Found! Tiki Wall Carving from the Tradewinds (Oxnard,Ca) - Collecting Tiki

ST St Tiki Member Ventura,CA Joined: Nov 22, 2008 Posts: 10	ST St Tiki Posted posted on Wed, Mar 11, 2009 8:28 AM Hey TC! As most of you are familiar, the Tradewinds was a great Polynesian Restaurant located at the Wagon Wheel Junction in Oxnard, California.(http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=19144&forum=1&start=0).Once a popular stop for travelers and locals alike it, it has long since been torn down and now a parking lot stands in its place. I live in Ventura and I still hear from locals about how great of an experience it really was. There isn’t much of it around as far as artifacts and I have just found a piece of the puzzle. Last night I went next door to borrow my neighbor’s lawnmower, and during our conversation something on the back gate caught my eye. It was a Tiki carving that appeared to be NOT of the garden variety. After taking a closer look I recognized that it was quite old and ask him about it. He went on to tell me all about its origins. Seeing my obvious excitement he gave me the carving! It seems that he owned a antique store in Saticoy (Ventura suburb)in the 70's-90's. In the late part of the 70's be bought a lot that included a fair amount of what the people called "Tribal/African decor". In the lot were a few notable Tiki pieces such as a Witco fountain. It also had pieces left over from the Tradewinds. My neighbor told me that multiple menus, glossy photos, a few mugs, and Ellis carved Tiki's were also included. The carving I have was part of collection of three and is the only artifact left in his possession. The Tiki is around 13" tall, 6" wide and has a flat back. It has a small hole at the top where it was screwed into wherever it sat in the Tradewinds. It’s in fair shape being that it has sat outside for the past 15 years! I am am super excited about this find, I really am lucky to be able to save such a great piece of Tiki history. Enjoy!

Hey TC!
As most of you are familiar, the Tradewinds was a great Polynesian Restaurant located at the Wagon Wheel Junction in Oxnard, California.(http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=19144&forum=1&start=0).Once a popular stop for travelers and locals alike it, it has long since been torn down and now a parking lot stands in its place. I live in Ventura and I still hear from locals about how great of an experience it really was. There isn’t much of it around as far as artifacts and I have just found a piece of the puzzle.

Last night I went next door to borrow my neighbor’s lawnmower, and during our conversation something on the back gate caught my eye. It was a Tiki carving that appeared to be NOT of the garden variety. After taking a closer look I recognized that it was quite old and ask him about it. He went on to tell me all about its origins. Seeing my obvious excitement he gave me the carving!

It seems that he owned a antique store in Saticoy (Ventura suburb)in the 70's-90's. In the late part of the 70's be bought a lot that included a fair amount of what the people called "Tribal/African decor". In the lot were a few notable Tiki pieces such as a Witco fountain. It also had pieces left over from the Tradewinds. My neighbor told me that multiple menus, glossy photos, a few mugs, and Ellis carved Tiki's were also included. The carving I have was part of collection of three and is the only artifact left in his possession.

The Tiki is around 13" tall, 6" wide and has a flat back. It has a small hole at the top where it was screwed into wherever it sat in the Tradewinds. It’s in fair shape being that it has sat outside for the past 15 years!

I am am super excited about this find, I really am lucky to be able to save such a great piece of Tiki history.

Enjoy!

Post #439249 by St Tiki on Wed, Mar 11, 2009 8:28 AM