An abundance of disposable income combined with Hawaii’s entrance into the Union in 1959 manifested itself in the US as a mania for all things Hawaiian . . .
Polynesian restaurants and bars like Don The Beachcomber’s and Trader Vic’s had been serving Mai Tai’s since before World War II, but now “Tiki” bars – usually furnished with excessive amounts of bamboo and blowfish lanterns – were springing up all over the place.
Housewives were taking Hula lessons, and suburbanites everywhere were holding weekend luaus in their back yards – which, in turn, were often transformed into a miniature tropical paradise, replete with palm trees, Tiki torches, and statues of Polynesian gods.
For many Americans (especially men who had served in the South Pacific during WWII), the tropical South Sea island seemed the very embodiment of “the good life”.
Additionally, the wild ‘pagan’ lifestyles associated with island culture seemed to offer titillating relief, at least in theory, from the rampant sexual repression of the Eisenhower era.
Television also cashed in on the Polynesian craze, with Hawaiian Eye, a detective show set in Honolulu.
Related Posts
Drive-In Cinemas On 7 June 1933, the world's first drive-in movie theatre was opened in Camden, New Jersey, USA, by Richard Hollingshead…
Peggy Moffitt The top American model of the 1960s, Peggy Moffitt was a startling innovator who didn't just wear fashions, she inspired…
Haight-Ashbury While Swinging London vibrated to the Mod sound of The Who and The Small Faces, an entirely different youth scene had developed half a world…
Carnaby Street By 1965, London had become the fashion capital of the world as far as young people were concerned. At its…
Yuppies What rich 1980s white-collar workers were called in the decade when the western world revelled in unapologetic materialism. Yuppies (an…
New Lad, The Somewhere between 1993 and 1994, British masculinity was perceived as having spawned a new type, the 'New Lad'. His media…
80s Speak "Awesome" is equal to or slightly better than "Cool", certainly better than "Bad" (or "Bitchin") and about on a par…
Lawn Flamingos In 1957, Don Featherstone designed the first plastic lawn flamingo for Union Products of Leominster, Massachusetts. A trained sculptor with…
Housewives were taking Hula lessons, and suburbanites everywhere were holding weekend luaus in their back yards – which, in turn, were often transformed into a miniature tropical paradise, replete with palm trees, Tiki torches, and statues of Polynesian gods.
