The show me your Witco thread.

Witco?

The dealer had 3 of these that he said came from Rochester, NY, probably from the Aloha Restaurant. Did Witco do commisioned restaurant work?

sat. estate sale;

"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD

[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2010-05-23 17:49 ]

On 2010-05-23 17:48, TIKI DAVID wrote:
sat. estate sale;

Is something missing from this piece? It's so, empty and off balance.

On 2010-05-23 23:13, Spaceboy wrote:

On 2010-05-23 17:48, TIKI DAVID wrote:
sat. estate sale;

Is something missing from this piece? It's so, empty and off balance.

yes, there used to be painted blocks along the lower half.
you can still make out where they were.for some reason they painted over them
I'll have to 'redo' this back ground.

"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD

[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2010-05-24 10:54 ]

I was in Mt Vernon, Washington this past weekend and went to the supposedly great burger joint the Chuckwagon. The burgers suck but the place has quite a bit of what I assumed to be Witco trim.

Hey Woof, as you walked into the front doors of the Chuckwagon if you turned right and looked across the street and down towards the stoplight. That is where one of the old Witco Decor companies used to be located before it burned down. Bill tells me it took that whole corner lot. Also one of the original owners of the Chuchwagon was good friends with Bill. So probably safe to say that would be Witco trim. I agree the burgers suck but the train and decor is pretty cool. If you would have went about three blocks north you would have seen the west winds motel with two Mainlander carvings out front and another tiki.

[ Edited by: keigs20 2010-05-24 18:54 ]

What's wrong with the burgers, they taste....wooden!? Wahahaa, I crack myself up sometimes!

Keigs, so good to hear from you, hope all is well with the family, glad you are around still.

Thanks Sven Family and all is well, still around and carving just not posting as much as I should be. Bill is doing great, he came over a few days ago. He was excited about my new shop and said he would be there everyday carving with me if he were a few years younger.

:) :) :)

I saw Keigs' post and thought a local was gonna rip me a new one as to how wonderful the Chuckwagon burgers are. We actually ate there cuz their supposedly great food has been the story for a few years.

The trim was a happy accidental discovery. I filled in an older couple who were curious about my picture taking. (Once again, thank you Elvis for your eccentric tastes. You gave us all a point of reference pert near everyone knows about.)

The Chuckwagon is pretty neat looking, it'd be really swell with a full bar and if it was 21 and over. (All the empty western themed liquor bottles is kinda unfair.) Also it'd be great if they had some decent food. (Actually "wooden" ain't a bad description for the burger patties, mine was the driest burger I ever ate.)

I did stop at the West Winds and I posted an update as to the state of the tikis there.

I saw that, that was one of the funnier TC post openings in recent memory:

On 2010-05-24 18:03, woofmutt wrote:
Good news for all of you who hated seeing the Witco fountains painted green!
They're now painted purple!

Saw this up the road. I don't think it's Witco though.

It feels very much like the Witco God of Good Fortune, but so many details are different that this could've been done by one of the copycats, like Gale Haner.

On 2010-05-26 10:25, mrtikibar wrote:
Saw this up the road. I don't think it's Witco though.

To me, it kinda looks like a late night,alcohol induced 'Pixar' created, bastard result of a mating of a
'MAINLANDER' and a 'GOD of FORTUNE'.
but that's just ME, thinking out loud,and I know how much SVEN hates that.

It's extremely cool, whatever it is.

On 2008-04-22 15:00, TIKI DAVID wrote:
finally got this guy a friend,

Kinda looks like this guy.

True, this altered, more stretched God of Good Fortune looks closer to the Tiki in question, kind of in between the two.

today's find,in the window of a junk shop that is never open.
I had to call the number on the door.and meet him 4 hrs later.
but, it was worth the wait.

"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD

[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2010-05-28 16:19 ]

he had no idea what he had.

I have no idea what he had either.
What is that?

Are those guitars sitting on a chair?

On 2010-05-28 16:19, Spaceboy wrote:

he had no idea what he had.

I have no idea what he had either.
What is that?

Are those guitars sitting on a chair?

I'M sorry,
I just have no response for that Don.

Either I've spent too much time in Bilge or I need to hit the books. I just checked Amazon and there is a two to five month shipping wait for Tiki Modern. Anyway, I bought this in Waldport last week. Looks like a Monk.

On 2010-05-28 16:23, TIKI DAVID wrote:
I'M sorry,
I just have no response for that Don.

How about "Check out Tiki Modern page 188" as a response? :wink:

Thanks for lining up all those different versions of the Fortune god (x-ept the last one, which is a Mainlander), David. Now I am ever less certain that that first Tiki might not be Witco-made, after all.

Over the years so many people must have tried their luck at carving one at Witco, who knows. Maybe even Bill would say "Heck if I remember if we did that!"

On 2010-05-28 16:48, mrtikibar wrote:
I just checked Amazon and there is a two to five month shipping wait for Tiki Modern.

Probably means that it is finally out of print now, too. I warned ya, kids! Watch it go up in price now!
But I bet there are other booksellers that still have it.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-05-28 17:24 ]

I'M sorry,
I just have no response for that Don.

Well, I take it those are Witco. I just couldn't tell if the chair was part of it or not. They look like they might be connected.

You could start by explaining what they are specifically. Give me a little background on them. I don't collect Witco.

On 2010-05-28 17:23, bigbrotiki wrote:

How about "Check out Tiki Modern page 188" as a response? :wink:

Thanks, I will. I just happen to have it out from the library right now.

Here is another interesting God of Good Fortune study to bring into the discussion. Note the eyebrows and lines on the forehead.

On 2010-05-29 09:42, bigbrotiki wrote:
Here is another interesting God of Good Fortune study to bring into the discussion. Note the eyebrows and lines on the forehead.

still my favorite!

That does it. I'm taking a class and carving one of those.

Found yesterday in Linnwood WA Value Village...

I found these two witco looking tables at a thrift store today. I put a thread in tiki finds but later found this forum. I have read about witco in Tiki Modern and seen many pieces but I am still a rookie. These two tables are heavy and well made and do not appear to be made by a typical do it yourself-er. Can anyone help with the time period or maker? Perhaps a copycat??? I don't have a clue. I liked the look and and for $12.50 each, will put them in my tiki bar.

They look like the real thang to me. But just because it's a Witco, it's not necessarily a must-have. I deem 97% of all TIKI Witco collectable, and most of all of the modernist Witco is cool. But you don't see these tables in Tiki Modern because not EVERY piece of hacked wood they made is worthy to be in a book, or fits into a Tiki environment.

This said, these tables will fit much better into your home bar than let's say a glass table with chrome legs. They have a generic "primitive", dark wood look and texture, and with a couple of Tiki or 50s ashtrays and a copy of Tiki Magazine and Tiki Modern on them, they'll do just fine - for that price especially!

Thank you for your expert opinion. I do plan on putting some of your books on my tables along with a few tiki paraphernalia.

On 2010-06-15 07:37, bigbrotiki wrote:
They look like the real thang to me. But just because it's a Witco, it's not necessarily a must-have. I deem 97% of all TIKI Witco collectable, and most of all of the modernist Witco is cool. But you don't see these tables in Tiki Modern because not EVERY piece of hacked wood they made is worthy to be in a book, or fits into a Tiki environment.

This said, these tables will fit much better into your home bar than let's say a glass table with chrome legs. They have a generic "primitive", dark wood look and texture, and with a couple of Tiki or 50s ashtrays and a copy of Tiki Magazine and Tiki Modern on them, they'll do just fine - for that price especially!

WOW!

Why wow, have I ever expressed a different opinion than this?

Is this a fire dancer witco or shitco I hope this post was done correct

That's the real thing, very cool. Don't get him to close to the fire though, or the fire dancer will become fire wood.

these may be GALE HANER.,but they can still 'hang' with the WITCO.

"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD

[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2010-06-22 16:35 ]

Witco today...

Tiki barstool missing the cushion!

A couple of different Witco kitty cats!

Later,

PTD

Just scored this wahine chair today. Not a bad find for a small town in the middle of southern Michigan. I would like to clean it up a bit and cover some of the scratches in the wood. I am going to leave the original paint alone as I love the old patina to it. I was wondering what I should use on the scratches? Would Old English Scratch Hider be a total no? I was thinking of using this on the wood areas and not getting any of it on the painted areas. I don't want to do a full on restoration with stain just get it looking a bit better. Is there a better product to use? Also the seat needs a new cushion and the back rest will need to be redone with the appropriate fabric. Thanks

found this guy today

I was hoping someone could help with the approximate value of these two items?

Witco "God of Fortune" fountain.

An eight foot tall Witco pole that essentially looks like two of these shorter ones stacked on each other, although the four tiki faces are different?

Both pieces look like new, the fountain is complete with the larger base, bowl and stand.

BTW~nice find on the mask!

Thanks for the assistance.

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2010-07-20 06:18 ]

Hi PTD,

Nice score on the fountain and post! I think the prices listed seemed fair. The post seemed like a custom piece, eh?

Here's a similar one I saw online:

Trad'r Bill

Hey, I saw that too....on page 198 of Tiki Modern :D

Oops! Yeah, I was wondering where that Japanese blog found that picture - heheh

Trav, that is a well-made Wahine chair, congrats. I don't really know how to fix the blemishes. I use Feed'n'Wax wood preserver, but the lighter, scuffed spots always stay a little lighter.

For you, for PTD, and for all the other Wahine chair holders, here is the Eddie Kendricks album cover I bought at Chub's yard sale a week or two ago:

Now this is exactly the kind of image I KNEW existed somewhere but could not find anywhere for my Leopard print chapter in Tiki Mod, where I talk about "that some of the offerings by Witco Inc also struck a chord with young African Americans who were looking for their roots during the black liberation movement of the 1960s and early ‘70s"

I scoured Blaxploitation film collections and other black pop culture sources, but came up empty. Now here it is, the visual proof of my supposition. Here is the back cover with Eddie and his "tribe":

The title track on the album varies from the album title in that it is called "MY People Hold On"...was that too political for the album title? The track has a lot of drumming and chants about brothers and sisters and that time has come when the lion must take on the lamb....the kind of stuff that got lil grannies scared of our new president. :)

It is most unfortunate that Eddie has his legs crossed in both photos, so the face on the front of the chair is not visible. Was he perhaps embarrassed to pose in such a kitsch throne?

I say: My people, the time has come to be proud of our Witco!

Word Up Big Bro!