Tiki & Tobacco

[WhiteDevilPress]

One of my consuming interests for the last two decades was mid-century Tiki, and what's known as the Tiki Revival. There aren't many crossover points between Tiki and tobacco, but here's one rare example: a pipe tamper issued by the Don the Beachcomber restaurant chain, one of the original founders of the genre. Before my Florida move two years ago, I sold off the bulk of my sizeable collection, but chose to keep this one gem, as I'll likely be smoking more pipes and drinking less rum for the immediate future. Or drinking more smoke while smoking less rum, or something...

 

[workman]

What's Tiki?

 

[ChonkyTonks]

Tiki culture - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[WhiteDevilPress]

The short answer: it was the creation of a mid-century, post-war aesthetic incorporating Polynesian themes, rum cocktail recipes, and Cantonese cuisine, along with the newly-minted musical Exotica of Martin Denny, Les Baxter, et al. Following the return of WWII soldiers and the statehood of Hawaii, all things bamboo and Tiki became the rage throughout the 1950s, and by the 1960s, many homes boasted their own Tiki bars. But by the end of that decade and young America's war fatigue, the scene was viewed as old and the hippie generation saw it as their parents' thing. Post-punk cultural anthropologists (read: thrift store patrons) began collecting the discarded mugs of a bygone generation, and the underground counter-cultural Tiki Revival was born. The long answer can be investigated here: www.tikicentral.com

 

[Chasing Embers]

drinking less rum

 

[makhorkasmoker]

And it should be said (though I hate to say it) that the height of this craze was when the U.S. was removing people from their islands in the South Pacific to test nukes.

 

[warren]

And it should be said (though I hate to say it) that the height of this craze was when the U.S. was removing people from their islands in the South Pacific to test nukes.

And this is germane how?

Would you rather we left them on the island?

 

[WhiteDevilPress]

And it should be said (though I hate to say it) that the height of this craze was when the U.S. was removing people from their islands in the South Pacific to test nukes.

The folks spinning Martin Denny records and making mai-tais weren't in the South Pacific, they were at home. No connection whatsoever. In fact, it was the original Tiki movement that began returning carvings and traditional arts culture to Hawaii, where it had been eliminated by generations of missionaries. Let's refrain from the white guilt, cultural appropriation, ad nauseam for once, shall we? Thanks.

 

[romaso]

That's great! I want one! We visit the Don the Beachcomber in Kona, great Mai Tai cocktails.

 

[anotherbob]

And it should be said (though I hate to say it) that the height of this craze was when the U.S. was removing people from their islands in the South Pacific to test nukes.

i am a fan of the tiki thing and think what you say is important too remember as well but then again this isn't always the place for multidemensional discussion about nuances beyond which va is bready and which is citrusy

 

[LotusEater]

I think I’d like one of those tampers to go with my GBD Tahiti

 

[telescopes]

I have been chasing the tiki craze since 1981. I’ve seen it come and go and come and go over and over. I am thrilled it seems to be hanging around a bit longer now. I have probably been to 60-70 tiki bars around the world and have either made or drank every serious concoction out there. Delighted to see this conversation come up b

 

[OzPiper]

I love rum, but never quite got the Tiki thing ?

Perhaps it's because I prefer to drink my rum neat.
I do enjoy a mojito from time to time, esp if the weather is balmy.
That's as far as I'd take mixing my rum. I don't like rum and Coke/ginger ale either.

 

[anotherbob]

I have been chasing the tiki craze since 1981. I’ve seen it come and go and come and go over and over. I am thrilled it seems to be hanging around a bit longer now. I have probably been to 60-70 tiki bars around the world and have either made or drank every serious concoction out there. Delighted to see this conversation come up b

the problem with tiki everyone loves it but not enough to keep the bars in business, the draw of exotica used to be enough because the bands couldn't tour

 

[WhiteDevilPress]

A personal criticism I have of the more recent wave of Tikiphiles is the tendency to want to make it a sequel to Spring Break, i.e., a loud, drunken party. Tiki is anything but that: it was originally a laid-back vibe for tired businessmen & their companions who wanted to relax, recharge and chill, not be dancin' fools. And Mr. Buffett hasn't helped steer it in the right direction either, or more accurately the Parrotheads. Pipe smokers seem to understand this aesthetic and (low) energy a bit more, seems to me.

 

[WhiteDevilPress]

I'm partial to the European-style pipe racks, as opposed to the American ones which take up valuable bookshelf real estate, but I'm not partial to the prices (and shipping rates) they bring on Etsy, eBay, etc. I had this piece of custom trim left over from my Tiki room in my former house, and so yesterday I decided to put it to use. A strip of leather & brass tacks could easily be substituted for the copper straps, but I opted for these simply out of expediency. Also, the long-stem pipes are much easier to extract from this method, since I had to take the pipes apart to pull them out of my other rack.

 

[pappymac]

The folks spinning Martin Denny records and making mai-tais weren't in the South Pacific, they were at home. No connection whatsoever. In fact, it was the original Tiki movement that began returning carvings and traditional arts culture to Hawaii, where it had been eliminated by generations of missionaries. Let's refrain from the white guilt, cultural appropriation, ad nauseam for once, shall we? Thanks.

What he said.
I am currently exploring a bottle of Koloa Kaua'i Dark Hawaiian Rum. It a very nice dark sipping rum.

One of my favorite thinks to watch on the computer was Tiki Bar TV until the stopped making them. Tiki Bar TV - https://www.tikibartv.com/

 

[telescopes]

A personal criticism I have of the more recent wave of Tikiphiles is the tendency to want to make it a sequel to Spring Break, i.e., a loud, drunken party. Tiki is anything but that: it was originally a laid-back vibe for tired businessmen & their companions who wanted to relax, recharge and chill, not be dancin' fools. And Mr. Buffett hasn't helped steer it in the right direction either, or more accurately the Parrotheads. Pipe smokers seem to understand this aesthetic and (low) energy a bit more, seems to me.

Well…. This is true.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

i am a fan of the tiki thing and think what you say is important too remember as well but then again this isn't always the place for multidemensional discussion about nuances beyond which va is bready and which is citrusy

I too am a fan of tiki, and I don’t like bringing up unpleasant facts here . But someone above asks: what is tiki? I read the explanations given, click the links, and I see nothing about the tests. This is a little like trying to appreciate 50s sci fi while knowing nothing of the Cold War, or 30s musicals without knowing a depression is going on. Sure, it’s possible to enjoy— but one misses a helluva lot of the point.

 

[telescopes]

I too am a fan of tiki, and I don’t like bringing up unpleasant facts here . But someone above asks: what is tiki? I read the explanations given, click the links, and I see nothing about the tests. This is a little like trying to appreciate 50s sci fi while knowing nothing of the Cold War, or 30s musicals without knowing a depression is going on. Sure, it’s possible to enjoy— but one misses a helluva lot of the point.

The point of tiki is escapism. It is an opportunity to ignore, forget, and separate from all of the “reality” of what is happening in the world. It is the total expression of ignoring PC. Why would anyone who loves tiki want to discuss reality?

Let me be clear. One can not be PC and love Tiki at the same time.