What was your first mug?

Mine was "The Tiki's" Moai from Monterey Park, just curious :D

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2003-08-07 20:12 ]

DisneyWorld Polynesian Resorts' frosted glass, 2 sided/faced mug. both the large & small sizes. 1980-something.
-Z

I inherited a lot of mugs by way of Kiliki, but the first I bought was a pair of the surfer girl mugs at our favorite local antique store.

Treasure Craft cofee cup marked "Treasure Craft hawaii 1960" 25 cents, score!
Mahalo,
Al

My first was "Super Tiki Deluxe" from MunkTiki.
He still sits front and center of my collection of nearly 100 mugs.

I started out with a 6 mug set of the worlds most common Tiki mugs, the short ones from Harvey's at Lake Tahoe. The one that people always call a planter. I only paid 16 bucks for the lot, so I guess its not all that bad...:)

I got a short one too. Has "The Tonga Room" printed on the back. I'm a displaced San Franciscan and enjoyed the place back in college when no one was really interested in that stuff (as far as I know). I don't think they had mugs you could keep back then so I got one years later on Ebay.

I bought one Shag mug, Kapu-Kapu, and I could of bought the whole set for $150.00
DOH!!

A Trader Vic's Canada coconut mug at a Value Village for $1.99. I was SOOOO excited! I grabbed that puppy as fast as I could, but my heart was still beating a mile a minute!

Aloha, eh?
-Tikiwahine

A Trader Dick's Peanut mug from Reno Nevada! The rarest of the rare!!

Mrs. ModMana vacationed in San Diego when she was 14 (1970s). Her uncle took her to the Bali Hai and she ordered a Mr. Bali Hai mug filled with some sort of virgin cocktail. That mug then sat untouched in her mother's basement in Indiana for the next 20 years. A few years ago we were bitten by the tiki bug and that old Mr. Bali Hai started our now substantial mug collection. Thanks to my mother-in-law for not selling it a garage sale or throwing it away. :)

ModMana :drink:

I got my first mug at the age of 13 at a thrift store in Alabama. You can see a pic of it on my website or right here in the Collecting Tiki forum in the thread "Treasure found in Grandma's attic" it's the Green OMC (handled) Tiki Mug.

I remember my Mom being horrified that I wanted to buy it. I'm glad I had an allowance or I probably wouldn't have it today.

Yee-Haw & Aloha,

The World of Tiki Kiliki

[ Edited by: tiki_kiliki on 2003-08-08 07:03 ]

My first was the skull mug in which The Kahiki served their Zombies.

"The Tikis" Black Moai - $2.00 at a junk shop across the street from Knott's Berry Farm.

First mug was a wooden one from the Philippines. Used to find 'em all the time at garage sales for a quarter. Had quite a collection of those going before I became interested in ceramic mugs. Passed up a few ceramic ones at thrift stores -- including a Mr. Bali Hai -- before I thought "hmmmm, maybe I should be collecting these too." First ceramic mug was this one, marked Hing Wah Co. Calgary on the bottom.

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-04-09 17:53 ]

Mine too was the black moai from the Tiki's but found at a swap meet in N. Arizona.

When I graduated from college (88) and got my first New York City apartment, I convinced my roommates that instead of regular glasses, we needed to buy a case of Moai mugs from Orchids of Hawaii for our kitchen. We also got skull mugs for our coffee.

I still have the catalogue, and 6 of the mugs. Those were the days.

Mine was an absolute no brainer. I got one of the many Tiki Farm mugs at Soap Plant/Wacko in LA. Specifically, it was the Hibuscus Head mug.

Shag led me to the world of Tiki so it of course it happened to Kapu-Kapu.

My first mug was this beaut, Digs #19 of 100, from Munktiki.

In a drunken moment of benevolence, I attempted to give it away to a friend, but they refused. So now I'm stuck with it.

My parents used Barbados rum in my formula to help with my teathing. I was "pacified" toward the almighty tiki. The rest is history.

When I was 5, my parents went on a "date" to the newly opened Benihana of Tokyo here in Harrisburg. My mom had a Mai Tai or Sing' Sling or something and brought the mug home for me. It's a white "Jolly Hotei" and it still has the foil stamp on the bottom marked Imperial Imports Japan. I was so excited that, AAK!... my head fell off.

O.H.'s Tiki Leilani from the Hawaiian Inn, of course.

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2003-08-08 13:36 ]

A carved wooden Ku mug for a £1, our eyes met across a crowded charity store and i was in love.

Tiki-Bob rip-off from Bali Hai at Ponchartrain Beach, natch.

My first mug was a "Sneaky Tiki" from Harvey's. Shortly after that I got a Harvey's bucket -- it now sits in my aquarium and Sluggo (my oscar) likes to push it around with his mouth.

Again, four black moais from The Tikis at a garage sale for a quarter apiece. I had seen tiki mugs often enough at garage sales but these were the first I decided to buy. I remember thinking, "they're so common, but if I want to have my own tiki bar in my house, I better start buying mugs for it." Later that day I went to almost played-out estate sale at 4:00pm or so. I picked up 2 handled Westwood mugs for fifty cents each that no one had touched all day. I thought it would always be this easy. sigh.

Sabu

Mine was a modern brown tiki mug that I bought a few years ago at a flea market they hold at the U of H stadium on Oahu. After that, I was hooked.

Mr. Bali Hai... I thought it was a pencil holder.

Mr. Bali Hai...natch

When I was a child I used to keep some weebles in the Bali Ha'i (New Orleans) 3 tiki blue bowl from my grandmother.

"Oh, Oliver. Oliver, how could I have been so careless? I should have covered the entrance to the cave better. Those children are going to ruin everything. I've got to get rid of them." Professor Whitehead 10/6/72 Brady Bunch "Tiki Caves"

[ Edited by: suzywong on 2003-08-09 06:19 ]

When I was in college, my girlfriend who is now my wife, found a set of 6 mugs at a junk shop. She thought I'd dig them because she knew I had a thing for all things Hawaiian/Polynesian. When she brought them up to the register, the lady looked at her sideways and said, "You want THOSE?" I think she got the lot for a couple of bucks.
Here's a link to them, there are 3 of each:
http://www.tikiroom.net/gallery/unmarked/adq

I still occasionally get the "You want THOSE?" look at the flea market/thrift shop, often followed by the old "Are those worth anything?". I love those moments!

ALoha! Hey, this is really cool. It makes me a litle crazy when I think of the stuff that slipped through my hands over the years.

The first (I think) was from the Outrigger on Cannery Row in Monterey.

A set of Tiki Bobs. Not the palm log style, but the OOH statue.

Trader vics coconut mug.... It came free with drink. I think I have 100 of them now.

Yippee A'Kai Yay!

[ Edited by: MTKahuna on 2003-08-13 11:59 ]

On 2003-08-13 11:58, MTKahuna wrote:
Trader vics coconut mug.... It came free with drink. I think I have 100 of them now.

That was my first one too... then i got two Shag mugs from his 2nd edition at shop in Laguna, only $18 each! that was a great day...

Mine was a little 2" wooden tiki mug I got from a birthday trip to Disneyland when I was a kid. I completely remember spending all my B-day loot at an Adventureland gift shop. I picked up a plaster Moai wall mask, an African carving of a native holding a spear and shield and the little tiki mug. I still have them all! The price sticker is still on the bottom of the mug and says Disneyland $2.00.
That is the only stuff that survived my Firecracker years.
Chongolio

-- I believe that our Heavenly Father invented the monkey because he was disappointed in man."
... Mark Twain

[ Edited by: Chongolio on 2003-08-17 08:19 ]

I got a skull mug and a Moai the same night at the Kahiki about 10 years ago, still have both in places of honor...

Tiki Farm's "Hot Head" although I'm not really collecting mugs and mainly use them for drinking :)

My first mug? I'll let you know when I get it. :)

When I was about 4-5 (1959) My Dad used to take us for long weekends down to Shelter Island so he could watch the Navy ships and dream of better days. We were regulars at Bali Hai, he would prop me up at the bar with a virgin Mai Tai and we would watch the Polynesian Revue. Its no wonder that my first mug was a Mr. Bali Hai. (no wonder I have a problem with booze...)

I don't remember exactly which one it was but I'm sure it was probably a Stockton Islander mug. That was back when I could find mugs for a buck each. Probably at the same thrift store that I found my suffering bastard decanter at too ( $.75 ! ).

orchids of hawaii r-91 set of six

TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

Orchids of Hawaii R-72 Moai Mug. Have a friend in the restaurant supply business who has hooked me up with some cheap modern imitations since and I appreciate that very much (Even the Cheap Ones have Character - Just Character Different from the Originals). Also have "Collected" (er... Bought) several Tiki Farms. Even have the silly little set of 4 from Archie McPhee. I must admit to being a drinker outer of'er and not a collector myself. I do, however, get a special thrill when drinking from a piece of history.

I always rememberd that I had a cool mug when I was about 12 that my grandmother brought me from some trip. I loved it and drank everything out of it. I also remember that my kid brother broke it in a fit of, well, whatever his fits were about.

It wasn't until I went through some old photos my mom sent me (and the photo from SciGirl) that I finally remembered which mug it was. That's right, it was that Crane headhunter. Suddenly I'm mad at my brother all over again!

I'll post a pic of 12-year-old me with that mug as soon as I can get it scanned.

I guess I'd have to say what really lit the Tiki Torch for me was when I found this old "set" of four Jard Mugs for $4.00 at my local swap meet.

Found a Harvey's Hula Girl Mug at an East Berlin flea market. Lady wanted $1 for that "beautiful vase". I still wonder how it found its way. I cant't provide childhood stories (due to the lack of Tiki Bars in Germany).