Tiki Gardens was a home-grown tourist attraction started by Frank and Jo Byars which used to be located on Florida’s west coast. Developed over the course of a decade in the 1960s, the attraction closed in 1990 and was eventually demolished and turned into a beach access parking lot.
One of the more interesting souvenirs to come from the attraction was this record album, “Exotic Sounds of Tiki Gardens.” The LP is surprisingly rare and sells easily for more than $200 when they appear on eBay. Given the name, I had always imagined it to be filled with lush Martin Denny-like arrangements and was both shocked and intrigued to find that the album is largely a narrated description of the park’s attractions (done very squarely by Frank Byars himself) intermixed with hapa haole and Hawaiian standards performed on the organ.
The album has been out of print for some time. Many years ago, tiki aficionado Swanky of the Swank Pad had offered the album for download on his site but was threatened by someone purported to be the copyright holder, who claimed to be preparing the tracks for commercial re-release. It never happened. Now the music blog Music for Maniacs is offering a rip of the album for download, so take my advice and get this curiosity while you can.
Download Exotic Sounds of Tiki Gardens at Music for Maniacs
Tiki Gardens on eBay:
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VINTAGE HAWAIIAN TIKI MUGS HAWAIIAN INN TIKI GARDENS LEILANI LOT US $28.99 Auction Ends: Saturday Jan-28-2012 4:18:05 PST | Watch this Item |
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3 D PINK FLOWER BALLOON GARDEN PARTY SHOWER TIKI LUAU US $3.99 Auction Ends: Saturday Jan-28-2012 8:55:26 PST | Watch this Item |
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Moonrays Tiki Themed Outdoor Solar Light Garden Gnome Tiki Warrior 95960 CRACKED US $29.74 Auction Ends: Saturday Jan-28-2012 9:58:12 PST | Watch this Item |
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TIKI GARDEN ROOM DRINK STIRRERS FROM DISNEYLAND 1963 US $4.99 (1 Bid) Auction Ends: Saturday Jan-28-2012 10:52:41 PST | Watch this Item |
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1 Solar Tiki Totem like Garden Patio Yard Luau Light US $24.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Saturday Jan-28-2012 11:36:45 PST | Watch this Item |
On Sunday, January 29th, 2012, from 11am-2pm, famed So Cal tiki restaurant Don the Beachcomber will be holding a International Tiki Market Place, featuring vendors of tiki goods and live entertainment. The restaurant will also be releasing the second version of its Viscous Virgin tiki mug, which sold out of its first run this past November. Participants include:
Barry Maz, author of 
and operator of the Got a Ukulele website, has a wonderful list of Ukulele Festivals that will take place during 2012.
while Mickey and Minnie’s Jungle Safari appears on 
. On Amazon, the prices range from $11-$17 per DVD, but I saw them this week at a Target store for around $8 each, so it might pay to shop around. 
at Amazon.com
