Club Tiki (2007)
Note: This article was meant to appear on a particular website in late ’07, early ’08 and only saw release to various web logs at the time. Resurrected from old archives prior to Beachbum Berry’s upcoming Connecticut appearance.
When thinking of New England and the northern part of the eastern United States coastline, a tropical mindset usually doesn’t come to the forefront. Still, during the late sixties and early seventies, tropical drinks and a Polynesian/Caribbean atmosphere in dining and drinking establishments were a rage across the country, including New England. While it is true that the Tiki-styled eateries began long before the sixties, and usually with more soul than the ones that came later, the desire for the atmosphere and mixologist’s concoctions drew enthusiasts for many years. Although the Tiki craze waned in the early eighties and nearly died out, there will always be someone to keep interest afloat or in some cases, spur a resurgence. Tiki Art III and Sippin’ Safari are the first two releases under the Club Tiki Press imprint of Slave Labor Graphics. “I guess we have an imprint going,” Publisher Dan Vado says, after publishing the two titles in the same year. With previous Tiki-related releases such as Intoxica!, The Grog Log and the two other Tiki Art books, there seems to be considerable reason to have started the line. Why Slave Labor Graphics, though? What was the genesis behind such an oddball fit at a small press operation mostly known for black and white comic books and collections?
“Actually, they picked me!” says Beachbum Jeff Berry, author of Intoxica!, The Grog Log, Taboo Table and the newly released Sippin’ Safari. The Bum (Jeff Berry) had printed out a few copies of The Grog Log for friends in 1995 and a copy got into the hands of the Slave Labor folk. “Publisher Dan Vado and his buddy Craig Pape just happened to be Tiki fans and wanted to know if I was interested in doing a real version of the book. Craig designed it, Dan released it and the rest is… If not history, then highly improbable. I don’t think any one of us thought that the book would still be in print after ten years!”
Improbable, indeed. The Grog Log, a simple recipe book of Tiki drinks is stylish, user-friendly and informative. It proved marketable enough to create two other recipe books and finally, Sippin’ Safari. Sippin’ Safari, Slave Labor’s most ambitious and creative of the Bum’s works has been out since June. It’s a meticulously researched history of the Tiki drink, restaurant and the people responsible for the creation of the fad. It includes recipes that have not been seen in previous publications and should be of interest to anyone curious about another slice of Americana. Now, most wouldn’t think of purchasing a copy of what is essentially a book of alcoholic beverages at comic book stores, but between tours on the cocktail drink circuit and doing presentations at Tiki conventions, The Bum has shown the work to outside media and even fans of the comic scene. “I did signings at several different San Diego Comicons and found more people interested there than at any general interest book fair. If comic people didn’t know anything about Tiki, they asked questions and learned.” The detail and depth in Sippin’ Safari shows that The Bum can teach even the most versed Tiki loremaster something new.
By 1995, the Tiki craze so well described and researched in Sippin’ Safari had all but died out. Here on the East Coast, the closest you got to anything Tiki was a guy in a Polynesian shirt offering you a poorly made Mai Tai while humming Jimmy Buffett tunes. How did a recipe book become the foundation of a line that’s now branched to full color productions? “Obviously, we don’t have any real distribution with these as we do graphic novels. Most bookstores don’t look to Diamond {Comics Distributors, the main supplier for publishers such as Slave Labor} for cookbooks or our books like the Tiki books, so we’re really on our own.” says Dan Vado. This doesn’t seem to phase sales, though. Via other routes, such as Amazon.com, sales of the Tiki line of titles has been steady. “We see more sales on Amazon of The Grog Log than we do of Milk and Cheese {creator Evan Dorkin’s graphic novels} on Amazon on a yearly basis.”
Consistent sales, well researched and fun to read books of true Americana. Full color productions on new product. Is there a growing interest in the Tiki scene? Dan Vado says, “I think the fad of Tiki comes and goes… But what happens when the fad fades is that the overall audience remains bigger than it was before the ebb and flow of the thing.” Considering the interest in the craze as attested to in Sippin’ Safari, there would seem to be the possibility of an explosion, soon. “The Tiki thing never really goes away, it just ebbs and flows. Club Tiki will be here to help people focus on what’s good about the scene.”
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