Trader Vics mug, Polynesian Pottery - Collecting Tiki

W woofmutt Member Seattilite Telstar Joined: Mar 26, 2002 Posts: 2639	W woofmutt Posted posted on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 12:48 AM Unfortunately I too thought these mugs were pretty dang crude and ugly and left a couple Tiki Liki mugs (and possibly two other styles) on a junk shop shelf about 10 years ago. I saw that they were from TV Hawaii but when it comes to mugs I'm a collector not an acquirer or completist and back then vintage Tiki mugs were everywhere so I always figured I'd find something I liked better. Such as the two TV Hawaii aqua seahorses right next to the "ugly" mugs. ($2 each, as I'm sure were the other mugs.) Almost positive I saw the Peeping Tom mug in a junk shop a few years back. I figured it was home made and was supposed to be Kilroy. I can't recall seeing a TV Hawaii mark on it, if I had I would have bought it because by then Dogbytes and Tikisgrl had chastised me many times about not buying all vintage Tiki I came across whether I liked it or not. (For trade or sale was their argument but I think they're just maniacs.) Thanks to Dogbytes and Tikisgrl when I came across what I thought was an ugly Hawaiian vase***** I picked it up to look for marks. I didn't know it at the time but it turned out to be a TV Hawaii Tortuga mug... This photo is slightly out of focus. I only mention that because that sorta thing bugs me when I see it. I now know to shoot from further away, adjust the image with zoom later. I now have an appreciation for the TV Hawaii mugs but I can't say I really like them. (I'm exactly the same way about Witco.) To me they seem an example of confusing primitive with crude, something that was fairly common in the Golden Age of Tiki. But the very fact that "civilized" people often failed to grasp the primitive speaks volumes about how the primitive was regarded by average mid 20th century Western civilization Joes and Janes. It wasn't merely exotic, it was another world which they could not fully comprehend. Because of this I have an appreciation of crude attempts to emulate the primitive. But I still don't want to hang it over my couch. ***** In the vase section of a Goodwill. Always check the vase section of junk shops. I've made many good mug finds there.

Unfortunately I too thought these mugs were pretty dang crude and ugly and left a couple Tiki Liki mugs (and possibly two other styles) on a junk shop shelf about 10 years ago. I saw that they were from TV Hawaii but when it comes to mugs I'm a collector not an acquirer or completist and back then vintage Tiki mugs were everywhere so I always figured I'd find something I liked better. Such as the two TV Hawaii aqua seahorses right next to the "ugly" mugs. ($2 each, as I'm sure were the other mugs.)

Almost positive I saw the Peeping Tom mug in a junk shop a few years back. I figured it was home made and was supposed to be Kilroy. I can't recall seeing a TV Hawaii mark on it, if I had I would have bought it because by then Dogbytes and Tikisgrl had chastised me many times about not buying all vintage Tiki I came across whether I liked it or not. (For trade or sale was their argument but I think they're just maniacs.)

Thanks to Dogbytes and Tikisgrl when I came across what I thought was an ugly Hawaiian vase***** I picked it up to look for marks. I didn't know it at the time but it turned out to be a TV Hawaii Tortuga mug...

This photo is slightly out of focus. I only mention that because that sorta thing bugs me when I see it. I now know to shoot from further away, adjust the image with zoom later.

I now have an appreciation for the TV Hawaii mugs but I can't say I really like them. (I'm exactly the same way about Witco.) To me they seem an example of confusing primitive with crude, something that was fairly common in the Golden Age of Tiki.

But the very fact that "civilized" people often failed to grasp the primitive speaks volumes about how the primitive was regarded by average mid 20th century Western civilization Joes and Janes. It wasn't merely exotic, it was another world which they could not fully comprehend. Because of this I have an appreciation of crude attempts to emulate the primitive. But I still don't want to hang it over my couch.

***** In the vase section of a Goodwill. Always check the vase section of junk shops. I've made many good mug finds there.

Post #634362 by woofmutt on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 12:48 AM