Matchbook Pins and Buttons
Description: Built in 1961, this is one of five Polynesian-themed Tropics motels once owned by Ken Kimes. The most elaborate of the chain was in Palm Springs, now called the Caliente Tropics Resort. This motel was previously connected to the next door Tiki Cocktail Lounge. Further down was a Sambo's restaurant (which now houses Modesto Car Toys). Most recently, the Tropics Motel has been renamed the Tiki Lodge. The pool area is fenced off and is opened seasonally only. The four tikis carved by Ed Crissman around the parking lot now have lighting on their chests/foreheads and solar powered batteries on their heads.
Description: Shakey's Pizza is a pizza restaurant chain based in the United States. Founded in 1954, it was the first franchise pizza chain in the United States. In 1968, the chain had 342 locations. The chain had about 500 stores globally, and 58 in the United States, as of July 2019. Currently, the stores can be found in the states of California and Washington, as well as in the Philippines and Japan.
Description: Bob Brooks 7 Seas night club was a pre-tiki establishment (although they did have both physical tikis and tiki graphics in their menu and advertising...so a case could be made they they were full-blown tiki earlier than many think), originally opened at 6904 Hollywood Boulevard by Ray Haller in 1935. Capitalizing on the popularity of the South Pacific as a dream vacation destination, Haller borrowed ideas from the popular Don the Beachcomber club a few blocks away and decorated the 7 Seas with a collection of tropical plants, nautical items, lava rocks, and other items of decor that fit the Polynesian theme. The most notable feature was a corrugated tin roof upon which nightly tropical rain storms--complete with thunder and lightning.
Description: The wagon-esque theme caught on big during the 1950s, inspired partly by TV westerns and partly by the fame of Las Vegas chuck wagon buffets which provided grub for gamblers from midnight ‘til dawn. If not for Vegas envy, why else would there have been one in Miami Beach in 1955? Apparently seeing no local cuisine worth merchandising, restaurateurs there chose from a grab bag of themes such as Smorgs, Polynesian, and Ken’s Pancake Parade.
Description: The Dunes was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It opened on May 23, 1955, as the tenth resort on the Strip. It was initially owned by a group of businessmen from out of state, but failed to prosper under their management. It also opened at a time of decreased tourism, while the Strip was simultaneously becoming overbuilt with hotel rooms. A few months after the opening, management was taken over by the operators of the Sands resort, also on the Strip. This group failed to improve business and relinquished control less than six months later.
