Post #342374 by Formikahini on Tue, Nov 6, 2007 12:30 PM

On 2007-10-02 23:34, Koolau wrote:
To flip the topic around a bit, how virulent is anti-tiki snobbishness amongst those interested in Mid-Century design? I ask because I picked up a copy of Atomic Ranch magazine today, and was surprised by the total lack of Poly Pop items in both the featured houses and ads in the magazine. In addition, there are a couple of mildly snotty remarks about tiki in the articles.

I guess I'm naive - I thought anyone interested in Mid Century design would have some Poly Pop amongst the Eames furniture and bubble lamps. Is Poly Pop all or nothing? Is the only choice for most people a wall of Tiki mugs and Witco or a sparse ash shelving with a couple of Danish vases?

They did Bongofury's home. Pure, A-1 tiki:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=16251&forum=1

I'm part of a group of MCM fans in Houston now; I've met a wonderful new friend who admits a love for tiki that he knows would horrify the purists! He doesn't even let them see his home (or the part where his small collection is stored)! But that kind of pure snobbery is hilarious to me! Anyone who can be THAT petty (to disdain someone for liking something from the required time period but that is out of the MCM accepted boundaries) - well, they just make me giggle.

Of course, those people only buy $2000+ chairs and such (and can afford them).
Me, I'm beside myself with my Bali Hai Tiki Bob for $7.50, and my black velvet nude Asian leaning against a Moai. But I did fork over some bucks for a Hey-Wake dining table.

This reminds me of a group of music buffs back in Georgia. They loved mid-late '60's music, but if it was after, like August 11, 1967, 2:30 PM or whatever, it was a BIG no-no. So after the acceptable Mod band would play, if the totally rockin' Woggles came on, the perfectly-mini-skirted and tight-suited pants set would leave the room.
The Mod Nazis, we dubbed them.

They too make me giggle.

This isn't to say I'll allow any of that plastic "tiki" sh*t in my house.
No way.
But when the sister-in-law or well-meaning friend gives it to me, what can I do?!
Crap
So it stays in the back shelf of a closet, behind other stuff, and I tell myself, "Oh, maybe it would be useful for a pool party....if I had a pool...and I were willing to serve my friends in something so ugly....which is never..."

But I will make the distinction between Mod Nazis or MCM hyper-purists who dislike something from the same time period as their "thing," from a tiki purist collector who says that something old is preferable to something new. Or something handmade is better than mass-produced. Or something ceramic than plastic. Or an old PNG piece vs. airport pieces in Bali. I like Tipsy McStagger's norm: if it would go inside an old Trader Vic's, ok. I try to stick with that (but I break it often. So sue me. I have lots of hula girls. And some mugs by SHAG, Munktiki, Tiki Farm, etc.). The bulk of my stuff would fit in a Trader Vics or the Mai Kai. That opens the door for "Trader" and nautical decor which, as BigBro will say, is not tiki officially but is highly compatible with tiki. I like my fishing nets, floats, shells and huge chunks of coral, and I think they beautifully complement my ceramic and wooden tikis.

So I believe there is room for discrimination. Having discriminating taste is a good thing. Munktiki IS better than Big Lots. Forbidden Island is WAY better than Bikini Bobs or whatever. Fresh-squeezed is better than canned. Shaheen over.... Hell, nothing comes close to Shaheen.

Let us thank our lucky stars that NOT everyone does prefer Munktiki, Forbidden Island and...well, everyone should prefer fresh squeezed or he's a dumbass. Paul and Stuckey could not crank out enough mugs, and we couldn't all fit inside FI if the yahoos didn't prefer that which most of us here consider inferior.

Discriminatingly yours,
Formikahini