Paddle Licker Enigma

These puppies have been bothering me for a long while now.

What are they supposed to be?? To me, they look like flycatchers, birds that eat bugs. But what is with the paddle/knife? And some have the paddle in the mouth while others have it out. Seeing as most of these originate from FLA, does anyone from the Sunshine State have any info on these guys?

Mahalo!

~ tikigreg

Ha ha ha,
Those are my mugs, I mean literally they are my mugs, at leat the one on the left still is mine. I sold the darker green one a few months back. I got them off ebay (w/o a 'buy now' for once or twice, lucky me) and I too have tried to get to the bottom of this before...no luck.

I have seen "paddle licker" and "paddle sucker" used to describe them. I always called this one a paddle licker, his tongue is ticking out! The other versions, to me at least, is a paddle sucker:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=715503147&rd=1

Notice the slight difference in the body...his tummy is bigger. They are great mugs, a real classic IMO. My efforts to score the "sucker" version have yet to be successful.

Are they are bird, is that a knife, is is what is left after he bites it? Where is Leonard Nimoy...we must go in search of answers.

midnite

I was wondering where I'd seen a carving of the paddle-licker character. and had a quick flick through some of my Oceanic Art books. Then I realised that it was nestled in my Tiki collection!

It's a wooden Maori carving, age unknown (not particularly old), with the usual abalone eyes. He's got the paddle in hand and the tongue is dangling out. I really need to get a digital camera!!

So, it looks like the mugs ancestry can be traced back to New Zealand, at least to some extent. What the 'licking of the paddle' means is anyones guess!

Trader Woody

[ Edited by: Trader Woody on 2002-09-28 02:19 ]

Ok, this is pure speculation, but after a flick through 'Maori - Art & Culture' (D C Starzecka), it seems the "paddle sucker" is the result of some sort of ethnographic Chinese whispers. (Much like most Tiki stuff, really). Maori warriors were often pictured with their tongues fiercely protruding, and their fighting club (wahaika) in hand. I reckon as carvings were copied, the club got nearer to the mouth, and some thought that the warrior was actually licking the club. The final jump would be to the paddle sucker found on the mug above.

It's logical, though possibly not actually true!

Trader Woody

Thanks for the info and theories! Now I have something to work with and research. I did find these pics of a carving that sounds similar to the ones you describe.

http://www.artworksnz.co.nz/c115.htm

http://www.artworksnz.co.nz/c111.htm

If I find anything else to add to the origins of this mug, I will post it.

~ tikigreg

[ Edited by: tikigreg on 2002-09-28 08:58 ]

[ Edited by: tikigreg on 2002-09-28 08:59 ]

The guy with the paddle in his mounth was the logo for the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach. He appeared on postcards, menus, matchbooks, advertising, etc. The original general manager of the hotel still lives in Daytona, and I have often thought it would be cool to go interview him. The Hawaiian Inn used a bunch of other mug designs as well, including OMC and Orchids Hawaii. If I ever find out how and why they settled on that design, I'll pass on the info.

Good research, guys! The Grog Log has a pic of the Hawaiian Inn logo on page 3. You can find the original mug (with a paddle, not a knife) in the mug mass photo in the B.O.T. on page 177.
It usually went like this: Some grapic designer got the job to do a Tiki logo. Finding a Tiki in an Oceanic art book he does his version of it, and then his already altered rendition gets interpreted again by the mug maker, so voila we have Polynesian Pop, as opposed to authenticity.

Maori Tikis were subject to all kinds of funky interpretations, like that rare Tiki Bob's mug that's on e-bay (100$+ mug post) right now, and the entrance fountain at the Kahiki (B.O.T., page 128).

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2002-10-11 11:32 ]

Just came across this picture which seems to show the "Paddle Licker" nicely:

Trader Woody

the tiki isn't licking a paddle he's holding a maori war club, which is paddle shaped, like this one...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2525552716&category=2204

This club is commonly referred to as a Patu. I have the genuine article in my collection. There is also a grooved version of it called a Kotiate. It was grooved to sieze and twist an opponent's Patu out of his hand. These, along with the greenstone headed Adzes or celt axes (representing authority and clan hierarchy) were passed down sometimes through hundreds of years of Maori ancestry. Here is a Kotiate that yours truly carved (top):

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-04-28 01:15 ]

I finally got around to photographing my little Maori 'paddle-licker' as well as one I picked up a couple of months ago.

Trader Woody

Looks like Bigbrotiki was right about giving an artist a picture and see what comes out. Artist meaning graphic, Painter, Sculptor, We all doctor the omage to fit our own fancy. Thats what makes it fun.