The one(s) that got away

I'm sure most of us had an opportunity to get something neat, but let the chance slip by for some reason or another. I have two sad tales of ones that got away. :cry:

Earlier this week, I was headed to an important client meeting, but decided to make a quick stop at a thrift. I quickly scoured the shelves for tiki and found nothing. On the way out, I walked by the furniture area and saw a vintage Eames ottoman! The leather upholstery was worn, and there was some damage to the wonderful, molded plywood, but it was indeed an Eames for a whopping $7.95. However, the line at the register was very long, and I had to get to my meeting. So I left the ottoman there, pledged to pick it up after the meeting ended, and hoped it would still be there when I got back.

The meeting ran long, and when I returned, the store was closed. By the time I made it back to the store the next day, the ottoman was long gone! Augh! :cry:

The other sad tale involves the wahine. Some years ago, she worked for a property management company that purchased an old bowling alley. She frequently went to the bowling alley, particuarly to make sure the bar in the center was running properly. The bowling alley lost money, so they closed it down and sold or discarded everything. The buildings were then turned into a mini-storage facility.

One day, when going through Tiki Quest, she saw the Morgantown Glass stemware (on page 124), and said they had several cases of those glasses at the bowling center. But because most patrons bought beer or well drinks, the stemware was never used. When the bowling center closed, the glasses (apparently dozens of them) were tossed into the trash.

:cry: boo hoo!!! :cry:

Aloha,

I have often related this story in "Shout." I once stupidly in a Thrift Shop passed on a "Steve's Rum barrel" By Steven Crane and Associates because my NAME is not "Steve." So young and so stupid.

I also in my early days of collecting, I passed on the Daga "Beachcomber" head mug,
cuz I didn't like it. It still haunts me today and really want one. If anyone has a spare, I have much in the way of trade goods.

It's this one from a pic in tiki finds.

Way back in like 2002ish, there was a Mai Kai Drum mug on Ebay. I had no idea how rare it was and didn't bid, or maybe I did and lost. Regardless, it went for $19.95 or something to Doctor Z. I figured, I'll get one another day. Sure. It was years later and I paid $300!

About 5 years ago, long before I began collecting tiki, I remember holding in my hands a Trader Vic Waikiki "Red Pants" mug at the Goodwill store in Kaimuki. I remember it so vividly because I was amused/repulsed in equal amounts by that straw hole right through the zipper.

Koolau I know how you feel. Passed up a "Red Pants" mug at a antique show and thought I would pick it up on the way out. Went back and it was gone. Same thing with a United Airlines tiki, The big one. Gone. We now have a rule. " Buy now and avoid crying later".

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2007-10-14 06:36 ]

I have two the first one of mine comes from my early days of collecting. I went to an annual antique fair in Moss Landing, CA and came across a huge version of the Harvey's Hula Bowl and when I say huge, it was the size of a punch bowl...no joke. It must have been 16" tall at the very least.

My first thought was oh, it's a Harvey's (even in the early day I came across Harvey's bowls). Within five minutes I realized "What the hell am I thinking? That is huge, I won't ever see another one!" And went immediately back to the booth, but alas, it was gone already. The selling price? $35 bucks. Man, I can be an idiot.

The other one was a ultra-hip Witco tiki lamp with a shade that had three wood tiki's even spaced around the very large tapa-cloth-esqe shade and a full tiki at the bottom. I haven't seen one yet here on TC, but it was magnificent. It was still dark out at the antique fair in Alameda, but they wanted $350 for it and it would have completely wiped out my funds for the day. When I went back, it was still there, but the guy right behind me earlier bought it...and he came back to pick it up and I just stood there watching the lamp in all it's beauty walk away in the arms of another man...:(

Most of these happened in the early days of collecting and when paying $10 for a mug seemed like a luxury. A few that come to mind back when I started in 1994 were several United Airlines Tikis and Menehunes that started at $40 and rarely went past $100, one of those Primo Beer Relief maps for $60 ( I still lament this), but my most bittersweet lose was at a swap meet and seeing a few carved idols from Kon Tiki with the Cannibal statue, several two faced “Janus” tiki poles (page 106 TM) and the tiki holding his belly pole. After tapping out my bank account I was able to afford 3 Janus and the Cannibal. It was a long poor week but If I was able to scrap up another $35 I’d have the set.

Passed on a smiley mug for $10, the guy at the swap meet selling it wouldn't take $5. I thought back then that it was goofy looking and didn't really dig it....still don't. Off subject, do people subtract 3-5 years from the year they actually started collecting tiki stuff? Hmmm.....

On 2007-10-13 15:57, filslash wrote:

I also in my early days of collecting, I passed on the Daga "Beachcomber" head mug,
cuz I didn't like it. It still haunts me today and really want one. If anyone has a spare, I have much in the way of trade goods.

It's this one from a pic in tiki finds.

Actually this mug was nearly my "mug that got away" because I has a bit of a dicky tummy and had to be dragged out of bed by my wife, but every day I'm glad I dragged myself to that bootsale.

Early in my collecting career, I passed on a Steve Crane Bird Bowl for $10 because it "wasn't tiki."

The other one was a ultra-hip Witco tiki lamp with a shade that had three wood tiki's even spaced around the very large tapa-cloth-esqe shade and a full tiki at the bottom. I haven't seen one yet here on TC, but it was magnificent. It was still dark out at the antique fair in Alameda, but they wanted $350 for it and it would have completely wiped out my funds for the day. When I went back, it was still there, but the guy right behind me earlier bought it...and he came back to pick it up and I just stood there watching the lamp in all it's beauty walk away in the arms of another man...:(

Uh, that would have been me! However, I did not purchase said lamp. I did return the next month (September) only to find the seller did not come back over the Labor Day weekend. I did locate her in October, except she had brought her grandchildren with her and did not bring the lamp due to space constraints. I have made arrangements to purchase said lamp, the seller is out of Nevada and I am going to her house in the next couple of weeks to pick it up. She is willing to take $300.00 for it now. I will post pictures when I pick it up.

As a side note; in my pre-tiki days, while frequenting the local flea market, one elderly gentleman used to have this horrible looking piece of ceramic set out with his other stuff week after week. I used to think to myself "who would ever buy that piece of crap"? Turns out it was a Don the Beachcomber head mug (I thought it looked liked a horrible Colonel Sanders yellow vase). I know better now!

PTD