Cool Hula Mug - Collecting Tiki

T Tattoo Tiki Socialite Los Angeles Joined: Sep 24, 2005 Posts: 321	T Tattoo Posted posted on Mon, Nov 9, 2015 5:49 PM I am certain yours is a real Tepco fogcutter mug. It might just be a much later cast of the mold where the features are less well defined. The less detailed paint job just shows you that they were all hand painted and skills levels varied and suffered as the company grew. Here's mine: It seems there's quite a variety (in paint scheme and sharpness) of these Hula girl mugs out there but they are all Tepco. And not a hobbyist version. To me, a tell tale sign that it's not a hobbyist is the indentation on the bottom. For the most part, all hobbyist mugs have a flat bottom. Also, you'll notice that Tepco products are very heavy and solid with nearly zero, if any, crazing. They are rock hard and nearly indestructible. This has to do with the firing process they used which was at a much higher temperature for a longer time. Apparently a very cost prohibitive process that nearly no one else did. Solid thick construction with no crazing are hallmarks of a Tepco piece. They will look almost new. It makes Tepco unique and somewhat easy to identify. We can probably guess that in the early days, Tepco was a smaller company with more artistic hands on the assembly line. And as they grew, the artistic quality suffered. Later Tepco pieces in general are not hand painted anymore and become more and more monotone. So congratulations on your early and amazing Tepco fogcutter. But is it Trader Vic's? On this we can only guess. Tepco was not exclusive to Trader Vic's so it could have been used at a million other other mom and pop south seas bars that were popping up all over the place at that time. However, Tepco is Californian and the mug is probably from the 40s so it does limit the places it might have been used at. Either way, a great piece. An interesting sister piece is this later version of the Trader Vic Samoan fog cutter. Similar to the early 1944 version but less detailed. Still rare and undeniably Tepco. There's one on ebay right now which is worth getting if you have some early Hula fog cutter mugs. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-HAWAII-South-Pacific-Mood-pottery-Bar-Mug-PALM-TREES-and-Hula-Girl-/221918678284?hash=item33ab624d0c:g:XBUAAOSwEeFVP81d Not my auction FYI [ Edited by: Tattoo 2015-11-09 17:51 ]

I am certain yours is a real Tepco fogcutter mug. It might just be a much later cast of the mold where the features are less well defined. The less detailed paint job just shows you that they were all hand painted and skills levels varied and suffered as the company grew.

Here's mine:

It seems there's quite a variety (in paint scheme and sharpness) of these Hula girl mugs out there but they are all Tepco. And not a hobbyist version. To me, a tell tale sign that it's not a hobbyist is the indentation on the bottom. For the most part, all hobbyist mugs have a flat bottom. Also, you'll notice that Tepco products are very heavy and solid with nearly zero, if any, crazing. They are rock hard and nearly indestructible. This has to do with the firing process they used which was at a much higher temperature for a longer time. Apparently a very cost prohibitive process that nearly no one else did. Solid thick construction with no crazing are hallmarks of a Tepco piece. They will look almost new. It makes Tepco unique and somewhat easy to identify. We can probably guess that in the early days, Tepco was a smaller company with more artistic hands on the assembly line. And as they grew, the artistic quality suffered. Later Tepco pieces in general are not hand painted anymore and become more and more monotone.

So congratulations on your early and amazing Tepco fogcutter. But is it Trader Vic's? On this we can only guess. Tepco was not exclusive to Trader Vic's so it could have been used at a million other other mom and pop south seas bars that were popping up all over the place at that time. However, Tepco is Californian and the mug is probably from the 40s so it does limit the places it might have been used at. Either way, a great piece.

An interesting sister piece is this later version of the Trader Vic Samoan fog cutter.

Similar to the early 1944 version but less detailed. Still rare and undeniably Tepco. There's one on ebay right now which is worth getting if you have some early Hula fog cutter mugs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-HAWAII-South-Pacific-Mood-pottery-Bar-Mug-PALM-TREES-and-Hula-Girl-/221918678284?hash=item33ab624d0c:g:XBUAAOSwEeFVP81d

Not my auction FYI

[ Edited by: Tattoo 2015-11-09 17:51 ]

Post #753781 by Tattoo on Mon, Nov 9, 2015 5:49 PM