witco warclubs

Hi.I'm new to TC but have been collecting for awhile. Can anyone help with some information on the witco piece? Thanks

Ahoy and Welcome to TC! I'm sure someone will be able to help you out.

Here's some useless info for you.. Those are sweet!!

Thanks for the welcome. I found this about a year ago at a barn sale. It's about 70" by 16". A mouse had made a nest behind it as it hung on the wall. thought it would be a good backbar piece.

that piece is just freakin awesome!

That's quite a piece, indeed! I remember seeing the individual pieces in early Witco catalogues, but never in this combination! Real cool abstract primitivism.
Maybe keigs can find out more about it...

Hey, perhaps it was custom-made for a restaurant! Click-click...rattle...Ching!:

There used to be a great Tiki temple, the Tur Mai Kai, in Kalamazoo. It became a Chinese restaurant, but kept its Tiki decor from the 60s. Unfortunately, it was razed a couple of years ago....maybe it's from there?

Duke Carter used to go there, maybe he remembers seeing that piece in situ?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2006-10-25 10:39 ]

Aloha Uncle Trav! Nice Witco! I haven't seen that one before! You really scored! Looks like you have a nice mug collection too.

Thanks for the info. I live not to far from the old Tur Mai Kai.Did some research and found the interior was desinged and decorated by Oceanic Arts back in 1969. At the time it cost 75 grand. They had a closing sale open to the public a couple of days before it was torn down. When the doors were opened for the sale all of the tiki was already gone! I do have a menu and book of matches.

I too found the masks and clubs like Bigbro says but not a combination of the two. I am going to Bills Sunday and will see If I can find a picture or some info there.

Yeah, I love that menu cover (and the mask on the back), the rendering style is so "artistic". Hey, and I saw that lamp somewhere before :).

Bummer about the sale! I know Duke was saddened when he missed the place shutting down. So maybe the owners gave the stuff away to friends and family, of which some did not appreciate it, and it ended up in that barn?

I knew about O.A. outfitting the Tur Mai Kai, (that's where I got the menu cover in the BOT from), but the fact that Oceanic Arts were the main decor supplier does not neccessarily mean that Witco was not present. Individual, out of the way places that were not hotel chain operated often mixed and matched freely.

It'll be good to hear from Bill if he remembers this piece being done as a single one, or if it was made regularly for a while. He might not neccessarily know about the Tur Mai Kai having one (IF that hypothesis sticks), because often Witco decor was bought from reps, not directly from the company. For example, Bill never knew or had heard of the Hala Kahiki, they must have gotten all their stuff from the Chicago rep, or from Johnson Products (Chicago's O.A.)

hmmm. I had heard you could buy witco from the sears catalog. is this true?

hello uncle trav, I went to Bill's tonight and looked through his books. I found you piece in a 1963 catalog. It has no name just under primitic art line item #j-20 16x70. It is a really early piece and since I only found it in the older catalog and none of the newer ones it was probably discontinued. Bill did not remember much about it just another item witco created. So its not one of a kind but probably a little harder to find. Chisle slinger I heard that also but dont remember who told me I will try and remember to ask him about the sears thing also.

Thanks for all the great info.Good to have a little background to go with the piece. Someone said once my area was a "no tiki backwater" I quess they went mainstream and missed this piece. Thanks again for the help.

I seem to recall that it was the folks at the Hala Kahiki in IL. that have a news print article on their wall that says that the pieces (witco) were all purchased through the Sears Catalog. Anyone else remember that?
I could be mistaken....

yes, I remember that. thats exactly what I was thinking of.

That would be a classic example of how personal history is changed through generations handing down the stories...Or the reporter just got it wrong. It does not seem very likely that ALL that Witco that fills the Hala Kahiki was available through SEARS, now does it?
However, Johnson Products was not only selling Witco in Chi-town, but also, the few non-Witco masks and Tikis that can be found at the Hala Kahiki are in the Johnson Products catalog.

Bill said Witco did sell some stuff to department stores he said he does not remember Witco selling to sears but it could have happened. He also said he was more busy with the designs and not the sales department.