New England Tiki

New Englanders are as far away from the South Pacific as any American can be, yet when tiki fever gripped the country in the mid-twentieth century, even they were not immune.

Tropical-themed restaurants and bars sprang up in the unlikeliest of places, from coastal cities to far-flung suburbs. Places like the Hu Ke Lau, the Aku-Aku and the Kowloon were packed every night. Decades after the fever ended, it re-emerged as a new century dawned, and New Englanders took up the mantles of Polynesia...