Post #651106 by tiki1963 on Fri, Sep 7, 2012 11:18 AM

Hi TC...

Over in Marketplace, the discussion of the Chicago Trader Vic's decor auction came across the topic of the signature Palmer House tiki: the Barney West entrance moai.

I feel pretty lucky to have been able to acquire this fella for my collection. I collect mainly commercial pieces and have a pretty decent number of large carvings. I've named him "Palmer" (go ahead, laugh!).

I really feel that this particular Barney West (although what West tiki isn't amazing?) has got some serious mana going for it. I do think it's a shame it's no longer in the Trader Vic's family but I'm glad that Palmer was saved from the wood-chipper.

Anyhow, I'm starting this thread because I thought TC'ers would appreciate seeing the process of restoration on this amazing carving. I'm also hoping that it might generate some contributed research in the way of photos or any info from fellow TC'ers about the tiki's history.

Quickly, I'll start by explaining my collection. I've been collecting tiki for over 25 years. I work in animation in Los Angeles and was lucky enough to be on the hunt for tiki during the dark ages: when the tiki joints of California were being torn down in the 80s and thrift stores were chock full of exotica related memorabilia. Back then, anything over $5 for a mug, any mug was unheard of. Most, many still in my collection that have the price written in grease pencil, were priced around 25¢.

I have a fairly large collection of architectural carvings and lighting. A lot from Trader Vic's, Kona Kai and Kon Tiki restaurants.

I love all my pieces but, this Barney West has got some serious, amazing vibes to it. I gotta say, until you stand in front of this guy, you don't get how incredible it's presence is. It seriously feels like Barney's drunk soul is heavily doused in the figure. To me, Barney West is the Picasso of Tiki. His primitive shapes and designs have a unique feel, completely his own.

A couple of days ago, the piece arrived from Chicago. I had it shipped directly to Oceanic Arts where Bob and Leroy were waiting for it. I knew that the only way to get this amazing feller back on his feet was to have Leroy, Barney's old pal and drinkin' buddy, do the restoration.

Needless to say, even though I knew there was damage to this tiki, it was far worse than I had anticipated. (please excuse the bad iphone pix)

I already had a few poles from the Palmer house location courtesy of the Trader Vic's warehouse sale, so I knew what the weird paint job was on the tiki. Apparently, sometime in the 70s, the Palmer House carvings were painted over in a cheap vinyl house paint. Then, a diluted stain was added and brushed to appear like wood grain and then sealed. Why they did this, I don't know, but I kinda knew what to expect on Palmer's make-up job.

I heard from others, including Tipsy McStagger, that the piece was not in fantastic condition. From the pictures, it looked like the piece had been filled with putty or plaster and painted over. Well, it had. Placing Palmer, a 50+ year old carving outside the past several years in the extreme conditions of Chicago weather certainly didn't help.

Luckily, I've had to do a lot of tiki restoration myself over the years, bringing dry rotted and termite devastated tikis back to life. Whatever was wrong with Palmer, I knew this patient could be saved.

When he was unpacked at OA, we knew there were some ugly visions in store. There were. It looks like Palmer spent a good portion of his life outside, way before going indoors at the Palmer House location. Serious cracks in his solid wood weave a tale of moisture and severe freezing. Summer heat and humidity then took over to invade his wounds and start rot from the inside out. Good thing Palmer's not a horse!

Apparently, the weird paint job was done after a decision to bring him inside. He was slathered with the cheapest plaster to fill in gaps, almost like bondo for an auto paint job and covered with vinyl paint.

Then he spent some good years inside with lots of attention from the tiki-loving, Chicago population. When Palmer House unfortunately closed in 2005, he was shipped back to Trader Vic's warehouse for inclusion in another location. A deal was made with the franchisees of the new Chicago Trader Vic's and the warehouse lent him to the new location. Palmer was packed up, sent cross country again by truck, only to be wheeled outside to suffer the conditions of Chicago weather all over again. Poor guy!

We all know what happened to the apparently "well managed" new Chicago location and they went belly up fairly quickly. I guess lots of debt was incurred and some of the decor was auctioned off. (I spoke with corporate Trader Vic's and they are aware I have it now).

Needless to say, even though I think the sale price was amazing, there's a butt load of time and money that needs to be put into this historic relic.

Now the good stuff:

Leroy has looked at the piece. We started pulling off the paint to reveal the damage and we're lucky for two things. One, the vinyl paint probably did a lot to protect the piece over the years, sealing it from more damage once outside. Two, the cheap plaster is like soft chalk and will easily come out. The best part is the carving is strong and intact. It's a HUGE, HEAVY solid piece of California Redwood and can be brought back from the brink.

It's gonna be expensive, a lot more than if I had Leroy carve a new tiki for me. But, I feel that only Leroy, King of Tiki is the person to restore something as historic as an original 1950s Barney West Trader Vic's tiki.

So, if anyone is interested in getting updates on this, I'll post about how things are going and show some pix.

Next, I'll show current condition pictures and about our strategy for the restoration.

PLEASE, if anyone out there has pictures or info of this guy's career over the years in Chicago, it would be wonderful if you could share them. Newer or older, it doesn't matter, I'd like to keep his history together.

LONG LIVE PALMER!!