Post #660376 by bigbrotiki on Sun, Dec 2, 2012 12:24 PM

Rillly? Man, I was sure that guy had SOME connection with the Islander or Spurlin, considering the completeness of the group...and the broken girl piece... if he got these at flea markets, he must have been doing that more like 25 years ago, or earlier. I knew some hunters and collectors out there already in the 90s paying the 7:30 am early bird fee at the Rose Bowl to zero in on this kinda stuff. Then again, compared to other glossy mugs, the Spurlin mugs appeared not that well made, outwardly, for early mug collectors. The awareness of their rareness raised their intrinsic value.

The synchronicity of Tikis appearing in various places is proof of the Zeitgeist of the late 50s, where people were looking for more extreme esthetics. Like I pointed out in Tiki Modern, I believe it has to do with primitive art becoming accepted as hip decor.

Also, after he read the BOT, Florian Gabriel wrote this to me to share his view as a contributing designer: By the late 50s, the classic Polynesian style of the WWII generation and before was on the way of becoming an old hat, but then Tiki style gave Polynesian Pop one more shot in the arm before it went down - not in a blaze, more like with a whimper.

Tiki style existed for a relatively short time span, from the mid-50s to the mid-60s, really only peaking around 1960/'61/'62/'63

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2012-12-02 13:17 ]