Post #55574 by TikiHula on Fri, Oct 17, 2003 10:36 AM

Ok. Here's what we have been able to put together so far on the history of the Kahiki bowls.

There were three different Mystery Bowls and two different Idol's Cast mugs used from the opening in 1961 to probably the early 70s.

From the three dated (and drink prices) drink menus from the 60s, it looks like the bowl with the tikis underneath is the oldest (see the back cover of BOT). I'm not sure who made it, but the two similar Idol's Casts that have come up on ebay before had "Do-B" printed on the bottom. Then the awesome "yet to be seen on ebay" version where the straws go through the tiki's mouths was used (Don't know the maker either). Then the 1968 menu shows the Hoffman version of the Mystery Bowl. And, the Mystery Bowl is not glazed all the way accross the bottom- the center,lowest area is unglazed and has Kahiki inscribed into it.

As for the Idol's Cast, it looks like the same artwork on all three menus, and the artwork looks like the Hoffman version. But, there is that other Do-B version, and so I'm not sure which one was used when.

And, there are other Hoffman Kahiki pieces that were written on the bottom and not inscribed. Here's just one of them:
http://www.tikiroom.net/gallery/kahiki/aal
The Kahiki name is hand written and the "Ceramics by Hoffman" is an ink stamp.

That's about all we know right now. Can anyone else add anything?