Setting Up a Tiki Lounge

Before you set off inviting friends and family to a huge luau party, spend some time to plan and construct a Tiki lounge where your guests can relax all night.

*Create a Tiki lounge with various Tiki-inspired accessories such as bamboo bar signs, Tiki statues and amulets, and hula skirts.

*To achieve a semblance of the Polynesian way of living, use coconut cups, bamboo mugs and drink umbrellas.

*Decorate your Tiki lounge with palm fronds, frangipani, orchids and seashells. You can even glue sand onto your Tiki bar poles to spice up your tropical island theme.

*Use coconut shells to hold nuts and other appetizers.

*Surround your lounge with scented votive candles for an exotic touch.

*If you haven't got a bar or lounge area in your home, just cover any existing table with a colorful sarong or tapa cloth.

*You can also hang leis and decorative ukuleles in the background to complete your Tiki lounge.

The birth of the Tiki bar

A native of Louisiana named Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, who left home in 1926 to travel to the Caribbean and South Pacific Islands on his own, moved to Hollywood to put up a tropical-themed bar in 1934. He named this bar, 'Don the Beachcomber' and later had his name officially changed to 'Don Beach.' He is credited for creating the drink, "Tahitian Rum Punch," and equipped his Polynesian bar with Tiki mugs, bamboo furnishings, leis and tropical plants. This was the birth of the first Tiki bar or Tiki lounge in America.

Soon, Tiki bars mushroomed all over the country, each one presenting a variation of Don's first bar. At his restaurant, which he built just across his bar, he served seemingly exotic cuisine, which was actually just standard Cantonese dishes served with style. The beachcomber theme that Don started would later become an important part of American pop culture, but in the end, he lost his rights to the company he founded.

Other notable Tiki bars

Victor Bergeron, also known as Trader Vic, was another proponent of the Tiki bar. He and Don became friendly competitors, and each claimed to be the creator of the popular drink, "Mai Tai." Vic experimented with Asian and Polynesian food and included these on his Tiki menu. Vic was also known for making Mexican food popular in America. During the Polynesian boom of the 1950s, he rode the wave and opened several restaurants in different locations in the country.

Other Tiki bars of note are Kahiki in Columbus, Ohio; Kona Kai in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale; and Bali Hai in San Diego. These bars served hundreds of guests through the 1960s and went out of fashion by the mid-1970s. Today, souvenir items from these watering holes, such as cups, matchbooks, Tiki mugs with logos, Tiki menus and Tiki bar decor are prized collectibles. A Tiki bar enthusiast can find these treasures at thrift stores and flea markets across the country or on eBay.

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