Recently I had the good, good fortune to be able to buy a Frankoma "War God" mug from the old Club Trade Winds in Tulsa, OK. This was the large version of the War God in Cinnamon glaze, the #T3. (The one in the BOT in Flame Red is the smaller #T3S). When it arrived I was truly astounded by it's size. Here is a picture of it, with some standard mugs next to it for comparison:

Best of all, the previous owner is the Manager and Photographer for a newsletter published by the Frankoma Family Collectors Association (FFCA). We corresponded a bit about the reasons I had bought the mug and when he found out I had other items from the Club Trade Winds restaurant and was a tiki aficionado, he sent me a newsletter with a great, informative article about all the items that Frankoma had produced for Club Trade Winds.

There's no way I can keep this article to myself - I've got to share it with you guys. There are tiki mugs and serving items here that I never knew existed, and they're all quite rare, evidently. Check out the Bird of Paradise Coconut Pitcher, the Tiki Bowl, and the Leaf Platter in the photos at the end of this post. I know I'm giving myself competition to find these items now, but I'd be happy if anyone from Tiki Central was able to acquire them, now that we know they came from a tiki restaurant. I already own a marked Giant Clam Shell tray and some unmarked Small Clam Shells and an unmarked Coconut Mug.

If you would like copies of the newsletter for yourself, you can send $5.00 plus $1.50 for shipping ($6.50 total) to:

FFCA
PO BOX 32571
Oklahoma City, OK
73123

Make the check out to "FFCA" and ask for the Autumn 1996 Issue, with the Club Trade Winds article.

Following is the text from the article itself and following that are the photos from the article. I hope it proves valuable to you hard-core collectors.

Sabu

*The Trade Winds, located at 51st Street and Peoria in Tulsa, was the first of the Trade Winds Motels. Later it became known as Trade Winds West. When it opened, the restaurant was called Club Trade Winds, and was Polynesian in concept and motif. (The management changed some years later, and it became The Tiki Nook.) It was originally planned to be the ultimate in Polynesian style restaurants, to surpass and become the superior successor to the then-popular Trader Vic restaurants.

Club Trade Winds followed Trader Vic's practice of serving exotic drinks in exotic containers that the customer took home, the cost of the container being included in the price of the drink. Frankoma was contracted (1960-1961) to furnish a number of appropriate pieces, and Joniece designed these interesting items, with Father's assistance on the #T12 Bird of Paradise Pitcher and the #T11 Palm Leaf Platter (see February 1996 issue, "The Palm Leaf" on Page 16). The original beverage containers were the #T3 War God and #T4 Widow Maker Mugs, and the #T7 Coconut and #T2 Bamboo Tumblers. The reason these containers were so large is that Club Trade Winds could charge a whole lot of money for a whole lot of ice, while the customer felt he was getting his money's worth!

As companion pieces to complete the Polynesian line, there was the Bird of Paradise Coconut Pitcher, the Palm Leaf Platter, #T5 Tiki God Salt and Peppers, #T8 Fish Ash Tray, #T9-7" Clam Shell Dish, #T10-13" Clam Shell Tray, and #T6 Tiki God Serving Bowl. The latter piece was half of a 3-sided coconut shell, held by three Tikis (Tikis same as #5 Tiki S&P), used not only to serve food, but drinks as well. It has what seems to be a little "foot" on the bottom, but if you'll look at the inside, you'll see that foot is actually a "well" that a tall highball glass fits down into. When the bartender set the drink down into the center, he then filled the bowl with ice, and the drink stayed chilled in its nest of ice. It also kept the glass upright as the ice melted and/or as the drink was consumed.

All of the original pieces, except for the Salt and Peppers, had "Club Trade Winds" on the bottom, along with either "Tulsa, Okla." and the stock number and/or the copyright symbol with "Frankoma" on the unglazed bottom. The Salt and Peppers have "Trade Winds" printed on their backs.

Joniece tells us that -as best she can remember- the original order was for 350 of each of the drink containers, with an appropriate number of the other pieces, probably 25 of the pitchers and platters, and maybe 50 each of the other pieces. She also says that she remembers only the one original order. If there were reorders, she says, they were very small, like a couple of dozen each of one or two items.

In the first few months, the theft rate on these beautiful pieces was so very high, it became cost prohibitive, and the Club Trade Winds could no longer justify continuing to use the Frankoma pieces.

As these were popular items, several of them were put into the Frankoma line for a short time. The #T3S War God Mug and the #T4S Widow Maker Mug were reduced in size (1967-1971) to become either vases or decorative drinking mugs, but only a small quantity was made.

In about 1971, Joniece became friends with two men who were starting a small Polynesian restaurant in conjuction with an after-hours club called The Cultured Pearl. With the encouragement of her father, Joniece made a few of the old Club Trade Winds items - perhaps 25 or so of some of the smaller items. Both the restaurant and this association were very short lived, and items with The Cultured Pearl marking are very rare.

For the actual Club Trade Winds order, the colors used were Woodland Moss, Prairie Green, Desert Gold, Onyx Black, Clay Blue, White Sand and Flame, although other colors - even Gracetone's Cinnamon - have been found. And remember, this was the time of brick red clay that produced the richest glaze colors. Some of both sizes of the Shell Dishes were lined in White, though most of the Club Trade Winds Shell Dishes were one color. When items were placed in the general line, all the colors then being used can be found.

The #T9T and #T10T Clam Shell Dishes with White inside were marked with a "T" after the number and were offered only in Prairie Green, Woodland Moss and Satin Brown from 1962 to 1964 - I have, however, seen them with the second T designation and in other colors. Miniatures were made ofthe Fish Ash Tray (#468) and the Clam Shell Dish (#476), which were also used as Christmas Cards in 1960 and 1963, respectively.

All of the Club Trade Winds and the Cultured Pearl items are difficult to find, and are a very fine addition to any collection. However, the unmarked pieces are also certainly worthy of collecting. In short, keep your eyes open for these unusual and beautiful examples of Joniece's artistry and inventiveness - truly a collector's prize!

My thanks to Joniece Frank for her invaluable assistance with information contained in this article - By Ray Stoll-Oklahoma City, OK*

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-04-09 12:57 ]