info on orchids of hawaii headhunter #R1 mugs - Collecting Tiki

P PolynesianPop Tiki Socialite Corona, Ca Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2371	P PolynesianPop Posted posted on Thu, Sep 26, 2002 8:30 AM hookilau, The R-1 on the bottom of your mug is the model number of that mug. All of the Orchids of Hawaii mugs have a different model number. For example, the Ku mug is numbered R-71, one of their bowls is numbered R-14, etc. This was to help facilitate ordering of their products because at one time, Orchids of Hawaii manufactured a line of ceramicware for all kinds of restaurants (not just Polynesian restaurants). A restaurant could simply call them and say "I need (12) R-1's". I believe Orchids of Hawaii went out of business in the early 1990's with the demise of the whole Polynesian Pop era. The last catalog I have of theirs is dated 1991 and shows all the last mugs they produced before they went bust. Dating the mugs can be a challenge as you'd probably need some back issues of their catalogs to help you do that. For example, some of the mugs are marked R-18, R18A, etc. I believe the 'A' in R-18A indicated an update/modification to the original R-18. As such, to date these two individually, you'll probably need the catalogs that each of these was featured in to get the date of manufacture. Interestingly, a former employee of Orchids of Hawaii eventually acquired the original molds of their mugs and is now reproducing them in China. They are now widely used in many establishments such as the Taboo Cove in Las Vegas, Ohana in Seattle, and the Hala Kahiki in Chicago to name a few. The mugs are imported by a company named Dynasty Wholesale. They are the same however, they are just not marked with the Orchids of Hawaii moniker. You'll also notice that their quality is not as crisp as I'm sure there's differences in the manufacturing environment, the glazing process, the firing method, and the mold quality since a ceramic mold has a limited production life. Here's a link to the Dynasty Wholesale webpage: http://www.dynastywholesale.com/ When I get a chance I'll scan some pages from the OOH catalog I have and post them for everyone to see. *** * * The Polynesian Popster * * *** [ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2002-09-26 08:31 ]

hookilau,
The R-1 on the bottom of your mug is the model number of that mug. All of the Orchids of Hawaii mugs have a different model number. For example, the Ku mug is numbered R-71, one of their bowls is numbered R-14, etc. This was to help facilitate ordering of their products because at one time, Orchids of Hawaii manufactured a line of ceramicware for all kinds of restaurants (not just Polynesian restaurants). A restaurant could simply call them and say "I need (12) R-1's".

I believe Orchids of Hawaii went out of business in the early 1990's with the demise of the whole Polynesian Pop era. The last catalog I have of theirs is dated 1991 and shows all the last mugs they produced before they went bust. Dating the mugs can be a challenge as you'd probably need some back issues of their catalogs to help you do that. For example, some of the mugs are marked R-18, R18A, etc. I believe the 'A' in R-18A indicated an update/modification to the original R-18. As such, to date these two individually, you'll probably need the catalogs that each of these was featured in to get the date of manufacture.

Interestingly, a former employee of Orchids of Hawaii eventually acquired the original molds of their mugs and is now reproducing them in China. They are now widely used in many establishments such as the Taboo Cove in Las Vegas, Ohana in Seattle, and the Hala Kahiki in Chicago to name a few. The mugs are imported by a company named Dynasty Wholesale. They are the same however, they are just not marked with the Orchids of Hawaii moniker. You'll also notice that their quality is not as crisp as I'm sure there's differences in the manufacturing environment, the glazing process, the firing method, and the mold quality since a ceramic mold has a limited production life.

Here's a link to the Dynasty Wholesale webpage:

http://www.dynastywholesale.com/

When I get a chance I'll scan some pages from the OOH catalog I have and post them for everyone to see.

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2002-09-26 08:31 ]

Post #9281 by PolynesianPop on Thu, Sep 26, 2002 8:30 AM