{"id":948,"date":"2013-09-14T06:45:26","date_gmt":"2013-09-14T13:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/?p=948"},"modified":"2019-01-04T08:48:41","modified_gmt":"2019-01-04T15:48:41","slug":"mai-kai-black-velvet-resue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2013\/09\/14\/mai-kai-black-velvet-resue\/","title":{"rendered":"Mai-Kai Black Velvet Rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hukilau\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From the early days after we moved Hukilau <\/a>to the Mai-Kai<\/a>, I had heard about a black velvet painting of Mireille Thornton. The painting had been vandalized and the description of the damage made it sound horrible.<\/p>\n

Mireille was current owner of the Mai-Kai, having taken control when her husband, original owner Robert Thornton, had passed away in 1989. Mireille was a performer in the Mai-Kai Islanders show and in 1963 she became its choreographer. She is still in that role today! I will always be proud that Mireille made me an honorary member of the family.<\/p>\n

\"Mirielle\"<\/a>
Mireille Palmer in earlier times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For years I kept hearing about this painting and that it was removed from the Mai-Kai after someone “defiled” it. It became my mission to restore it to the Mai-Kai.<\/p>\n

The black velvets at the Mai-Kai were painted by J. Craig Hille III. Though there may have been Leeteg paintings there at some time, he painted the big iconic pieces that are there today. He became known more widely for his portraits of celebrities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
1957 image with Hille painting that still hangs in the Mai-Kai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After nearly a decade of catching small hints about the painting, I finally heard that the damage was actually a moustache drawn on it. Accomplished painter James Owens <\/a>had recently moved back to Tennessee and getting to know him, I knew he was the man who could fix whatever was wrong with the paining the right way. He had brought many vintage items back to life and his skill as a painter was unparalleled. He agreed to take it on.<\/p>\n

I got the measurement of the painting and set out to get it from Fort Lauderdale to Knoxville and back. It is two by four feet and had to be transported without damaging it. I constructed a box with just enough room to add padding. I added a place to put a handle and caster to make it easier to get this beast through the airport. It came just under the weight and length limits for the airline. I had to take it apart and rework it many times to get it under those limits. I mounted the casters with bolts and wing nuts so I could easily take them off and put them back on. It was a sturdy box to carry this precious cargo. But it was damned<\/em> heavy and big!<\/p>\n

\"429621_10151386322234601_684176309_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just getting it from the curb to the check-in was tough. When I got to Fort Lauderdale, I discovered that the holes for the bolts had shifted and I could no longer mount the handle or the casters! I was sweating and cursing as I found a way to get it through the airport after my flight was hours late. It just barely went in the back seat of the rental car. That would have been a nightmare had it not fit!<\/p>\n

I got my little painting casket to the Mai-Kai and got to see the legendary painting for the first time. It was not nearly as damaged as I imagined. It looked like a smudge on her upper lip. My box worked well and it fit like a glove. I managed to get it back to Knoxville and to James intact.<\/p>\n

In the light of day, the first big issue was that it was filthy<\/em>. Whether it got that way from years hanging in a restaurant or in storage was anyone’s guess. It had been hanging in the Tahiti Room since the 1970s. Mireille was born in Takaroa and it was in Tahiti that she caught the attention of the future Mai-Kai manager who hired her. That room was “hers” and after she and Bob were married in 1971, her portrait graced that room, newly added to the now sprawling eatery.<\/p>\n

Jim did a fantastic job cleaning and restoring the piece. It required a bit of paint touch-up where someone’s attempt to clean the moustache took off the paint. Cleaning it was tricky as it was not an oil paint and the paint came off with the dirt if you were not careful.<\/p>\n

My next trip to Fort Lauderdale was for Hukilau in a few weeks. In the interim, we would be in Mexico for 10 days. We took the painting to be framed and realized it would happen while we were gone. If anything went wrong, we would not know. And I departed for Hukilau just 3 days after returning from Mexico! No chance to fix it or reschedule! It also hit us how freaking expensive it is to frame a two by four painting! I was thankful the Mai-Kai picked up that tab. We left it in their hands and hoped the wood we picked would be in stock and the glass would arrive in one piece, etc., etc.<\/p>\n

It all worked out. But how was I going to get it to Florida now that it was bigger and heavier? It was over the length and weight limits for the airline now, and it was even more fragile. I sent out a call to Hukilau attendees driving down and passing through Knoxville. I got a big break when a local friend was going and had room in the cab of his truck. Transport locked it!<\/p>\n

I had hoped to have it hanging in the Mai-Kai that Saturday night at Hukilau, but no one was sure where it had hung before, and when we tried it in the spots we guessed, the new frame made it too big to fit. So we settled for just presenting it and figuring out how to hang it later.<\/p>\n

The presentation was a surprise for Mrs. T. We hid the painting in the office and when the time came during the dinner show, I found her with friends in the Molokai and asked her to come on stage.<\/p>\n

\"10608_10151549301774900_269332440_n_2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I made Mireille cry that night, and was happy to do it!<\/p>\n

\"1003286_10151549300439900_1895184004_n_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is a great honor to have the Mai-Kai trust me to do something like this and I was so happy to do something for Mireille. Her image is always there now as her guiding hand has been there for decades.<\/p>\n

\"1209120_10151675841989601_1890242370_n_1\"<\/a>
Painting now hangs in Tahiti at the Mai-Kai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the early days after we moved Hukilau to the Mai-Kai, I had heard about a black velvet painting of Mireille Thornton. The painting had been vandalized and the description Read More …<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[551,17,5,537,643,547,11,539,540],"tags":[184,683,234,684,702,311],"class_list":["post-948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ephemera-retro-goodies-2","category-ephemera","category-events","category-existential-fodder","category-mai-kai-history","category-places","category-polynesian-pop","category-retro-goodies","category-retro-preservation","tag-hukilau","tag-james-owens","tag-mai-kai","tag-mireille-thornton","tag-og-tiki-central","tag-polynesian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/1209120_10151675841989601_1890242370_n_1.jpg?fit=720%2C659&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p731sH-fi","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":304,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2007\/10\/31\/mai-kai-calendar-a-day-17\/","url_meta":{"origin":948,"position":0},"title":"Mai Kai Calendar a Day #17","author":"Swanky","date":"October 31, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Miss March is Mireille, better known these days as Mrs. Thornton, owner of the Mai Kai. I love this image. Very fun, and I love to see the cannibal tiki trio over her shoulder! Mai Kai, Fort Lauderdale, FL Sponsored by Tiki Daze - The only damn calendar that matters!","rel":"","context":"In "Cocktail Capers"","block_context":{"text":"Cocktail Capers","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/cocktail-capers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2007\/10\/28\/mai-kai-calendar-a-day-14\/","url_meta":{"origin":948,"position":1},"title":"Mai Kai Calendar a Day #14","author":"Swanky","date":"October 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A nice illustration of the Mai Kai in 1964 The legendary Mireille Thornton on the back cover. This ends the 1964 calendar. These early 60s ones are very rare. Sponsored by Tiki Daze - The only damn calendar that matters!","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":321,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2007\/11\/20\/mai-kai-calendar-a-day-33\/","url_meta":{"origin":948,"position":2},"title":"Mai Kai Calendar a Day #33","author":"Swanky","date":"November 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Mireille is Miss June 1967 Mai Kai, Fort Lauderdale, FL Sponsored by Tiki Daze - The only damn calendar that matters!","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":330,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2007\/12\/01\/mai-kai-calendar-a-day-42\/","url_meta":{"origin":948,"position":3},"title":"Mai Kai Calendar a Day #42","author":"Swanky","date":"December 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Mireille is Miss January 1974 on stage at the Mai Kai. Mai Kai, Fort Lauderdale, FL Sponsored by Tiki Daze - The only calendar worthy of your tiki bar, or cubicle!","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":259,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2007\/06\/02\/1967-mai-kai-calendar\/","url_meta":{"origin":948,"position":4},"title":"1967 Mai Kai Calendar","author":"Swanky","date":"June 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"To rev up to Hukilau coming in less than two weeks, I am sharing some Mai Kai schwag... Mrs. Thornton, the choreographer for the Mai Kai dinner show and owner of the Mai Kai. She is the spirit of the place and an incredible lady. Day-am! LOVE THE HAIR! and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2008\/05\/15\/mai-kai-gals-argosy-magazine-1964\/","url_meta":{"origin":948,"position":5},"title":"Mai Kai Gals – Argosy Magazine 1964","author":"Swanky","date":"May 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The one great thing I credit myself with in the whole Hukilau event, is being able to promote and in some ways really help make the Mai Kai more well known and popular. We all love the place, but I love the people that run it. They are the best.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/uploads\/2008\/05\/argosy-1-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1682,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions\/1682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}