In recent years, however, this country's tiki temples gave way to sports bars, coffee houses and nouveau cuisine. The store features a tiki section with wooden figurines and hula-dancing dashboard decorations. Gottesman says rattan or bamboo furniture from the 1950s and 1960s sells almost immediately after arriving in the store. Skinner has a soft spot for tiki architecture after growing up in Anaheim, Calif., just blocks way from Disneyland. Skinner's own tiki collection includes mugs, swizzle sticks and statues, which he keeps in The Exotic Room of his Aurora home.
Skinner easily recounts Denver's own tiki history.
There was Trader Vic's in downtown Denver, Tiki Kai on East Colfax, Tommy Wong's Island in Glendale and the Kona Kai in Golden, just to name a few. These places were regular hang-outs for bartender Dino Keller, who now runs the Twin Dragon in Englewood. The Twin Dragon is one of the few Denver-area restaurants that still serves frothy tropcial drinks in ceramic pineapple mugs and hurricane glasses. Keller recalls how Denver's old tiki establishments served those same drinks along with American, Chinese and Hawaiian food. I go down there on a cold wintry day, sit among those things and feel like I'm transported to a tropical paradise.