mele kalikimaka

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That’s the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway

Or if you prefer another Andrews Sisters hit….

How’d ya like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?
How’d ya like to spend the holiday away across the sea?
How’d ya like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?
How’d ya like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?

Holiday hits from the late 1940′s…when the tiki bar craze in the US was being fueled by newly affordable travel, American GI’s returning home from the real South Pacific, and Hawaii heading towards statehood.

Three iconic tiki bars were pouring the Mai Tai, Scorpion, and Zombie to people eager to escape the ordinary…Don the Beachcomber at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, Trader Vic’s in Oakland, CA and The Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Hawaii joined the Union in 1959 with celebration and fireworks, and a couple of years later Elvis added more fuel to the fantasy in his movie Blue Hawaii.

With the opening of Disney’s Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room and Polynesian Resort, Americans were in love with all things South Pacific. At this point, almost every city in America had at least one tiki bar. Exotic menus, exciting decor, fake palms and real bamboo were part of every tiki experience…but people really came for the drinks. Outrageous concoctions served in ceramic tiki mugs with tiny paper umbrellas…glass fishbowls with flower leis or fruit kabob garnishes…or even flaming upon serving.

Many tiki drinks were rum based, mixed with fruit juice and flavored syrups in closely guarded proprietary recipes. Other drinks were created out of necessity, in attempt to use up over stocked ingredients. The famous Rumrunner was created in Islamorada, FL at the Holiday Isle Tiki Bar in 1972. The manager, “Tiki” John Ebert, was trying to figure out what to do with stockpiles of 151 rum, blackberry brandy and banana liqueur….with the addition of grenadine and a blender, the Rumrunner was born. I have spent a fair amount of time at Holiday Isle, Islamorada over the years….at the now “World Famous” Tiki Bar and its sister establishment Rumrunner’s Island Bar….and I always order a Rumrunner.

The tiki restaurant and the tiki cocktail persisted well into the 1970′s – a remarkable lifespan for what was then considered a drink fad. By the 1980′s, the potent drinks and elaborate decor were labeled tacky in the emerging era of power suits, white-wine spritzers, and nouveau political correctness.