Where anything goes

Paul Clinton

Wes Johnson’s House of Tiki didn’t get off to the most auspicious

start.

Johnson launched his retail store on Sept. 10, 2001.

As he watched the attack on the World Trade Center a day later,

Johnson knew business would be slow for several months. But a rise in

popularity of Polynesian and Hawaiian parties has driven brisk sales

of Tiki mugs, Hawaiian art, lawn torches and other paraphernalia with

a South Seas theme.

Tiki culture has clearly taken hold again, Johnson said.

“Anything goes in Tiki,” said Johnson, who graduated from Corona

del Mar High School in 1981. “It’s just a fun vibe.”

The Tiki subculture saw a spurt in popularity in this country in

the 1940s and ‘50s among surfers who headed to Hawaii, Bali and other

far-away lands in search of the perfect wave. Tiki parties and luaus

began to crop up.

New Orleans restaurateur Ernest Beaumont-Gantt brought Tiki

culture to Southern California in 1937, when he opened his Donn the

Beachcomber bar in Hollywood and began serving exotic drinks such as

the Zombie, Pi Yi and Tahitian Rum Punch.

Polynesian parties, in the 1950s, provided “the outlet that

allowed the man in the gray flannel suit to regress to a rule-free

primitive naivete,” according to Sven Kirsten’s Book of Tiki.

Locally, the Kona Lanes bowling alley, which was built in 1958,

reflected ‘50s Tiki influences.

Now, like swing music in earlier years, Polynesian culture has

made a comeback as the latest retro fad. Weekend gatherings have

taken on a Tiki theme, Johnson said.

Many of these hosts stock their back yard with items from House of

Tiki. A vintage Tiki mug can be purchased at House of Tiki for $85. A

statue costs $25 to $1,000. Tiki torches cost about $5.

Johnson had custom House of Tiki mugs made up. They cost $15 and

will “fit a full beer,” he said.

Johnson, who grew up in Newport Beach as an avid surfer, opened

House of Tiki in what was once a residence on 18th Street in the

Westside section of Costa Mesa.

* Got an interesting tidbit or story idea about a local business?

E-mail it to Daily Pilot business reporter Paul Clinton at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.