Official Introductions Thread. New Members, Post your introduction here...

:lol: Someone should write a TIKI CENTRAL DICTIONARY!

O the shame of it all..how easy it is for many to stray....try to remember, now think real hard...and if it starts to hurt a little that's OK..it just means you are remembering what site you are posting on and how far off you are wandering...go towards the light of the Tiki Torch, come into the light and remember...8)

Step away from the bong.

Is that a smokeless bong?

Aloha all,

With very very very many Mahalos to the great Tiki Central Supreme Grand Pooh-Bah,
JTTiki is now............ Aquatic Safarinaut!

Ta-Dah!

Aloha from Paisley, Scotland! Probably the least tiki place in the universe, heheh. Luckily I like to travel, and this year have experienced my first tiki bars in San Francisco, New York and good ol' London. Next year I plan to visit more tiki haunts in Phoenix and Vegas, and possibly Canada (location(s) to be decided).

It's only this year my tiki-lovin' has kicked in. Last year I went to the Enchanted Tiki Room at the Magic Kingdom in Florida, and thought this 'new management' stuff was trash, having done the old-skool room many years ago. Still, it piqued my interest in faux Polynesia, and here I am now with my tiki mini bar at home with a pathetic mug collection (4!) and an array of rums and fruit liqueurs, plus a sweet but small tiki idol lamp procured from a Thai seller on ebay. Christmas should be good - my significant other has my wishlist of mugs, swizzle sticks, jewellery and more - yay!

Oh yeah, my name is Cath, I attempted to tiki it up.

Welcome Cath! Four mugs shall nor stand! It's true that once you pick up a hobby like collecting tiki, you become the easiest person on everyone's list to buy for. Happy collecting!

Heya Cath - yeah, no worries, soon enough before you know it you'll have crates lying around the home marked 'extra tiki stuff'!
I swear that after the 6th mug, 3rd vintage postcard and 5th drink this stuff starts to replicate itself...

Cheers guys - well, my Shag coasters turned up in the mail yesterday so that's the collection growing! I bought all 4 of my mugs at Otto's Shrunken Head in NYC - cheap mass-produced things, but exponentially better than plain glasses - even hurricanes.

One problem is I generally have to buy from the USA, and shipping is a real rip off (coasters were $15.49 shipping - but the set was only $5 so cost was offset somewhat). I really object to ebay sellers charging $20+ to ship one mug to the UK. C'mon - I bought 7 margarita glasses from a USA seller and the shipping cost $20. Oh, and that's when you can even get something shipped abroad - loads of sellers won't. Anyway, I plan to do most tiki shopping on my travels. I just read of the tiki market near Frankie's in Vegas - I can foresee having to pay British Airways' extra bag charge! Obviously I will not leave Vegas until I have bought each of Frankie's mugs too. 4 months to go! Yay!

Hey my name is mice and this is an introduction to me at insofar as this forum is concearned.

I blame my friend Mr. Bali Hai for all of this. It is all his fault.

I love going to Forbidden Island. It is within driving distance to me. I have also been to a couple of the Trader Vics in the area and once to The Tonga Room in San Francisco.

I have a couple of Beachbum Berry's drink recipe and history books. I experiment on my poor wife, making tiki drinks for her.

How is that? I hope it's good enough for now.

hey hows it going my name is Trevor and im from Menifee Ca i just started checking out this site and decided id join. id like to carve my own tiki but im gonna read up on it and then try to tackle it. im mostly into the hotrod and offroad scene but i love the islands so much that i have been secretly putting money away so i can take my wife and son and other booger eater on the way to rent a place on Kauai for at least 2 months and just hang. we own a timeshare in Hawaii and did our Honeymoon on Maui. anyways enough about me. thanks guys for all the future advice on my dumb questions.

Hey all,

I'm new to the site but have loved the tiki culture for years. As a kid living in Charlotte, NC, the only time I would see any tikis is when we went to Disneyworld. As an adult I moved to southern California (via the USMC) and that is when I was really introduced to everything tiki. After about ten years of sunny CA, I decided to move back east. I think I must have been in the sun too long or too much rum when that decision was made. However I found myself in southwest Virginia, I started missing the tiki scene of SOCAL and started surfing the net for tikis and found this forum. I'm looking for a place to make some tiki mugs for me to add to my collection.

Shawn

Hello Tiki Enthusiasts!

Long time tiki admirer, lazy collector and crafty professional- working on my newest collection of wall pieces. Will post some pictures in the crafty section soon. Spending spare time at the Forbidden Island, now that I am an Alameda resident.
See you there!

[ Edited by: amybean 2009-11-22 22:34 ]

Aloha! Cool, yep, I'm a newbie here too, but come with a little tiki history. I'm here in fort lauderdale working at the MaiKai restaurant, a musician in the show, and fellow tiki carver (among other things). Just wanted to introduce myself, look forward to meeting my fellow tiki brothers and sisters! Here's something I did for Reef Rd Rum Bar in West Palm Beach (carved 6 - 10' tiki), hope you like it!

Kabuki

HI folks!

I just joined after reading all the posts about the Stockton Islander. My family has old roots in Stockton, I was born there, so were my parents, and their parents. My mom remembers going to the Islander in it's heyday for a prom I think that's just awesome.

My grandfather used to have a diner in Stockton but the highway came through and he had to sell the property... I'm not sure of the name of the place but it had black circles out on the wall front etc. it was over by where the cemetary is to the East.

I've been collecting tiki mugs for just about a year and can't wait to add more to my collection. Look forward to chatting with everyone!

-Karen

On 2009-11-29 19:43, Kabuki wrote:
Aloha! Cool, yep, I'm a newbie here too, but come with a little tiki history. I'm here in fort lauderdale working at the MaiKai restaurant, a musician in the show, and fellow tiki carver (among other things). Just wanted to introduce myself, look forward to meeting my fellow tiki brothers and sisters! Here's something I did for Reef Rd Rum Bar in West Palm Beach (carved 6 - 10' tiki), hope you like it!

Kabuki

That's a nice piece of work! Welome!

Aloha everyone! My name is Paul, and I am so happy to have found this forum! When I was young, a close friend of the family was a dancer with Le Polynesia, a Polynesian dance troupe based in Southern California. Every other weekend, my sister and I went to luaus, enjoying the sights and sounds of our talented friends. Those enchanted nights laid the foundation for what was to become an obsession!

In addition to collecting and visiting tiki locations, I also dig Disneyland, Science Fiction ("Battlestar Galactica" and "Star Trek" are my two faves), vintage clothing, records, and booze.

I'm looking forward to making new friends, swapping info, and generally having a good time!

Mahalo,

Paul a.k.a. Stingray

Hi All -
I've admired this group from afar and now want to get a little more involved! I've collected tiki stuff for a while - mostly local to Minneapolis - where I live. I love memorabilia from the Hotel Nicollet and Leamington - both had the Waikiki Room. I've got some neat pieces that I will share with all of you! Happy Holidays everyone - Gary

Howdy folks. Been lurking on Tiki Central for a few years and figured it's probably about time that I started asking questions because some of these drink recipes don't exactly make sense! I'm still relatively new at the tiki drink world, been looking up all the regular books finding good stuff and trying everything (within reason with my bar).

Just wanted to introduce myself. I was fortunate enough to attend Ohana 09 - Luau at the Lake in Lake George and meet many great members from this forum.

• thanks Bargoyle!

My interests include Tiki, most things Hawaiian, mid-century modern, 50's hotrods and kustoms which I build and drive, and old country/ blues, rockabilly, surf and punk. Been collecting Tikis for a while and have a decent collection, but of course not as many as I'd like. I live an hour north of NYC, but work in the city M-F and often travel to PA. Always up for a TIKI roadtrip or a good party. Guess that about does it, - if you'd like to know more, please PM me.

It took me a while, but I finally have working email and internet, so here I am. I also apologize to everyone who I never managed to make contact with.

Yankee Dave

Aloha all!
I'm a Photographer from Honolulu Hawaii. Can't wait to talk tiki with you rum runners.

On 2009-12-04 18:09, Stingray wrote:
In addition to collecting and visiting tiki locations, I also dig Disneyland, Science Fiction ("Battlestar Galactica" and "Star Trek" are my two faves), vintage clothing, records, and booze.
Mahalo,
Paul a.k.a. Stingray

Hi there Stingray, I'm new to tiki central as well, just joined today. I can relate to the sci-fi and disneyland interests also. I'm pretty sure my own interest in all-things tiki goes right back to childhood memories of Adventureland and I'm still an avid Disney fan to this day. Your own childhood memories of enchanting luau parties sounds terrific, I am very envious!!
Like I said I'm also a bit of a sci-fi enthusiast and loved the old and new Battlestar shows and was a keen star trek fan during Captain Picard's days. I didn't quite keep up with all the spin-offs however. Keep in touch!
DC-Tiki.

A warm holiday welcome to all the newbies. Have fun reading all the great info on this board and building your own Tiki haven.

Wishing a happy, healthy, prosperous 2010 to the TC community. :)

Hi everyone,
I've been into tiki-related stuff for about ten years now and have lurked around the Tiki Central website before occasionally but never actually signed on so decided it was time I did so.
My interest in the bizarre world of tiki stems from several factors, most significantly childhood memories of Adventureland at Disneyland and in recent years a growing interest in retro ultra-lounge design aesthetics and music. I've collected a few tiki mugs over the years though have never really learnt the art of making a fantastic tropical cocktail to go in them and am especially keen to track down tiki artworks or scultptures that tickle my fancy and expand my knowledge of Exotica and Hawaiian themed music.
I am a motion graphics artist working for TVNZ which is New Zealand's national broadcaster, which is also where I hail from down here in the South Pacific.
I'm here at Tiki Central to learn a bit more about all things tiki and to share my own passion for the subject with like-minded individuals.
Cheers and Mahalo for taking the time to read my introductory post!
DC-Tiki.

[ Edited by: DC-Tiki 2009-12-25 21:18 ]

Newbie! Yes, another one. I have been into Tiki for a long time, but have never taken the step. Which is weird because if I would have I wouldn't have to go traipsing around the internet to find resources and information about tiki. I could have just posted it on the board. I do not have a tiki lounge inside my house like a lot of you. I have a seasonal tiki bar in my backyard for 6 - 9 months out of the year. Slowly but surely. - Jacob

Hi you guys!

I'm a newbie here. Been lurking for a while so I'm glad to finally join the ranks. Just a tiki fan hoping to learn more about it and incorporate as much tiki goodness into my burlesque acts as humanly possible :D

Australia calling. A Reaganomics refugee who came here in 1981 after a life in the music biz and a fascination for Hawaiiana. Living in Sydney, I get to Alohaland at least twice a year, usually either Kona, Paiai Maui or Hanalei. At 59, have a tropical backyard with fountain in my inner city compound and the obligatory parrot, a seven year old Eclectus. The closest I've come to this forum is a sub to Tiki Magazine and decided to join this weekend to try to find a Tiki urn (or carving now) for my impending ashes when I go from the last call for a mai tai to being chilled and then charred.

Look forward to hanging out. If you're into travel, check out my site http://www.philtripp.com which shows off some of my travel writing. Oh... and I like pinot noir over cocktails.

On 2009-12-29 00:28, PhilTripp wrote:
Australia calling. A Reaganomics refugee who came here in 1981 after a life in the music biz and a fascination for Hawaiiana. Living in Sydney, I get to Alohaland at least twice a year, usually either Kona, Paiai Maui or Hanalei. At 59, have a tropical backyard with fountain in my inner city compound and the obligatory parrot, a seven year old Eclectus. The closest I've come to this forum is a sub to Tiki Magazine and decided to join this weekend to try to find a Tiki urn (or carving now) for my impending ashes when I go from the last call for a mai tai to being chilled and then charred.

Look forward to hanging out. If you're into travel, check out my site http://www.philtripp.com which shows off some of my travel writing. Oh... and I like pinot noir over cocktails.

"chilled and charred"... I like that. Welcome, and you're forgiven for the pinot noir thing...

Tikigeek invited me to join after a delightful evening imbibing at the Tonga Hut. Where the lady from the Rumpus Room christened me Tiki Hat Guy. I'm from Virginia, a land of little Tiki, but I do get to LA. And my hometown of Huntington Beach has the fabulous Don the Beachcomber. Went there last night, and had a fine time. They have a great mint cocktail called the Missionary's Downfall or something like that.

On 2009-12-30 01:01, Tiki Hat Guy wrote:
Tikigeek invited me to join after a delightful evening imbibing at the Tonga Hut. Where the lady from the Rumpus Room christened me Tiki Hat Guy. I'm from Virginia, a land of little Tiki, but I do get to LA. And my hometown of Huntington Beach has the fabulous Don the Beachcomber. Went there last night, and had a fine time. They have a great mint cocktail called the Missionary's Downfall or something like that.

Welcome Tiki hat guy it was great fun meeting you and naming you hahaha at the Tonga Hut! See you again I hope. I also am the weekend Tiki bartender from4-8pm at the Tonga Hut as well as the Rumpus Room.

Hello, i have been trying to find out history on a tiki chair in my house i bought it at a thrift store for 20.00 3 years ago and i was looking at an elvis book and saw his jungle room furniture matches my chair. we call our chair the ugly chair but i just recieved an email from ken pleasant saying my chair is a marco polo chair by witco does anybody know what it is worth should i not let the family play on it? we love it but want to know the history. like what year it was made and how much it is worth. thank you kim

On 2010-01-01 14:23, packard51kb wrote:
Hello, i have been trying to find out history on a tiki chair in my house i bought it at a thrift store for 20.00 3 years ago and i was looking at an elvis book and saw his jungle room furniture matches my chair. we call our chair the ugly chair but i just recieved an email from ken pleasant saying my chair is a marco polo chair by witco does anybody know what it is worth should i not let the family play on it? we love it but want to know the history. like what year it was made and how much it is worth. thank you kim

Is that a dead guy on the couch on the right? As far as the chair goes, it is a Witco and you got a good deal on it for $20.00, although some here may not agree. Don't know the fair market value on that particular chair, but keep your family off of it, in fact, don't even let them look at it.

All kidding aside, welcome to Tiki Central!

PTD

Hello everyone!

My name is Eric, I am new to carving, only done a couple small (fits in your hand) pieces.
I finally decided to get serious and see what I can create, picked up some real tools other than my knife haha.

One of my only questions regarding carving wood tiki is: What kinds of wood are better for good hand tool carving? Are certain palm trees better or worse? Here in vegas, we have an abundance of palm, of all kinds.

Look forward to learning from all of you, and one day, posting my first attempt at a log.

-Zombie Eric

[ Edited by: Zombie Eric 2010-01-02 00:13 ]

Hi Everyone
I am so glad I found this site! I have long been a fan of kustom kulture, old school "home garage built" hot rods, rockerbilly, women's roller derby, Sailor Jerry Tattoos, and all the other great things in life! I have always lived on the beach and growing up on the north shore Sydney Australia (Narrabeen), I was exposed to and loved the surf culture. We had a local surf mentor who was a real character, he loved the south seas island lifestyle and built his house and yard into a little Hawaii. He had a little thatch hut in the back yard and and all sorts of old maritime stuff on the walls and all over the place, we used to go for a surf and leave or boards at his place, we always knew they would be safe there, his wife used to tolerate our comings and goings and we would occasionally help out around the place. I moved away in my early twenty's and lost contact. I heard he passed away a few years back. and the place was sold and got trashed for a new fancy millionaires joint! The story is so familiar.
I now live on the Gold Coast It is shadow of itself from the 50's glory days. It used to have Florida like buildings and wonderful architecture. even had a Tiki Village! Its all gone in the name of modernism (puke)I just bought a house of my own (mortgage) and I have started my own Tiki/Maritime room and bar. I want to relive my youth a bit and hopefully pass on my love for this culture and lifestyle to my kids.
This forum is a gold mine of ideas and how to's it has definately made my job easier and for that I am grateful.
Trader Bob...

[ Edited by: Trader Bob 2010-01-19 03:46 ]

Greatings everyone,
I have been reading the forums for about 5 years but decided recently to register so that I can actually interact with everyone. I live near Boston, MA and I have carved a couple tikis and I am gathering information to build a bar/tiki paradise in my backyard. I am excited after seeing all of the great tiki creations. Catch you in the forums.

Dean

Hi all you tiki fanatics,
My name is Tim and I'm also entranced by the tiki culture. I'm located in land locked Missouri in the US. I have always been one of those people that when I see a tiki somewhere I have to check it out and say "Damn that's cool!" I just recently snagged a couple mugs, and I think I may be hooked on the mug collecting scene.. I am still very much new to the forums here, but man I noticed a lot of good info, and resources listed. I'll be around for quite awhile methinks. Just wanted to pop in and say Hiya! Mahalo~ Tim

Hi all I am new to the board. I am from upstate NY and love to travel when I can. Usually my family and I travel from NY to Fl or NY to Jamaica were my wife is from. We love the tropical seen and can't wait to get back to it as soon as we reach back home here in NY. I am a freelance metal artist and I love Tiki's I am hoping that I can learn more about them being I have never really been around them. My choice of medium is metals so therefore I usually make all of my stuff out of it. My other big interest is of traditional Hot Rods and it seems that there are a lot of Tikis within this realm from what I can see and this is one reason that I have been drawn to the Tiki. Currently I had done a Stainless Steel mask that was donated to Habilitat in Hawaii. I am truly excited that they accepted my piece and hung it up in there facility. Well I am excited to be on this board as well as I am looking forward to learning more about Tiki stuff.

[ Edited by: metaltiki 2010-01-14 07:55 ]

New guy has arrived. Very cool site here!

Dario

Hey Dario,
welcome aboard, I'm kinda surprised to see you here,
But cool none the less.

Jeff(btd)

Greetings Cold War Survivors! Papasan here to share in the Savage Magic that is Tiki!

A quick, terrible-quality video of my Tiki Hut:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHsX56WRrBY

Keep it Friki!!!

Aloha Papasan! Welcome amigo!
The video is funny! Jaja!

Aloha to all, a newbie here.
I have been hanging around the forums for about two years now trying to absorb some of the knowledge/information flying around while I work on my Tiki collection. Now it's time to come out and join the crowd.
Growing up here in the alternate universe of Elvis in the 60's and 70's we only had one claim to fame as far as a Polynesian or Hawaiian establishment was concerned, but it was a good one. Steve Crane located one of his Luau restaurants here and I took complete advantage of it to impress the females. The atmosphere, music, exotic nature and drinks (lets not forget the drinks)plus the 18 yr. old drinking age made my life great, and I never forgot. 35 years later I take up Scuba Diving, start traveling to islands to pursue my hobby and rediscover that old vibe everywhere I go. New but not for long.

On 2010-01-25 13:02, TennesseeTiki wrote:
Steve Crane located one of his Luau restaurants here ...

TT,

Welcome aboard, you need to hook up with Swanky, the King of Tennessee Tiki.

Now as for the Luau from Steve Crane being in Tennessee, you are going to have to do your research a little better before you post.

It was a Dobbs House Luau in Tennessee and the subject of much discussion here.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22266&forum=2&start=15&hilite=dobbs house

DC

Yea, I sure dropped the swizzle stick on that. Thoroughness is my new mantra.
From what I've seen on this site Swanky is definitely up on his tiki and a wealth of information. A trip to the eastern part of our fine state might be in my future.
TT

[ Edited by: TennesseeTiki 2010-01-26 14:58 ]

Aloha all!

I have just spent the better part of the day discovering the forum, and I'm hooked. I'm a long-time fan of tikis and beach/tropical motifs in art and decor, but I'm brand new to participating in the culture T.C. is built around. Heck, I only bought my first nice tiki mugs about a week ago (thank you, Tiki Farm)! I do have a few things from my family when they lived on Oahu in the 50's (Mom was born over there pre-statehood), but I'm sorry to say we don't have that much left from those days other than stories - which I treasure. Growing up in southern California introduced me to the existence of the current Polynesian pop scene but I never got the chance to get up close & personal with it.

Shrunken heads, grinning skulls, and other fun/dark themes are really my vibe, and I apologize if I trend excessively in that direction. I've tried my hand at a few tiki-related projects in the past, but they always seem to come out spooky ... and not quite T.C. material. Of course, I adore all the Polynesian-inspired tiki-goodness, and can't get enough of it. I'm sure I'll learn a hell of a lot from all of you, and hope to eventually return the favor. Mahalo!

I'm just delving into the Tiki world, but am really digging it. Here are my first Tikis I've done.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038123&id=1595386698&l=555dc1464a

I hope you like!

OK, let's see...where to begin...Born and raised in IL (don't hold it against me). Began to get the tropical fever from repeated exposure to IL winters and a friend who was deeply into Jimmy Buffett. Once the whole Parrothead thing wore off, I headed off to the land of the tiki gods, and have not returned. My first tiki mug was something that cost me 25 cents at a flea market on Rockford IL, and from there my collection has grown to hundreds of new and vintage pieces collected from all over the country. At the moment, my main effort is in carving tiki, at least until the snow goes away and all the flea markets start back up. So, if you ever happen to find yourself in north central IL, feel free to look me up!

Aloha!
Dan

Hello TC, I stumbled upon this site a few moths ago and I have had a great time reading all the discussions. I figured I should join in on some of them. Like everyone here I like everything Tiki. I have a Tiki collection, bar, music, etc. I live in South Florida and Tiki always seamed to be around in some fashion. My favorite is the Mai Kai. I want to learn more about creating my own Tiki. I am excited to learn from everyone here and share the experience. Tiki B (Brian)