Doctor Z's 3-face Mug Collection - Collecting Tiki

STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Tiki Socialite Carson, California Joined: Aug 20, 2002 Posts: 2813	STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Posted posted on Sun, Apr 11, 2004 3:15 AM I've always been amazed at my friend, Doctor Z's, extensive collection of 3-face or "bucket" mugs from various tiki restaurants. He's painstakingly collected them one-at-a-time from Ebay auctions, garage sales, thrift stores, and donations from friends, but he always seems to be finding new ones. Personally, these squat mugs have been a terrific source of obscure restaurant names for me to look for postcards with on Ebay. I asked permission to photograph and post them here for the benefit of other collectors and he gave the ok - so it gives me great pleasure to finally present them here. Doctor Z didn't ask specifically, but I know that he would be interested to learn of other 3-face mugs that you might own or have heard of that aren't in his collection. We both seem to think that he's only scratched the surface on this collecting niche. As I said before, it's amazing how the new ones just seem to keep cropping up. Also if any of you can fill in some of the history of this style mug, that would also be helpful. It seems that a lot of Chinese Restaurants that went Polynesian in the 1960s seemed to use this mug, but I don't know a lot more. What drinks were predominantly served in the 3-face mug? Were they mostly a California phenomenom, or are there more from other states that we don't know about? Anyway, without any further ado, here are the mugs: Two versions from the Bamboo Chopsticks in Bakersfield, CA. The Four Seas in Seattle, WA The 5 Lanterns in Whittier, CA. I remember when Doctor Z found this at a local garage sale. I've never seen anything else from this restaurant. Very obscure. Harvey's Lake Tahoe The Hawaii Kai, New York The Islander, Stockton, CA The Islands - Phoenix, AZ The Kapu Kai - Cucamonga, CA Karate Punch The Kono Hawaii - Santa Ana, CA The Lanai - San Mateo, CA The Latitude 20 - Torrance, CA The Leilani Luau - Fresno, CA The 3-fish version from Malios - Santa Cruz, CA Mark Thomas' Outrigger - Monterey, CA 2 variations of the highly sought-after Pea Soup Anderson's mug from California (Is there really a Chuck-E-Cheese version?) The Polynesia - Seattle & Spokane, WA The Tikis - San Gabriel, CA Trade Winds - Oxnard, CA Zombie Village - Oakland, CA Tall, thin version from the Islander - Stockton, CA Tall, thin version from Jimmy Wong's - Chicago, IL Tall, thin version from The Tonga Room - San Francisco, CA Imperial Imports version of the 3-face mug - this one from an unknown Bali Hai. JP Co's version of the 3-face And yes, even Orchids of Hawaii had a version. Ok, Collectors: Any other versions? Sabu [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2004-04-11 03:18 ] [ Edited by: Bora Boris - Re-uploaded some missing pictures and replacement pictures. - 2011-10-02 17:20 ]

I've always been amazed at my friend, Doctor Z's, extensive collection of 3-face or "bucket" mugs from various tiki restaurants. He's painstakingly collected them one-at-a-time from Ebay auctions, garage sales, thrift stores, and donations from friends, but he always seems to be finding new ones. Personally, these squat mugs have been a terrific source of obscure restaurant names for me to look for postcards with on Ebay. I asked permission to photograph and post them here for the benefit of other collectors and he gave the ok - so it gives me great pleasure to finally present them here.

Doctor Z didn't ask specifically, but I know that he would be interested to learn of other 3-face mugs that you might own or have heard of that aren't in his collection. We both seem to think that he's only scratched the surface on this collecting niche. As I said before, it's amazing how the new ones just seem to keep cropping up.

Also if any of you can fill in some of the history of this style mug, that would also be helpful. It seems that a lot of Chinese Restaurants that went Polynesian in the 1960s seemed to use this mug, but I don't know a lot more. What drinks were predominantly served in the 3-face mug? Were they mostly a California phenomenom, or are there more from other states that we don't know about? Anyway, without any further ado, here are the mugs:

Two versions from the Bamboo Chopsticks in Bakersfield, CA.

The Four Seas in Seattle, WA

The 5 Lanterns in Whittier, CA. I remember when Doctor Z found this at a local garage sale. I've never seen anything else from this restaurant. Very obscure.