The Tiki Phenomenon Is Back, Apparently Kitsch-Free
Photograph from Tubes. on Flickr
It may be premature to invest in Hawaiian-shirt futures just yet, but if it’s in the Wall Street Journal, chances are it’s official: the once (and still sometimes) kitschy topic of tiki is on the resurgence.
Last week, in a piece called "Tiki Doesn’t Have to Be Tacky," Eric Felten tackles what I acknowledged a while back: “The time seems ripe for a Polynesian Pop revival—and, in fact, it's already under way.”
But if the tiki renaissance was already in progress, now it has even more reason to blossom. As Felten notes, the original era of tiki style began in 1934, during the Great Depression, and tiki’s heyday was in the 1950s and early ‘60s, during the post-war and Cold War era.
Today, with our global financial turmoil and engagement in more wars overseas, more people may be searching for good, old-fashioned escapism. As Felten writes, today “there's a new allure to the escape it promises. What are we escaping now? The financial woes may be the best excuse of the moment, but tiki provides an escape somewhat more fundamental, a vacation from the everyday, even if today's bears little resemblance to the everyday of the '50s.”
To witness the contemporary embrace of tiki, look no further than San Francisco, where, this week, dozens of Scorpion Bowl-imbibing enthusiasts are engaging in Tiki Crawl 2008, an event organized by Tiki Central. Participants orchestrate a coordinated, and no-doubt colorful, assault on some of the Bay Area’s tiki institutions, ranging from the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel to today’s new capital of tiki, Forbidden Island in Alameda.
Owned by Martin Cate, Forbidden Island has helped drive the growing interest in tiki by preparing classic and classic-style exotic drinks with fresh ingredients and an approach emphasizing quality and balance (rather than sheer alcoholic musclepower). Cate has earned accolades for his work to revive the art of exotic drink preparation, and his presentations at the recent Tales of the Cocktail were some of the most energized and highly attended of the event.
Felten acknowledges Forbidden Island’s impact, writing “Will the tiki-revival flourish? Perhaps, especially if more places follow the lead of Mr. Cate and his Forbidden Island crew, concocting compelling drinks that can't be found anywhere but at a tiki bar.”
Of course, the original tiki phenomenon, which lasted the better part of four decades, collapsed in a weight of kitsch and tacky tribute in the late 1960s and early '70s. Does the current tiki revival have staying power?
About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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8 Comments:
http://www.vantiki.com/VanTiki/VanTiki.html
Check out these. I have been wanting one of these one of a kind tiki mugs since they started showing up on thesneeze.com.
brittj8585 at 9:43AM on 10/09/08
Like many trends spotted by the major papers I'd say this "new tiki revival" has been well underway for sometime. There are tiki bars all over.
bobbob at 9:45AM on 10/09/08
@bobbob: "All over" does not include Pittsburgh, unfortunately.
Mr. Sus (the OH) is from L.A. and he promised to take me to Tiki-Ti over the Christmas holiday. I'm nervous, though, 'cause just one of their drinks can put a large man on his ass. Wish me luck!
Susquehanna at 10:59AM on 10/09/08
The fact that Tiki-Ti has stayed open for 45 years must be a testament tiki's staying power in general (at least among the L.A. set). And kitschy or not, when tiki is done in an appealing way, it makes for a very fun time.
Susquehanna at 11:12AM on 10/09/08
Tiki is dead, and what exists is fueled by a very minor few and the media looking for something different to write about. Drinks are too laborious to make, and 1000 variations of rum and juice on one menu is about as exciting as a thousand variations of vodka and juice.
Having said that, Martin is doing a fantastic job at FI and should be commended.
JamieB at 1:39PM on 10/09/08
Let's not forget the Tiki Bar TV video podcast:
http://tikibartv.com/tikibar_display.php?pver=qh&vid=49
Or the 1999 magazine article on how to build your own Tiki Bar:
http://blog.humuhumu.com/2006/09/05/how-to-build-a-tiki-bar
While I dislike sweet, fruity drinks, there's something charming about the tiki aesthetic.
Benitowine at 2:19PM on 10/09/08
Tiki had its resurgence in the early 2000's...it peaked and is already on its way out for most...only the true tikiphiles are still living the lounge life.
Sullt at 10:25PM on 10/10/08
Tiki without kitch is a south seas religion. Kitch is the essence of Tiki on the mainland. It's a bamboo hut or a nautical inspired space with all sorts of pacific flotsam, from glass balls to puffer fish, outriggers, rice hull separators, fish traps, rope, and of course, tikis. It's in perpetual twilight. There's a waterfall (you call it a water feature) Preferably, but in the older places not so often (they're usually in need of business) with island music. Reggae, the carribbean is out. Not Tiki. Margaritaville is not Tiki. Political correctness is out. Tiki and Kitch are inseparable. Hence the demise of recent attempts at Trader Vics: Tiki plus good taste equals boring. Sadly, aside from venues like Forbidden Island, most places are "tiki on the walls", some palm weave and bamboo nailed to a wall, and album covers, or menus, and tiki mugs all about. Most tiki today is driven by a dedicated, even obsessed group of thirty somethings, and isn't spreading quite as quickly, nor as imaginatively, as it did after the war. To make matters worse, most of the tikis themselves are carved as insipid, drooling nitwits, with idiot grins, as someone has decided that the originals (made to scare away evil spirits and what not) are too, what, scary? I grew up with the original tiki bars, and watched them fail. I was optimistic for this revival, but not so much any more. It was a great phase in America's entertainment evolution, but society has evolved beyond Tiki, to what I'm not quite sure, or thrilled about, but it's passed.
gryphonisle at 2:33AM on 11/02/08