In case you were wondering where the idea for the 'Tiki Bar'
comes from, here's the real skinny...
Don the Beachcomber, born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, was the 'inventor' of tiki restaurants, bars and nightclubs, with his first at 1722 McCadden in Hollywood, California. He was a bootlegger during Prohibition and when it ended, he opened the first 'tiki' bar, gambling that in those Depression years diners would enjoy spending a few hours in a South Seas fantasy world, amid tiki carvings, thatched roofs, bamboo furniture and rain falling on the roof. Bamboo-lined tropical themed night clubs had been fashionable for some time, but this was where it became more immersive. Donn's greatest innovation was surely the drinks. His travels throughout the world (and especially the Caribbean) gave him deep knowledge about rum, which in this post-prohibition era had become inexpensive. His blends of rums with fruit juice and spice flavors created exotic drinks that appealed to the masses. Backed up with Cantonese cuisine and a richly decorated environment complete with tikis (the torches), it was a hit.
The many so-called “Polynesian” restaurants and pubs that enjoyed great popularity are directly descended from Don’s Beachcomber Café in Hollywood in the 1930s. Hugh Hefner, Marlon Brando and Fred Astaire were all regulars.
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