TIKI CULTURE

Reading Bachelor Pad Magazine at the Tiki Bar

For all you swingin’ kats ‘n kittens out there - if you ain’t got hip to Bachelor Pad Mag, point your peepers to Java’s Bachelor Pad and take a gander at some kool riffs, kookie stories and ohhh so swingin’ chicks!

Bachelor Pad Magazine

Tonight, while my wife was out on a photo shoot herself, I got to have a little alone time with a bottle of Canadian Club and my Bachelor Pad Mag. I particularly enjoyed the 50s style fiction by Will Daniels, the lifestyle advice by Miss Cherry Capri (this one featured what women should do with their mops while riding in a ragtop, topless), and the spread of coverdoll Miss Angela Ryan, a sure bet.

At my Tiki Bar

Bachelor Pad Magazine is a very kool throwback to the 1950’s girlie mags…you know, the kind your grandfather had hidden under his toolbox in the basement. They do a fantabulous job of recreating the look and feel of those old cheesecake mags, with just enough modern style to keep it fresh and fun (just like the chicks that pose in the mag). There’s always some hip, retro-style fiction, tips for living the retro kool life, and PLEN=TEE of kickin’ pix of voluptuous vixens burlesquing it up for the camera. Even the ads are retro-kool.

Here’s the kicker - in the late 1970’s, my grandfather gave a stack of original 1950s girlie mags to my old man. They were just like this, except mostly black and white with a 2-color cover, and maybe one full-color spread in the middle.

original 50's girlie mag, like the ones my old man had

There were about 30 of them, in mint condition, but at the time they weren’t worth a dime. My father, who was buying and selling antiques at the time, tried to get some decent clams for them, but I remember he sold the whole bunch for $6. Now mind you, I was just a kid and didn’t realize the significance of these treasures at the time. If I had, I’d have talked him into keeping them, and would still have them today. Well, nuts. They’ve been gone now for 30+ years, and I still remember them clear as day. I guess I’ll just have to keep getting Bachelor Pad Magazine and keep the memories.

- Mack, from the Tiki Bar

PS: Java also has a Tiki Lounge with some very hip links to books, music & more for the Tiki connoiseur. http://www.javasbachelorpad.com/tiki.html

Sunshine & Coconuts

We moved to South Florida to get away from the cold & gray weather of the North East. But this winter, which should have been mostly in the 70’s and sunny, has been mostly in the 60’s and fairly cloudy. Today the sun is shining like crazy, and though it hasn’t hit 70 yet, it promises to be a beautiful day.

When I was a kid, there was a saying: March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb. Don’t hear that much anymore; not sure if it’s because the saying faded away, or because March comes in like a flamingo and goes out like a dolphin down here in the land of sunshine and coconuts. Either way, with a cool winter like we’ve had, makes me wonder what summer will wind up like down here…will it be hotter than usual, or more like the winter should have been?

Cool weather brings out cool cars

There’s a Classic Car Cruise Night every Friday night in Davie, about five miles south of the Tiki Bar. Year long, kats motor their rods, lead sleds, tuners, jalopies and fine original ‘chines down a huge parking lot on University drive, and hang out. Last night the weather was perfect for cruising, and the place was packed with the koolest of rides.

I haven’t brought my 53 Chevy Belair Hot Rod down there yet, as it’s still in the middle of getting the brakes done. But Colleen met me down there driving the Caddy, which being a 1994 is by south Florida standards antique, and brought the dog, Snoopy along too. As expected, Colleen and Snoopy got more attention than most of the cars!

Mod Movie Mondays: Superfly, 1972 Layin’ it down at the Tiki-Retro Blog

Sometimes the movies ain’t mod. But sometimes they’re just so hip, they fall into a class by themselves.

Today’s flick is soaked in coke, cheap liquor, prostitution and the pursuit of getting out of the ghetto. It’s the modern-day (70s) Funk-tastic equivalent to  The Grapes of Wrath. It’s

Superfly, 1972

“Never a dude like this one! He’s got a plan to stick it to The Man!”
Now, let me lay this on you…If nothing else, watch this movie for the car.

This is, without doubt, one of the best movies ever to depict the conditions in the poor areas of NYC and the people who tried to survive there in the ’60s and ’70s. It was made to show how things really were, to ‘keep it real’. Now it’s a fantastic time capsule, giving us a glimpse into the bad side of the old days, the dilapidation of the crumbling city, the poverty, and the crime. Watch this film with the cellphone turned off and the computer in sleep mode, and try to put yourself back in that era of payphones and typewriters, 8-Track tapes and big American cars, when Deep Throat was playing at theaters in Times Square and Nixon was president. It’ll blow your mind.

All that aside, it’s got an incredibly kick-ass soundtrack by Funk master Curtis Mayfield, including the title track “Superfly” and the instrumental “Freddie’s Dead”. The story centers around a drug pusher-pimp who goes by the name of Priest Youngblood, a man who is sick of the crime life, sick of the streets and is looking for a way out. In the mean time, he does all that he can to try to live the good life, from having a color TV in every room, to driving a custom Cadillac convertible.
Ah, the Superfly Cadillac.

Now we come to my favorite part of this post. The car, a 1971 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado custom convertible,

Supefly Cadillac Eldorado from the movie

became as much a character in the movie as Priest. It was featured on the poster, and became the icon of this film ever since. The entire opening sequence and titles features the Caddy being driven through the streets of New York City, with the defining “Freddie’s Dead” theme song weaving through the background. This big black Cadillac was a real car, customized by a coachworks in north Jersey that operated under the name Dunham Coach. They specialized in customizing large American luxury cars, i.e. Cadillacs and Lincolns, and had a steady clientele of “underworld” figures through the 1970s. In fact, the car used in the film was owned by an actual pimp at the time who went by the name “KC”. He let them use the car in exchange for a cameo in the film.

My 1975 Superfly Eldorado, in 2000. I should have never sold it.

I had the good fortune to own one of these Superfly Caddy’s back in the 1990s. It was a 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado Coupe with running boards, a Continental kit (spare tire on the trunk), Rolls-Royce Grille and Headlights, and a 1941 Cadillac hood ornament. Mine was blue and silver, not black.

Anyway, back to the flick…This is a gritty film, and as I said really puts you in the era. Maybe not the best writing, or acting. Maybe not the most original storyline. It was low budget, and sometimes it shows. But it’s sho-nuff fun to watch. Now…tune your ears into what I’m laying down on you kats, and dig it for real: This is a hard-edged, realistic depiction of ghetto life in New York City in the early 1970s. There’s violence, nudity, drugs, corruption, racism, sex, more drugs, gambling, and fine Cadillacs. The protagonist is a pimp and a drug pusher, and you’re rooting for him at the end. So I wouldn’t recommend this one for family night.

That said, here’s my riff: Dig this movie with the lights dimmed down low in your pad. Sip Merlot, and dine on a big, thick plank steak the way Priest would. And absolutely get the soundtrack, it’s Super Fly, baby. You dig?
Here’s a video of an interview with Les Dunham, creator of the Superfly Cadillac. Lots of shots of the car.

Superfly at Tiki Lounge Talk, by “Mack”

Festival Antique Car Show, Pompano, FL Nov. 22, 2009

Today my wife and I drove up to Pompano, FL to meet our buddy Patrick at the Festival Flea Market Antique Car Show. Man, did they have some nice rides! My favorite had to be the 1960 Imperial Crown, in original Rose Pink, complete with push-button tranny. Colleen really dug the ’67 Cobra, and Patrick liked the ’64 Lincoln 4 door convertible, mildly pimped with 22″ rims and custom speaker system seamlessly built into the trunk. I can go on and on about the cars, but I know you really just want to see some kool pix so here goes…

How to be a Hipster in 1958: Read COOL Magazine, Man!

Don’t be a four-corner square, Jack. You want to know what all the Cool kids are doing? They’re hip to COOL Magazine, America’s Coolest Teenage Rag!

This copy my Mama bought new in 1958. It features a spread on George Burns’ son, Ronnie, plus Platter Party ideas, cool threads for tigresses, and a scribble on how to lay down a kickin’ kiss.

But my fave part of this rag mag is the Hipster’s Dictionary. Man, any zotep zombie can be a real keen jelly bean if they read this magazine! Just memorize a few hip phrases like “let’s buzz around the barrel” (let us partake in the eating of food) or “Let’s take a treat on the main beat” (let us congregate where all the ‘in’ people are) and you’ll go from a moldy-minded miser to a zoolie hipster with the most in a flash, Jack! There are several pages from A to Z of hipster lingo, plus a few columns of phrases so you’ll be really in the know.

Now, I want you kats and kittens to knock me your peepers for a few ticks, while I lay down this jazz. And when you get to a mugshot you dig, click on it, and it will blow up to actual size so you can read the feed without flippin’ your wig, dig?

COOL Magazine: The Hipster’s Dictionary, Definition of Hip, Hep & Hipster

There are a lot of kats who zonk out over hip, hep, hep cat and hipster. Well, here’s the definitions straight from the source, the Cool Mag Hipster’s tome from 1958:

“HEP: An archaic word meaning “in the know”, replaced by “Hip”.

HEP CATS: Cats & Kittens who read this this publication*

HIP: Up to date, cool. A person who knows what’s going on. Replaces the word “Hep”.

HEP CAT: Hip Cat and Hep Cat not used very often. Replaced by the word “Hipster”.

HIPSTER: A cool cat or kitten who knows what’s going on.”

*They meant COOL Magazine. I mean Tiki Lounge Talk, dig?

So, essentially, you’d be a real Hep Cat for reading COOL magazine, and that would automatically make you hip, but a Hipster would never be called Hep because he’d be too hip for hep, are you hip to this jazz? Groovy. So what that means is that even in 1958, swing-era Hep Cats were still considered cool Jives. And since jive changes with the ages, we kool bachelor-pad-type hot-roddin’ Tiki bar-boozin’ Swingers can feel free to lay down our riffs with hip, hep, or whatever the hell we want without flippin’ anyone’s wig, dig? Fantabulous!

COOL Magazine…How to Plan a Successful Platter Party

Now, I know all you kids out there really want to have a cool party like the one in the photo, with your beer-guzzling teenage brother (on the left) and funny-looking nine-year-old cousin who whines a lot. Well, our prayers have been answered. Angela, the swingin’ tigress Special Interests Editor at COOL Magazine, has laid down a scribble with all you need to know. She hits on such important subjects as having hot spaghetti with your pizza, giving little prizes like dented hubcaps, and making sure you have plenty of groovy records of Rock ’n’ Roll, Bop & Lindy to dance to. She is also very sure to pepper the article with lots of jive terms from the Hipster’s Dictionary. Imagine that!

COOL Magazine: Fashions for Spring & Summer, 1958

Those of you who are into retro and vintage clothing will flip for this. Our friend Angela once again graces us with her far out knowledge of what hip kittens want. But this time she drops the jive and writes like she’s got a byline in Harper’s. In fact, the whole spread looks sorta out of place in this rag. You’d think COOL Magazine would have spread with dolls dressed in Capris and off-the-shoulder tops, or blue jeans and leather jackets. Or black sweaters and thigh-high boots. Or, I dunno, leopard leotards. Anyway, if you click on the image you can blow it up to read all about it. Can you say “early product placement”?

COOL Magazine: Part of the spread on cover boy Ronnie Burns

This kid actually got a 16-Page spread in this issue of COOL. Imagine one star getting that much print today, huh? Especially since he was an aspiring star, the son of George Burns and Gracie Allen. (If you don’t know who they are, well, you better Google ’em). Even with all this press he never really made stardom, but he gave us a great bunch of pix that show how a cool boy of the late 50’s should be. See him working on his Corvette sports car (I suspect that’s the first time he saw under a hood in his life), clean his gun, read on the patio, swim, play ping-pong with his shirt nicely tucked in, and go Christmas shopping with his mother…just like…eh…all the…um…cool kids…yeah. (Why ain’t he smoking?)

Fun Advertisements in COOL Magazine

This rag is riddled with ads, as you might guess. Of course Marketing was in its baby stages in the ’50s, so they still didn’t really have the whole “We cater to the teenage crowd” mindset just right, just yet.

This allowed for fantastic placement of ads for things like “Record Jamboree”, featuring hit albums of Polkas, Honky Tonk Piano, and Ragtime…you know, the stuff hip teenagers love to listen to. Or maybe the ever-popular “20 Towels for 5¢ Each”; that’ll have the kids sending cash and stamps by the handful. Of course there are a few ads that make sense, like those for losing weight (even in the ’50s) and subscribing to one or more of the publisher’s mags. Then I came across two jewels, two ads that made my day. The first was an ad for the “Magic Art Reproducer”, the second for “40 Model Cars”. I flipped like a burger when I saw these, because, in my collection of junk, I have these little trinkets, on display in my home. I don’t have all 40 of the bouncy rubber cars, but I have the caddy that’s in the ad. It’s times like this – going through a 50+ year old magazine that my mother kept all her life and gave to me, then finding ads for stuff that was fun, cheap stuff then, but are hard to find collectibles now, and knowing I have some of that junk (some of those toy cars I’ve had since I was a kid, and they were old then) – it’s times like this that I just have to sit back and say, “Wow, baby. That is some far out, frantic jazz.”

Ad for the Magic Art Reproducer, and the actual one I have at home.

Ad for Rubber Toy Cars, and a shelf in my home with six of those cars.