Don the Beachcomber built his dream into something that sparked the imagination of the era.

So, it’ll be really cool. You can preorder it now at SLG Publishing, and be sure to catch Beachbum Berry in person at Hukilau or Tiki Oasis if you can. And read his blog!

• Grog Blog [Beachbum Berry]
• Beachbum Berry’s Sippin’ Safari [SLG Publishing]
• Tiki Road Trip, 2nd Edition Coming in May [Humu Kon Tiki]

Robert Drasnin’s Voodoo

Robert Drasnin has had a long and very busy career in Hollywood: he currently teaches film composition at UCLA; before this he had a long tenure as the Director of Music for CBS Entertainment from 1977 into the early ’90s; before that he was well-established as a composer, arranger and musician for a vast array of television and film productions through the ’60s and ’70s. Even earlier in his career, he worked as an arranger for Martin Denny, and he released just one album of his own compositions of Exotica jazz. That 1959 album, Voodoo, is one of the definitive works of the genre, a true classic. For a taste of Mr. Drasnin’s work, you can visit his MySpace page, where you can hear his songs Desiree and Enchantment. The album was re-released by Dionysus Records in 1996.

In 2005, there was a rare performance of Robert Drasnin’s Voodoo at the annual Hukilau event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I was there, and it was absolutely otherworldly. The whole room, full of hundreds of people, was hushed in transfixed awe. It was really beautiful to hear music like that in person.

The renewed interest in this fifty-year-old album has had Drasnin excited to create new Exotica works. Ever since that performance in Florida, Mr. Drasnin has been hard at work writing a new album of Exotica: Voodoo 2. So many of the Exotica greats have gone on to that great luau in the sky; the idea of a new album of true classic Exotica is something many of us wouldn’t have even dreamed would be possible.

The project is happening with no corporate backing — Robert Drasnin is responsible funding this effort himself, to the tune of about 15 to 20 thousand dollars. Lush orchestrations like this require a lot of musicians, studio time, and other stuff I know nothing about personally. It just won’t be possible for Mr. Drasnin to do this himself, but he’s doing it anyway, “come hell or high water.” Even though the market for this album is a great big question mark — Exotica jazz is definitely a niche thing — he wants to create this album because he knows there are many people out there who will be excited for it. That’s what life should be all about.

But he doesn’t have to do this alone — all you fans of Exotica music can help make this dream come true, while minimizing the financial hit to Mr. Drasnin. A page has been set up to accept donations towards the recording of the album. There are three levels of donation: the first ($30) gets you a signed copy of the album, the second ($75) gets the signed album, and your name in the Special Thanks of the album’s liner notes, and the third level — now, this is big — for a $250 contribution, you get to sit in on the actual recording session, happening on February 17 in Los Angeles, plus the signed CD and the thanks in the liner notes. Now that would be something else.

To learn more about the project, and to donate, visit Robert Drasnin’s website. Voodoo 2 will be released this spring, by Dionysus Records.

• Robert Drasnin’s Voodoo 2 - Official information and fundraiser [RobertDrasnin.com]
• RobertDrasnin.com
• Robert Drasnin [MySpace]
• Voodoo [Amazon.com]
• My Travels: Hukilau [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Dionysus Records
• Robert Drasnin’s Voodoo 2 [Tiki Central]

Wahahine, by Miles Thompson

Miles Thompson is one of my favorite artists. His sense and use of color and shapes is reminiscent of another favorite of mine, Mary Blair. This piece is titled Wahahine, and it’s a monster at 4′ x 2′. It was part of the recent Tiki Art Now III show at Roq la Rue in Seattle, and it’s sold. In its very shrunken form here, you’re missing all kinds of Milesy goodness — click on it to see it a bit bigger. Go on, do it. I haven’t seen this one in person, but I’m sure it’s breathtaking — the color and detail on Miles’ stuff never really comes through unless you’re seeing it in person.

At first glance, Miles’ pieces can seem simple, even cartoonish (he does have a background in animation, after all), but as any animation fiend will tell you, there can be a lot buried beneath the surface. Miles’ compositions look casual, but their is a lot of intent in each one, and stories to be found in them. In one of Miles’ earlier tiki pieces, he painted a very simple nighttime skyline of Waikiki using just a few strokes of paint — and it instantly transported me to the Waikiki nights I knew as a child many, many years go.

Miles is also one of my favorite people — when I was new to Los Angeles, Miles and his friends were one of the very first groups to take me in as one of their own, which was an incredible stroke of luck for me. Not only did it open up all sorts of fascinating and wonderful things to me (like getting to meet and sit for the most astounding artists, like Michael Hussar and Kevin Llewellyn, and of course Miles himself), but his friendship was a much needed rudder for me as I figured my new life out. Whether it was over instant messenger or over drinks at Tiki-Ti (always a Chi-Chi for Miles, and on the rocks, ever since the Great Tiki-Ti Power Outage of Ought-Four), Miles has always been there for me, with an ear, a shoulder, and wise, wise words.

To see more of Miles’ work, visit his blog, or his website, or his MySpace page. At the moment, Miles has a photo atop his blog of some mysterious woman with one of his tank tops stretched across her tatas (or, as Miles insists, her “beautiful bosom”). They sure look familiar…

• Miles Thompson [official website]
• Miles’ Thing [Miles Thompson's blog]
• Miles Thompson [MySpace]
• Mary Blair
• Seattle: Tiki Art Now III [Humu Kon Tiki]

This short film is a documentary on Bosko Hrnjak, the famed San Diego tiki carver. He shares he goes about making his creations, how his interest in tiki was sparked, how it expanded over time, and toward the end of the film, he speaks eloquently about the importance of Tiki as a cultural art form. The 7-1/2 minute film was produced in 2001 by Paul Desjarlais, with music by Bosko’s wife, Truus De Groot.

• Bosko [YouTube]
• Tiki Bosko

Picasso with his Marquesan tiki

At the end of October, Prestel Publishing is releasing a detailed book by Peter Stepan about Picasso’s love affair with African and Oceanic art. Here he is on the cover of the book, with a Marquesan tiki he was particularly fond of (can’t blame him!). The tikis and other items from his collection now reside in museums and also in the private collections of his family members, and many of them have been photographed and described in detail for this book. The list price for the book will be $85, but Amazon is offering pre-orders for $53.55. Tip of the hat to Aaron’s Akua for the heads-up. You can learn more about Picasso’s Marquesan tiki on this thread at Tiki Central.

• Picasso’s Collection of African And Oceanic Art (Hardcover), by Peter Stepan [Amazon.com]
• Picasso’s famous tiki [Tiki Central]

Volcano lamp by Kahaka

Bay-area artist Kahaka makes some of the best lamps for tiki bars out there. He makes them custom, and uses bamboo and tapa cloth, re-creating some of the best traditional styles, and also coming up with some of his own. His lamps have been hung in professional and home tiki bars around the globe, including the Kahiki Moon in Vermont, the Tabou Tiki Room in Berlin, Kona Club in Oakland and Forbiden Island in Alameda. This lamp is in a volcano shape, with tapa cloth sides, and crosscut bamboo rings for the base, and can be seen hanging at Forbidden Island.

Eight-sided lamp by Kahaka

Like the ones mentioned in my post about Orchids of Hawaii lamps, Kahaka’s lamps are very much in line with the lamps I mentioned in my Perfect Tiki Bar: the Lighting article; unlike Orchids of Hawaii, which is long out-of-business, Kahaka’s lamps can be purchased today. Lamps like these go a long way to setting the perfect, exotic mood, and are a must-have item for a good tiki bar. A photo gallery of Kahaka’s work can be seen on Yahoo, and he also has a thread of his creations on Tiki Central. If you’d like to have Kahaka create one of his wonderful lamps for your home or restaurant, you can contact him at jchadgreenwood@aol.com, or by sending him a PM on Tiki Central.

• SWAG TIKI LAMPS [Yahoo! Photos]
• Kahaka’s Tapa Lamps - New Stuff (8/2) [Tiki Central]
• Perfect Tiki Bar: The Lighting [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Lamps by Orchids of Hawaii [Humu Kon Tiki]

Maori-style carving by Marcus Thorn

Aussie tiki carver, Marcus Thorn

This past spring, I had the great pleasure of spending a few days with Tiki Beat’s Marcus Thorn, and his wife Yvette. Marcus is a fantastic tiki carver, he’s been making a living at his art the past decade-plus — he is in high demand in his native Australia, and his tikis have found homes all over the globe. Marcus and Yvette have been a fixture in Australia’s rockabilly scene for ages, and are very happy that Australia is finally developing a bit of a tiki scene, as well. A bit over a year ago, Marcus joined in with the band of merry carvers at Tiki Central, and has been sharing in-progress pictures of many of his carvings on a thread of his own. Marcus and Yvette are incredibly gracious people, and care a lot about giving their customers the best bang for their tiki-buying buck — every year they host a great big luau for their friends and customers at their ranch/estate outside Brisbane.

• Tiki Beat
• tikis by marcus thorn [Tiki Central]

Three books from the beachcombing Hedley family

The family of Eli Hedley have three books newly available:

View from the Top of the Mast, by Bungy Hedley
If you’ve read her tales here or on Tiki Central, then you know she’s got some fantastic stories of an adventure-filled life to share. This book only covers her life growing up in the wacky Hedley clan, up until her early 20s, but it covers journeys to Hawaii, Tahiti and points beyond, not to mention her experiences on the California coast, growing up in one of Hollywood’s favorite hideouts.

How Daddy Became a Beachcomber, by Marilyn Hedley, illustrated by Flo Ann Hedley
This book was published in 1947, but has been out of print for many years, and has become very rare and sought-after. The family is offering reprints of this book, told by Hedley daughter Marily (Bungy’s sister).

Eli Hedley Beachcomber, 1943 Catalog (Reprint)
This is a reprint of Eli Hedley’s catalog of wares, with charming ink illustrations of the unusual items he offered. During WWII, Eli’s wares were used in decorating many bars, restaurants, hotels and homes, and he was especially favored in Hollywood. He was responsible for the decor is some of the most famous tiki bars, and the back pages of the catalog include a thick addendum of black & white photos of his tikis, his shop, the family homestead, and a 1943 article from Life Magazine.

The books are available now, and can be ordered from Amazon, from the book publisher, or from Bungy herself, if you’d like an autographed copy. Full details are on this thread at Tiki Central.

• Three books from the beachcombing Hedley Family — Available Now! [Tiki Central]
• Storytime with Aunt Bungy [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Visit to the Hedley Homestead [Humu Kon Tiki]

Crazy Al’s Tiki #3, King Tiki

This fall, a Ten Year Retrospective of Crazy Al’s tiki works will be held at La Luz de Jesus gallery in Los Angeles. It takes place on Friday, October 13, and there will be a commemorative mug of Crazy Al’s tiki #3, King Tiki (pictured to the right). Seeing Crazy Al’s early tikis helps one understand just how excellent an artist Crazy Al is — he was producing detailed, balanced, gorgeous tikis right out of the gate. His recent masterpiece, “Tiki Lee Tree,” is five tikis in one: Tikis #107 through #111. As mentioned earlier, it’s on the cover of the latest Tiki Magazine, and the tikis’ owner has just shared pictures of it in its home. When he’s not busy carving tikis, he’s engaged in any number of other creative tiki endeavors: mug design, singing in the band APE, or working on the decor of a new tiki bar (like Hale Tiki, Kona Club and Puka Bar). My personal favorite thing about Crazy Al is that he’s a dancin’ fool. He’s truly talented.

Before the October La Luz show, Crazy Al’s Ten Year Retrospective will also be shown in August at the previously mentioned Long Beach Tiki Fest, and at Bird in San Francisco (details TBA).

• Over Ten Years of Tiki’ing [Tiki Mania]
• Crazy Al’s Tiki Mania
• Crazy Al’s Tiki #1 [Tiki Mania]
• Crazy Al’s Tiki #2 [Tiki Mania]
• Crazy Al’s Tiki #3 [Tiki Mania]
• Tiki Hideaway (featuring Crazy Al’s “Tiki Lee Tree”)
• Mug Designer: Crazy Al Evans [Ooga-Mooga]
• APE [Tiki Mania]
• Latest Issue of Tiki Magazine [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Long Beach: 6th Annual Tiki Beach Fest [Humu Kon Tiki]

False Idols, by Heather Watts

Vancouver, B.C. artist Heather Watts excels at creating exotic moods. With her moody use of light, she’s able to create an air of mystery and intrigue, while also injecting her own sense of humor through the use of anthropomorphized monkeys and tigers. Heather has announced that she’ll soon be moving her online website from theartdeck.com to heatherwatts.com. After the move, her print prices will be going up slightly, so now is a great time to take advantage of her low print prices.

• The Art Deck

Harry S. Truman (seated) and Harry
Vaughan, photo from the Truman Library

U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s favored vacation spot was Key West; he first visited on doctor’s orders in November of 1946, and made many return trips. As anyone who has been to Key West can attest, your typical Washington, D.C. casual attire simply will not do in the hot, humid environment, and it wasn’t long before President Truman started looking like a local. His “wild” and “dizzy” shirts did not go unnoticed by the public, and he helped push the popularity of casual sports shirts with outlandish colors and designs. The National Park Service website’s pages for the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site include a featured exhibit on President Truman’s “Key West Uniform”, including several aloha shirts, with maker and size details for each, and accompanied by photos of Truman wearing the shirts. Tip of the Stetson to Cynical-C for the link.

• The “Key West Uniform”: President Truman’s Tropical Sport Shirts [National Park Service]