Tied to the popularity of midcentury modern, tiki culture is coming back, showing up in home bars, brand new establishments and events like the Hukilau which drops anchor in Fort Lauderdale each June. The four-day festival (this year held June 5-9), is now in its 19th year and draws nearly a thousand attendees.
Hukilau’s home port was the Hyatt Pier 66, a mid-century-modern monolith that appears transported from the Jetson’s backyard. Another venue was the famed Mai Kai restaurant, considered one of the finest tiki palaces ever built. Its Molokai Bar serves authentic tiki cocktails in digs that were originally the movie set from Mutiny on the Bounty. Outside, a lush Oceanic garden filled with tiki carvings and waterfalls is pure escapism. Yet another, the former Yankee Clipper Hotel (today’s B Ocean Resort) rises like the bow of a huge ship on Fort Lauderdale beach. Built in 1956, its history nearly rivals the Mai Kai’s. Its famous Wreck Bar features underwater views and retro-revival mermaid shows.
Hukilau is anchored by the Tiki Bazaar, a retro shopping paradise open throughout the event. Over three dozen vendors sell everything from tiki carvings to bamboo furniture. Tiki mugs are the siren call and hundreds were available priced from under $10 for common Orchids of Hawaii mugs from the ’70s to over $100 for artist-made pieces and rare mugs from long-lost restaurants.
Antique dealers like Florida’s Aloha Art and Alligators typically had both tiki and mid-century merchandise. Owner Freda Nichols has sold at the Hukilau for 10 years offering a combination of Florida kitsch and Hawaiiana. Among the items: a numbered limited edition McVicker giclee from the 1950s (possibly commissioned for Tiki Gardens in Florida) was $225, vintage chalkware hula girls were priced under $20, and pufferfish lamps started at $30.
It’s shopping nirvana when an antique dealer asks, “Would you like some rum punch?” It was Mike Gill, another popular mid-century dealer who’s sold at Hukilau for five years. His wife Janet is an artist who adorns otherwise ordinary objects with tiki art, turning them into Polypop treasures. One out-of-the-ordinary piece was a 1930s-era Douglas DC-3 door she emblazoned with space-age and sci-fi images priced at $750. A 12” x36” painting she replicated from a vintage Mai Kai postcard sold for $600 to a buyer who resides two doors from the famed restaurant.
Many, like Canned Ham Vintage, had racks of vintage aloha shirts, tropical dresses, and smalls that could travel home easily. Shirts were priced from $25 and shoppers with even more modest wallets could pick up mid-century travel ephemera for as little as $2.
Tiki artists like South Florida’s Robert Jimenez help fuel the revival with modern pieces edifying the past. Robert is nationally-known, whose work appears on everything from album covers to collector cards. Other retro artists included Detroit’s Mark Thompson (aka Topes Art) who paints popular lowbrow and hot rod pieces and Chicago’s Kymm Bang who has revived once-popular gravel art.
Rum is an integral part of tiki’s heritage so it’s no surprise that it shows up everywhere at Hukilau. Free samples and cocktails from several of the world’s best tiki bars and high-profile rum makers were available throughout the event. Cocktail classes offered tips on rum blending, outfitting home tiki bars, and even garnishing drinks. Ian Burrell, a colorful figure from the U.K known as the global rum ambassador, presented a handful of rum seminars including the $1,000 Rum Tasting, in which attendees sampled seven rums that would sell at a combined cost of over $1,000.
Nightly parties spotlight entertainers playing everything from mid-century exotica to 60s-style surf music. One sellout event, the Tiki Tower Takeover took place in the spired, rotating restaurant atop Pier 66, with eight of the country’s best female bartenders serving up their signature cocktails.
Beyond shopping and imbibing, there are educational seminars on tiki history like The Art of Trader Vic’s and The Women of the Mail Kai. Craft classes provide the opportunity to make treasures like fish float necklaces and hand-carved tiki pendants.
The Hukilau has not yet announced dates for 2020. Alas, this year’s festival was the last event for Pier 66, which began a multi-year redevelopment project right after Hukilau concluded. Richard Oneslager, Hukilau’s promoter will be seeking new digs, at least for a few years.
For more information visit: www.theHukilau.com
To learn more about tiki history and culture, several books are available including The Book of Tiki and Tiki Pop, both published by Taschen.
