Tiki Obsession....

Im trying to understand here. I've read alot about Tiki things (alot recently) and I'm wondering why people are such fanatics for it? I've read quite a bit about Tiki here in Detroit, (the old Kon Tiki and Mauna Loa restaraunts) and to me its intriguing and interesting, but I'm always intrigued by Detroit history. I recently found these 7 tiki cups my grandma gave me from Mauna Loa, and went to sell one on ebay for $5... she tried selling them at a garage sale twice for 5 cents!! It ended up selling fro $225! What the high hell?!

I just dont get this huge cult fascination with Tiki culture.

So what is it that makes you all so insane for this stuff?

the tiki bug either hits you hard or not at all.......if you have to be told...you wouldn't understand anyway!!

..just razzin ya!! ha!

and hey, you said in an earlier post you had ten mugs...now you claim to have originally 7 mugs....what the high hell???

On 2008-05-30 04:21, jmack wrote:

I just dont get this huge cult fascination with Tiki culture.

So what is it that makes you all so insane for this stuff?

Cult?

Lifestyle!!!

Tiki is like drugs. Once you're hooked it's all over
from there!!!

What's so great about two ought ought eight?

"So what is it that makes you all so insane for this stuff?"

Turning 5 cents into 225 dollars could be a turn on.

What Ben said....

For some of us being into tiki is waaaaaaayy beyond our control. It ts just our destination.Ive actually been into tiki since I was a kid, but I didnt put all the pieces together (and figure out that TIKI was what it was) until I was in my mid 20"s.

On 2008-05-30 04:21, jmack wrote:
So what is it that makes you all so insane for this stuff?

For me, my love of tiki has everything to do with my love of pop culture in general. Combine that with a childhood fascination with the South Pacific and tales of myterious tropical islands seldom seen (at the time) by ordinary folk, well, you have a combination that is rather potent.

Oh, and the art is way cool, too!

Tiki is like returning to the womb.

I just dont get this huge cult fascination with Tiki culture.

Let's put aside for a moment all of the dollar signs associated with tiki.

Tiki culture means different things to different people, however one very distinguished member of Tiki Central posted something a few years ago (2004 I think) that explains tiki's fascination in a simple but descriptive and meaningful manner. I loved it so much I copied it and still re-read it quite often. For me, this is why I enjoy tiki culture as much as I do:

"The human need for a paradise on earth is eternal since Adam and Eve were cast out of it. Upon the discovery of the Polynesian islands in the 1800s, people believed they had found this lost haven. Thus Polynesia became the equivalent of Paradise, the antidode to all the ailments of civilized man. This need was so strong that a culture of it's own, apart from the realities of a people and a place, took hold in the common mind. We now call this Tiki culture.

Even though in this day and age it has been proven that no human culture without conflict and strife exists, Tiki culture recognizes and embellishes the human need for the ideal of an earthly paradise, playfully re-enacting the concept. Tikiphiles ignore the jaded rational facts of today's over-informed world and fulfill their emotional needs by indulging in yesterday's naivitee.

All the while we are fully conscious of course that we are just playing a game...right?"

• Sven Kirsten

It's many different things.
Art, music, food, drinks and fashion.
Culture & history.
Besides who doesn't like a pretty girl in a grass skirt swaying to the sound of trade winds...

[ Edited by: KuKu 2008-05-30 08:26 ]

My Tikis are my onwy fwends. Sniff.

[ Edited by: HelloTiki 2008-05-30 08:58 ]

On 2008-05-30 07:50, Kenike wrote:
Tiki culture recognizes and embellishes the human need for the ideal of an earthly paradise

If we tikiphiles were more successful in pulling off this faux earthly paradise, those ceramic mugs wouldn't be selling for ridiculous amounts of money on ebay and hoarded for our personal collections. But, the laws of supply and demand do not exclude tikiphiles apparently.

....Kenike's Post sez it beautifully. Also I love the look of the Tiki visage and adding another mug or item to my collection always annoys my wife.
Ciao

On 2008-05-30 06:32, RevBambooBen wrote:

On 2008-05-30 04:21, jmack wrote:

Cult?

Lifestyle!!!

Tiki is like drugs. Once you're hooked it's all over
from there!!!

Yeah, what my cult leader Ben says

TIKI is like viagra. Just watch where you put that thing cause you can get splinters.

Seeing The Enchanted Tiki Tiki Tiki Room at Disneyland at age 12 made me snap. Quiet Village, growing up in the surf culture Huntington Beach Ca. Primal instinct revolting against the machine. Working in a cube makes a man a zombie. Tiki as anti-establishment? What the high hell. Tune in, turn on, and drop out brah.

On 2008-05-30 10:56, Jungle Trader wrote:
Seeing The Enchanted Tiki Tiki Tiki Room at Disneyland at age 12 made me snap. Quiet Village, growing up in the surf culture Huntington Beach Ca. Primal instinct revolting against the machine. Working in a cube makes a man a zombie. Tiki as anti-establishment? What the high hell. Tune in, turn on, and drop out brah.

More like Tune in, Turn On, Pass out (mai tais being what they are)

I'm not obsessed, I'm a balanced person. And I'm getting better every day.
I'm not obsessed, I'm a balanced person. And I'm getting better every day.
I'm not obsessed, I'm a balanced person. And I'm getting better every day.

Mahalo Kenike for the quote. Yet for some this might already be too intellectual/philosophical. For folks that have the above question, it often works best to show them the Book of Tiki. The completeness of the eye candy world within speaks for itself. Everything else is piecemeal.

Unfortunately, this way of converting people has become quite expensive. The window of when the BOT was easily affordable has closed, and so has the opportunity of the masses to effortlessly "get" Tiki. The obsession with Tiki cannot be explained in words, its more an emotional love affair with a seductive visual universe. I am curious to see if TIKI MODERN will eventually work in a similar manner.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-30 12:16 ]

On 2008-05-30 11:58, Bongo Bungalow wrote:
I'm not obsessed, I'm a balanced person. And I'm getting better every day.
I'm not obsessed, I'm a balanced person. And I'm getting better every day.
I'm not obsessed, I'm a balanced person. And I'm getting better every day.

Some day, there may be a cure for tiki,
That's the day, I'll throw my rum away...

RUM!

Tiki is/was a fine example of post-war mid-century modernism at it's finest; when ANYTHING was possible and WE could make it happen.

Those days are gone.

I want them back.

On 2008-05-30 20:56, SilverLine wrote:
Tiki is/was a fine example of post-war at it's finest; when ANYTHING was possible and WE could make it happen.

Those days are gone. I want them back.

We need a good war before we can have a good post-war. :drink: (just playing)

...but I'm always intrigued by Detroit history...

I just dont get this huge cult fascination with Tiki culture.

So what is it that makes you all so insane for this stuff?

Ah... it's a warm weather, 365 days a year, warm weather thing, you would not understand...
BYW is it pronounced Deee Troit? or are you just cinching your teeth against the cold?
I see you might get up to 70 today, good luck with that, 86 here. Nice waves. May have to water the palms and banana trees today...did I mention bikini's?

I live in Detroit and in my apartment alone it was 82 degrees yesterday. I so am going to melt this summer.

As a relative newcomer to the world of Tiki, I'll throw in my two cents. Tiki is fun, relaxing, and an escape. It's a world free of stress, but even more importantly free of cynicism. It's appreciating history that usually isn't quite old enough to be considered history (that's the time when it's most in danger). From reading the posts it seems like a lot of us here at TC are also into other 20th century retro stuff as well.

I was an unknowing tikiphile for years before I grasped it. I loved going to the Honolulu in Virginia. Then I left town for a number of years, came back, and it was gone :(. So I decided I had to find another place like it. That's when I discovered this site, Tiki Road Trip, Book of Tiki, etc. Now, when possible, I try to incorporate a little tiki into every trip I take.

Is it weird? I dunno. Look at the Irish bars on every other corner, filled with people with little or no Irish blood in them. Look at people into the Goth lifestyle, or the "Gangsta" lifestyle, or whatever. If you're going to escape, might as well make it to paradise. And the drinks are damn good too.

wow very interesting indeed.

even funnier how people keep taking shots about those damn mugs....

seriously youd think i had punched someones mother in the face.

guys they are cups my wifes grandmother gave us. ultimately im listing that stuff as she says. i figured id stop in here because it seems you guys are awfully fanatic about the stuff and list it for you to bid on.

and yes one of the mugs sold for $225. i dont know why people are getting so pissed off about it. its not like im taking the money to the bar. perhaps it would make those who are bitter feel better if they knew we are taking all the money we are making off these cups and sending my wifes grandmother on vacation (maybe hawaii!!) shes in remission from cancer, and we figured, if money is made off of them, what better to spend it on than to send grandma on vacation? after all, they WERE her cups.

Anyway, so thats why we've been so vigilant to sell them on ebay and maximize what we can make off of the cups. otherwise, id give em to whoever for $10 each. I only wanted to keep one or two for myself because im a fanatic about detroit history and the story of the mauna loa absolutely intrigues the hell outta me.

so all that being said... i am going to continue to post the rest on ebay, so feel free to check the tiki marketplace as i will be posting just a few more listings. before they are all gone.

thanks guys!

even funnier how people keep taking shots about those damn mugs....

Some people just don't like it when others profit from tiki, unless it's YOUR creation then I guess it's OK. One time I listed a clearly non-vintage Big Lot's mug that some dummy bid $40.00 on and everyone blamed ME! But when "limited edition" mugs come out and sell for $50-$75 each people line up in droves to grab one without a complaint.

Good luck on your mug sales!

To be fair, Kenike, the difference here was that, on his first post here on TC, jmack asked for people that were interested in the mugs to e-mail him, giving them hope that they could get these for affordable prices, and then did not respond to their mails, but plopped them straight on e-bay. And these folks were not just me-want-all mug collectors, but valiant urban archeologists who specialized in collecting Mauna Loa material. So I understand their disappointment, just as I understand that jmack decided to get the best dollar possible for his loot. At least he was open about it, and did not simply disappear, like this other benefactor recently that promised to spread his newly found mug wealth among the TC Ohana and has never been heard of again since.

On 2008-06-06 23:01, bigbrotiki wrote:
To be fair, Kenike, the difference here was that, on his first post here on TC, jmack asked for people that were interested in the mugs to e-mail him, giving them hope that they could get these for affordable prices, and then did not respond to their mails, but plopped them straight on e-bay. And these folks were not just me-want-all mug collectors, but valiant urban archeologists who specialized in collecting Mauna Loa material. So I understand their disappointment, just as I understand that jmack decided to get the best dollar possible for his loot. At least he was open about it, and did not simply disappear, like this other benefactor recently that promised to spread his newly found mug wealth among the TC Ohana and has never been heard of again since.

Ohhhh, now I get it it. I remember that post now but didn't put it together. Sorry for misunderstanding. :oops:

Pronounced keh-NEE-kay

[ Edited by: Kenike 2008-06-07 05:25 ]

Hey, if a guy can sell a mug for a bazillion dollars, more power to him. I'd collect vintage Ferraris if I could afford it, but I can't so I ain't gonna cry about it.

As to the original question..For me Tiki is an atmosphere that is completely apart from the real world..and maybe it's that paradise thing that Sven wrote..but it's an atmosphere that is calm, exotic and a little mysterious. Something about the combination of tropical plants, running water, dim lighting and cozy spaces can instantly change my mood. Either you get it or you don't, it's a completely visceral thing because I remember the feeling from the very first time I went to the Tiki Room at Disneyland.

Dan picked up a copy of Tiki News at Tower Records... He says, "this looks interesting, I'm going to buy it." Next it's, "Hey honey can you find any Tiki Mugs at Garage Sales?" Then on to, "Hey if we got a computer could you get me mugs on eBay?" Then from that point on, "Where shall we drive to find tikis."

The modern day treasure hunt began. The thrill of the big find.

Then he finds "must haves" that have chips or scrapes, he asks, "sweetheart could you repair this for me?"

I start working to fix his mugs, then it's, "Hey they never made a bowl to go with this mug, could you make one?" This is the start of my love of making tiki art.

All of this is fun, it's having your own paradise at home. But the greatest joy that tiki brings are all the friendships you form along the way. We have made and kept more friendships through tiki collecting than any where else.

We went to Tiki Oasis 7 and for the first time I got to meet face to face so many friends I knew on-line. It was a hug fest and I can't wait to do it all again this August.

It's fun for everyone who gets involved, but just like Ben we don't worry about the ones we can't afford or that slip through our fingers. Friendships count for more than the tikis we collect. Wendy

To see our obsession go to http://www.claytikis.com and choose A Serious Hobby section.

I agree with what most of the other members are saying here - tiki is a great escape to paradise.

I agree with all the answers given but, I'd like to add another possible reason.

My love of tiki (like many of us) has roots in my childhood. I think that along with visions of paradise we are attracted to tiki because it reminds us of a time that was very family oriented and a good time to be a kid. A time that many have pointed out when, our future was looking very optimistic and utopian. So the magic of those places and parties; The Enchanted Tiki Tiki Tiki Room at Disneyland , Mom & Dad's back yard luau, going to a tiki restaurant or, in my case vacationing every summer with my family at the Aku Tiki Inn in Daytona Beach, FL., it gets into your subconscious and whenever you see anything "Tiki" it instantly takes you back to that time.

So, owning a piece of that era, be it a mug from Trader Vic's or, a weathered old tiki from a long ago tiki bar keeps us in touch with that "enchanted past" and keeps it alive.

:drink:

Don Beach once said "If you can't go to paradise, I'll bring it to you"

I think I’ve found what I was looking for! TIKI…that is.
And here’s how it happened:

As a child I was fascinated by National Geographics with photos of exotic tropical islands.

That led to a beautiful atlas that I would use to spend hours tracing sea routes from my home to the tropics.

That led to me understanding why coconuts sometimes washed up on our beach. (It also played a part in my becoming a cartographer, hence the screen name)

Those trips to the beach often included a stop at a marvelous fifties-era shell shop. That’s were I realized that the whole exotic tropical theme could be anywhere you wanted it to be.

Next was the obligatory Disney World trip with the Enchanted Tiki Room and dinner at the Polynesian Resort. Tropical escapism beyond anything I’d imagined.

Growing up on the Gulf coast in the whole fishing/boating culture, anytime I mentioned my tropical interest I was directed to Jimmy Buffet, reggae, Key West and the Caribbean.
Somehow that just didn’t work for me.

Uncle Sam sent me to the Virgin Islands for a while followed by an extended stay on the Kenyan coast. I loved the tropics but didn’t know how to bring that feel home.

A while back my wife was setting up an Island themed party and put me in charge of finding music. I was tired of the same old thing and thought about those old Tiki bars I’d heard of but never seen. I googled “Tiki lounge music” and it took off from there. THAT was the music I knew in my head! I found this site and here I am.

So now what? There are no tiki bars nearby and I’m not much of a drinker anyway. What’s the next step?

Hey Mapmaker -- I'd say the next step is creating your own tiki lounge at home, like I did.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28843&forum=18&33

That way you can create a tailor-made version of what tropical paradise means 2 u & won't have to drive to hell-and-gone looking in vain for a tiki bar!

Cheers :drink: :tiki:

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2008-10-16 17:38 ]

Mapmaker,

What's next? Why jump in with both feet of course.

Being a mapmaker myself (anybody else out there a Tiki and Map oriented folk) I completely undestand the way it jives with the geographic.

Not much of a drinker?
Me neither. But quality can replace quantity.
Learning to mix these fine drinks can be like apprenticing to an alchemist.

Maybe take OOGA-MOOGA to the rest of things Tiki and collectible.
Wrestle with your inner SQL master.

Tiki has its outlets and inroads besides the nostalgic Tiki Bar.

Of course if you don't have the Book of Tiki, by all means that is what is next.

Carving, anthropology, Googie Architecture, Disneyland-ia, ceramics, artistic release!

I think the Tiki thread you would follow is the Tiki Map, a path not often traveled.

Where is Tiki?
(I would gladly consider pumping the Critiki data through GIS and output it to a Google Earth File or a sexier map mashup)

Where is Polynesian Pop?

How can you tell the most compelling story of TIKI cartographically?

What is the distribution pattern of a given tiki mug across the landscape.

But I bet travel is the final answer for you.

Go to the heart of TIKI, see the Polynesian Pop dinosaurs still lurking in our suburbs or in our ongoing unearthing of Tiki-pop-archaelogy.

Go in person to its ancestral homes of Fiji, Easter Island, Hawaii, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Oceania, Tonga, Samoa, Marquesas, New Guinea, Tahiti, Society Islands, Tuamotus.

See you when you get back!