Post #444096 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Apr 1, 2009 9:58 AM

Apparently I can't let go of this fascinating example of Polynesia Americana. Driven by my regrets over the fact that the Hawaiian Village brochure was reproduced so small in "Tiki Modern" that one cannot read and appreciate the Polynesian Pop poetry of the captions, I started to zoom in on some of them, to share them with like-minded "leisure literature" lovers :D :

"An artistic triumph framed in volcanic rock.." Can that get any better? I couldn't make that shit up, -and I tried!
"...you gaze unbelieving.." is pretty good too, I wanna shoot a Tiki lounge commercial like that!

More glimpses from the back of the brochure:

I can hear the male voice over now, with Ren & Stimpy "up" muzak in the back ground!

Was this maybe Mrs Fred Barton No 3 ?

And then there is this cool little map:

...and it struck me: In my book publications, this place had always been a stepchild of sorts because, although it had all the right elements conceptually, it just didn't make the cut visually. To the experienced Tikiphile, all the above details were highly entertaining, but for the average reader, there was just not enough eye candy. Blowing up the renderings on the brochure DOES provide eye candy, but also:
Now fellow urban archeologists, WHAT do we notice is visually lacking when viewing the front and back renderings, and the especially the exterior postcard?:

One thing that is nice is that we can see the little vacation bungalows also visible in the overhead view on the map, and below, the motel on the right...

The Kaiser Aluninum Dome clone ( the Kahili Room) must have been added a little later...
So, this being Michigan, there is no tropical foliage to be seen, which makes the place look sorta industrial. But look at that big parking lot...and the Lounge on the right of that canoe topped A-frame..... ???.... ????.....

The total absence of that beacon of roadside Americana, the utter lack of the lighthouses of Polynesian pop, NEON SIGNAGE, is most conspicuous!
Did Fred feel that neon signs would take away from the "authenticity" of his native village? Or does the town of Holly have some kind of sign ordinance? Bongo?

I don''t believe the little map icon is indicative of the sign, it's too much a graphic, but the Tiki mask closely resembles Tiki signs made in that period, and that's what got me thinking "WHERE is the signage!?" Perhaps the roadside sign was even farther out than the parking lot shot, it sure would be nice to find confirmation in visual form.

Other unanswered questions are (already raised by Sabu) Since WHEN, and WHY, was there a Mauna Loa and Oahu Lake in Holly? Next time you talk to your Sister, Bongo, maybe you could mention those... :)