Life’s a beach: The iconic .South Pacific island
scene. Below; Sailor
"Jerry rum’s hula babe ..
On the trail of Tiki
Gaudy, kitsch and decidedly retro: the exotic décor and outlandish design inspired by Polynesian culture is in need of preservation, discovers Miles Fielder.
aptain Cook has a lot to answer for. His discovery of the Polynesian islands of Tahiti in 1769 and Hawaii in 1778 opened up these South Seas paradise islands to Europeans. When the Yorkshire-born son of a Scottish farm labourer first set
foot on the Hawaiian island of
Kauai one January afternoon. he might have had an inkling he was setting colonisation in motion. but he couldn‘t possibly have known that. almost 200 years later. the descendents of European settlers in North America would be spending millions of dollars on the crass representation of exotic Polynesian culture.
These days. the retro and kitsch—
Ioving sons and daughters of
James Cook revel (some ironically. others seriously obsessively) in ‘Tiki‘ culture. otherwise known as ‘Polynesian Pop‘. It‘s stylish. it‘s cool. it’s
other-worldly and old-worldly. it‘s exotica. Bar owners. club promoters. I)Js. record labels. graphic designers. retail outlets and travel agents earn their crust and their street cred from hip and retro-chic punters. and together they have created a modern. international (if underground) Tiki culture.
Tiki wasn‘t always cultish. After World War II. Americans had a lot of money to spend and no particular place to go. Although their seafaring Yorkshire forefathcr had discovered the Polynesian islands five years before the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. for post-war Americans Tahiti. Hawaii. Iiaster Island. Tuvalu and the Kingdom of Tonga were far distant. unknown lands destined never to be visited. Ignorance about the Pacific islands aroused curiosity. which evolved into the
TRAVEL.
i “g .1 eé‘ ~
generation. liberated by sex. drugs and rock’n‘roll and embittered by Vietnam. rebelled against their square parents and the ridiculous congo-bongo bars and eateries. and Tiki culture died a death. That is. until sufficient time had passed and the X generation rediscovered the pleasures of buttoning up a shirt stencilled with palm trees and drinking rum ‘ 1 punch out of an Iiaster Island stone head-shaped mug. albeit this time with an appreciation of its now kitsch nature. With the coming-of-age of the Polynesian Pop—friendly generation. Tiki culture has spawned new and renewed facets. Bars and restaurants are now joined by shops and clubs where one can buy.
erotic lure of the exotic. And so. perhaps in keeping with Americas New World ethos (or maybe its insular character). Polynesian culture was recreated in a sensationally tacky but nevertheless impressive manner back home. During that most stylish but conservative of decades. the 1950s. virtually every American city of any size had numerous Tiki bars and restaurants. Thatched- hut bowling alleys and coconut tree—lined golf courses followed. (‘rowning the explosion of Tiki-themed construction was the Mauna l.ua restaurant in Detroit. erected in l‘)(i7 for a then- staggering SH) million.
Soon after. Tiki culture went south. The new
s3 4__ 1 ON HONEYMOON, MY WIFE AND
I SIPPED FRUITY RUM COCKTAILS FROM CHILLED PLASTIC COCONUTS SERVED BY A HAWAIIAN WAITRESS IN A GRASS SKIRT
I) Hi Nov 9000 THE LIST 103