Kon-Tiki Ports – Stephen Crane's Tiki Empire Tee

This isn't just a tropical travel shirt.

It's a nod to one of the forgotten architects of the tiki era: Stephen Crane.

In the late 1950s, Crane partnered with Sheraton Hotels to build a continent-spanning empire of Kon-Tiki restaurants and Ports o' Call dining rooms that rivaled Trader Vic's and helped define the golden age of Polynesian Pop. From Honolulu and Montreal to Chicago, Portland, Cincinnati, Boston, and beyond, his restaurants offered a ticket to an imagined South Pacific filled with bamboo, waterfalls, exotic cocktails, and impossible destinations.

The original Kon-Tiki Ports concept represented exactly what mid-century America wanted most: somewhere else.

The engraved ocean and setting sun artwork echoes the menus, matchbooks, and travel ephemera that emerged from Crane's world of tropical escapism. It feels less like a restaurant souvenir and more like a relic from a vanished airline route to paradise.

For tiki historians, cocktail enthusiasts, and lovers of the great Polynesian palaces of the twentieth century, this shirt celebrates an era when crossing the threshold of a Kon-Tiki meant boarding a gangplank into another world.

A tribute to the man who helped turn tiki into a continent-wide adventure. 🌊🌴✈️🍹

• 100% ring-spun cotton
• Fabric weight: 6.1 oz/yd² (206.8 g/m²)
• Garment-dyed
• Relaxed fit
• 7/8″ double-needle topstitched collar
• Twill-taped neck and shoulders for extra durability
• Double-needle armhole, sleeve, and bottom hems
• Blank product sourced from Honduras

Size guide