Tiki Finds

This is a find that unfortunately didn't come home with me. I found this guy last week in an auction that included a few vintage Black collectibles. I was hoping that astute buyers would recognize his true identity and shy away. I was wrong. He was bid up far higher than his home-made ceramics class status warranted (IMHO). Oh well. He stands about 18 inches tall, is unmarked, and yes, that's a lighter in his head.

So, be watchful all those who seek tiki . . They are starting to wear disguises!

Slim pickings here in Burbank.

Pucci's Restaurant Encino, Calif. ashtray. Pucci's was built in the early 60's and no longer exists. That's all I know about. Not sure if it was tiki style but it may have been from the looks of this ashtray. Anyone know anything about Pucci's?

MrsHoptiki

[ Edited by: Mr&Mrs BPHoptiki 2008-05-04 13:34 ]

[ Edited by: Mr&Mrs BPHoptiki 2008-05-04 13:36 ]

Well, I'm back. The extra-extra-long January we've been having is finally waning and Spring is creeping about, so it's time to shed my black clothing for some tropical plumage (stupid S.A.D...) again and get back into my true self.
Found a couple hapa-wood statuettes...

...from 1973, and

...a Coco Joe's from '91, both from Value Village, a little up in price, but what the hell.

My dad recently gave me a pile of old magazines, newspapers, etc. he had sitting in a steamer trunk that he'd forgotten about, and in a copy of "Vancouver Life" magazine (a hipster mag for the in-crowd of Vancouver - like Playboy but without the sex) dating from 1966, I came across this ad for a hair salon...

More to come!

...AKA "Thirstin' Haole the 3rd"

[ Edited by: twitch 2008-05-06 12:01 ]

Not sure how wigs and hairpieces qualify as tiki, but still a cool find nonetheless.

Janet, Darling,

Love this lamp!

Also, nice finds by everyone else...this is the thread that inspires me the most.

Hecktow...excellent find on the bowl!

Buzzy,

Love the drum man!

And nice score on the ashtray, Mr&Mrs BPHoptiki!

Not much from here lately, but all you guys give me something to look for!

PTD

Yikes... this one belongs in 'The Gallery of Regrettable Tiki Paint Jobs', poor fellah. Nice shoes though.

On 2008-05-04 09:34, SilverLine wrote:
This is a find that unfortunately didn't come home with me. I found this guy last week in an auction that included a few vintage Black collectibles. I was hoping that astute buyers would recognize his true identity and shy away. I was wrong. He was bid up far higher than his home-made ceramics class status warranted (IMHO). Oh well. He stands about 18 inches tall, is unmarked, and yes, that's a lighter in his head.

So, be watchful all those who seek tiki . . They are starting to wear disguises!

On 2008-05-06 11:59, twitch wrote:

Twitch, this made my day. Nothing says elegance like tiki, unless it's a hairdresser named Gary.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2008-05-06 16:48 ]

I had a pretty good week this week:

Started out the weekend with a CocoJoes napkin holder:

That guaranteed another good week, by my "find at least one coco joes in the wild a week" criteria. Best of all, it was only a buck! And it was different than the one I already have. Extra bonus!
The rest of the weekend went well after that too...

A few mugs:
Pair of dyNASTYS

Harvey's:

EFCCO:

I don't usually look at records, but this was sitting in the front of a box of crap so I looked at it because I have a vague notion that Lyman has some sort of tiki connection:

Turns out, it was autographed by Lyman...

and Kapiolani

Got some Kiwiana stuff too...

A Maori doll with Moko, a baby, and a hei tiki pendant:

A pair of wooden Maori bookends:

Maori clock:

A 15"(39cm) Maori Tiki:

And best of all, a 31"(80 cm)long Maori Waka

It has 18 inlays on each side

Bunch of oars too:

It's missing one cross piece, so it's not perfect.

Buzzy Out!

Nice finds, Buzzy! That Lyman lp is actually one of my favorites by him. I have very fond childhood memories of hearing Guava Tree over and over. My dad must have really liked that song 'cause it sorta was his life.

Good lord Buzzy! How do you always find all that great stuff? :D

MrsHoptiki

Very cool stuff, Buzzy. I did find a few nice things at my favorite vintage resale shop. LOTS of boomerang-era stuff and always lots of tiki things.

Not sure about this guy's history, but he's definitely old and hand carved. Can anyone fill me in on this piece?

A couple of Coco Joe items:

A shag-a-delic oil on canvas:

And some great vintage coasters:

These aren't new, my Mom gave them to me, but they're a couple of my favorite pieces. They got them when visiting Hawaii right after it became a state (I was a little girl (now there's a scary thought -- I was born BEFORE Hawaii became a state :o )):

I also got a few Coco Joe statues and mugs. I'll post those later.

Note: These are all in the "safer" environment of my house (snicker).....

Those Treasure Craft pieces are very nice; two of my favorites.

Two of my favorite recent finds:

OMC Moai (never had one of these before; MUCH bigger than I'd thought they'd be!)

And a set of four of these OMC mask-mugs! In nearly perfect condition, too!

On 2008-05-07 18:53, JanetMermaid wrote:
Very cool stuff, Buzzy. I did find a few nice things at my favorite vintage resale shop. LOTS of boomerang-era stuff and always lots of tiki things.

Not sure about this guy's history, but he's definitely old and hand carved. Can anyone fill me in on this piece?

I know where Janet's shopping. You should send me a thank-you card for leaving that tiki and the Coco Joe's statues for you. I came this close to buying them. :)

On 2008-05-08 07:35, BrickHorn wrote:
I know where Janet's shopping. You should send me a thank-you card for leaving that tiki and the Coco Joe's statues for you. I came this close to buying them. :)

And I surely do thank you! It's my favorite Austin store. If I had unlimited funds I could spend bunches of money there.

Do you know anything about that statue?

On 2008-05-08 08:30, JanetMermaid wrote:

On 2008-05-08 07:35, BrickHorn wrote:
I know where Janet's shopping. You should send me a thank-you card for leaving that tiki and the Coco Joe's statues for you. I came this close to buying them. :)

And I surely do thank you! It's my favorite Austin store. If I had unlimited funds I could spend bunches of money there.

Do you know anything about that statue?

It's a pretty common Ku design. I bought one very similar to yours from the same shop around Christmas time. It sat in that store for months before I finally decided I wanted it enough to pay $35 for it. About a month ago, there was another one for sale, also marked $35. It disappeared pretty quickly. Yours is the third I've seen in that store in the last year.

I believe the statue may have been manufactured by Orchids of Hawaii. More info can be found on this thread: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=24293&forum=5&hilite=orchids%20of%20hawaii%20catalog

Found this glass that was once from the Forbidden Inn Tiki Room. If only it could talk I'm dying to know about this place.

The "Forbidden Inn"! How great. That glass says it all. :) I don't recall ever seeing anything from that place.

Figured I might as well put this in here... My find was my FIRST find, besides torches - my first mug! I live in WA state, and found this in a little shop in a Seattle suburb. It's not really tiki per se, but it IS a cocktail mug.

Sorry, can't post a photo (yet) but... It's a cylindrical mug, about 7" by 2 1/2", showing a Chinese or Tibetan man, maybe a monk? with a white, bearded face, arched eyebrows and a long beard, and white shoes. He's wearing long brown robes, with a vertical sash in front with a pattern of X's, is holding a walking staff in one hand and what looks like a coconut in the other, and has black dot eyes. On the back, among the ties and folds of his robe, is written "Four Seas Seattle". Now that I search, I see Dogbytes has posted photos of one of these (front and back) elsewhere in this thread.

I thought surely this must be an extremely common mug, with whatever restaurant that bought it having their name added,. but... on the concave bottom (white) is written "Exclusively for Four Seas, Seattle". There's also a gold quatrefoil-shaped sticker reading:
M
O -o- C
JAPAN

I picked this up for five dollars from a shop owner I'm acquainted with... She says she thinks she has another mug somewhere, and will look for it for me. I passed this by my mother, and she says the Four Seas was (and may still be) a Chinese restaurant in Seattle's "International District" aka Chinatown, so I may be paying them a visit. If they don't use these any more, I'll ask if they still have any lying around. I'm curious as to whether this mug could be called uncommon, or even rare, though I have absolutely no intent on selling it. If the Four Seas has more of them and I can get them, I'll offer mugs in trade for torches.

Anyone want to guess at what sort of drink might have come in this wise old monk? I'm curious. Whatever it was, it was big - drink a few of these and you'll feel wise, too.

[ Edited by: TorchGuy 2008-05-10 07:25 ]

Aha, you're hooked! After you have shown such a refined taste in Tiki torch fuels as can only be compared to a wine connoisseur, your Tiki mug sense and Polynesian potion taste will quickly develop, I am sure! These Otagiri mugs are indeed NOT Tiki mugs, but some folks here collect them nevertheless and might even know what was served in them.

If I DO ever drink out of this... Otagiri, is that the term for this wise monk? It'll probably be a sake cocktail of some sort. I like him, and he's kind of cool with his Seattle connection. I'll have to hit Four Seas, if it still exists, and see what sort of cocktails they serve.

Is this your mug?

(Photos from Ooga-Mooga)

That's him, Officer! Not Tiki, I do understand, but cool nonetheless. Anyone have a guess as to what sort of potions might have been served inside this guy?

I'm lacking in Pacific Northwest tiki knowledge, but that mug seems pretty rare. There's only one listed on Ooga Mooga, and I don't ever recall seeing it while trolling through eBay. As per the writing on the bottom, it may have been manufactured exclusively for Four Seas by Otagiri, which would make it even more precious.

By the way, Otagiri is the name of the manufacturer of that mug - Otagiri Mercantile Company (OMC). Try not to wash off that gold label - they're tough, but they will wrinkle and come off.

Maybe some of the Pacific Northwest TC members can fill in more info about the Four Seas. It is mentioned in a couple of threads here on TC, but not much detail was provided. Use the Search function to find out more.

A drink menu would help you know if there was a specific drink associated with that mug; if not, start with your favorite tiki cocktail and you're on your way.

Congrats on a very nice find!

Thanks, Koolau! I just did some research - fourseasrestaurant.com is their web site, and it has a snapshot of their bar, the Dynasty Room. Yelp has about 12 reviews - they range from bad to mediocre, though more than one mentions incredible orange chicken and ridiculously cheap, potent drinks (one mentions a very strong $3 rum and coke, another a Long Island Iced Tea). So it looks like I'm gonna pay 'em a visit - I adore old 50s-60s Chinese restaurant decor and I love dimly-lit rooms in restaurants, and one reviewer says it's exactly that. Another calls the decor "the Chinese restaurant that time forgot".

Here's hoping they still serve drinks in mugs, or at least remember doing so. If I'm lucky, they'll have some mugs poking around in the back. If I DO get some, as noted above, if anyone on here actually wants them I will (a) trade for Tiki Torches, (b) sell them cheap - I'm not looking to make a profit, or (c) trade for other mugs - whatever someone deems equal in value to these. I just want to add a few more torches or mugs to my collection.

Oh, and Koolau, I love that label. I do try to keep them intact on anything I collect, ranging from pipes to old lava lamps - even if it doesn't add to the value, it adds slightly to the 'all-original factor'. Anyone want to suggest a drink recipe for me to (eventually) mix up in him? As he appears to be a wise old Chinese monk, I'm sure it needs to be related in some small way - he's also holding what appears to be a coconut!

Holy Moly, it's the sacred idol, one of the principal Tiki icons of the mid-century, the De Young Museum/Trader Vic/Kona Kai/Sam's Seafood logo Tiki ! The flash makes it reflect so much that I can't tell if it's a half carving mounted on the orange background, or if it's a Vacu-form plastic one-piece. Indeed worthy of a shrine of its own.

It looks brand spanking new ! What's the intel on it?

On 2008-05-11 09:21, bigbrotiki wrote:
Holy Moly, it's the sacred idol, one of the principal Tiki icons of the mid-century, the De Young Museum/Trader Vic/Kona Kai/Sam's Seafood logo Tiki ! The flash makes it reflect so much that I can't tell if it's a half carving mounted on the orange background, or if it's a Vacu-form plastic one-piece. Indeed worthy of a shrine of its own.

It looks brand spanking new ! What's the intel on it?

it's vintage....but in pristine shape....it's a half vacuum form piece, entirely hollow, and made of all plastic, including the frame..has original richter sculpture sticker label on the back......I believe there were 2 styles.....this one (my fav) and a marquesan style one......i've seen both here on tiki central a longtime ago and patiently waited for the day when one would cross my path......I picked it up for a song on ebay a couple weeks back....

Cool, congrats! "Richter Sculpture"? Never heard about it....where were they located? That name sounds German to me...

P.S.: Could you get a pic of the sticker?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-11 10:46 ]

Nice find Tipsy. Similar style body but different head than these statues I have. They're 14" tall.(No markings on them). There were also wall plaques of this style. My buddy Silverline would love to find a pair of those so if anyone can help him out on that, PLEASE contact him. Thanks

On 2008-05-11 04:00, TorchGuy wrote:
Here's hoping they still serve drinks in mugs, or at least remember doing so.

they don't. the manager remembers drinking there when he was underage (he's about 50 now) ~ but it was just a bar. they also had marked 3 face bucket mug see sabu's post

and the decor isnt great (definitely NOT tiki/polynesian or even fancy chinese), there are much better places to eat in the ID..

Found these a few weeks ago, there was three of them but sent one to Uncle Trav.
No markings on the bottom but they do have the OMC Japan sticker on all of them, in great condition.
Uncle Trav, hope you can see the fence I am working on in the background.

The Bood

[ Edited by: Kabuddhabuddha 2008-05-11 15:10 ]

Got to love Craigslist!

I found a local ad for a large collection of matchbooks and match covers, and best of all the owner just wanted to give them away to a good home. I went to pick them up, hoping for maybe a couple cool, older Hawaiian or tiki covers.

It was the motherload! The guy came out with about 10 boxes of matchbooks, and 6 of those old green binders of match covers. Once I started going through them, it turns out most were from southern CA and from the 60s and 70s. I've pulled 100+ tiki and tropical matches from this collection. Now I've just got to get rid of all of these non tiki matches!

All of these matches have inspired me to spend the day doing some research on these places (at least as much as I can do on my laptop from the couch). I'll post any new info I may find.

Aloha!

"...I just did some research (on the Four Seas) - fourseasrestaurant.com is their web site, and it has a snapshot of their bar, the Dynasty Room. Yelp has about 12 reviews...Ridiculously cheap, potent drinks...I adore old 50s-60s Chinese restaurant decor and I love dimly-lit rooms in restaurants, and one reviewer says it's exactly that. Another calls the decor 'the Chinese restaurant that time forgot'..." TorchGuy

Time didn't exactly forget the Four Seas, or at least the remodeler didn't stay away. It has some ornamental wood work, but other than that it's a typical Seattle China Town stripped to the bare essentials restaurant. The dim sum is pretty good. (The best old style chinese restaurant in the greater Seattle area is the Red Lotus in Auburn.)

The Dynasty Room at the Four Seas looks as if it has little done to it, but it doesn't seem to have ever been that exotic. Still, it's a small, windowless bar and they do pour with a heavy hand. The Dynasty Room feels like the kind of place where people go to drink away their lives, meet someone for shady business deals, or take a "date". I like it.

Here's a craptacular cellphone snap of a Four Seas matchbox I found a few years back:

And so this post isn't entirely off topic...The big lips Moai mug on the left was found a couple weeks ago at the Seattle Goodwill for $2. Molded into the bottom: Kahiki

And just in case anyone asks: The bottle to the right is Newfoundland Screech Rum, a gift from Dogbytes who was worried I wasn't drinkin' enough. I would guess that Screech is the only rum that mentions cod on its label.

woofmutt

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2008-05-11 14:04 ]
[ Then this message was edited by woofmutt again cuz he used "it's" instead of "its". ]

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2008-05-11 14:06 ]

Is that a bottle of Newfie Screech?

On 2008-05-11 10:45, bigbrotiki wrote:
Cool, congrats! "Richter Sculpture"? Never heard about it....where were they located? That name sounds German to me...

P.S.: Could you get a pic of the sticker?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-11 10:46 ]

here you go....

...i did some searching on google and ebay as well......this guy did a bunch of stuff....i'm suprised duke carter hasn't stumbled across this guy...maybe he has and is putting together an article for tiki magazine as i write this.....i think this richter stuff is right up his post modern alley...anyway....see what else you can find with this.....

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-05-11 14:33 ]

here's a craigslist link in detroit to some richter sculpts but no picture.....could be tiki?? who in the area wants to find out??

http://detroit.craigslist.org/art/630578188.html

i got skunked tiki hunting today :/
hopefully the gods will bring me better luck next weekend

It was slim pickins as far as shirts go today, but I was really excited to find the red one on the right. It's one of my favorite vintage fabrics.

The first thing I found this morning was the Islander Vicious Virgin. Someone painted her gold. She's seen better days, but I still had to have her.

I couldn't resist these glasses with the original boxes. I love the other suggested uses and that crazy garnish.

you may be able to remove the paint with thinner.....most paints do not adhere to ceramic glaze, and unless treated, will peel and crack over time....try a small area on the bottom...if whoever painted this didn't properly scuff and treat this prior to painting it, there's a good chance you can salvage the original look of the mug......

On 2008-05-11 14:31, Tipsy McStagger wrote:

On 2008-05-11 10:45, bigbrotiki wrote:
Cool, congrats! "Richter Sculpture"? Never heard about it....where were they located? That name sounds German to me...

P.S.: Could you get a pic of the sticker?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-11 10:46 ]

here you go....

...i did some searching on google and ebay as well......this guy did a bunch of stuff....i'm suprised duke carter hasn't stumbled across this guy...maybe he has and is putting together an article for tiki magazine as i write this.....i think this richter stuff is right up his post modern alley...anyway....see what else you can find with this.....

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-05-11 14:33 ]

Here is another example of Richter stuff that I sold in my shop a few months ago. African Ibex?

Great, thanks, 1958, that's early...now to find a RICHTER ARTCRAFT catalog... :)

A cool mug discovery of a drunken monk holding a mug and leaning on a barrel of what must be a potent Voodoo punch!

Although it doesn't say it, I would have to presume it's part of the Trader Dick's Australian promotional rum barrel series. It looks just like the Sailor and Wahine rum barrels. I did a little searching here on Tiki Central and it says that there are four in the series.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=10208&forum=5

The plane! The plane!

[ Edited by: Tattoo 2008-05-12 16:45 ]

This is what I found this past week...I call this Antique show versus flea market!

Antique show...

Vintage "Mr. Bali Hai" mug, no lid, broken bone, with sticker. $4.00.

Vintage Reyn's Men's Wear Hawaiian Island Aloha shirt. $10.00

There was also a guy selling a boatload of Coco Joe's but his prices started at $20.00 and went up. I passed and went to the...

Flea Market...

Two-faced green glass tiki mug. $2.00.

"Vacation In Hawaii" by The Hawaiians. $0.25.

"Hukilau Hulas" with basic hula instructions on the back cover. $0.25.

Les Baxter's "Original Quiet Village" "Recorded in Stereo and Duophonic", worn cover, record in great condition. $0.25.

"'Round The Town with Ernie Menehune". Signed Aloha, Ernie Menehune, the back of the cover has photos of the places he performed. Albums reads "Songs Requested Most During Top Night Club Engagements. Nightclub photos include; Mountain Shadows, Phoenix Arizona, Tiki Kai, Albuquerque New Mexico, Camelback Inn, Phoenix Arizona, Tiki Kai, Denver Colorado and Spanish Trail, Tucson Arizona. Who the hell was Ernie Menehune? $0.25.

Two wooden carved tiki lighters. $5.00

Three Islander coconut mugs, one Islander 3 face bucket, one Islander Mr. Smiley and one Islander Cannibal mug. I walked up to a table and found all of these sitting together. Now while I was at the antique show, some guy had a Mr. Smiley mug, chipped on the bottom for $85.00. I paid $2.00 each for these for a total of $12.00 for all 6!

Vintage "Story Board" "W.C.T.C. Hand Made In Palau, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands" Original sticker price of $15.95. Paid $5.00. Don't know how to interpret the story on this one, but it appears a couple of people lost their heads? Anyone know how to read these?

This week, the flea market ruled the antique show!

Later,

Psycho Tiki D (I know I am and I put the "Psycho" in "Tiki D")!

Sorry, double post!

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-05-12 16:34 ]

Find of the week.... Hula set - Uli Uli, Ipu and book. From 1959

I got a lump of coal....

That's very nice, Bruce. --Jeez, PTD, what a haul! You really made a killing! Where do you live again?
Ernie Menehune is (was, at least the last time I heard) still alive and until recently gave yearly Luaus at his compound in Arizona. Do a "Search" here and you will find lotsa info, including an early Tiki News article about him and his association with the Tiki Kai. Yes, that back cover is great.