Aloha

Hi there,

mahalo mike referred me to this site and I'm already impressed. Hope to find folks with whom I can trade and talk mugs. Europe is not an easy place to hunt for mugs, hope to expand my trading activities to overseas. Talk to you all soon!

Welcome Traderval!

I'm always impressed with the dedication of you tiki aficionados in Europe. Here in Southern California, it's easy to be into Tiki, but I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have the hope of finding a mug or two at a yard-sale each Saturday, or a good tiki-bar to meet friends at on a Friday.

I imagine you as missionaries in spiritually-dry lands. Is tiki culture catching on in Switzerland at all?

Sabu

Welcome aboard!

:tiki:

TraderVal, welcome to Tiki Central. So who's Mahalo Mike?

It must be the thrill of the hunt that attracts us Yurpeens to Tiki. While it's not laid out on a plate, it is out there, and the part of the fun is finding out where...

Welcome Traderval!!

Trader Woody

Slaam Sabu, great master of the coconut.

Tanks for your compassion. Yes, it is not easy to be an inspired tiki lover and to live in Europe. In all of Switzerland there are three tikiphiles. In all of Europe only a dozen tiki huts. Had to travel to Munich and to London to quench my thirst at Trader?s. Also went all the way down to Egypt to find myself sipping fogcutters at the Shearaton?s Trader.
Every odd Staurday I go hunting for mugs and other relics of a glorious past. Months can go by without sighting any tiki. But every now and then one is rewarded. My most successful day I remember was when I came home exhausted, but with six mug trophies. On such days you experience tremendous adrenalin rushes, it?s magical!
So, instead of drowning my sorrows in leis of Lyman sounds, I decided to contact hunter gatherers from the land of the beachcombers. I?ve had very rewarding exchanges of mugs with Mike and the Cruz family, and would like to continue this activity. Hope to be able to offer you and all the others on tiki central trade possibilities with the old continent.

Hi Woody, I finally made it! Thanks pup, hi popster, you should check out Mike?s homepage (http://www.tikiroom.net/intro.html), especially his new mug picture section is fab.

Oh that Mike! Yes, I know who you're talking about. He's known as TikiHula here on Tiki Central. He does have a nice webpage. Love his Tiki Gallery!

ho, all da way from da windmill island! Aloha from Oahu! Just curious, what type of mugs do you find all da way ova there? I know when I lived in Stuttgart Germany I neva seen anyting Hawaiiana except fo my friends. Then I went to dis nice place in spain that made me feel like home, cannot rememba da name. Only ting I rememba about europe is amsterdam! no need to say mo. I'm sure you find TV for sure ya? being he has a few in europe. Have you eva found mugs from da U.S mainland establishments or Hawaii on dat side of da world? just wondering if europeans came to da states and brought back da kine fo souveniers(sp?).

Gecko,

Here's the classic German Tiki mug. There's at least a couple of places in Spain which manufactured some great-looking mugs, and the odd home-grown mug has popped up in the UK.

I've found a couple of American mugs here, but you are most likely to find the little Hawaiian Tiki statues brought back as gifts. In actual fact, Tiki stuff is more likely to come from the oppisite direction - New Zealand. This might just be because a lot of Brits settled out there, but a fair number of Maori carvings have made their way to the UK. Perhaps the ratio differs on mainland Europe?

Trader Woody
ps, how did you manage to remember Amsterdamage??!

Aloha Trader Woody,

Mahaloz fo da info cuz, very interesting!

I don't think anyone who has visited Amsterdam-age has ever forgoten that place dude!
I got off of the tourist bus after the long trip from Germany and the very first thing that happend was a Jamaican guy steped up to me and asked, did I want some HASH?...then showed me a big a$$ brick of it he had in his hand! That's the last thing I remeber from that trip...just kiddin. I was in the Army then. I didn't touch it. I had a great time in europe though.

Hi Val, are you from the KNK family, and if not, are you aware of their website http://www.alohawaii.ch/ ? ( which is richly adorned with illustrations from the Book Of Tiki) They had a Tiki party for their 8th (?) anniversary and seem to be the ambassadors of Tiki in Switzerland. They also co-authored that great Barcelona City Guide that we love and admire here.
Also, was there not a Kon Tiki Restaurant in Zurich (or was it Geneva) until recently?

The other closest Tikiphile I know is Moritz R in Munich , http://moritzR.de , who currently is having a n exhibit of new Tiki paintings there, he did the cover of the Book of Tiki. Unfortunately (for Munich, fortunately for him) he is going to move to Berlin.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2002-11-30 09:57 ]

Hey bigbro ! Yes, I knew the site, but have never actually been to the shop in St Gall myself. They seem to have a great variety of goods, but unfortunately only new items. As a seasoned urban archaeologist, I do prefer excavations of household sales and find the real thing there. And yes, in Zurich there is a Kon Tiki bar, but unfortunately it has become quite a dump with little tiki left inside. I wrote a little abstract for Woody?s new zine that may appear one of these days.
Munich has one of the greatest Trader Vic?s in Europe I?ve seen so far. It is in the very posh Bayrischer Hof and has a site of its own. Do check it out (http://tikiland.de/tradermain.html). It was built in 72 for the Olympics. My first tiki experience, and boy did I like it!