Post #395839 by kohalacharms on Tue, Jul 22, 2008 12:23 PM

I have a number of pieces that were made for and used exclusively at Trader Vic's. I've been able to date the pieces between 1940-1944 utilizing a 1941's original photo of a young Victor Bergeron standing behind a souvenir counter at his original establishment in Oakland. In the background, one can clearly see a Vernon Kiln’s Scorpion bowl as well as the earliest version of a Samoa fogcutter. Another source of information is a September 4, 1944 Life magazine article which displays several early mugs and bowls (PB2Y Gremelin bowl, Samoa fogcutter, skull mug, Kava bowl, Scorpion bowl) used at Trader Vic’s. I’ve narrowed down the manufacturer of these early pieces to either Tepco or Vernon Kilns based upon Bergeron's historic record of utilizing both companies for his drink ware. (The skull mug was at some point also manufactured by Red Wing.)

There is also a bamboo mug used by Don the Beachcomber which is unlike any of the more commonly seen pieces: very crude, most likely sculpted by hand without the use of a mold. It is has an engraving which denotes it as being from the Hollywood location. I have not been able to date it yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it pre-dates Bergeron’s ceramic drink ware.