Plastic Paradise

>> Man: AFTER PROHIBITION, THE FIRST TIKI DRINKS WERE SERVED BY A GUY NAMED DON THE BEACHCOMBER, AND THAT WAS THE BIG BANG.

>> Man: TIKI OFFERS YOU THIS DREAM OF ESCAPING TO AN ISLAND PARADISE.

>> Woman: TIKI IS A CELEBRATION OF A BYGONE ERA.

>> Woman: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

THESE PEOPLE, THEY GO WAY BACK.

>> Man: IT'S PUNK ROCK FOR GROWNUP PEOPLE.

THERE'S NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT.

>> Narrator: THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS TONIGHT.

THEY'VE COME FROM FAR AND WIDE FOR A GOOD TIME AND AREN'T LIKELY TO QUIT UNTIL THEY'VE HAD ONE.

THESE ARE THE NEW ADHERENTS OF WHAT'S COME TO BE CALLED POLYNESIAN POP -- "TIKI" FOR SHORT -- A THRIVING SUBCULTURE OF ALOHA SHIRTS, GRASS SKIRTS, RUM COCKTAILS, AND EXOTIC SOUNDS.

ONCE CONSIDERED A RELIC OF THE MID-20th CENTURY, TIKI'S ARTIFACTS HAVE BEEN DUG FROM THE DUSTBINS OF THRIFT STORES AND FLEA MARKETS, ITS MUSIC, FASHION, AND MIXOLOGY COMBED FROM THE FLOTSAM OF A FORGOTTEN ERA.

ITS POLYNESIAN TEMPLES -- THE FEW THAT REMAIN -- HAVE BEEN RECLAIMED FROM THE OVERGROWTH, AND ITS TOTEMS CARVED ANEW.

THIS IS THE TRUE TALE OF A REMIXED SUBCULTURE, RE-IMAGINED AND REBORN IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET -- A ONCE-VIRTUAL COMMUNITY BROUGHT TO LIFE IN RUM-GUZZLING, TCHOTCHKE-COLLECTING, LIMBO-DANCING, HAWAIIAN-SHIRT-WEARING TECHNICOLOR.

NEW CONVERTS ARE WELCOME.

TO TRACE TIKI'S ORIGINS, YOU HAVE TO GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE VOYAGES OF EUROPEAN EXPLORERS IN THE 17th CENTURY.

>> Man: THE WESTERN OBSESSION WITH THE SOUTH SEAS ISLANDS PRETTY MUCH BEGAN AS SOON AS THEY WERE DISCOVERED.

YOU KNOW, IT CAME FROM THE FACT THAT THESE SAILORS HAD BEEN ON THE OPEN SEA FOR MONTHS ON END.

ALL THEY HAD TO EAT WAS, LIKE, SOME SORT OF HARD BREAD AND WATER, BASICALLY.

SO THEY ARRIVED AT THESE ISLANDS, AND THERE WAS BEAUTIFUL NATURE, FRESH FRUITS, AND FREE FOOD -- AND BEAUTIFUL WOMEN.

>> Narrator: EXPLORERS' REPORTS CONJURED IMAGES OF PARADISE.

SOON, WRITERS LIKE HERMAN MELVILLE WERE DRAWN TO THE SUBJECT, AS WAS ARTIST PAUL GAUGUIN.

>> Man: GAUGUIN'S TAHITIAN PAINTINGS WERE SPECTACULAR AND VERY WELL RECEIVED IN THE 19th CENTURY AS THEY ARE TODAY, IN PART BECAUSE OF THE SENSE OF THIS ARTIST GOING OFF INTO SOME EXOTIC, FARAWAY PLACE THAT NOBODY KNEW EXISTED, AND NOBODY REALLY KNEW THE PRACTICES OF THESE PEOPLE, AND THEY WERE UNTOUCHED BY WESTERN CULTURE.

THEY LOVED THE IDEA OF AN ARTIST GOING OFF TO SOME UNKNOWN PLACE.

PEOPLE ARE FASCINATED BY THAT.

AND THEY'RE FASCINATED BY THE TRANSGRESSIONS, THEY'RE FASCINATED BY BREAKING THESE WESTERN MORES AND MIDDLE-CLASS VALUES.

>> Narrator: AMONG THE VISUAL SYMBOLS OF POLYNESIA WAS THE TIKI.

>> Kirsten: THE TIKI IS A POLYNESIAN IDOL.

HE WAS SORT OF A HALF-GOD, HALF-MAN.

HE WAS SORT OF A PRANKSTER AND A JOKESTER.

AFTER HE, YOU KNOW, PASSED ON, ALL DEPICTIONS OF THE HUMAN FORM BECAME CALLED "TIKI" BY THE POLYNESIANS.

>> Narrator: IN TIME, "TIKI" BECAME A KIND OF SHORTHAND FOR ALL THINGS HAVING TO DO WITH THE ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH SEA.

>> WHERE TIKI COMES FROM IS ACTUALLY A MODERN CONCEPT.

THE ROOTS OF THAT CONCEPT GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE 1930s.

PARTICULARLY WITH THE HAWAIIAN CRAZE -- ESPECIALLY A HAWAIIAN MUSIC CRAZE OVER THE RADIO THAT SWEPT THE UNITED STATES.

>> ♪ OUT IN HAWAII, THERE'S A PRETTY HULA MAIDEN ♪ ♪ AND ALL THE KANES HOOP A HULA OVER HER ♪ ♪ ALL DAY LONG THEY SING... ♪ >> Narrator: BUT THE REAL CATALYST FOR AMERICA'S POLYNESIAN OBSESSION WOULD BE THE REPEAL OF PROHIBITION AND THE NEW-FOUND AVAILABILITY OF CHEAP RUM.

[ BAND PLAYS "IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT" ] >> Announcer: THE DECISIVE VOTE OF THE 36th STATE AGAINST PROHIBITION IS HAPPY NEWS FOR THE UNITED STATES.

THE LID IS OFF, WITH THE DOWNFALL OF PROHIBITION BEING CELEBRATED IN REAL OLD-TIME HILARITY!

>> PEOPLE BOUGHT RUM DURING PROHIBITION BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY BONDED ALCOHOL THAT THEY KNEW WASN'T GOING TO KILL THEM.

IT WAS, YOU KNOW, SMUGGLED IN FROM CUBA, AND THEY KNEW THAT IT WAS GOOD LIQUOR, SO THEY DRANK THAT INSTEAD OF WHAT THEY REALLY WANTED TO DRINK, WHICH WAS WHISKEY OR GIN.

SO ONCE PROHIBITION WAS REPEALED, EVERYBODY SAID, "GIVE ME BACK MY WHISKEY, GIVE ME BACK MY GIN."

AND THE RUM-RUNNERS HAD TONS OF THIS STUFF THAT THEY COULD NO LONGER UNLOAD.

>> Narrator: SENSING AN OPPORTUNITY, ERNEST RAYMOND BEAUMONT GANTT OPENED AMERICA'S FIRST MODERN TIKI BAR IN HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA.

SOON, HE AND THE RESTAURANT WOULD GO BY THE SAME NAME -- "DON THE BEACHCOMBER."

RUM DRINKS WERE THE HOUSE SPECIALTY, EVEN THOUGH THE RECIPES WERE MORE INDEBTED TO THE CARIBBEAN THAN POLYNESIA.

>> Berry: HE HAD TRAVELED QUITE A BIT.

HE HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO THE CUBAN DAIQUIRI AND THE JAMAICAN PLANTER'S PUNCH -- BOTH OF WHICH ARE VERY GOOD EXAMPLES OF THE HOLY TRINITY OF CARIBBEAN MIXOLOGY, WHICH BECAME TIKI MIXOLOGY, WHICH IS RUM, LIME, AND SUGAR.

BUT WHAT DON DID WAS HE TURBO-CHARGED IT, AND HE EMBROIDERED IT, AND HE TURNED A VERY SIMPLE RUM DRINK -- LIKE THE PLANTER'S PUNCH -- INTO A BAROQUE FANTASIA.

ALL OF A SUDDEN, A THREE-INGREDIENT DRINK BECAME A 14-INGREDIENT DRINK.

HE WOULD SAY, "WHY NOT LIME AND GRAPEFRUIT?"

OR, "WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO LIME AND GRAPEFRUIT AND PASSION FRUIT?

WHY JUST USE SUGAR?

WHY NOT USE A CINNAMON-INFUSED SUGAR SYRUP?

WHY NOT USE VANILLA SYRUP?"

HE REALLY WAS LIKE A RUM SCIENTIST.

SO THIS IS WHAT HE CALLED HIS "RUM RHAPSODIES."

AND IN NO TIME AT ALL, THIS BAR THAT HE OPENED AFTER PROHIBITION BECAME THE TALK OF HOLLYWOOD.

>> Narrator: DON'S RUM RHAPSODIES, CHRISTENED WITH SUCH FANCIFUL NAMES AS THE ZOMBIE AND THE MISSIONARY'S DOWNFALL, BECAME ALMOST AS FAMOUS AS THE CLIENTELE.

>> YOU HAD CHARLIE CHAPLIN, BUSTER KEATON, JOAN CRAWFORD, HOWARD HUGHES.

THESE BECAME DON'S REGULARS.

>> Narrator: IMITATORS SOON FOLLOWED.

AMONG THEM WAS VICTOR BERGERON, WHO ALSO TOOK A NICKNAME -- "TRADER VIC."

LIKE DON THE BEACHCOMBER, THE NEW WAVE OF POLYNESIAN RESTAURANTS SPECIALIZED IN FANTASY.

>> Berry: A LOT OF THE ORIGINAL RESTAURANTS WERE DESIGNED BY HOLLYWOOD ART DIRECTORS.

FILM ART DIRECTORS OR FILM PRODUCTION DESIGNERS WOULD DO THE INTERIORS OF THESE RESTAURANTS.

AND THE WHOLE IDEA WAS TO TRANSPORT YOU AWAY FROM REALITY IN THE SAME WAY THAT THE MOVIES DID.

YOU WERE BASICALLY WALKING ONTO A MOVIE SET.

>> Narrator: SO WHAT IF THE FOOD WAS LITTLE MORE THAN CANTONESE CUISINE DRESSED UP TO RESEMBLE SOMEONE'S IDEA OF POLYNESIA, OR THAT THE DRINKS WERE SECOND-COUSINS TO CUBAN AND JAMAICAN COCKTAILS?

THE PUBLIC ATE IT UP, AND THE BOOM WAS JUST BEGINNING.

>> WHAT WAS FUELING THIS INFATUATION FOR THIS MARKETING CONCEPT, WHICH REALLY WAS WHAT IT WAS, WAS THE RETURN OF THE AMERICAN G.I.

AFTER WORLD WAR II.

[ GUNFIRE ] [ EXPLOSIONS ] >> Berry: NOBODY HAD A REALLY GOOD TIME IN GUADALCANAL OR TARAWA OR OKINAWA.

BUT ALMOST ALL OF THESE G.I.s, THE ONES WHO MADE IT BACK, HAD FOND MEMORIES OF HAWAII -- BEING STATIONED THERE BEFORE THEY SHIPPED OUT OR RECOVERING AFTER THEY SAW ACTION.

AND THEY TOOK THAT BACK WITH THEM -- THIS WONDERFUL NEW WORLD THEY NEVER COULD HAVE HOPED TO SEE, A PARADISE.

AND THEY WANTED MORE OF THAT.

AND THE ONLY PLACE THEY COULD GET IT WAS AT DON THE BEACHCOMBER'S OR WHATEVER THE FACSIMILE OF DON'S WAS IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA, WHERE THEY LIVED.

>> Narrator: ONE RETURNING VET, THE WRITER JAMES MICHENER, CONTRIBUTED TO THE TIKI FRENZY WITH HIS BEST-SELLING BOOK "TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC," LATER ADAPTED INTO THE FAMOUS MUSICAL.

>> EVERY PERSON IN AMERICA KNEW THE SONGS FROM "SOUTH PACIFIC."

>> ♪ BALI HA'I WILL WHISPER ♪ ♪ ON THE WIND OF THE SEA ♪ >> Narrator: ALSO PUTTING POLYNESIA ON THE MAP WAS THOR HEYERDAHL, THE NORWEIGIAN EXPLORER WHO, IN 1947, ATTEMPTED TO SAIL FROM PERU TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC ON A MAKESHIFT RAFT HE NAMED THE KON-TIKI.

HEYERDAHL WAS OUT TO PROVE THAT THE NATIVES OF SOUTH AMERICA WERE THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS OF POLYNESIA.

IT WAS SHAKY SCIENCE, BUT HIS ADVENTURE CAPTURED THE PUBLIC'S IMAGINATION.

>> Berry: AND YOU HAD RESTAURANTS CALLING THEMSELVES "KON-TIKI," OR THEY NAMED THEMSELVES AFTER HIS SECOND BOOK, "AKU-AKU," ABOUT EASTER ISLAND.

>> Narrator: POLYNESIAN RESTAURANTS WERE SPRINGING UP FROM COAST TO COAST.

IN 1956, TWO BROTHERS -- BOB AND JACK THORNTON -- DECIDED TO OPEN THE GRANDEST OF THEM ALL.

>> BOB AND JACK, GROWING UP, THEY WERE EXPOSED TO DON THE BEACHCOMBER, AND THEY STARTED VERY EARLY THINKING ABOUT MAYBE ONE DAY HAVING THEIR OWN POLYNESIAN RESTAURANT.

>> Narrator: HAVING DODGED THE WRECKING BALL FOR SIX DECADES, THE MAI-KAI, BUILT ON WHAT WERE ONCE THE UNDEVELOPED OUTSKIRTS OF FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, IS THE LAST OF THE GREAT POLYNESIAN PALACES -- AND IT HASN'T LOST ANY OF ITS SPLENDOR.

>> Man: WHEN YOU COME INTO THE RESTAURANT AND YOU SEE THE MAGNITUDE OR THE SIZE OF THE RESTAURANT, THERE'S A DESIGN, THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON IN EVERY CORNER.

IF YOU GO INTO THE MOLOKAI BAR, YOU'RE ACTUALLY IN A SAILBOAT.

AND IF YOU LOOK TO YOUR LEFT WHEN YOU WALK IN, YOU HAVE THE WATER COMING DOWN THE WINDOWS.

AND IN THE MIDDLE, YOU HAVE ONE OR TWO HUGE POLES, WHICH IS THE MAST OF THE SAILBOAT.

WHEN YOU ENTER THE RESTAURANT FROM THE FRONT, YOU GO INTO THE WOODEN BRIDGE, AND IT BOUNCES -- IT DOES BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.

AND THAT'S THE THUNDER, AND IT ECHOES INTO THE BAR.

THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED WAS JUST UNIQUE.

I THINK THE MAI-KAI IS THE ONLY RESTAURANT ALIKE IN THE WORLD, AND I'VE BEEN TO HAWAII, TAHITI, I MEAN, THE SOUTH PACIFIC.

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THIS.

>> Man: THE THEMED RESTAURANTS THROUGH THE '50s AND '60s HAD TO BE ENTERTAINING OR PEOPLE WOULDN'T COME TO THEM.

SO THE IDEA OF MAYBE HAVING JUST SOME TRUE TIKIS OR A DUG-OUT CANOE OR WALLS COVERED WITH PLAQUES ON WHAT THE TRUE HISTORY OF POLYNESIA WAS WOULD NOT BRING PEOPLE IN, AND THEY WOULD NOT BUY DRINKS, AND THEY WOULD NOT BUY EXOTIC CHINESE FOOD.

BUT IF YOU MADE IT FUN BY SERVING THEM DRINKS IN FUNNY GLASSES OR YOU HAD A SIGNATURE TIKI MUG FOR YOUR RESTAURANT THAT HAD THE NAME ON IT OR THE KIDS GOT TO WEAR LEIS AND HAVE DRINKS THROUGH LONG STRAWS, THAT'S WHAT WOULD BRING THE PEOPLE BACK.

>> Narrator: AT THE MAI-KAI, AS IN MOST POLYNESIAN RESTAURANTS, THE COCKTAILS MATTERED MOST.

TO CREATE THEIR SIGNATURE DRINKS, THE THORNTONS HIRED ONE OF DON THE BEACHCOMBER'S MOST TRUSTED MIXOLOGISTS.

>> Berry: THEY POACHED A GUY NAMED MARIANO LICUDINE, WHO KNEW THE CODES -- BECAUSE THE RECIPES WERE IN CODE -- AND WHO KNEW DON'S MENU.

>> THEY WANTED TO HIRE MY DAD AND MAKE HIM THE NUMBER ONE BARTENDER.

AND SO THEY OFFERED HIM -- MY DAD -- THE JOB, AND WE PACKED UP AND MOVED TO FORT LAUDERDALE.

>> Berry: THEY WERE BUILDING THE RESTAURANT WHEN THEY GOT HIM.

THEY BROUGHT HIM TO THE SITE.

SAID, "HERE'S WHERE THE BAR'S GONNA BE.

HOW DO YOU WANT IT?"

AND FROM THE GROUND UP, HE BUILT THE SERVICE BAR, AND HE BUILT THE MOLOKAI BAR.

AND THE THORNTONS LET HIM DO THAT BECAUSE THEY WERE SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE THIS GUY, THIS HUMAN ROSETTA STONE, YOU KNOW, THIS LIVING KEY TO THE TROPICAL KINGDOM OF SECRET KNOWLEDGE.

>> Licudine: WELL, MY DAD CAME UP WITH ALL THESE DRINKS.

BUT ONE THAT I REMEMBER IS THE "IMPATIENT VIRGIN."

THAT WAS NAMED AFTER A COUSIN IN THE PHILIPPINES.

NOBODY KNOWS THAT, BUT, YEAH, IT WAS "IMPATIENT VIRGIN," AFTER VIRGINIA.

HA HA HA.

>> THE MAI-KAI TOOK DON THE BEACHCOMBER'S, WHICH WAS THE EPITOME OF THE TIKI WORLD, THE BEST DRINKS IN THE WORLD -- THEY TOOK THE BEST MIXOLOGIST AND THE BEST COOKS AND THE MOST OVER-THE-TOP ARCHITECTURE AND THEY ADDED HALF-NAKED WOMEN AND MADE THE ULTIMATE TIKI PALACE.

>> Licudine: THE MAI-KAI SERVED THE MOST RUM OF ANY RESTAURANT IN THE UNITED STATES.

THAT IS A FACT.

THAT'S A LOT OF DRINKING.

[ LAUGHS ] THAT'S A LOT OF -- THAT'S A LOT OF RUM.

>> THERE WERE SOME WILD NIGHTS, WILD NIGHTS HERE AT THE MAI-KAI.

PEOPLE ARE HAPPY.

"I AM ON VACATION, I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT.

I'M ON THE ISLANDS," YOU KNOW?

>> Narrator: IT WAS AN IRRESISTIBLE VIBE THAT DREW MOVIE STARS, SPORTS HEROES, EVEN AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS LATE-NIGHT HOST.

>> JOHNNY CARSON, OH, WOW!

SOMETIMES, HE JUST TOOK HIS SHIRT OFF AND DANCED A LITTLE BIT TAHITIAN, YOU KNOW?

WE STAYED UNTIL 2:30, 3:00 IN THE MORNING.

AND IT'S ALL FUN, MAN.

IT'S ALL THOSE DAYS ARE FUN.

>> Narrator: WHAT COULD MAKE THE COOLEST CUSTOMER ON TV GO NATIVE LIKE THAT?

THE DANCERS, OF COURSE.

>> AND IT'S NOW THE LONGEST RUNNING POLYNESIAN SHOW IN THE U.S.A., INCLUDING HAWAII.

>> WE HAD ALL THESE PROFESSIONAL DRUMMERS AND DANCERS FROM THE ISLANDS.

SO WHEN THEY CAME HERE, THEY WERE WAY AHEAD OF ALL THE OTHER SHOWS.

>> Woman: THERE ARE TIMES THEY EVEN SAID, "DO YOU HAVE A MOTOR ON YOUR HIPS?

HOW DO YOU MOVE IT?"

YOU KNOW, QUESTIONS LIKE THAT.

>> [ WHOOPING ] >> Woman: THE CENTER OF TIKI IS EXOTICA.

THERE IS THE SURROUNDING, THERE IS THE LIBATION -- HA HA!

THE IMBIBING.

BUT IT'S THAT ONE SYMBOL -- THIS WOMAN, THE NATIVE THAT YOU SEE VIA HOLLYWOOD -- THE HOLLYWOOD MACHINE THAT CRANKED OUT THESE BEAUTIFUL IMAGES.

>> Kirsten: THE HULA GIRL WAS THE ICON OF POLYNESIAN POP IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20th CENTURY.

SHE REPRESENTED EVERYTHING ABOUT THE POLYNESIAN PARADISE THAT WESTERN MEN, ESPECIALLY, DREAMT OF -- THE FREENESS OF SEXUAL MORES AND THE BEAUTY OF NATURE.

>> ONE OF OUR FAMOUS DRINKS THAT PEOPLE COME HERE FOR IS OUR MYSTERY DRINK.

AND ONE OF OUR DANCING GIRLS WILL COME OUT, DELIVER THE DRINK WITH A PRIVATE DANCE TO ONE OF THE GENTLEMEN AT THE TABLE.

AND WHEN THE GONG FINISHES, SHE'LL ET THE ROOM WITHOUT A SMILE.

THAT'S ONE OF THE RULES.

SHE HAS TO BE COOL, CALM, AND SEDUCTIVE.

>> Narrator: FOR POST-WAR MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICANS WORKING FOR FACELESS CORPORATIONS SITTING IN GLASS AND STEEL TOWERS, TIKI PROMISED AN ESCAPE FROM AN INCREASINGLY REGIMENTED EXISTENCE.

>> AND SO SUDDENLY A TIKI WHICH WAS MEANT AS A GOD OF WAR WAS NOW MEANT AS A GOD WHO WAS LOOKING OVER YOU WHEN YOU WERE GETTING DRUNK ON MAI TAIS.

TO THOSE PEOPLE IN THOSE BARS IN THE '50s AND '60s, HE REPRESENTED A RETURN TO THEIR SAVAGE, THEIR PRIMITIVE SIDE.

MR. GRAY FLANNEL SUIT GOES TO THE TIKI BAR ON FRIDAY AFTER WORK, LOOSENS THE TIE, HAS A FEW MAI TAIS, GETS TO OGLE THE WAITRESS WEARING THE GRASS SKIRT, AND SORT OF GET IN TOUCH WITH HIS PRIMITIVE SIDE.

AND I THINK THOSE TIKIS LOOKING OVER HIM OR STARING AT HIM FROM THE MENU HELPED HIM DO THAT.

>> Narrator: THE FUN EXTENDED BEYOND THE RESTAURANTS AND INTO SUBURBIA.

BACKYARD LUAUS BECAME ALL THE RAGE.

>> YOU COULD BE A STRAIGHT-LACED BANKER DURING THE WEEK.

BUT ON THE WEEKEND, YOU COULD DRESS IN A GRASS SKIRT, YOU COULD MIX SOME RUM DRINKS, YOU COULD DANCE LASCIVIOUSLY IN THE BACKYARD.

PEOPLE COULD CUT LOOSE, HAVE A GOOD TIME, ALMOST BE A LITTLE BIT PAGANISTIC, AND YET ON MONDAY MORNING, GET CLEANED UP AND GO BACK TO WORK.

>> Narrator: THE EXOTICISM OF TIKI STYLE QUICKLY MADE ITS WAY INTO ARCHITECTURE AS WELL.

>> IN THE LATE '50s, DEVELOPERS, THEY ACTUALLY USED THE STYLISTIC LANGUAGE OF THE RESTAURANTS TO BUILD APARTMENT BUILDINGS AND BUILD MOTELS, BOWLING ALLEYS, AMUSEMENT PARKS -- ALL IN THIS POLYNESIAN POP AND TIKI THEME.

AND THAT WAS REALLY THE PEAK OF THE TREND BECAUSE IT WENT PAST RESTAURANT CULTURE INTO ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF LIFE.

>> Man: ♪ NUMBER 54 ♪ THE HOUSE WITH THE BAMBOO DOOR ♪ ♪ BAMBOO ROOF AND BAMBOO WALLS ♪ THEY'VE EVEN GOT A BAMBOO FLOOR ♪ ♪ YOU MUST GET TO KNOW SOHO JOE ♪ ♪ HE RUNS AN ESPRESSO CALLED THE HOUSE OF BAMBOO ♪ >> Narrator: IN 1959, TIKI WENT FROM SEXY FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT TO FULL-FLEDGED AMERICAN CITIZEN.

>> Announcer: "ALOHA" MEANS BOTH FAREWELL AND GREETINGS.

AND HAWAII BIDS FAREWELL TO 40 YEARS OF FRUSTRATION AND FAILURE IN ATTEMPTS TO WIN STATEHOOD AND JOYOUSLY GREETS ITS NEW STATUS AS A FULL-FLEDGED MEMBER OF THE UNION -- ITS 50th STATE!

>> ALL OF A SUDDEN, HAWAII WAS NOT SOME EXOTIC PART OF THE WORLD, IT WAS -- IT WAS AMERICA!

YEAH, IT'S PART OF AMERICA NOW.

IT'S A STATE.

I CAN GO THERE.

I CAN GO TO HAWAII!

AND THEY DID.

AND THE REASON THEY COULD WAS THE OTHER GREAT THING THAT HAPPENED IN 1959, WHICH IS THE ADVENT OF JET TRAVEL, COMMERCIAL JET TRAVEL.

IT WAS INTRODUCED THE SAME YEAR HAWAII BECAME A STATE.

AND THAT, LIKE, WAS A ONE-TWO PUNCH THAT STARTED A HUGE, HUGE EXOTICA SHOT IN THE ARM.

A HUGE POP-CULTURE THING THAT WENT WAY INTO THE '60s.

>> Narrator: AMONG THOSE WHO WENT HAWAIIAN WAS AMERICA'S FIRST FAMILY OF TELEVISION, OZZIE AND HARRIET.

>> ♪ FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE ♪ YOU KNOW ♪ FUN'S MORE FUN ♪ WITH A CAMERA TO CAPTURE IT ALL AS YOU GO ♪ ♪ TAKE YOUR CAMERA ALONG ♪ AND SAVE IT IN PICTURES ♪ >> Narrator: COMMERCIAL JINGLES ASIDE, PROVIDING THE SOUNDTRACK FOR TIKI WAS BANDLEADER MARTIN DENNY, WHOSE UNUSUAL SOUND, A COMBINATION OF LATIN RHYTHMS AND JUNGLE NOISES, WAS DUBBED "EXOTICA."

>> HE WAS PLAYING AT HENRY KAISER'S SHELL BAR IN HAWAII.

THE FROGS IN THE POND STARTED CROAKING IN RHYTHM TO "QUIET VILLAGE."

>> [ MAKES BIRD CALL ] >> THE GUYS IN THE BAND STARTED TO MAKE SOME ANIMAL CALLS AND BIRD NOISES.

HE COULDN'T HEAR IT BECAUSE HE'S IN THE FRONT ON A GRAND PIANO.

BUT TOURISTS THE NEXT DAY STARTED SAYING, "ARE YOU GONNA PLAY THAT SONG WITH ALL THE FROGS AND THE BIRDS IN IT?"

IT WAS CAMPY, BUT THAT'S REALLY WHAT PEOPLE WANTED TO SEE.

>> Narrator: "QUIET VILLAGE" REACHED THE TOP 10 ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS.

POLYNESIAN POP WAS HERE TO STAY, OR SO IT SEEMED.

[ NEEDLE SCRATCHES RECORD ] >> WHAT HAPPENED IN THE, YOU KNOW, EARLY, MID-'60s WAS THIS HUGE GENERATION GAP.

AND THE CHILDREN OF THE TIKI GENERATION, PRACTICALLY OVERNIGHT, EVERYTHING THAT THE PARENTS HAD LOVED BECAME UNHIP.

IT WAS JUST TOTALLY LAME TO BE CULTURALLY INAUTHENTIC LIKE TIKI CULTURE WAS.

>> IT WAS MORE OF A TIME FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, PARTICULARLY WITH VIETNAM.

WHEREAS POLYNESIAN HUTS USED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH, YOU KNOW, BEAUTIFUL POLYNESIAN WOMEN AND A SIMPLE LIFESTYLE AND LIVING BY THE BEACH, THE POLYNESIAN HUTS OF THE 1960s BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH NAPALM BOMBINGS.

>> Sundstrom: THE IDEA THAT G.I.s WOULD NOW COME HOME FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA AND BE ASPIRING TO GO TO A TROPICAL-THEMED RESORT OR RESTAURANT, I MEAN, IT JUST DOESN'T COMPORT WITH WHAT WE KNOW WAS HAPPENING.

>> WE WERE GROWING UP AS HUMAN BEINGS AND COMING TO REALIZATIONS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, RACISM AND SEXISM.

BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE SHOULDN'T APPRECIATE THE CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC VALUE OF THIS PHENOMENON.

>> THERE WERE TIMES WHEN, YOU KNOW, IT LOOKED LIKE THIS WASN'T GOING TO BE AROUND.

YOU KNOW, AND A LOT OF POLYNESIAN RESTAURANTS DIDN'T MAKE IT.

>> Berry: AND THE BARTENDERS WHO HAD THAT SECRET KNOWLEDGE, WHO KNEW HOW TO MAKE THESE RECIPES, VANISHED WITH THESE PLACES.

THEY WENT AND THEYADE WHITE WINE SPRITZERS IN THE 1980s OR THEY MADE CHOCOLATE MARTINIS AND THEN THEY RETIRED.

AND THE DRINKS JUST VANISHED.

>> Narrator: POLYNESIAN POP APPEARED RELEGATED TO THE REMAINDER BIN OF HISTORY.

OVER TIME, THE OLD PALACES BEGAN DISAPPEARING FROM THE LANDSCAPE.

AMONG THE MOST FAMOUS OF THESE WAS THE KAHIKI IN COLUMBUS, OHIO.

>> Man: THE OWNERS HAD TO SELL BECAUSE IT WAS IN A STATE OF DISREPAIR.

IT WAS GOING TO COST MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLARS TO REPAIR THE BUILDING, SO THEY SOLD IT.

WALGREENS BOUGHT IT FOR A MILLION DOLLARS.

FOR YEARS AFTER THAT, I HEARD PEOPLE SAYING, "ONLY A MILLION DOLLARS?

I COULD HAVE GOTTEN THAT TOGETHER WITH A COUPLE OF MY INVESTOR FRIENDS.

WE COULD HAVE BOUGHT THE PLACE."

>> Narrator: FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES, TIKI WENT UNDERGROUND.

BUT IN THE EARLY '90s, A RAGTAG GROUP OF CULTURE VULTURES BEGAN TO UNEARTH IT ONE PIECE AT A TIME.

>> WE HAD A TRADER VIC'S AND A KON TIKI IN PHOENIX, AND, UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO GO THERE AS A KID.

MY PARENTS DIDN'T DRINK, AND THEY KIND OF THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS GONNA BE A SORT OF A TRASHY BAR WITH A LOT OF DRUNK PEOPLE.

AND SO WE WOULD BE DRIVING ON THE WAY TO MY PIANO LESSONS EVERY SATURDAY MORNING, AND I'D PASS BY THE KON TIKI, AND I'D SEE THOSE TORCHES OUT THERE AND THOSE BIG TIKIS OUT BY THE STREETLIGHT THERE, AND I WANTED TO GO SO BADLY.

>> Von Stroheim: AS A KID, I REMEMBER LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW OF THE CAR GOING, "WOW!

WHAT'S THAT PLACE?!

YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE 'GILLIGAN'S ISLAND.'

WOW, I WANT TO GO THERE!"

AND WE NEVER REALLY WENT THERE.

THOSE PLACES WERE KIND OF SPECIAL AT THE TIME.

I THINK THEY WERE KIND OF THE PROM PLACES OR THE SPECIAL DINNER PLACE OR MAE A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE, USUALLY, AND SO I NEVER WENT THERE.

BUT I WAS ALWAYS FAMILIAR WITH THOSE PLACES.

I ALWAYS SAW THEM.

SO THEN WHEN I GREW UP AND I BECAME A DESIGN STUDENT AND WAS LEARNING ABOUT AMERICAN POP CULTURE AND ABOUT GOOGIE DINERS AND, YOU KNOW, VINTAGE CARS AND STUFF LIKE THAT, THE TIKI THING KIND OF SEGUED INTO THAT IN A WAY.

>> Woman: WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, MY MOM DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO TAKE US TO AFTER-SCHOOL CARE.

AND, YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE WOULD THINK IT WAS BORING, BUT WE GOT TO STAY IN AN ANTIQUE STORE.

I BECAME A LOVER OF THOSE OLD POLYNESIAN ALBUMS.

THERE WAS A WOMAN THAT OWNED THE ANTIQUE STORE -- MRS. DISHMAN.

AND SHE HAD THIS COLLECTION OF VINYL.

HER FAVORITE RECORDS WERE BING CROSBY RECORDS WHERE HE SANG ALL THE WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN SONGS.

AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, NOT HAVING THE MOST IDYLLIC CHILDHOOD, THAT HELPED ME IN SO MANY WAYS TO BE ABLE TO WANDER IN THESE ANTIQUE SHOPS AND JUST GO INTO ANOTHER WORLD AND FIND THAT PARADISE.

>> IT'S A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE RE-CREATING SOMETHING THAT THEY NEVER LIVED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

SO, FOR ME, THAT'S THE MOST INTERESTING THING.

WHY DO THEY HAVE THIS NOSTALGIA FOR SOMETHING THAT THEY NEVER ACTUALLY LIVED AND EXPERIENCED IN THE FIRST PLACE?

>> IT'S SORT OF LIKE PUNK ROCK FOR GROWNUP PEOPLE.

AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE PUNK ROCK SCENE IN THE '80s, I THINK THE BOTTOM LINE WAS FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, "I DON'T WANT TO FEEL LIKE I'M FOLLOWING THE CROWD, I DON'T WANT TO FEEL LIKE A LEMMING, AND I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT I'M AN INDIVIDUAL."

>> Von Stroheim: A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT STARTED IN THE PUNK SCENE AND LIKED THE CREATIVE EDGINESS OF IT LEFT THE PUNK SCENE AS THEY EITHER GOT OLDER OR HAD IT KIND OF PLAYED OUT AND WERE LOOKING FOR A NEW HORIZON, AND THEY FELL INTO THE TIKI SCENE.

YOU KNOW, GUYS LIKE ME AND SVEN AND CRAZY AL AND KING KUKULELE AND MARK RYDEN AND BOSKO AND SHAG -- THEY'RE ALL FROM THE PUNK SCENE IN THE EARLY '80s OR LATE '70s.

>> Narrator: IF YOU WERE INTO NICHE CULTURE IN THE MID-'90s, THE THING TO DO WAS PUBLISH A D-I-Y NEWSLETTER.

VON STROHEIM'S "TIKI NEWS" SERVED AS A SIREN CALL TO CONVERTS JUST BEGINNING TO DISCOVER THEIR INNER TIKI-PHILE.

>> IN JANUARY OF '95, I PUBLISHED THE FIRST ISSUE OF "TIKI NEWS."

I PUBLISHED 150 ISSUES, AND THAT SOLD OUT.

AND EACH ISSUE AFTER THAT ALMOST DOUBLED.

IF I WENT SOMEWHERE -- LIKE, IF I WENT TO PHOENIX TO VISIT A FRIEND, I'D JUST GO TO THE LOCAL RECORD STORE OR THE LOCAL ZINE STORE AND GO, "HEY, CAN YOU CARRY MY MAGAZINE?"

AND THEY'D GO, "YEAH, I'LL TAKE A COUPLE COPIES," YOU KNOW.

AND I'D PUT IT THERE, GO TO SEATTLE, HIT A COUPLE STORES, PUT IT THERE.

YOU KNOW, IT JUST KIND OF GOT OUT LIKE THAT, JUST PEOPLE FOUND IT WHO WERE ALREADY THERE.

AND THEY SAID, "WOW, I'M INTO TIKI, TOO, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THAT IT WAS TIKI, AND I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THERE WAS ALL THIS OTHER KNOWLEDGE."

AND WHEN PEOPLE FOUND IT, THEY REALLY GOT INTO IT.

>> Narrator: THE EARLY RESURGENCE WAS BASED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WHERE THE LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF REMNANTS FROM TIKI'S FIRST WAVE COULD BE FOUND.

BUT THE RISE OF THE INTERNET GAVE FLEDGLING TIKI-PHILES ACROSS AMERICA A WAY TO CONNECT.

>> TIKI CENTRAL STARTED AS A YAHOO MESSAGE BOARD.

AND I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT THROUGH THE EXOTICA MAILING LIST, WHICH IS HOW I STARTED MEETING A LOT OF LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF ON THE INTERNET AND STARTED VISITING THEM IN DIFFERENT CITIES.

SO IT JUST OPENED A NEW WORLD FOR EVERYBODY.

>> Narrator: THE SITE ENABLED USERS TO CREATE A SHARED KNOWLEDGE BASE AND POST PHOTOS FROM REDISCOVERED PLACES AND FINDS FROM A NEW ONLINE AUCTION SITE CALLED eBAY, WHICH WAS CHOCKFULL OF EXACTLY THE KIND OF MID-CENTURY CULTURAL FLOTSAM TIKI-PHILES WERE LOOKING FOR.

TIKI CENTRAL ALSO USHERED IN A NEW TRADITION OF NICKNAMES FOR POLYNESIAN POPSTERS.

ALTER EGOS WERE NO LONGER THE SOLE DOMAIN OF DON THE BEACHCOMBER AND TRADER VIC.

>> YOU HAVE BASEMENT KAHUNA, YOU HAVE BAMBOO BEN.

YOU HAVE TIKI McSTAGGER, AND ME, TIKI KILIKI.

IT'S FUN, YOU KNOW.

IT'S JUST ANOTHER WAY TO BECOME SOMETHING ELSE, SOMEONE ELSE AND ESCAPE, YOU KNOW, FOR A WHILE.

>> Narrator: THEN IN 2000 CAME AUTHOR SVEN KIRSTEN'S "THE BOOK OF TIKI."

KIRSTEN CODIFIED THE SUBCULTURE'S ORIGINS AND ELEMENTS INTO WHAT IS NOW TIKI'S MOST SACRED TEXT.

>> HE TOOK ALL OF THESE DISPARATE IMAGES AND IDEAS AND KIND OF PUT THEM INTO ONE PLACE SO THAT THEY BECAME A THING -- IT BECAME A STYLE.

THE ARCHITECTURE WAS A STYLE AND PEOPLE BEGAN TO APPRECIATE IT AS ITS OWN THING.

>> Narrator: CONSIDERED TIKI'S ELDER STATESMAN, KIRSTEN WAS AN EARLY CHAMPION OF URBAN ARCHEOLOGY, HACKING THROUGH L.A.'s CONCRETE JUNGLE IN SEARCH OF TIKI'S RUINS.

>> Kirsten: ONE OF THE WAYS I STARTED TO FIND TIKI APARTMENT BUILDINGS WAS LOOKING FOR TALL PALM TREES.

'CAUSE ALL THESE TALL PALM TREES GOT PLANTED IN THE LATE 1950s, AND THEY'VE GROWN SINCE.

SO WHEN YOU'RE IN A FLAT PLACE AND YOU HAVE THESE LONG STRETCHES OF NEIGHBORHOODS, THE ONLY THING THAT STICKS OUT ARE THESE GROUPINGS OF PALM TREES POINTING OUT THAT HERE WAS A TROPICAL ISLAND IN THE URBAN SEA.

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS ONE OF THE LAST REMAINING TIKI VILLAGES -- THAT'S WHAT I CALL TIKI APARTMENT BUILDINGS -- IN L.A. THAT HASN'T BEEN TOTALLY RENOVATED AND DE-TIKIed.

AND THEY EVEN GOT THE WATERFALL GOING AGAIN, WHICH WASN'T GOING FOR A WHILE.

THIS IS FEATHER ROCK BUILDING MATERIAL, WHICH IS ACTUALLY VOLCANIC ROCK.

AND THEY USED THAT A LOT ON THESE APARTMENT BUILDINGS.

AND HERE'S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE LAST REMAINING TIKIS.

I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT THEY'VE KEPT THESE UP AND THAT THEY ARE LETTING THEM DIE HONORABLY.

IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THEM, PEOPLE DECIDED TO PAINT THEM -- TOTALLY, YOU KNOW, DEFACING THE ORIGINAL LOOK OF THE TIKI.

THESE GUYS ARE REALLY AMONG MY FAVORITES IN MID-CENTURY TIKI DESIGN BECAUSE THEY'RE SO HIGHLY STYLIZED AND INVENTIVE AND CREATIVE IN THEIR DIFFERENCES.

THIS GUY HERE LOOKS VERY MODERNIST.

BUT THEN HIM, UP HERE, HE'S SO CARTOONY.

>> Narrator: OCEANIC ARTS OPENED IN 1956.

IT OUTFITTED THE MAI-KAI AND MANY OF THE ESTABLISHMENTS FROM TIKI'S FIRST WAVE.

TODAY, IT'S STILL THE GO-TO SHOP FOR ALL THINGS POLYNESIAN.

>> Man: ONE OF THE EARLY BUSINESSES WE GOT INVOLVED WITH WERE ACTUALLY APARTMENT BUILDINGS.

PEOPLE ALL AROUND HERE HAD THESE APARTMENT HOUSES, AND THEY ALL HAD A POLYNESIAN A-FRAME KIND OF A THING.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DECORATE THEM, AND WE GOT INTO THAT PICTURE, SO PRETTY SOON, WE WERE DECORATING THESE APARTMENT HOUSES.

SO BIT BY BIT, THEY BEGAN TO DISCOVER WHO WE WERE.

>> WE KNOW OTHER PEOPLE THAT DO AMUSEMENT PARKS DESIGN, SO THEY WILL TELL US, "WE'RE DOING THIS JOB, SHIP THIS TYPE OF THINGS FOR IT."

AND THEN WE DO A LOT OF RESTAURANTS.

WE JUST THIS YEAR COMPLETED A JOB IN LITHUANIA -- THE TIKI INN.

DID THE SUGAR CANE BAR IN LONDON, ENGLAND.

A COUPLE JOBS IN AUSTRALIA -- THE LuWOW.

WE JUST SUPPLIED THAT RECENTLY.

AND DO A LOT OF ARTIFACTS FOR THE DIFFERENT PLACES OVER THERE.

>> AND WE DO A LOT OF OUR OWN CREATING.

WE CREATE LIGHT FIXTURES.

AND WE DO -- I CARVE MASKS.

AND I HAVE PEOPLE CARVE TIKIS FOR US BESIDES MY CARVING THEM ON OCCASIONS.

THERE'S PLENTY OF STUFF AROUND HERE -- PROBABLY MORE THAN WE CAN GET RID OF WHEN THAT TIME COMES.

>> Kidney: MANY ARTISTS ARE PULLED OR DRAWN TO TIKI BECAUSE IT'S A BIT OF A BLANK SLATE, YOU KNOW, STARTING POINT FOR SOMETHING ELSE.

LIKE WHETHER IT'S MUSIC OR ART OR ILLUSTRATION, YOU HAVE THIS GENRE AND YOU CAN PUT YOUR OWN SPIN ON IT.

YOU CAN TAKE A TIKI AND DESIGN IT TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.

SO LIKE IN MY CASE, I DO A LOT OF PAPER SCULPTURE, SO I MIGHT TAKE A TIKI AND PUT IT INTO A PAPER SCULPTURE STYLE.

BUT I TRY TO AT LEAST GROUND IT ON SOMETHING THAT IS, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING YOU CAN LOOK IT UP IN A BOOK AND SAY, "THIS CAME FROM THE COOK ISLANDS, OR THIS CAME FROM SAMOA."

AND THEN IT'S GOT A TWIST.

>> WHEN THE POLYNESIANS CARVED THAT TIKI AND GAVE IT A MEANING, IT WAS A GOD OF SOMETHING OR IT WAS TO PROTECT THEM FROM THIS OR TO HELP THEM WITH THAT.

WHAT INTERESTED ME WAS HOW THOSE TIKIS WERE TAKEN AND THRUST INTO AMERICAN POP CULTURE IN THE '50s, '60s, '70s, AND HOW THOSE MEANINGS WERE CHANGED.

A TIKI IN ONE OF MY PAINTINGS IS ALSO SORT OF A PUSH TOWARDS THE PRIMITIVE, TOWARDS OUR MORE HEDONISTIC NATURE, YOU KNOW, OUR BEING THAT IS SORT OF LET LOOSE FROM THE MODERN WORLD.

AND THE TIKI ITSELF, THE FACE ON THE TIKI WILL REPRESENT CERTAIN THINGS.

SOME OF THEM WILL BE SORT OF GOOGLY-EYED.

THAT REPRESENTS SOMEBODY'S ALREADY LET LOOSE, SOMEBODY'S DRUNK.

SOME OF THEM WILL LOOK MEAN.

THEY'LL HAVE THE TONGUE OUT, WHICH IN MAORI CULTURE IS A SYMBOL FOR AGGRESSION OR WAR.

SO MY LANGUAGE OF TIKI, I THINK, IS DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER ARTIST'S LANGUAGE OF TIKI, AND THEY PROBABLY HAVE MEANINGS AND THINGS THEY ASSIGN TO THEIR TIKIS.

IT'S ADULTERATED.

IT'S LIKE A THIRD-GENERATION ADULTERATION OF WHAT TIKI -- CARVED TIKIS ACTUALLY WERE MEANT TO REPRESENT.

[ CHAINSAW REVVING ] >> MY NAME IS WAYNE COOMBS.

I'M THE FOUNDER AND OWNER OF MAI TIKI STUDIO GALLERY IN DOWNTOWN COCOA BEACH.

I'VE BEEN HERE SINCE 1973 IN BUSINESS, AND CARVING SINCE 1967.

WHEN WORKING ON A LAYOUT FOR A TIKI CARVING, THE ONLY MARKS I USUALLY MAKE IS STOPPING MARKS, WHERE I WANT TO HAVE THE BROW LINE, WHERE I WANT TO HAVE THE NOSE LINE.

I DRAW WITH THE TIP OF THE SAW.

SO THAT WAY, MOST OF THE WORK IS GETTING DONE WHILE YOU'RE DRAWING.

[ WHIRRING ] THE FLORIDA STYLE OF TIKI, MY TIKI DESIGNS THAT WE DO ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE OCEANIC DESIGN IN THAT I THINK THEY'RE MORE REALISTIC OR HUMANISTIC.

I THINK THE DESIGN OF THE FACE HAS MORE HUMANISTIC ELEMENTS TO IT THAN THE ONES IN POLYNESIA.

THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT DESIGNS -- THE JOKER, THE WARRIOR, AND THE GUARD.

BUT IT'S THE SAME GUY, THREE DIFFERENT MOODS.

TIKI REFLECTS LEISURE AND TRIBAL AND WILDNESS AND OUTDOORS.

IT REFLECTS PRIMITIVE.

>> Man: TIKI ART FALLS UNDER MANY CATEGORIES.

MOST OF THE TIKI ART WAS ORIGINALLY INFLUENCED BY SOMETHING DECORATIVE FOR THE HOME TO CREATE THAT FANTASY.

SCULPTURE, TIKI CARVING, PAINTINGS, LIGHT FIXTURES, FURNITURE, CLOTHING, FABRIC DESIGN.

>> A LOT OF US TIKI-PHILES HAVE TIKI-THEMED TATTOOS NOW.

SOME OF US, THAT'S ALL WE HAVE.

>> TATTOOS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TOTEMIC.

YOU ARE BRINGING ON THE SPIRIT OF THAT CREATURE, OF THAT DEITY, OF THAT IMAGE -- BRINGING IT TO YOURSELF, EMBODYING IT INTO YOUR CHARACTER.

THE IDEA OF BELONGING, THE IDEA OF BROTHERHOOD, THE IDEA OF CAMARADERIE, THE SHARED RITUAL EXPERIENCE IS TATTOO.

AND IT BOILS DOWN TO THAT.

YOU SEE SOMEONE WITH A TATTOO, YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH, YOU UNDERSTAND THE ORDEAL.

AND THAT SHARED ORDEAL BRINGS COMMUNITY, BRINGS BROTHERHOOD, BRINGS TRIBE.

WE WALK IN, WE HAVE TATTOOS, WE UNDERSTAND.

EVERYONE THERE WITH A TIKI TATTOO IS ESSENTIALLY A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE TRIBE.

>> I HAVE TWO TATTOOS, BOTH ARE TIKIHEMED.

THIS ONE ON MY FOREARM IS A LONO TIKI.

I GOT IT WHEN I WAS ABOUT 32 YEARS OLD.

AND I HAVE THIS ONE, WHICH IS MY TRIBUTE TO THE MOAI, OUTSIDE OF THE AKU-AKU IN LAS VEGAS, WHICH IS NOW GONE.

AND THAT WAS DONE BY AN ARTIST BY THE NAME OF HOFFA.

>> THE HARDEST OF THE HARDCORE PATRONS OF THE TIKI GENRE ARE ALWAYS GONNA BE COLLECTORS OF VINTAGE MEMORABILIA IN SOME WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.

IT'S JUST ABOUT AMERICANA.

AND IF YOU CLAIM TO BE A TIKI-PHILE, YOU'VE GOT TO BE INTERESTED IN PLUNDERING AND DIGGING A LITTLE BIT ONCE IN A WHILE AND FINDING THAT ONE SHINING STAR IN A DRAWER FULL OF CRAP AT AN ESTATE SALE.

>> WELL, HOW MANY TIKI MUGS DO I HAVE?

UM... LET'S SEE, I'LL DO SOME QUICK MATH.

I'M GONNA SAY THERE'S ABOUT FIVE... WELL, I'LL JUST ROUND UP -- 10 ACROSS EACH SHELF.

SO THAT'S ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR.

SO THAT'S 40.

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN... 10.

SO WHAT'S THAT, 400?

WELL, TAKE THAT AND DOUBLE IT BECAUSE WHILE I WAS DATING MY WIFE, WE BOTH HAD A COLLECTION, SO WE ALWAYS WANTED TO EACH HAVE ONE OF THE SAME THING.

SO THE REST OF THEM ARE IN BOXES.

I LIKE TIKI MUGS THAT HAVE A VERY VINTAGE FEEL TO THEM.

I KIND OF LIKE THE TIME CAPSULE ELEMENT OF IT, SO IF THERE'S A BOX, THAT'S BETTER FOR ME.

IF THERE'S A TAG ON IT, LIKE A PRICE TAG FROM WHERE IT CAME FROM, I LIKE THAT.

AND, YOU KNOW, I LIKE LOOKING AT THE FONTS AND STUFF.

I DON'T KNOW, IT KIND OF JUST GIVES ME A FEELING OF TRANSPORTING IN TIME A LITTLE BIT.

>> Narrator: IT WASN'T ONLY THE MUGS THAT BECAME SOUGHT AFTER.

THE DRINKS ALSO MADE A COMEBACK.

>> Berry: ALL OF THESE YOUNG CRAFT COCKTAIL BARTENDERS, WHEN SOME OF DON BEACH'S RECIPES FINALLY WERE PUBLISHED, AND THEY SAW HOW AMAZINGLY INTRICATELY BALANCED THESE DRINKS WERE, THAT FINE BALANCE BETWEEN SWEET AND SOUR, FRUITY AND DRY, STRONG AND LIGHT, THEY GOT TURNED ON.

THEIR BATTERIES WERE RECHARGED.

AND I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE NEO TIKI BARS OPENING UP IN MANHATTAN, IN SAN FRANCISCO, IN LOS ANGELES, IN LONDON.

REAL TIKI BARS DOING THE DECOR, DOING ALL THE DRINKS, DOING EVERYTHING RIGHT IN THE CLASSIC WAY.

>> Man: WHAT WE ATTEMPTED TO DO WHEN WE OPENED THIS BAR WAS TO CREATE A UNIQUE BRAND OF NEW YORK CITY TIKI WITH A PROPER LOWER EAST SIDE ATTITUDE.

WE FELT THAT THERE WAS A DISTINCT NEED FOR IT, AND WE WERE COMING FROM A, SHALL I SAY CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF BARTENDING AND MAKING COCKTAILS.

AND WE WANTED TO APPLY THOSE METHODS AND THOSE TECHNIQUES TO AN URBAN POLYNESIAN ATMOSPHERE BECAUSE, ALTHOUGH EVERYONE DREAMS OF ESCAPING TO THE ISLANDS, THAT'S WHAT TIKI'S ABOUT, WE'RE STUCK ON THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN, AND WE WANT TO MAKE THE BEST OF IT.

YOU WANT TO ESCAPE FROM THE DOLDRUMS OF YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE.

AND YOU CAN'T REALLY DO THAT PROPERLY WITH AN INFERIOR QUALITY DRINK IN YOUR HAND.

WE LIKE TO CONDUCT OURSELVES MORE BESPOKEN.

WE'LL JUST SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE, FIND OUT WHAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN DRINKING, AND GENERALLY, THEY'RE NOT DISAPPOINTED.

IT'S AN HONOR TO BE A PART OF THE TIKI RENAISSANCE OR RESURGENCE.

IT'S A TRUE HONOR.

>> Man: I'M GLAD THERE'S BEEN RESURGING, BECAUSE I GREW UP IN THIS BUSINESS.

THE TIKI WAS OPENED IN 1961 BY MY DAD, RAY BUHEN.

MY DAD ACTUALLY, HE WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL BARTENDERS THAT OPENED UP DON THE BEACHCOMBER IN 1934 IN HOLLYWOOD.

AND BACK IN THE '60s, THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF PLACES LIKE THIS.

AND MOST OF THEM, LIKE, WENT DOWN.

NOW THERE'S PLACES OPENING UP, AND THEY'RE STILL -- IT'S COMING BACK IN A SMALLER SCALE.

IT'S NICE.

YOU KNOW, THEY'RE STILL KEEPING IT ALIVE.

I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT.

>> WELL, I WAS KIND OF NAIVE IN THINKING THAT THE TIKI SCENE WAS EVERYWHERE, BECAUSE I WAS IMMERSED IN THE MIDDLE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WHERE IT IS EVERYWHERE.

SO I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF CALIFORNIA WERE REALLY KIND OF JEALOUS, IN A WAY, OF THAT.

I MEAN, THEY FELT LIKE, "WELL, YEAH, IT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, 'GO TO YOUR LOCAL TIKI BAR,' BUT WE HAVEN'T HAD ONE IN 20 YEARS."

>> WE WERE JEALOUS OF EVERYTHING HAPPENING ON THE WEST COAST.

WE WOULD HEAR, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A TIKI EVENT AT TRADER VIC'S, THERE'S A TIKI EVENT AT THE TONGA ROOM.

PEOPLE ARE GONNA GET TOGETHER AT OTTO'S HOUSE AND HAVE A BACKYARD LUAU.

AND THAT'S ALL YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT.

WE WERE CRAVING THAT NEED, YOU KNOW, TO BE AROUND OTHER PEOPLE LIKE OURSELVES.

>> Narrator: IN 2002, EAST COAST TIKI-PHILES ORGANIZED AN EVENT AT TRADER VIC'S IN ATLANTA.

THEY NAMED IT AFTER A HAWAIIAN RITUAL.

>> A HUKILAU IS AN ANNUAL FISHING EVENT THAT USED TO BE HELD IN THE DAYS OF OLD -- THEY ACTUALLY STILL DO IT -- WHERE A NET IS THROWN INTO THE SEA AND THEY PULL ALL THE FISH TO SHORE.

AND WHAT FOLLOWS IS A FEAST WHERE ALL THE OHANA, YOU KNOW, GATHER TOGETHER IN CELEBRATION AND MUSIC.

SO OUR MAINLAND HUKILAU IS WE'RE THROWING THE NET OUT INTO THE WORLD TO BRING ALL THE POLYNESIAN POP-LOVERS IN ONE PLACE FOR FOUR DAYS TO SHARE OUR IDEA OF PARADISE.

>> WE HAD ABOUT 700 PEOPLE ON FRIDAY NIGHT, WHO KNOWS HOW MANY PEOPLE ON SATURDAY NIGHT?

SO WE KNEW WE HAD A BIG THING.

AND AT LEAST 25, 30, 40 PEOPLE CAME UP FROM FLORIDA, AND THEY ALL SAID THE SAME THING -- "YOU'VE GOTTA COME TO THE MAI-KAI.

YOU'VE GOTTA COME TO THE MAI-KAI."

>> Narrator: THE FOLLOWING YEAR, 2003, THEY DID JUST THAT.

>> WHEN THE HUKILAU FIRST CAME TO THE MAI-KAI, I WASN'T SURE WHAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN, HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE GONNA COME.

AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH THEY WERE GONNA LOVE THE MAI-KAI.

BECAUSE I KNEW PEOPLE WHEN THEY CAME TO THE MAI-KAI, THEY JUST WOULD GO, "WOW, THIS PLACE IS REALLY NICE."

BUT WHEN THE PEOPLE FROM THE HUKILAU, A LOT OF PEOPLE CAME FOR THE FIRST TIME, THEY WOULD GO, "WOW!

THIS IS LIKE MECCA."

[ PLAYING ROCKABILLY ] >> Narrator: HUKILAU WAS NOW THE LARGEST GATHERING OF TIKI-PHILES ON THE EAST COAST, AND THE SECOND-LARGEST NATIONALLY AFTER TIKI OASIS IN SAN DIEGO.

>> White: THE MIXTURE OF DYNAMICS AT THE HUKILAU IS EVERYTHING FROM A COUPLE IN THEIR 80s TO A ROCKABILLY COUPLE FROM CALIFORNIA TO A COUPLE THAT'S INTO THE 1940s ALL THE WAY FROM LONDON, TO THE PEOPLE THAT CAME HERE FROM JAPAN LAST YEAR THAT ARE JUST FASCINATED WITH ANYTHING AMERICAN POP CULTURE.

THEN YOU HAVE YOUR POP CULTURE ENTHUSIASTS THAT JUST WANT TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.

>> HUKILAU IS SOMETHING I'VE REALLY WANTED TO COME TO FOR A WHILE BECAUSE IT REALLY REMINDS ME OF THAT OLD FLORIDA VIBE -- SOMETHING THAT MY PARENTS GREW UP WITH AND THAT I GREW UP WITH.

AND MY GRANDPARENTS PROBABLY WOULD HAVE COME HERE IF IT HAD BEEN AROUND WHEN THEY WERE AROUND BECAUSE THEY USED TO HANG OUT AT THE MAI-KAI ALL THE TIME.

>> I'M A DATA SECURITY ANALYST.

I REALLY LIVE A GRAY LITTLE LIFE IN A GRAY LITTLE CUBE.

AND THIS IS MY ONE TIME TO BREAK OUT, TO BE WHO I WANT TO BE, TO, YOU KNOW, EXPERIENCE TIKI AND JUST BE OUTRAGEOUS.

>> IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

IT'S SOMETHING SLIGHTLY UNUSUAL, AND YET THERE'S SOMETHING EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY MENACING.

LIKE THERE'S THIS BEAUTIFUL, TRANQUIL SCENE, BUT SOMEWHERE IN THE JUNGLE, THERE'S LURKING A LITTLE BIT OF DANGER OF SOMEHOW OR ANOTHER, YOU COULD WIND UP BEING CAST INTO A VOLCANO.

>> IT JUST IS A WORLD OF BURLESQUE AND SIDESHOW AND VARIETY, AND IT ALL JUST BLENDS TOGETHER, TO ME, AS KIND OF A WORLD OF PANTHEISTIC ENTERTAINMENT, YOU KNOW?

[ '50s JAZZ PLAYS ] >> WHOO!

>> LET ME TELL YOU, THERE'S PEOPLE THAT GO WAY BACK.

I MEAN WAY BACK.

I SEE THE LADIES COME WITH THE HAIRDO OF THE '50s, THE MAKEUP OF THE '50s, THE OUTFIT.

THE MEN WITH THEIR ALOHA SHIRTS AND SO FORTH, AND LET ME -- THEY GO WILD IN THIS PLACE!

WHEN I FIRST SAW THAT AND I SAID, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

THIS IS -- THIS IS FANTASTIC," YOU KNOW.

THE WHOLE PLACE IS THEIRS, AND THEY HAVE A GROUP IN ONE ROOM, ANOTHER GROUP IN ONE ROOM.

AND WE HAVE ALL THESE TIKI LIKI, AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY FIND THESE NAMES, BUT LET ME TELL YOU, IT IS AWESOME.

EVERYBODY COMES HERE, IT'S, "THIS IS AN AWESOME, CRAZY GROUP OVER HERE!"

YOU KNOW?

"THEY'RE WILD!"

>> HUKILAU IS MARVELOUS BECAUSE YOU SEE YOURSELF THE HIGH-CLASS, MIDDLE-CLASS, LOW-CLASS, NO-CLASS -- EVERYTHING GOES.

THAT'S WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT IT.

>> Narrator: HUKILAU OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF WITH A POOL PARTY EMCEE'd BY KING KUKULELE.

>> [ SINGING IN HAWAIIAN ] NOW JUST THE LADIES!

[ SINGING IN HAWAIIAN ] I STARTED PLAYING UKULELE IN 1994 AND GOT IN TOUCH WITH A SENIOR CENTER.

AND EVERY MONDAY IN NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, ABOUT 60 UKULELE PLAYERS GET TOGETHER AND THEY'RE ALL SENIORS, AND THEY JUST GET TOGETHER AND HAVE FUN.

AND THAT'S HOW I STARTED.

I WAS -- I WAS PROBABLY, I GUESS, ABOUT 28 GOING TO THE SENIOR CENTER, LEARNING THE POP SONGS FROM THE '30s AND THE '40s.

I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED THAT I WOULD HAVE CROSSED PATHS WITH THIS AND THIS GRASS SKIRT, THIS HAT.

IT ALL CAME TOGETHER.

AND THAT'S SORT OF LIKE TAKEN ME OFF ON AN ADVENTURE.

KING KUKULELE AND THE FRIKI TIKIS HAVE BEEN IN JAPAN.

WE DID A TOUR OF FIVE COUNTRIES IN EUROPE.

I FEEL IN SOME WAYS LIKE A JET-SETTER, LIKE JAMES BOND WITHOUT THE BOWTIES AND WOMEN.

[ BONGOS PLAY ] >> FOR THE MOST PART, WHEN YOU WATCH A LOT OF FIRE-EATING PERFORMANCES, THEY TEND TO BE ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES.

BUT TO HAVE A GIRL IN AN EVENING GOWN WITH RHINESTONES SITTING WITH A MARTINI GLASS AND DOING A FIRE-EATING ACT -- WITH ALL THIS HAIR, THAT MAKES PEOPLE NERVOUS -- I WANT TO SEE THAT.

WELL, I DIDN'T SEE ANYBODY WHO HAD DONE THAT LOCALLY, RECENTLY.

THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT DID TAKE PLACE A LOT IN BURLESQUE CIRCLES AND IN VAUDEVILLE.

SO I THOUGHT, "IF NO ONE ELSE IS DOING IT, I'M GONNA START."

I LIKE THE IDEA OF TRANSPORTING PEOPLE AND LETTING THEM FORGET BRIEFLY ABOUT THEIR IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS.

TO BE ABLE TO PROJECT SOMETHING THROUGH A PORTHOLE IN SUCH A SURREAL ATMOSPHERE AS FLOATING IN LIQUID SPACE AND BE ABLE TO ALLOW FOR THAT ESCAPISM, WHICH IS THE WHOLE BASIS OF WHAT TIKI IS ABOUT -- TO ESCAPE -- TO FEEL LIKE YOU'RE SOMEPLACE ELSE, TO FEEL LIKE YOU ARE EXPERIENCING SOMETHING NEW, THAT YOU'RE TRAVELING SOMEPLACE DIFFERENT.

EVEN IF IT'S UNDERWATER, IT'S STILL AN EXPERIENCE.

IT'S STILL SOMETHING THAT ENVELOPS THEM AND THEY CAN FEEL LIKE THEY CAN JUST GET AWAY FOR JUST A MOMENT.

>> [ CHEERING ] >> Woman: I'VE BEEN DOING BURLESQUE FOR ABOUT 12 YEARS.

I GREW UP WATCHING THESE MGM TECHNICOLOR MUSICALS, AND I WAS SO INSPIRED BY CARMEN MIRANDA AND RITA HAYWORTH AND THIS GLAMOROUS FEMININE IDEAL.

SO I FOUND WHAT I THOUGHT OF AS ENTERTAINMENT IN THE GAY CLUBS AND IN THE UNDERGROUND NIGHTLIFE SCENE IN LIKE THE EARLY 2000s, LATE '90s.

AND THERE WAS THIS AMAZING KIND OF MOVEMENT GOING ON THAT HARKENED BACK TO THAT SPIRIT OF ENTERTAINMENT IN THE '40s AND THE '50s.

BURLESQUE WAS A HUGE PART OF AMERICAN CULTURE IN THE '30s AND THE '40s AND IN THE '50s.

I MEAN, THAT'S REALLY WHEN IT WAS AT ITS HEYDAY.

AND IT'S ALSO WHEN THESE OTHER THINGS WERE AT THEIR HEYDAY -- THE SHOWGIRLS AND DRAG QUEENS AND PEOPLE PLAYING A GUITAR AND DOING FLAMENCO DANCES AND GIRLS DOING STRIPTEASES AND CHORUS LINE.

AND THERE'S JUST KIND OF LIKE THIS TRAP DOOR OF AMERICANA, AND THEY ALL INTERSECT.

BURLESQUE IS ALL ABOUT TAKING A THEME.

I MEAN, I'M ITALIAN-AMERICAN.

I AM NOT AN ISLANDER.

BUT I CAN GO OUT THERE, AND I CAN DO SOMETHING THAT'S POLYNESIAN, I CAN DO SOMETHING THAT'S A TIKI WILD JUNGLE GIRL, AND THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE BURLESQUE IS ABOUT TAKING THESE THINGS AND JUST MAKING IT COMPLETELY OVER-THE-TOP.

DOING EVENTS LIKE THE HUKILAU, WHERE YOU HAVE A CONCENTRATED GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ALL HAVE A COMMON INTEREST, THESE ARE MY FAVORITES.

>> [ CHEERING ] >> WHO DOESN'T WANT TO SEE A PRETTY GIRL TAKING OFF HER CLOTHES AND DANCING AROUND?

[ MUSIC ENDS, CROWD CHEERS ] >> Narrator: THIS YEAR, HUKILAU ORGANIZER TIKI KILIKI HAS ARRANGED FOR A SPECIAL OUTING.

CALL IT 10-PIN URBAN ARCHEOLOGY.

[ ROCKABILLY PYS ] >> Man: ♪ LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA ♪ ♪ LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA... ♪ >> White: WE ARE NOW AT POLYNESIAN GARDENS APARTMENTS, AND WE'RE INSIDE THEIR BOWLING ALLEY.

THE POLYNESIAN GARDENS APARTMENTS WERE BUILT BACK IN THE 1970s.

IT'S AN ENTIRE TIKI-THEMED, HAWAIIAN-THEMED CONDO COMPLEX.

AND IT WAS ACTUALLY PROMOTED BACK IN THE 1970s AS THIS GREAT, AMAZING PARADISE.

AND THE BOWLING ALLEY WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE RESIDENTS.

I KNEW I HAD TO BRING THIS TO OTHER PEOPLE IN TIKI COMMUNITY.

FINDING A PLACE LIKE THIS IS...

IT'S LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE.

THIS STUFF IS STILL OUT THERE.

WE'RE STILL UNCOVERING IT, WE'RE STILL FINDING IT.

AND THAT'S WHAT'S SO GREAT.

>> ♪ BUT, OH ♪ WHAT A WONDERFUL... ♪ >> [ CHEERING ] >> Narrator: BUT THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEKEND REMAINS SATURDAY NIGHT AT MAI-KAI.

>> Man: THE HUKILAU PEOPLE ARE SO MUCH FUN.

IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE TIMES OF THE YEAR, TOO.

AND TO HAVE THEM ALL COME HERE AND GET CRAZY IN THIS HALLOWED GROUND, SO TO SPEAK, OF TIKI HISTORY, IT'S ONE OF THE FUNNEST, FUNNEST NIGHTS OF THE YEAR FOR ME.

[ DRUMS POUNDING ] >> [ CHEERING ] >> WHOO-HOO!

IF YOU PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, YOU MIGHT CATCH US SMILING AND GIGGLING A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE WE ARE PLAYING WITH EACH OTHER.

SOMETIMES WE'LL PLAY THE BEAT A LITTLE BIT, DRIVE THEM A LITTLE BIT FASTER, KEEP THE DANCERS ON THEIR TOES.

OR WE'LL STEP IT UP A NOTCH TO REALLY, YOU KNOW, BLAST OUT THE LAST NUMBER.

IT'S NOT DANCERS AND MUSICIANS SEPARATELY, WE ARE ALL ONE UNIT COMING TOGETHER TO MAKE THIS GREAT EXPERIENCE.

>> A TYPICAL SHOW HERE AT THE MAI-KAI IS ALL THE CULTURES INTO 45 MINUTES.

WE START OUT WITH TAHITIAN AND THEN WE HAVE NEW ZEALAND WITH THE POI.

AND THEN WE HAVE HULA.

AND SAMOAN, AND WE HAVE THE SAMOAN FIRE KNIFE.

THE STYLES OF DANCING THAT WE DO ARE DIFFERENT.

THE TAHITIAN IS HIP MOTIONS AND PRETTY MUCH YOU'RE EXPLAINING YOUR STORY IN THE SONG BY USING YOUR HIPS.

BUT HULA FROM HAWAII, THEY DO A LOT OF HAND MOTIONS AND IMPLEMENTS THAT WE USE TO PUT THE STORY ACROSS.

SAMOAN IS MORE OF LIKE A WILD DANCE.

MY FAVORITE IS TAHITIAN DANCING.

I'VE BEEN DOING THAT SINCE THE BEGINNING, SINCE I STARTED, AND I STILL LOVE IT.

>> THAT'S A REAL McCOY STUFF THAT WE DO HERE.

ONCE YOU START, YOU BETTER NOT CLOSE YOUR EYES OR WINK YOUR EYES, YOU MIGHT MISS SOMETHING.

[ DRUMS POUNDING ] >> [ CHEERING ] >> ANYONE WHO GOES ON YOUTUBE, ANYONE WHO GOES AND LOOKS AT ANY OF THE VIDEOS THAT ARE OUT THERE ON THE INTERNET, ARE SEEING PEOPLE HAVING A BLAST.

AND IF THEY LIVE CLOSE TO THE EVENTS, THEY'RE GONNA COME TO IT -- JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIE -- BUILD IT, AND THEY'LL COME.

BUT ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS IS, IS MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO COME TO THESE EVENTS ALL BECOME FRIENDS BECAUSE OF A COMMON INTEREST.

IT'S NOT UNCOMMON TO SEE, SAY, A HIGH-POWERED LAWYER STANDING NEXT TO A BIKER COVERED IN TATTOOS STANDING NEXT TO SOME GIRL DRESSED SCANTILY BECAUSE SHE HAPPENS TO DANCE TO POLYNESIAN MUSIC.

SO IT REALLY IS INTERESTING HOW IT BRINGS TOGETHER SO MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE THAT IN OTHER SITUATIONS MIGHT NOT EVEN PASS THE TIME OF DAY WITH EACH OTHER.

IT'S A COMMON THREAD.

>> THE APPEAL OF TIKI IS BROAD, BUT IT'S ALSO SPECIFIC IN THAT IT HAS ITS OWN MUSIC, IT HAS ITS OWN DANCING, IT HAS ITS OWN ARCHITECTURE, IT HAS ITS OWN FASHION.

IT HAS ITS OWN CUISINE, PRIMARILY CANTONESE.

THERE ARE JUST MANY DIFFERENT ENTRY POINTS FOR PEOPLE ACROSS, YOU KNOW, A WIDE SPAN OF INTERESTS.

AND IT'S PART OF THE REASON WHY, WHEN YOU GET A GROUP OF TIKI LOVERS TOGETHER, YOU HAVE SOME VERY INTERESTING CONVERSATIONS.

>> IT DOESN'T MATTER REALLY WHO YOU ARE.

ONCE YOU ARE IN AN EVENT LIKE HUKILAU, IF YOU WEAR YOUR ALOHA SHIRT AND YOU HAVE A DRINK, EVERYTHING IS COOL, YOU KNOW.

YOU'RE WELCOME, AND THAT'S A GOOD FEELING.

>> TO BE PAROF THE TIKI COMMUNITY IS PROBABLY THE EASIEST THING.

A GIRL CAN PUT A FLOWER IN HER HAIR, A GUY CAN PUT A HAWAIIAN SHIRT ON, AND SOME MAJOR DEADLY COCKTAIL, AND YOU'RE IN THE TIKI COMMUNITY.

>> Wolfe: THERE'S NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT.

YOU CAN DESCRIBE A HALF A MILLION SUBCULTURES THAT HAVE COME OUT OF AMERICA, AND IT'S THE SAME THING TO ME.

IT'S ALL JUST BEAUTIFUL.

>> IT'S BEING A LITTLE KID AND PRETENDING.

YOU KNOW, ALL OF US LIVE IN CITIES AND WE HAVE OUR JOBS AND WE DO WHAT WE DO.

BUT FOR A LITTLE WHILE, YOU CAN PUT ON SOMETHING BRIGHT AND PRIMITIVE AND CARTOONY, AND YOU CAN DRINK A LOT OF CRAZY DRINKS.

AND I THINK IT'S ABOUT PRETENDING THAT WE'RE ALL IN THIS OTHER CULTURE OR WE'RE FROM THIS OTHER ISLAND OR WE DON'T REALLY LIVE IN THAT APARTMENT COMPLEX, YOU KNOW, AND DRIVE A CAR.

WE LIVE ON AN ISLAND IN A HUT, AND IT'S JUST THIS SORT OF PRETEND CULTURE THAT PEOPLE, I THINK, EMBRACE, AND THAT'S WHAT'S FUN ABOUT IT.

>> ONE THING I LIKE ABOUT CLASSIC MID-CENTURY TIKI WAS THAT THERE WAS A SENSE OF HUMOR.

I ALWAYS LIKE TO USE THIS QUOTE BY THIS SWISS PHILOSOPHER -- "ALL THE PEOPLE NEED ARE GAMES WORTH PLAYING."

AND I THINK TIKI IS JUST A GREAT GAME.

IT NEVER WILL BECOME AS HUGE AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON AS IT WAS IN THE MID-CENTURY BECAUSE THAT JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO HAPPEN ANYMORE NOWADAYS.

>> PEOPLE BURN THROUGH TRENDS A LOT FASTER NOW THAN THEY USED TO, AND ALSO I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THE SAME KIND OF HISTORICAL TOUCHSTONES THAT KEPT TIKI ALIVE FOR SO MANY DECADES IN THE MID-CENTURY.

WHAT WILL NOT DISAPPEAR IS THE DRINKS THEMSELVES.

I DON'T THINK THE CRAFT COCKTAIL REVOLUTION, WHICH IS HOW TIKI GOT BROUGHT BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE, IS GOING TO DISAPPEAR.

>> TIKI IS COCKTAILS, DRINKING CULTURE.

THAT'S GONNA CARRY OVER FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT.

EVERYONE LIKES A GOOD DRINK.

THE MORE PEOPLE YOU SHARE IT WITH, THE MORE PEOPLE THEY'LL SHARE IT WITH.

AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND BECOME SOMETHING NEW.

>> THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE IT WILL STICK WITH IT.

THE PEOPLE WHO DISCOVER IT AND LEARN TO LOVE IT MAY STICK WITH IT FOR A WHILE.

THE DIEHARDS WILL CONTINUE.

>> White: I LIKE THAT IT CAME BACK AND THAT WE ALL FOUND ALL OF THIS ALL OVER AGAIN.

I LIKE THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CARVE IT OUT OF ANTIQUE STORES AND FIND IT IN THE WILD AND BRING IT BACK TO EVERYONE'S CONSCIOUSNESS.

I MEAN, THAT'S PART OF WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT.

>> Narrator: THERE'S A TRADITION THAT CALLS FOR TRAVELERS LEAVING HAWAII TO CAST THEIR FAREWELL LEIS INTO THE HARBOR WATERS.

IF THE LEI DRIFTS BACK TO SHORE, IT'S A SIGN THAT THEY'LL RETURN SOMEDAY.

IN THE PLASTIC PARADISE WORLD OF POLYNESIAN POP, THEY ALWAYS DRIFT BACK.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT "PLASTIC PARADISE," VISIT plasticparadise.org.

[ UPBEAT JAZZ PLAYS ]