Tiki Ti 50th Anniversary Mug

UPDATE! CORRECTIONS! AMENDMENTS!

So I decided that before I continue spouting off half-heard info for the Tiki Ti, I better double check with the source, in this case Charley Dever, door master and protective spirit of the Tiki Ti. When I wrote:

On 2011-04-03 08:03, bigbrotiki wrote:
Spermy, no limits. There's gonna be enough for all. Tiki Ti will be selling them for 25.- bucks, 30.- WITH cocktail. Quite a deal.

I was correct in the first part, but the second statement must have been sweetened by my Navy Grog-flavored memory:

The PRICE per mug will be $35.- (THIRTYFIVE), plus 5.- for the drink, = $40.-

It was indeed a deal too good to be true...sorry. :D

Also, Charley is working on setting up the TIKI TI FACEBOOK PAGE for May so that the mugs (and other anniversary stuff) can be mailordered! Bear in mind that these mugs are heavy suckers so that shipping will be around another $20.- bucks.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-04-03 14:28 ]

Tiki-Ti on Facebook. :)

bump

Whoa!...when Bigtikidude bumps you, you might go flyin' over the railing! Luckily I am a sturdy guy myself. :)

Thanks Jeff. I don't know why people are not sticking to this, the original thread, but I will now use it to voice a grave concern I have regarding the proper usage of the Tiki Ti mug. One might think that the experienced tropical potion imbiber will not veer from the tradition of using a straw to retain the nectar of the gods. But to make certain no one gets any funny ideas and possibly injures themselves, here is:

SVEN'S GUIDE OF HOW TO IMBIBE WITH A TIKI TI MUG

To make my point, I am employing another traditional type of drinking vessel for comparison:

How to HOLD a German Beer Mug:

How to HOLD a TIKI TI Mug:

How to DRINK from a German Beer Mug:

How NOT to Drink from a TIKI TI Mug !!!:

IMPROPER USE OF THE VESSEL WILL RESULT IN SPILLAGE AND POSSIBLY WORSE, EYE INJURY!

Be a safe drinker: ALWAYS use a STRAW!

And wear a condom to be extra safe.

On every finger.

Boys really!

Great mug, Sven you are putting out terrific mugs. I need one of these and one of the Book of Tiki mugs, any suggestions on how to aquire one of each? Hugs, Wendy

Hilarious!

I know Big Tiki Dude will be very well practiced with this drinking technique, since his regular Don the Beachcomber vessel is the Tiki Oasis Surf City mug--where one must avoid contact with the surfboard tip when lifting to drink (conjuring up the phrase, "that beats a sharp surfboard in the eye").

I'm hoping to stop by Tiki Ti Thursday to celebrate and purchase my mug!

Caltiki Brent

Tiki Ti is now saying only 50 per day for this anniversary week. Any thoughts on when one could reliably drop by to pick one up?

im going tonight to get my tiki bender started right.

On 2011-04-27 00:56, danlovestikis wrote:
Boys really!
Great mug, Sven you are putting out terrific mugs. I need one of these and one of the Book of Tiki mugs, any suggestions on how to aquire one of each? Hugs, Wendy

Thank you Wendy. Tiki Farm is selling both...the Tiki Ti one in a different glaze, I believe, but you can order the original glaze thru the Tiki Ti's Facebook page...or so I heard. Next month Holden should have both available again, everyone will get one, I am sure.

On 2011-04-27 11:06, Bill5925 wrote:
Any thoughts on when one could reliably drop by to pick one up?

There is no certainty in life but death, and no print-out coupons here, I am afraid - but logic tells me the earlier, the better.

:lol: Thanks for the laugh, Sven. I'm the middle of a 13 hour workday & I needed a chuckle!

Link to Tiki Ti Facebook page on how to order mugs or other 50th Anniversary fun stuff:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/tiki-ti/tiki-ti-50th-anniversary-mug-and-materials-ordering-information/10150164081303565

my what beautiful ears you have tiki-ti mug!

Yikes !! BTD PM'd me. Apparently Wed's quota of mugs sold out in the first 30 min. If you want to score one on-site this weekend, you should probably get there before the doors open at 4pm.

Also he said only 1 mug per customer.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-04-27 18:02 ]

Thanks for the info John-O. I was planning on getting there early tomorrow just because that is when I plan on being in the area.

On 2011-04-26 23:03, bigbrotiki wrote:
IMPROPER USE OF THE VESSEL WILL RESULT IN SPILLAGE AND POSSIBLY WORSE, EYE INJURY!

Now that's funny.

Reminds me of the old Tareyton cigarette adds - I'd rather fight than switch.

Hope everyone is having a good time at the Ti.

DC

I want to repeat my accolades to Holden at Tiki Farm at this point. He fought to get this complicated concept thru to a beautiful completion. He got it done on time and made all Tiki Ti-ers very happy.

The two color concept fell by the wayside in the process, and he had to switch factories because of insufficient quality. The marrying of the two, the Tiki and the bamboo mug, still proved challenging, and where they are fused it might appear less than perfect. Where the lips meet the mug, some tiny cracks might be seen - but they are not real cracks, the connection is solid!

I would interpret these parts as conceptual elements: The Tiki, coming into the Tiki Ti from the California sun, has dry lips - and as his lips touch the long-awaited nectar, he is slobbering all over himself! You know how it goes! :)

Coming next: The complete history and heritage that lead to the creation of the mug!

YES! I love this mug and I love Tiki-Ti. It's a marriage made in tiki heaven.

Sven you are the man.

I have mine in hand right now. Got one of the last 9.

The place was jumping. Still is. I unfortunately couldn't stay but I made the trip just for the mug.

Yes, they let go of the whole batch last afternoon and night. Understandable that hey did not want to tell people that stood in line for hours that they were "too late" once they got there - while holding back mugs for the next two days.

And now back to the history of the mug, here is the first part again from page 1 of this thread:

On 2010-10-12 10:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
I really felt strongly about wanting to be the one who would design the mug for the momentous occasion of the Tiki Ti's 50th anniversary, since the Tiki Ti had so much to do with my (and Jeff Berry's) genesis of becoming Tikiphiles. I wanted it to be not just another Tiki mug, and I wanted it to be linked the the Ti's original logo Tiki.

Now if the Tiki Ti ever had a logo Tiki, it would be this one:

Now this design was a little too minimalistic to make a mug out of, so I went back to the original art work that Ray Buhen, in the spirit of the transmission tradition, had based this design on:

The only three years earlier Kon Tiki Montreal menu Tiki from 1958.

I had always liked that "God of the Cocktail" concept, which was only used here and by the Kalua Room in Seattle:

Since I am not a trained artist, I enlisted the help of Mark Noland to do a computer rendering based on the menu Tiki:

Mark's renderings greatly helped me and Holden to zero in on the final design. With the one above it became clear that the space between the Tiki and the bamboo mug would not work. What if the Tiki would not just hold, but actually sip on the drink himself? Done!

Luckily I also was able to twist Kevin Kidney's arm away from his super busy schedule and have him render the original Asian font on the bamboo mug! Mucho Mahalos, Mark and Kevin!

Next: The history of the weird nose, and how some mistakes are better not fixed.

I chose the original Kon-Tiki menu cover inspiration for the mug design because of its more 3D appearance, AND because of the iconic quality it had attained since pictured in the Book of Tiki. I had already appropriated it in 1997 for a (self-xeroxed) menu for my Beachcomber Party for which I had gotten Tony Ramos to be the mixologist:

Then, in 200?, Bosko created a great wall carving for San Diego's Mr. Tiki Restaurant - with which I got to pose with before it left his shop:

...and here is today's 50 Year Anniversary mug - with the 25 Year Anniversary jacket logo in the background:

The one thing that struck me as odd about the original menu rendering was the BEAKY NOSE of the menu Tiki. It seemed "un-Tiki" somehow...and it had been flattened for the Tiki Ti logo.

One day when visiting DustyCajun at his house in Santa Barbara, I stepped into his motor home, after just having seen some mugs on his mug shelf, and saw the Kon-Tiki menu he had framed up, and it hit me: This Tiki had been rendered from several OTAGIRI MUG designs, most notably the Outrigger in Monterey:

In the direct comparison to the Hawaii Kai salt shaker below it becomes apparent: The artist who rendered the menu Tiki above had mistakenly drawn a straight line, omitting the "dimple" the separates the outer edge of the nostril from the "smile line".

Eureka! I now knew how to "fix" the nose - and that while staying true to the confines of Polynesian pop style!
One afternoon that week, I was sitting at the Tiki Ti, excitedly telling Mike Sr. and Jeff Berry (who just happened to be in town) about my discovery. Mike looked at the the difference in design, wrinkled his brow, and said: "I like the original nose the way it is." Oh.
Well, the customer is always right! Then Jeff said: "It looks kinda...CUBIST."

That sealed it: Those who know me know that I am a huge fan of cubist design. Now when the client says "I like the nose", and my best friend in Tiki calls it "cubist", that meant: That beak nose was gonna stay!

So that is what you see now on the mug, a genuine, historic design flaw, part of the naive charm of Polynesian pop history! Sometimes it is better NOT to improve on things. :)

The only thing that troubles me with my Beaky Nose Evolution Theory is: What came first, the menu or the mug/ S&P shakers?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-04-29 22:33 ]

Excellent background info... thanks!
And... a beautiful mug, indeed.

:lol: :lol: Too Funny!!!
Grog you just made my day....
Mahalo's Brada

Instant classic, Grog!

good one, Grog!!

:lol:
What a great thread! And so much information and insight!
instant classic.

On 2011-04-30 13:36, GROG wrote:

Bear

HOW GROG DO THAT???

Funniest damn thing I have ever seen on TC.

DC

I know! That are some scary Photo shop skills! Somebody give that man a high-paying job!

Grog should do a book with all his skills, Wendy

Great facial expressions Sven ! Do we know when Tiki Ti will be getting more mugs ?

On 2011-05-01 10:31, Dustycajun wrote:
...Funniest damn thing I have ever seen on TC...

Do you know what? I think this fellow might just be right! Great work GROG! The camera never lies but Photoshop can sure as hell stretch the truth...it certainly stretched the grin on my face that's for sure!!

Take care - Trader Jim (Make mine a Mai-Tai!).

On 2011-05-02 21:28, 1961surf wrote:
Great facial expressions Sven ! Do we know when Tiki Ti will be getting more mugs ?

Yep, that should be "Great facial expressions, Grog!" :)

I'll announce the 2nd shipment here when I know.

And here, by the way, is another great "big hands on rum" logo, this one from my favorite Berlin bar:

And another use of the logo Tiki:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-05-03 18:46 ]

Got my mug today in the mail. Love the design and finish on this sucker. Great work dude!

Thanks.. dudester!

Well, looks like I'll be working for cocktails again:

I will be at the Tiki Ti tomorrow from 18:00 to 20:00 hours, signing a new batch of mugs for anyone who so desires.
Thing is, they will have the rare BLUE mug, too. Watch out, collector's pricing!

Well, I cannot keep this hidden any longer: Here it is, that BLUE Tiki Ti mug:

Ha ha, I know, it's a shock, isn't it? Well, rest assured, it was to me, too, since I was not really consulted on this decision.
The Mikes picked it from the choices Holden gave them. You know how I feel about bright primal colors on Tikis. To me this looks like from Grog's photoshop pic above, the poor fellow fell into a blue paint bucket!

But you know what, people seem to dig it, and I will sign'em. The client is always right, and if the client is the Tiki Ti family, the more power to them!

OK, who's coming to get one tonight? Boris has now officially titled it "the Smurf mug". :) Order it with a Blue Hawaiian!

The blue mug looks nice, are there more colors coming out in the future?

[ Edited by: geedavee 2011-05-19 21:24 ]

I'm not feeling Papa Smurf. I like the first one better. Just sayin'.

The blue is cool, the the brown is the best.

I picked up a few matchbooks from the Jardin Tiki that also feature the drink'n Tiki.

This guy's even got a lei.

DC

Now that was a nice, quiet evening with friends & fans at the Ti!

It was good to see Johnny Velour and Danny Gallardo again

I wore blue for the occasion...couldn't quite match that Smurf mug, though :)

Thanks, Tom, for the pictures!

I can't wait for this mug. Its been the one I wanted to get from the start.

So a day after returning home from Tiki Caliente, my neighbor dropped off a box that was delivered while I was gone. I opened it to find these guys inside:

What a great welcome home surprise. The Tiki Gods must have thought I deserved a reward for honoring them with copious amounts of booze during Caliente. I really wish I had been able to make it up for the Ti's anniversary event. I'll be christening this with a Ray's Mistake the next time I'm up in LA.

Got home from the Bay Area Cocktail Tour 2011 (and wedding) to find my mug had arrived as well.
It is a thing of great beauty.
I think I'll put something good in it tonight.