Stockton Islander BambooTreasure, Trade, Swap or Free

The Stockton Islander Bamboo Treasure

Note: If you’re not already familiar with the background story of this Treasure you can find it in “The Lost Chapter: Hop Louie and the Stockton Islander” thread.

I recently acquired a 125 piece treasure of genuine vintage Stockton Islander bamboo that had been kept in a warehouse by Neil Pollard since he had it stripped from the Islanders interior over 23 years ago. Most pieces are 8 to 12 ft in length and from 1 inch to 6 inches wide. All but two are split in half as they were used in the interior trim.

Hear are some sample photos

What to do with it all…

Between the expeditions and all the research I’ve become somewhat attached to the old place. Id like to spread this treasure out far and wide if possible so here is my plan.

1, (Swap or Trade)
Since I spent a good portion of my Tiki mug acquisition fund on this bamboo I am offering to swap a piece or several, for whatever Tiki mug, swizzle stick or Tiki item a TC’er wishes to offer. You can come by my house and pick out your piece or if you live far away and wish to pay the postage on it then that’s fine to. Send me an E-Mail and we can arrange it.

2, (Free Bamboo)
I would be happy to give any TC’er a free piece or two, up to 12ft long if they want to come pick it up in Lodi or pay for the postage.

3, (Free Bamboo on the Go)
When ever I travel to a Tiki restaurant/bar or event I will bring some with me. I’ll send out a message on this thread announcing when and where. If you’re in the area just meet me there and it’s yours.

4, (Free Bamboo for Tiki Businesses)
If any owner, manager or employee at a Tiki Bar/Restaurant or other Tiki business should want some to display in there establishment just send me an E-Mail and we’ll work out the details.

5, (Other ?)
If anyone has any other ideas just send me a PM.

There are only 125 pieces and I will be keeping 25 of those pieces for my own collection. Each piece will be cleaned with soap and water unless it has been requested to leave it the way I found it. Each piece will have an identifying inscription on the back with a serial number between 001 and 125. If a long piece is cut into 1 to 2 ft sections it will carry the piece number and the section number on it.

I will try to fill the requests in the order I receive them. If you get a piece and want to take a picture of it in your home Tikibar or collection and post it on this tread that would be great. I really don’t know what the demand will be or how this will all turn out but I hope it will be fun and beneficial for the TC ohana and somehow the Mythical Stockton Islander.

Happy Hunting!
Abstractiki

Abstract,

What a great gesture, thanks for sharing this cool find with the folks here on TC.

Here is the link to the main Islander post for more info.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15550&forum=1&start=135&139

Look forward to trading for a nice little piece of Islander history - sent you a PM

DC

Thanks dusty!

Here is a tag I made, I'll send one of these with some string out with every piece or section of bamboo.

Nice! Appropriate artifact tagging, I say.

Excellent! I like the incorporation of the blueprints and sign.

I picked up my Islander bamboo today - thanks Abstractiki! Tomorrow I'll clean it up and post pictures.

I may make a tapa lamp and use the bamboo as an accent, or maybe a picture frame for an Islander tribute collage, or new trim for my bar...

Abstract is not only a super-star urban archeologist, but an amazing watercolor painter, not to mention a helluva nice guy. Thanks again man and I hope to see you again soon! I'll be watching for pics of your Tiki Hut...

Trad'r Bill

-Abstractiki still had some pieces left when I was there, but I bet they go quickly!

Would love a few long pieces for the bare ceiling in my VampTiki Lounge. I'm sure we will hook up sometime, so hang onto a few and will ply you with some kind of a rum concoction. :)

That is a wonderful gesture.
Count me in for a piece or two. I'm in Elk Grove, just a few minutes up the road.
PM on it's way.

Darilyn

Looks like alot of the bamboo is water stained , probably from where it was stored
after tear down-abstract ?

Yea, there are a lot of water stains but mostly on the flatter pieces, not sure why those got the brunt of it. Maybe because the water sat on it and didn't run off like on the curved pieces. Allot of the other ones don't have any water stains. Those stained flat pieces are actually my favorite pieces, they look really cool when they are cleaned up.

Yea, the warehouse wasn't a real nice one, its falling apart and has been for a long time I'm sure.

A few pieces have hardly a scratch on them. It all has one or more of the following: cracks, split ends, water stains, dirt, cobwebs, dead spiders, nail holes, pealing varnish, some kind of paint or stain, scratches etc. .

It sounds bad but Its really not that bad, the stuff is really cool when cleaned up a bit.

and i want to say thanks to everyone for all the posted comments and PM. The response has been great. I'm diligently cleaning, cutting, organizing, numbering, mailing and working on the orders :)

Trad'r Bill traded this cool poster for some bamboo recently, Mahalo Bill!

:)

Trader Vic's poster

You are a great person Abstactiki. Way to spread the Aloha.

Mahalo Tai! :)

Closettiki traded this Stockton Islander Mug!!! :)

LOL Tiki traded me all this cool Tiki stuff for a bunch of bamboo this week!! :) The tall hula girl is from the Islander!

[ Edited by: abstractiki 2009-12-26 08:57 ]

Well my garage has some how turned into the Islander Bamboo Factory and I've been putting in some OT.

Last week I took Moondog426 up on his invitation to join him in giving coats to the homeless. I brought him a few pieces of Bamboo and I had a chance to visit his totally awesome Tiki lounge. I wish I would have taken pictures. He gave me a cool mug and delivered a box of Bamboo to Vamp's Dick Dale Pre Party for me. Thanks Moondog426!

I thought I would post some pics of the factory so here goes!

This is just part of the treasure that is left.

Next I do some cutting if the request is for some smaller pieces.

If I cut a piece I will sand down the edge that I cut, otherwise no sanding.

Next I wash it in my wife's new sink! She's so happy!

After I let it dry I label each piece with a sharpie.

Some old English Oil helps bring out the beauty of the Bamboo.

Some quality Hemp for the Tagging.

Tag done on parchment paper.

Big piece ready for Shipping.

Two pieces waiting for new home at Tobunga's.

I'm sending these with Tobunga to give out to TCers during his Tiki Travels.

Ok that's it for now! :)

David, you're an animal, I mean that in a good way.
I was in Sutter Creek a few months back antiquing and bought a few tiki collectibles. The lady at the register told me that some guy from Lodi was recently in to collect for his home tiki bar. I think it was you. You've been bitten. There's no turning back. Will you be joining us in Palo Alto Jan. 30th?

Wonderful execution. Such an artefact would fall right in line with my piece of lava rock from the Playa del Rey Polynesian Village Apartments, the tile piece from Aloha Jhoe's, and that shard of the pool of a streamline moderne Moorish Havana residence. All reminders of past glories.

Jungle Trader wrote- "David, you're an animal, I mean that in a good way.
I was in Sutter Creek a few months back antiquing and bought a few tiki collectibles. The lady at the register told me that some guy from Lodi was recently in to collect for his home tiki bar. I think it was you. You've been bitten. There's no turning back. Will you be joining us in Palo Alto Jan. 30th?"

Ha Ha! I'll take that as a compliment, thanks! Yea I got bit hard. Ive got a serious case of Tiki Fever.

Well Ive been to all the antique stores and thrift stores in Lodi and Stockton but I haven't had time to make it up to Sutter creek yet unfortunately. I'm seeing a lot of Islander stuff coming from the Sacramento area posted on Collecting Tiki and it's killing me!

Un fortunately I can't make it to the Palo Alto Jan. 30th event. If the vending was a daytime gig then i could probably make that but it doesn't start till 6:00pm so no. :(

Maybe I can meet you at Minnie's sometime in January? I could give you some bamboo to hand out to the TCers if you could help with that.

[ Edited by: abstractiki 2009-12-26 21:56 ]

Sent you a PM.

Got some from Vamp. Thanks so much.

This brings to mind another great memento which is now in a museum in Paris, in Andre Breton's rebuilt wall from his office:

A small rock, a found object, that HE entitled "Souvenir of Paradise on Earth":

By putting it on a pedestal and labeling it, he imbued it with artifact status. WE have the power to do this. :)

WHoa, there is a lot going on in that above photo. And I'm liking it all

bigbro wrote - "Wonderful execution"

thanks!

brenda wrote - "Thanks so much."

you're very welcome!

There is indeed a lot going on in bigbro's posted pictures and comment. Interesting, thought provoking. Andre Breton is a great abstract artist, writer and legendary collector of primitive art.

Vamp brought me some as well David.Thank you very much.

David, Mahalo for giving the gift of bamboo!

A happy group of Waikiki Womb revellers on New Years day :)

I'd love to have a piece of this bamboo for my collection. I have only started collecting tiki this past year so don't have anything to trade at the moment. I'd be more than willing to pay the postage to Canada. Any ideas on the cost?

tikitam, I would be happy to send you a piece or several! I'll send you a PM with all the details. Shipping has been averaging 10 to 20 bucks so far.

61surf, you are very welcome, glad you were able to get a piece during your norcal visit!

bigbro, Wow looks like I missed another cool party! glad you all were able to get some bamboo. Big thanks to Tobunga for helping me get this bamboo out to the TCers in So Cal.

Tobunga gave me this great art work and pendant he made when he picked up some bamboo last week!

What a great picture bigbro!!!

What wonderful infectious gifts you have bestowed on us, abstract...the BOO felt round the TC world. :)

Thanks Vamp :), Ive had requests from Nevada and Michigan and I have sent some to New Mexico. Tomorrow I'm sending some to Canada. If i can get some to Hawaii or Tahiti that would be really cool. Any one heading to Easter Island??

Aloha David!

I guess you've seen from bigbro's post that I've been handing out the bamboo you gave me... in fact, it's all gone! Everybody who received a piece of tiki history was very happy!

Mahalo again for making the bamboo artifacts available, and all your work bringing Stockton's tiki past to life!

Happy New Year!

Here's my piece in its seat of honor in my Tiki altar:

I shall have to replace that Hale Tiki rendering in the frame above with a blow up of the Islander postcard. Oh, and someone please send me a set of those cool chopsticks with the sign and the girls on it. :wink:

That is very cool bigbro, thanks for posting. Oh, and um I would like some of those chopsticks to. :)

I just received three great Tiki mugs from TabooDan! Thanks for tradin TD! :)

I'll be at Minnie's on Thursday the Jan. 14th at 6:00pm with a bunch of bamboo. If any one wants some please stop on by! :)

You need to make yourself a sign: "Trade Bamboo for cocktails!"

It was very nice meeting you David. We enjoyed our little excursion to Lodi. Thanks for your generous offering of the Islander Bamboo. It will be cherished and well utilized in my forthcoming Tiki Lounge. I'm so glad the mug and swizzles were a hit.

Mahalo,
Darilyn

Very nice meeting you as well Darilyn. The mug and swizzles were indeed a big hit. :) Thanks again for those. Id love to see the Tiki Lounge when you're all done!

Here's the mug and swizzles in my backyard tiki hut.

Here's a big piece that's now on display at Minnie's.

Met up with Jungle Trader and gave him a bunch of 1-1/2 ft long x 4in wide bamboo for the TC Ohana at Trader Vic's January 30th.

Made this 8.5x11inch paper sign for the event.

Tikitam sent me these very cool Thor Heyerdahl souvenir coins! :) Thanks Tikitam! I just put 4 nice pieces of Islander Bamboo in the mail for her a couple of days ago. That makes 18 pieces Total in Canada now!

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom;

KON-TIKI Museet

Kon-Tiki was the name given to a raft by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition. On exhibit at the Kon-Tiki Museum is Thor Heyerdahl's original Kon-Tiki balsa-wood raft, used on this expedition from Peru to Polynesia to prove that the Polynesians originally came from South America.

Kon-Tiki Museum - Easter Island

In 1955-1956, Thor Heyerdahl organized the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition Easter Island. The expedition included experiments with regard to the carving, transport and erection of the moai statues.

Kon-Tiki Museum - Ra II

In 1969 and 1970, Thor Heyerdahl built two boats from papyrus and attempted to cross the Atlantic from Morocco in Africa. Based on drawings and models from ancient Egypt, the first boat, named Ra, was constructed by boat builders from Lake Chad in the Republic of Chad using reed obtained from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. After a number of weeks, Ra took on water after its crew made modifications to the vessel that caused it to sag and break apart.
A similar vessel, Ra II, was then built by boatmen from Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and likewise set sail across the Atlantic from Morocco, this time with great success. The boat reached Barbados, thus demonstrating that mariners could have made trans-Atlantic voyages by sailing with the Canary Current.

Kon-Tiki Museum - Tigris

Tigris was the name of the third boat built by Thor Heyerdahl, intended to demonstrate that trade and migration could have linked Mesopotamia with the Indus Valley Civilization in what is now modern-day Pakistan.
Tigris was built in Iraq and sailed with its international crew through the Persian Gulf to Pakistan and made its way into the Red Sea. After about 5 months at sea and still remaining seaworthy, the Tigris was deliberately burnt in Djibouti, on April 3, 1978 as a protest against the wars raging on every side in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa.

close up, Kon-Tiki Museum - Easter Island

Just traded with TravelingJones, he sent me these awesome mugs and pendant! Thanks Jonesey! :)

From left to right; Otagiri, Bosko, Orchids of Hawaii

Very cool! Real bones?? Sure looks real!

Nice trade! Really like the Bosko and the necklace. Did Jonesy make it?

Jonesey didn't mention that he made it so I would think probably not. It is really cool tho whoever made it.

Howzit LOL!

The necklace was made in the PI and imported/sold by a fella down in Key West. He was a TC'r called Ratiki...but hasn't posted in a couple years. FYI, yes they are real boars tusk, bone and wood beads.

Mahalo'z abstracttiki for da trade and I'll let ya know when da "boo" washes upon Eastern Shores... :D