ABOUT TK

 

Christie (AKA Tiki Kiliki) is an Alabama native that found her love of all things Polynesian at Dishman’s Antique Store in Anniston, AL, where she was dropped off every day after school. Mrs. Dishman’s Hawaiian record collection caught the eye and ears of Christie which was gifted to her after Mrs. Dishman’s passing. 

At age 13 she purchased a Tiki mug at a local Salvation Army, to the objection of her mother, and the rest is history.

Christie has been collecting ever since and in 2001 saw a need to create a Tiki event on the East Coast, like those already happening on the West Coast, celebrating the lost Tiki locations in our own backyards. What resulted was The Hukilau, a 4-day event in Fort Lauderdale, FL that brought more than 2500 people a year to celebrate at the historic Mai-Kai Restaurant open since 1956.

She sold the event in 2015 to an event management company in order to settle into Birmingham with her husband and their fur babies.

She keeps Polynesian Pop alive in Birmingham by Co-Founding The Magic City Tiki Weekend.

Christie "Tiki Kiliki White" has been featured or quoted in the following:

  • Polynesiacs, Tiki at Home - Home Bar #89 - April 2024
  • Birmingham Lifestyle Magazine –Transportive Experience – October 2023
  • Beachbum Berry’s Sippin’ Safari 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition – Feb 2018
  • TikiWithRay.com – Tiki VIP #13 – January 2017
  • Critiki News – The Women of Tiki – March 2017
  • B Metro – How to Plan a Perfect Tiki Themed Party – July 2017
  • Playboy Magazine – 7 Top Bartenders Share Their Favorite Rums – August 2016
  • Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki by Martin Cate/Rebecca Cate - (James Beard Media Award Winner 2017) - June 2016
  • Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki by Martin Cate/Rebecca Cate - (James Beard Media Award Winner 2017) - June 2016
  • Classic Dining: Discovering America's Finest Mid-Century's Restaurants by Peter Moruzzi - 2012
  • NPR: Think Tiki’s Tacky? Grab a Cocktail and Think Again – April 2012
  • B Metro – Tiki Time – June 2011

  • The Austin Chronicle – The SXSW of Hooch: Tales of the Cocktail – June 2008

Christie was honored to have been asked to speak at the Aloha OA! Oceanic Arts: The Godfathers of Tiki event in Whittier, CA in April 2022 to celebrate the history of Oceanic Arts, a company open for 66 years specializing in Tiki décor and art, Founded by LeRoy Schmaltz and Bob Van Oosting. There’s hardly any vintage or modern Tiki bar until 2022 that hasn’t been built from elements from Oceanic Arts. Christie has many pieces from Oceanic Arts that she's collected over time.