History

Dusting The Sand Off Of Philly’s Tiki Heritage

May 21, 2014 | by Rachel Hildebrandt

 

Welcome to our luau: Langerman's Luau in Narberth | Image via Arkiva Tropika

Welcome to our luau: Langerman’s Luau in Narberth | Image via Arkiva Tropika

Last month, a number of local media outlets predicted the “Return of Tiki” in light of plans by PYT owner Tommy Up to open a new bar of that persuasion in Fishtown. Up and business partner Sarah Brown launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of securing the $36,700 they need to properly outfit “Philly’s first tiki bar,” at 1444 Frankford Avenue. They must raise the sum in its entirety by tomorrow morning. (As of this writing, they have $2,798 still to raise to meet their goal with 16 hours to go.) The Yachtsman aims to put a 21st Century touch on mid-century Tiki culture—immersive décor by Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal of the team’s Emmanuelle nightclub, a menu featuring Hawaiian bar food by Chris Vacca and Kiki Aranita of Poi Dog food truck, and cocktails with names like Rum Runner and Painkiller. But while The Yachtsman will indeed be the first of its kind in decades, it is far from the first. By the late 1960s, at least four Tiki-themed restaurants served the Philadelphia region: Pub Tiki, Kona Kai, Langerman’s Luau, and Hawaiian Cottage.

Tiki as we know it emerged in 1934, when New Orleans native Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt opened Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, a small bar in Hollywood, California. Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, which served Cantonese food and rum punches amid a dining room overflowing with paraphernalia he had collected during his travels, transported its guests to Beaumont-Gantt’s interpretation of the South Seas. Before long, Don’s Beachcomber Cafe (later Don the Beachcomber) had become a phenomenon, attracting crowds and imitators alike.

Although born in California, Tiki did not remain constrained to the Golden State. The concept spread from coast to coast, enabling ordinary Americans to escape to at least a facsimile of paradise. Two business savvy restaurateurs facilitated the spread of Tiki: Vic Bergeron of the Trader Vic empire and Stephen Crane of the Kon Tiki chain; Bergeron often receives credit as the first to franchise the concept, while Crane glamorized it.

According to James Teitelbaum, author of Tiki Road Trip: A Guide to Tiki Culture in North America, Tiki was about escapism. “The best Tiki paradises have a completely escapist environment. Windows are bad because they’re a reminder of the outside world. Television more so. Water features and aquariums are great, tropical plants are great, lots of nautical junk (fishing nets, glass floats, bits of old ships) is always great, and of course a Tiki bar, by definition, has to have as many carvings of Polynesian deity figures as the owners can possibly cram into the room. The best Tiki bars do not have a frat party vibe; they’re tranquil and peaceful with low lights and a romantic adult atmosphere. That’s where most of the new ones get it wrong. Many of the real Tikis from Polynesia are fertility gods after all, so a good Tiki bar should be a place for seduction, not Jaeger bombs and high-fives.”

After a three-decade-long run, Tiki and most of its manifestations (including coffee shops, eateries, bowling alleys, amusement parks, and pleasure gardens) began to decline. Mid-century optimism gradually dissipated as the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the Reagan administration rolled in successively. In addition, increased access to travel opened the South Seas to ordinary Americans wanting to see the real thing and develop an understanding of and sensitivity to the place.

The four establishments that comprised most of the Philadelphia region’s Tiki scene opened and closed in concert with the rise and fall of the trend nationally. The earliest to open in the area, Cherry Hill’s Hawaiian Cottage, opened in 1938 and the last to close, Kona Kai in Bala Cynwyd, did so in 1985.

Hawaiian Cottage, Cherry Hill (1938-1978)

Hawaiian Cottage postcard via Facebook page dedicated to Hawaiian Cottage memory

Located on Route 38 in Cherry Hill, NJ, Hawaiian Cottage was a roadhouse owned and operated by couple Michael and Mary Egidi. Upon arrival, patrons of the “theater restaurant,” which featured regular “luau shows,” were greeted by a yellow dome painted to resemble a pineapple and a set of flaming torches.

An undated welcome message from General Manager Joseph Zucci reads: “The lei welcome is traditional in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Cottage takes pleasure in continuing this old Polynesian custom—a colorful lei about your neck symbolic of the friendliness, hospitality, and gaiety of the Islands. Dining is an enjoyable experience, enjoyed amid a romantic setting of palm trees against a background of Hawaiian music and dances of native origin.”

Most notably (and in hindsight perhaps most questionably), the Hawaiian Cottage included a Japanese-themed dining room. The black and white “Geisha Room” featured a prominently situated geisha statue, Japanese-style screens, chandeliers, and custom made mugs by Otagiri Mercantile Company. Otagiri is best known for manufacturing Tiki glassware during the 1950s and 60s.

The black and white mugs used in the Geisha Room each bore a traditionally clad geisha. The others, souvenirs for guests purchasing alcoholic beverages, donned colorful parrots and caricatures of the fictional character Fu Manchu. This was unusual because Tiki establishments typically served drinks in Polynesian gods or Easter Island heads.

Hawaiian Cottage closed in 1978, after a fire destroyed much of the landmark restaurant. An Olive Garden now occupies the site, which lies between Kaighn Avenue (Route 38), Church Road, and Chestnut Street near the Cherry Hill Mall.

* * *

The cover for Pub Tiki's cocktail menu, whose most expensive drink was a "Floral Tiki Bowl" for two -- at $1.55 | Image via Polynesian pop culture site Arkiva Tropika

The cover for Pub Tiki’s cocktail menu, whose most expensive drink was a “Floral Tiki Bowl” for two — at $1.55 | Image via Polynesian pop culture site Arkiva Tropika

Pub Tiki, 17th & Walnut, Philadelphia (1950s-1977)

Pub, the legendary local chain whose Pennsauken, NJ location still greets eastbound drivers off of the Ben Franklin Bridge, once counted a Tiki-themed tavern among its collection. Founded by South Philadelphia native Morris “Duffy” Shoyer, the chain boasted five Pubs—three in Center City, one in North Philadelphia, and one in Pennsauken. The Center City locations included Little Pub at 1421 Sansom Street, Pub at 1522 Chestnut Street, and Pub Tiki at 1718 Walnut Street. North Philadelphia’s Pub was located at the intersection of Hunting Park and Allegheny Avenues in the Allegheny West neighborhood.

When Shoyer died in 1995, the Philadelphia Inquirer remembered him as benevolent history buff who believed that the “average man is entitled to dine in splendor, just as the rich man.” Indeed, Pub Tiki’s patrons dined in style amid a glowing map of the Polynesian Islands and an artificial waterfall. More importantly, it maintained “honorable” prices. Prime rib cost just $3.95 per plate, and each item’s cost was raised no more than one cent per year. Pub Tiki closed in 1977 upon expiration of its lease. For the next 35 years, clothing store Knit Wit, now at 1729 Chestnut, occupied the space; it is now occupied by Intermix, a high end boutique chain based in Manhattan.

The Pub in Pennsauken, loosely Medieval-themed but not touted as such, survives. It has been serving giant steaks and seafood platters since 1951. It is so, so worth a visit.

“1969 Nov birthday dinner” at Pub Tiki | Image: Flickr user latneym

The ads and menus from Pub Tiki ranged from playful and colorful to overtly racist | Image part of a collection by Tiki Central user Dustycajun

* * *

Langerman’s Luau, Narberth (1959-1968)

Image: Arkiva Tropika

Located at 915 Montgomery Avenue in Narberth, Langerman’s Luau was owned and operated by World War II veteran Harry Langerman. Langerman opened the restaurant (and a second in Atlantic City, NJ) after managing well-known and fondly-remembered Frankie Bradley’s at Juniper and Chancellor Streets, as well as Lew Tendler’s Steak House in Atlantic City.

In a Playboy magazine advertisement, the restaurant’s proprietor paints a picture of its atmosphere: “Picture yourself in the moonlit compound of a native Polynesian village… exotic native drinks in two-foot tall glasses… floating fresh gardenias… mouthwatering Polynesian hors d’oeuvres… a tropical paradise (giant Tiki gods, carved figureheads, glass float balls, swali tapa, outdoor waterfall… even an albatross).” One wishing for this experience could do so by drinking at the restaurant’s Kontiki Bar or dining in the Outrigger Room (the main dining room).

After only nine years, Langerman’s Luau closed. The building that housed it was eventually demolished. A small building containing offices now occupies the site. The Atlantic City location suffered a fate of demolition too.

Image: Arkiva Tropika

Image: Arkiva Tropika

* * *

Kona Kai, Bala Cynwyd (1967-1985)

Kona Kai blueprint | Armét & Davis architects

Kona Kai blueprint | Armét & Davis architects

Kona Kai, Philly’s last Tiki bar to open and the last to close, was also the most architecturally significant. Designed from the ground up by the prolific firm of Armét & Davis, the Kona Kai featured a steeply pitched A-frame entry flanked by decorative concrete blocks. The interior included every element one might expect to encounter, including a waterfall that culminated in a winding pond and landscapes painted onto glass.

The Santa Monica-based Armét & Davis, now Armét Davis Newlove Architects, is credited with designing over 4,000 buildings between the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Indonesia. In the 1950s and 60s, the firm proliferated the Googie style of architecture, a mid-century modern style heavily influenced by the car, the airplane, and human’s first forays into space.

In Sven A. Kirsten’s The Book of Tiki, which is as authoritative as the subject gets, the Marriott-run Kona Kai flagship at the mouth of the “Golden Mile” (City Line Avenue at the Schuylkill Expressway) is described as a “true temple of Tiki.” The “Golden Mile” refers to the mile long stretch of City Line Avenue that boasted some of the finest mid-century modern architecture in the Northeast.

Kona Kai, which represented Marriott’s response to Hilton’s alliance with the still-popular Trader Vic empire and Sheraton’s relationship with Kon Tiki, was closed in 1985, not long before its parent Marriott Motor Hotel was demolished in the late 1980s. The site is now occupied by a nondescript office building.

Image: Joseph Stelman, Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Image: Joseph Stelman, Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Kona Kai color postcard via Flickr user hollywoodplace

Kona Kai color postcard via Flickr user hollywoodplace

* * *

Other Tiki-themed or at least Tiki-related bars included the Bali Hai at 254 South 15th Street—now the parking garage with a Starbucks and Fox & Hound. Another, the Tahiti Bar at 126 South 16th Street, became more famous for a court case weighing nude dancing and liquor licenses than for its mai tais.

Did we miss any? Leave your throwback Tiki bar memories in the comments.

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About the Author

Rachel Hildebrandt Rachel Hildebrandt, a graduate of PennDesign, is a native Philadelphian who is passionate about the changing city she inhabits. Before beginning her graduate studies in historic preservation with a focus on policy, Rachel obtained a B.A. in Psychology from Chestnut Hill College and co-authored two books, The Philadelphia Area Architecture of Horace Trumbauer (2009) and Oak Lane, Olney, and Logan (2011). She currently works as a senior program manager at Partners for Sacred Places.

17 Comments:

  1. James F. Clark says:

    Been in the Pub Tiki and the Hawaiian Cottage, loved the atmosphere in both.

  2. Howard B Haas says:

    Like “Tiki” movie palaces were also built in the 1920s in “exotic” styles such as Chinese, Mayan, Egyptian, and others. The Lindy was built in Philadelphia in the Chinese style, but closed when TV arrived in people’s homes. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9133
    There was a huge Chinese style movie palace planned for Market Street West, but not built. You can still experience one exotic movie palace with much of its decor intact, by seeing a movie right outside of Philadelphia at the Bala Theatre, which was built as the Egyptian. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9064

    1. Gersil N. Kay, IESNA, AIA/HRC says:

      The unnecessary loss of the elegant French Art Deco Boyd Theatre at 19th and Chestnut Streets, to be replaced by 8 small movie theatres catering to both affluent and indigent patrons, is a serious business mistake, and will fail, because combining both classes will please neither.

      As well as retaining the public’s architectural “roots”, reviving this venue for many needed uses, saves energy, provides jobs, tax revenues, improves the streetscape, productivity,and quality of life. Such actions have been taken in many locations successfully.

      The public is robbed of its architectural heritage, along with the opportunity of enhancing the treasure of Rittenhouse Square. The city’s lucrative Historic Tourism industry that is a destination for the world to view 300 years of authentic American architecture, is further damaged.

      Continuing to level still-viable existing structures like the Boyd, will eventually cause the end of Philadelphia, once the second-largest English-speaking city in the world, next to London (18th century).

      This whole concept of tearing down the past does not solve unemployment,energy conservation, and “income inequality” (lack of practical education mounted by private industry, which knows what subjects to teach to enable doing higher-paid jobs). It is counter-productive to progress and profit.

      Sloth (too lazy to do it right), Ignorance (they don’t know that they don’t know), and Greed, destroy good civilizations that wisely contain a mix of old and new, large and small architecture for an interesting environment to engender imagination for new ideas.

  3. Todd Kimmell says:

    The Kona Kai on City Ave had a big sale of fixtures and decor in 86 or 87. It was not well attended, and I remember the spooky feel of all that hanging beachcomber dross and the remains of dried palm fronds, all bathed in daylight through dusty windows. Don’t get me wrong, the experience was worthy if still strange, but the magic was in the combined mood all that South Sea smoke and mirrors at night, lit with pin lights and soundscape by tinkling waterfalls, etc.

    My one regret was that I didn’t understand then how to work with a rigger. I looked at those absolutely massive black tikis and knew I could never budge them. They were monumental and undeniably bad ass. Nowadays I imagine they’d be home quick as a wink while I tried to convince my wife of the sense of it all while serving a carved platter of flaming eggrolls and a skull drink called Virgin Beware!

    1. Mod Betty / RetroRoadmap.com says:

      Good to know you now understand how to work a a rigger and a bolt cutter in case we come across any vintage pieces that need to be freed from demolishment 🙂

      This is a great piece of history – thanks for documenting it – and I’m looking forward to checking out the Yachtsman.

  4. Jay Schwartz says:

    David Carroll, owner/designer of Philadelphia’s late lamented The Hot Club (and several other Philly nightspots), told me that he attended a similar auction of the Pub Tiki’s furnishings, and rescued some round booths and bamboo wall covering. This was placed in the back room of the Hot Club, which opened in late summer 1977 and closed in 1980 (after a fire in early 1978, the club closed for most of that year and was completely re-designed in the interim – -but the booths and bamboo remained). Later in 1980, Carroll moved his new wave music concerts from the Hot Club to the much larger Starlite Ballroom, a former movie theater turned ballroom at Kensington and Lehigh Avenues. The Pub Tiki bamboo shoots survived a bit longer there, now decorating a newly built dressing room. The Starlite ceased operations in 1981 (the building now houses the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center). I do not know the fate of the then twice-recycled Pub Tiki bamboo.

  5. Davis says:

    I loved the Pub Tiki, but especially we went to the Kona Kai for family events.

    1. Nostromo says:

      Kona Kai was our go-to as well; then we lost interest or it fell out of favor for some reason. I miss it now, as with all places which no longer exist, because I can’t go if I wanted to. This sentiment applies, even much more so, to departed loved ones; I don’t even want to get started on that subject. Best wishes.

  6. Lou Pauzano says:

    Do any of you recall the name of the steak house that was in the same Marriot Complex as Athens Kona Kai on city line ave. many thanks.

  7. Peter Woodall says:

    Hi Lou–it was the Sirloin and Saddle Steak Room…

  8. Steven says:

    Hong Luck on 413 in Langhorne is still in business.

  9. Tara says:

    Thx for all this. But there is one error. I know every tiki site lists the closing date of Kona Kai as 1985, but they’re wrong. It was my favorite place in the whole world growing up, and the last time I was there was my birthday when I turned 15–September 11, 1986. And I know it was that birthday because there were 2 people there at that dinner who I did not meet until Jan 1986. Also, a scene from the 1988 movie The In Crowd was shot inside Kona Kai in summer 1986. How do I know when they were filming on-site in Philly? I’m in the movie (you can also easily research a movie’s filming dates, if you want to verify this).I’m an extra in all of the group scenes. I’m sitting right behind Joe Pantoliano in a green blouse. So…Kona Kai did not and could not have closed in 1985! Someone, somewhere on the Internet said this once and everyone now takes it as gospel without doing any research, but it’s simply not the case.

    1. Riki Noar says:

      Tara, thank you so much for leaving this post! I had no idea about this movie and I just HAD to look it up and finally found a link and watched the scene, I now want to watch the whole movie, it looks good! We have a tiki group in Philly and this is such cool information to bring to the group!

    2. Larry says:

      Thanks Tara. I decided this past year to compile a video of filming locations for ‘The In Crowd” and the dinner scene escaped me for awhile. I thought it was on a set. So glad I finally searched Tiki Phila and read your comment. I’d love to hear about your experience and any other info you may have. I’m still on the hunt for Vicky’s house in West Phila. Stay well green blouse girl!

  10. Jim says:

    Why wasn’t the Pub Tiki in 19132 that was on the 3100 block of West Allegheny Ave. There was a bowling alley beneath it
    Probably was the first one to close in the Philly area.

  11. Rosemarie says:

    Does anyone remember the Polynesian I think on Walnut St?

  12. David Helms says:

    I remember my experience at the KonTiki on Walnut Street in Philadelphia as , if I remember,a twelve-year-old. My Aunt Ann Treated me to a birthday lunch. I had a lime Rici. It was good. Aunt Ann was careful to instruct the waiter to “please withhold the alcoholic ingredients”. The meal was excellent as well. The decor was full of adventure, from the entrance to the inside. The whole experience was exciting for a twelve-year-old boy beginning his own life’s adventures. “Wow! There are places like this in the world! I’m happy to be here.” I grew there

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