Post #396193 by Pikeys Dog on Thu, Jul 24, 2008 7:05 AM

"It was originally associated with the city of Fez in Morocco, where such hats were made, and it became the national headgear of the Turks.
Organ-grinders - men who busked using a mechanical organ to create 'music' - often had a monkey as a companion and to attract punters. The monkey generally wore such a fez.
All I can suggest as to the reason is that such street-entertainers may have started in the Mediterranean region where the fez was commonly worn."

Why it would become associated with Tiki?
Who knows...