Post #528705 by pablus on Fri, May 7, 2010 4:04 PM

There are a few kind of beat-up Witco pieces in the basement of the Hideaway but they're not from the Bali Hai, as far as I know - heck if they are - that's awesome because I've got a couple from there.

My Uncle, "Sarge" was the bartender at Bali Hai for years and then opened a Polynesian/Asian lounge where the Hideaway is now.

The owner of the Hideaway thinks the Witco stuff is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, so you're not likely to buy any off of him. Unless there's a new owner from 5 years ago or so.

I've scoured the thrift shops and antique shops looking for stuff. I've never even seen a match pack or anything from there. If you find anything, I'm certain my family would be willing to pay you top dollar for it.

Here's a lead you can explore as well. The older guy who originally owned or maybe bought the Bali Hai turned everything over to his son. The son seemed willing to go up into his attic to see if there were any mugs or things like that from the Bali Hai. We lost touch when he stopped returning our calls.

That's the Ohio I know and love - paranoid and ill-equipped to deal with tough questions like "Will you sell me that?" and "Would you let us come over and check it out?"

Anyway - we dove into the basement of Ashleys or whatever it was 5 years ago and even went through their filing cabinets and old offices. There was nothing they wouldn't let us tear into and I was with the supreme antique collector of all time who makes even Basement Kahuna pale in comparison. We got bupkis.

I may sound kind of nonplussed about this but I'm really really really jazzed to see some photos and a matchpack and stuff like that. I'm super hopeful that you'll find some stuff and even if I can't own it - even to see it would be awesome. You've got an invite to the Rusty Key anytime where I've got the Witco I got from there on display.

Here's a story about it.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=13461&forum=1