Post #113430 by Kono on Thu, Sep 9, 2004 5:59 PM

When Hurricane Frances threatened to strike my area last week, I made like a little gurly man and scooted up to my parent's house for a few days. The big storm turned out to be less than expected (my electricity never even went out) but I got to miss three days of work and I found some tiki items.

This is Orlando tiki:

The two items on the left I found in a thrift just before I left. A wooden parrot and a plaque of a polynesian type lady. The plaque is glued to a board and the image is sort of impressed into material. Kind of like the opposite of a relief, I'm sure there's a name for the style. She has mighty big feet which I find to be semi-disturbing yet semi-intriguing. :-? The item on the right I found today. It's a ceramic candle holder that kind of looks like one of those Outrigger moai mugs. The top is open like a mug with a shallow recessed area for inserting a candle. The eyes are drilled out and the holes run up to the candle so that the wax can run out the eyes just like one of those "crying tiki candles" except that you can clean this guy up an put a new candle in! The white blotches are there because the thrift store ladies taped a candle to it and the tape ripped off the paint. So, I'll have to repaint it. Underneath the candle holder is a gold sticker that says "MANUFACTURED BY TIKI ISLES ENTERPRISES, INC. LONGWOOD, FLA 32750." Longwood is a "suburb" of Orlando and I find this very interesting. Did there used to be a company in the area that designed and manufactured tiki goods? I did a google and found nothing and switchboard shows no listing for the company, but I did inadvertently learn that there's a Japanese steak house on International Drive called Mai Tiki(!). A mystery.

So...I went to Kentucky to ride out the storm and I hit a couple of antique malls:

Left to right: an unmarked pair of large S/P shakers; a very large Coco Joe's "Winner Tiki;" tiny Westwood mug/shot glass/toothpick holder; a boxed set of 45s from the musical "South Pacific;" an unmarked handled mug; a Coco Joe's wahine letter opener and a Coco Joe's leaning Lono. I always wanted one of those leaning/warped Coco Joes.

Perhaps my best finds. The day before I left I remembered how poor the selection of rums are in Florida and decided to check the liquor selection in KY. I went to the local upscale liquor store and found the above three items that cannot be found (as far as I know - and I've LOOKED and inquired) in Florida. Damn that macadamia nut liqueur is tasty! Tastes like pecan sandies. Yum.

I passed 20+ antique stores and malls on the trip but could not stop due to time issues and because my dog was with me. God knows what great stuff I passed.

Weirdo fact: little Dothan Alabama has two(!) urban/hip hop stations that are actually quite good. Weirdo fact dieux: most radio markets in the South have a station called "Real Rock" as in "Real Rock 107" or "Real Rock 99.5" and they all have a DJ nicknamed "Buckethead." Why?

[ Edited by: Kono on 2004-09-16 19:22 ]