A weekly review of my favorite among the many items Mimi Payne has posted to her Arkiva Tropika website in the past seven days:
This is a souvenir Trading License, given to customers in the ’40s at Trader Vic’s, granting the recipient “trading privileges.” This one was granted in 1945 to a couple after having dinner & a scorpion at the Oakland location.
This is a bit hard to make out here, but I love this bit from a menu from the Islander in Stockton. “The Gourmet Deluxe Dinner” (“For those discriminating people”) cost $4.75 per person, and was served with a bottle of Paul Masson Rose Wine. Also: “The Islander is available for private parties, fashion shows or any special activity.”
This 1952 dinner menu, from the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, is just dag-flippity gorgeous. The artwork and color palette look like they could have come straight from a vintage rayon aloha shirt. The Halekulani, and its famous House Without a Key restaurant & bar, are still operating today.
With the sad news about the remodeling of the Islands Restaurant at San Diego’s Hanalei Hotel this week, Mimi pulled out a lot of great Hanalei & Islands items from her collection. Above is a great postcard from the ’60s or ’70s, showing how the front of the hotel used to look, including its famous sign, which was sadly removed a few years back.
This brochure from the 1960s has lots of full-color pictures from the Hanalei’s heyday, including views of the Islands Restaurant.
Another postcard from the Hanalei has two different views of the Islands Restaurant.
And this ’60s cocktail menu, from the early days of the Islands restaurant, features some fantastic illustrations of tropical cocktails.
Another item inspired by a recent closing — this 1960s appetizer menu is from the Aku Aku in Las Vegas, which was part of the Stardust Casino for 20 years. Aku Aku closed in 1980, but the Stardust closed just last week.
This postcard shows the exterior entrance to the Trader Vic’s in Seattle, which was in the Benjamin Franklin Hotel (today it’s the Westin). The Seattle location was Vic’s second restaurant, after the original Oakland location; it was initially named the Outrigger, and was renamed Trader Vic’s later on to be consistent with the rest of the chain. This picture is from the 1960s. Trader Vic’s used birdcage lamps like these in several locations; when the Seattle Trader Vic’s closed in 1992, some of these lamps went to the then-new Crocodile Cafe a few blocks north, where they can still be seen today — perhaps even the lamps in this very postcard!
Gadzooks, Mimi went on a posting rampage this week! This is truly just a smidge of all the great things she posted — be sure to check it all out yourself at Arkiva Tropika.
- Arkiva Tropika
- souvenir certificate from Trader Vic’s – Oakland, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
- Trader Vic’s, Oakland [Critiki]
- dinner & cocktail menu from Islander – Stockton, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
- The Islander, Stockton [Critiki]
- dinner menu from Halekulani Hotel – Waikiki, Hawaii [Arkiva Tropika]
- Islands Update: Here Come the Jackhammers [Critiki News]
- postcard from Hanalei Hotel – San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
- Brochure from Hanalei Hotel – San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
- postcard from Hanalei Hotel – San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
- cocktail & appetizer menu from Islands- Hanalei Hotel, San Diego, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
- Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, San Diego [Critiki]
- Islands Restaurant, San Diego [Critiki]
- appetizer menu from Aku Aku – Las Vegas, Nevada [Arkiva Tropika]
- Aku Aku, Las Vegas [Critiki]
- postcard from Trader Vic’s – Seattle, WA [Arkiva Tropika]
- Trader Vic’s, Seattle [Critiki]
