Before the Bay Area tiki scene grew teeth, idols, and full dinner-service swagger, there was The Skipper: a South Berkeley “House of Tropical Drinks” with palms on the brain and rum somewhere in the rigging. This design revives a wonderfully early bit of East Bay tropical-bar ephemera, complete with swaying palms, lagoon light, a sailboat in the distance, and a couple who look like they have absolutely no intention of making it back to the office.
It is soft, strange, romantic, and just a little bit dangerous, which is exactly how a good tropical drink should introduce itself.
Product details: vintage-inspired tiki and pre-tiki graphic tee featuring The Skipper House of Tropical Drinks artwork from South Berkeley, California. Designed for fans of lost Bay Area bars, early tiki history, tropical cocktail culture, vintage restaurant ephemera, Skipper Kent lore, and old bar graphics that feel rescued from the bottom drawer of a very interesting captain.
Unisex graphic t-shirt
Subject: The Skipper, House of Tropical Drinks
Location: 3253 Adeline Street, South Berkeley, California
Era: circa 1940
Theme: pre-tiki, tropical drinks, Bay Area bar history, South Seas-inspired nightlife
Style: vintage postcard / menu art / tropical bar ephemera
Print look: black line illustration with coral halftone texture and distressed vintage detail
Shirt color shown: light lavender
Category: vintage tiki tee, pre-tiki shirt, lost bar shirt, tropical drinks tee, vintage Berkeley graphic tee
Great for fans of: tiki history, East Bay oddities, rum culture, old menus, vintage postcards, tropical bars, and shirts with better backstories than most people at the party
The Story Behind the Shirt
The Skipper was an early South Berkeley tropical-drinks spot tied to Frank “Skipper” Kent, a Bay Area restaurateur whose later ventures included the better-known Zombie Village in Oakland and Skipper Kent’s in San Francisco. The artwork here points to the moment before tiki became fully codified: less temple, more tropical invitation. The phrase “House of Tropical Drinks” says it all. This was the fantasy still learning its grammar, somewhere between sailor’s tale, cocktail postcard, and East Bay night out.
• 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
| |
WIDTH (inches) |
LENGTH (inches) |
SLEEVE CENTER BACK (inches) |
| S |
18 ¼ |
26 ⅝ |
16 ¼ |
| M |
20 ¼ |
28 |
17 ¾ |
| L |
22 |
29 ⅜ |
19 |
| XL |
24 |
30 ¾ |
20 ½ |
| 2XL |
26 |
31 ⅝ |
21 ¾ |
| 3XL |
27 ¾ |
32 ½ |
23 ¼ |
| 4XL |
29 ¾ |
33 ½ |
24 ⅝ |
| |
WIDTH (cm) |
LENGTH (cm) |
SLEEVE CENTER BACK (cm) |
| S |
46.4 |
67.6 |
41.3 |
| M |
51.4 |
71.1 |
45 |
| L |
55.9 |
74.6 |
48.3 |
| XL |
61 |
78.1 |
52 |
| 2XL |
66 |
80.3 |
55.3 |
| 3XL |
70.5 |
82.6 |
59 |
| 4XL |
75.6 |
85 |
62.6 |
