Hello fellow Tikiphiles

I am in the processof revamping my screened back porch into a Tiki Temple! I am currently looking for stuff to hang from the celing. Things like beachcomber lamps, blowfish, glass balls in nets. That sort of thing. Any suggestions and links would be appreciated. I have always been obsessed with this stuff. When I was a kid we always stayed at Tiki motels on our vacations to Florida. I read Kon-Tiki until the pages fell out of the book. Lately I have been going on "pilgrimages" Lately I visited the Kyoto in Williamsburg, Va. Good Tiki drinks and you can buy some of the mugs for very reasonable prices (I purchased a bamboo mug for $4.90) The chef we had at the hibachi wasn't very good though, he kept dropping the food on the floor. Anyway, hello.

I see this is your first post----Welcome aboard! I think you'll find it's a pretty friendly bunch here. :)

My wife and I had dinner at Kyoto a few weeks ago----we like the hibachi style cooking you find in the Japanese steakhouses, although the chef's tricks get a little old after awhile (another smoking onion volcano?) Still, I thought Kyoto compared pretty favorably with some other places we've tried. They sold some of their drinks in complementary "Japanese" tikis--ie. the samurai, geisha, Buddha, etc.
As far as tiki decor, I've seen those glass floats all over Ebay for between $10.00 and $20.00(if "Ebay" isn't a dirty word in your house). I'm sure other folks here can make some recommendations as well.

Welcome aboard!

:tiki:

Thanks for the answer. Both my wife and I buy and sell on EBay, so , no it is not a dirty word at our house. Since Tiki is "hot" right now, I am not expecting any great deals or anything. I see no problem with this kind of capitalism. If the market says a San Francisco Tiki Bob mug is worth $50, then great! If a Kahiki volcano bowl goes for $90 then that is what the market says it is worth today. I read the "whine" in the Book of Tiki about auction sites taking the fun of the hunt and cheap deals out of Tiki artifacts. I guess it is disapointing to those early Tiki acheologists who some years ago could pick up most of this stuff for a few bucks at yard sales and thrift stores, but once a fad takes hold, the price goes up. There probably still are some good deals to be had at the random yard sale but those days may be coming to an end. The good side of this is as the word gets around that vintage Tiki is valuable then what little remains of 50's and 60's Polynesian Pop has a better chance of surviving and not ending up thrown away or destroyed.

Hi Trader Rick,
Welcome to TC! We have a porch on our back deck that is decorated entirely with garage sale and flea market finds - except for a couple strings of cheesey Tiki lights. I haven't come across any good deals on glass floats yet, but I've found the 60's round spagetti chain lamps to be an adequate replacement. Especially if you can score some old fish nets for the ceiling. I've made some of my own Tiki masks from scrap pieces of plywood to help round things out. I also make a variety of concrete Tikis that I occaisionally peddle on Ebay and sell directly off my primitive little website. I've only been a TC member for a couple of months, and I can already attest to what a great- and talented bunch of people we have here. If you're anything like me, you won't be able to stay away! Have fun!

Aloha, Trader Rick!

Don't know if you realize this but there's already a Trader_Rick on TC, from Santa Barbara. Not that you can't have the same name if you choose, but it gets awfully confusing for bears of very little brain like myself when there's two (or more) folks with the same name.

Hi Trader Rick
Welcome to da tribe. I myself am currently redecorating my lanai (patio) for the upcomming summer parties and my wife and I are not highly skilled craftsmen, but we do have good ideas (and tools) so our progress is only slowed by the learning process, time & money. We started by clearing the area, cleaning the floor & laying down a coat of seafoam green outdoor porch paint. Next we repainted the walls & overhead and put up some reed fencing material along the wall behind the bar & fish net above. Lighting is still a work in progress, as I might decide to install more outlets to cut down on the use of extension cords. My coconut palm Ku tiki is in place & the last thing to do is finish the bar (two days away), find some cheep, suitable bar stools and...buy all the BOOZE!!! (always could use more tiki mugs too). After that, things like decorations & additional shelving for bar ware should fall into place.
Aloha,
SWJ