Post #723831 by Tattoo on Sat, Jul 26, 2014 1:14 AM

So this seems pretty darn cool. Personally I have never seen this one before and can’t find any other examples of it. The Mai Kai “Barrel O Rum” Mug.

Quite a bit different than the more common dark brown Mai Kai barrel mugs which only have the Mai Kai name on it. This one actually matches the “Barrel O’ Rum” mug depicted in the early menus.

This menu from Arkiva Topika is from 1959 which probably also dates the mug. It is surprising how closely the mug actually matches the menu illustration. Also, it seems to match the barrel mugs on the back shelves in this gift shop picture.

I must admit I was rather surprised that I could not find any other samples like this one. Or at least no one else has posted a picture of it.

The mug is the same (copy?) as the Franciscan pottery version of the Don the Beachcomber barrel mug.

The rivets on the bands match perfectly albeit less sharp. However, the grain of the wood is different and sharp. Maybe it’s also made by Franciscan Pottery or someone copied the DTB mug and re-did the lettering and the grain. No markings on the mug so it’s unclear as to who the maker is although it looks professionally made.

Swanky mentioned that “the history of the Mai-Kai is very tangled up with that of Don the Beachcombers.” So is this another example of that?

I hope Swanky can shed a bit more light on this.

[ Edited by: Tattoo 2014-07-26 01:17 ]