I have been corresponding with former Mai Kai Mystery Lady Anne Campbell lately. Once again I cannot stress enough the importance of getting everything we can on the Internet so the generation who remembers can find it and share with us. It was thanks to my Mai Kai calendar posts that she found me.

Unfortunately, a lot of her photos and memorabilia from that time was destroyed by a varmit infestation while they were in storage. One piece she sent me really stood out to me. I had read and was told that Bob Thornton inspected the Mai Kai gals on a regular basis and even the future Mrs. Thornton was kicked off the squad for being a bit pudgy. Well, here is a bit of proof. A letter from 1965 from Bob congratulating her for being top gal, and reminding her to keep her weigh under 125…

 More to come!

Sven and Sabu give us a nerdrific lesson in the history of two tikis at the Caliente Tropics.

What can you say? Buck naked gals in front of something vaguely tiki-ish and some matting and maybe a grass skirt on the wall. Gotta love it. (NSFW) 

Great aerial photos of the Stardust and Aku Aku posted here on Tiki Central. Really shows how remote the place was then. Nice to see that perspective.

Images too sad to post…

Da Bum. Great Story. great to have this exposure!

Moon Islander Menu, South Titusville, FL

Aloha John has been keeping his eye on the remains of a local San Bernardino Poly Pop establishment, Trader Island for a long time. He made a deal to own this outrigger lamp, and then the place was sold and became a sports bar. Head over to TC and read the full story.

It’s a steady refrain that Tiki Central is not what it used to be. This is true. But there are very regularly things there that still make an old Tiki dog wag their tail. I am going to start posting links to the threads on Tiki Central that interest me and that I think will interest the old school Tiki peeps.

If you consider yourself one of those OG Tiki Peeps and you’d like to help in this project, please drop me a line. The more, the merrier.

I didn’t start this blog as a Tiki blog. But, there is certainly a lot of Tiki on it. Maybe its time I concentrate on making this blog a repository for the type of Tiki information I think is important. I am an Old School Tiki lover. I only collect vintage mugs and ephemera. I love some of the new stuff too.  But the old days is what gets me excited. So, I’ll try to share the excitement for those of you who may have become disenchanted with TC.

I have created a new category on this blog, so you can easily find the “OG Tiki Central” stuff.

The only calendar you would ever want to hang in your Tiki Bar is here. Get one for your office to take you away every time you look at it!

I went around the country photographing incredible collections of mugs and, well, all sorts of stuff. I took photographs at Oceanic Arts and the Mai Kai and my own Hapa Haole Hideaway. Then we turned the images over to some talented graphic designers and the result is Tiki Daze.

You must have it!