Arkiva Tropika is a new website, beautifully designed by Humuhumu, that showcases Mimi Payne's incredible collection of vintage Polynesian Pop ephemera, that includes menus, postcards, matchbook covers, and more. A lot of us collectors have put up image galleries to share our finds, but Mimi's collection is so breathtaking, and Humu's web design is so well done, that I think this site's going to become an instant classic.

Mahalo, and well done, Mimi and Humu!

[Link: Arkiva Tropika]

Posted by MrBaliHai at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Despite the fact that I now own a fez and have a lot of admiration for their charitable community works, I am not a Shriner. A couple of years ago, Mrs. Bali Hai played the bagpipes and marched in a lot of small-town parades that included the local Shriner lodge members driving those fabulous mini-cars. I always wondered where they got them from. Now I know.

[Link: Shriner Mini Cars and Go Karts]

Posted by MrBaliHai at 10:25 AM | Permalink

Derrick at Bostworld has been adding to his most excellent menu collection again. Today's entries include the vintage Bob's Big Boy Menu shown above, the intriguingly named Flaming Pit, the steak chart that changed Humuhumu's life, and this holy list of sacred rum beverages prepared by my lord and master, Don the Beachcomber.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Photo courtesy of Corson Hirshfeld

Let's all join Humuhumu as she takes us on a 10-cent virtual tour of the Jungle Room at Elvis Presley's Graceland, shall we?

The King, a man not known as an arbiter of good taste, managed to create a room that scrapes the very bottom of the 70's design aesthetic with its dark wood panelling, wall-to-wall avocado-green shag carpeting (on both the floor and ceiling), and a set of excruciatingly tacky Witco furniture (currently hot with retro-kitsch collectors and tiki enthusiasts). I love it, and can't help wondering if there's a secret chamber behind that rock wall where Elvis would munch on peanut-butter and banana sammiches, pop Percodans like Skittles, and watch girls with big hair wrestle in their underwear.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hang out and spend a few tokens in Retro Arcade, an amazing Flickr photo collection of color promotional slides from the old Time Out arcade chain, rescued from the dumpster by a former employee. I used to manage an arcade back in the early 80s, so I've worked on quite a few of the mechanisms on display here.

Be sure to take a look at his other photosets. This Electronic Games gallery is fabulous.

via Charles Golightly

Posted by MrBaliHai at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)