Crypto-Mugs. Do these legends exist and who has them?

atomictonytiki

Thanks for posting the rare May Fair Beachcomber mugs. If you look at the British Pathe photo the mug in front of the women at the bar is for sure the Crypto mug.

(above the S and U).

What is the link to that British Pathe video?

DC

Hello, I have found this unusual Tiki, set in a lucite or old plastic weight. I will attach the photo. Does anyone know anything about this piece?

No the mug above the S and U is different crypto-mug to the toggle tiki mug, it features in another part of the beachcomber footage. It has a strange cross shaped patter near it's top, I WISH SOMEONE WOULD POST THE PICTURES FROM THE BEACHCOMBER MENU TRADER JIM so we can have a better idea of the mugs were looking for.

anyone seen these before???these appear to be hand made but better than a hobbyist mug.no mark looks like a spurlin or???

Spanish tikidom has its own list of misteriosos crypto mugs.
I know it is probably a question of limited interest here, but I was really willing to add something to this awesome thread. And who knows, maybe even I can find some answers about one of this raros artifacts.

On 2011-01-16 13:50, Mister Naufrago wrote:
Spanish tikidom has its own list of misteriosos crypto mugs.
I know it is probably a question of limited interest here, but I was really willing to add something to this awesome thread. And who knows, maybe even I can find some answers about one of this raros artifacts.

Translation:
TANGAROA
Creator of man according to the natives, he transformed into a divine brew of rums and tropical fruits, giving a taste ferocious and delicate.
SEMI-DRY

Just picked up this Fan from the Waiakea resort Village & The Marketplace in Hilo, Hawaii.

The reverse is a drink menu and has some cool volcano mugs I've never seen.

On 2010-03-12 12:27, kohalacharms wrote:
The shell bowl was utilized by many establishments based upon menu research. There are at least two versions that I'm aware of with one them produced by Spurlin.

Aku Aku's Pua-Pule bowl

Spurlin version of shell bowl

Here are some different views of the bowl showing the bottom detail

On 2010-11-16 17:35, Dustycajun wrote:
Sabu,

I can't remember ever seeing a mug with the Club Luau name on it. The postcard I have does not show any mugs on the bar tables either.

Here is another one that I have not seen before from an illustrated drink menu that came from the Hawaiian Isle in Florida (from ebay).

Most of the mugs look like standard issues from the Otagiri catalog

But how about this Navy Grog mug with the distinctive handle?

DC

Sorry for the looong delay...finally got another computer and a working modem :)

Marked Napcoware, c-5993, sticker is hard to read NATIONAL Potteries, Cleveland O.,made in Japan...looks like they "borrowed" alittle from Polystone etc...

Aloha, Freddie

[ Edited by: HOUSE OF KU 2011-02-08 21:05 ]

Aloha,

On 2011-01-30 11:45, 8FT Tiki wrote:
The reverse is a drink menu and has some cool volcano mugs I've never seen.

The Halemaluna volcano mug exists! I have that one and you can see it in Waikiki Tiki. It was made by Terra Ceramics. Mine is brown with a white glaze on the lava. I have also seen another once with purple lava.

Ok here is an interesting thrift score from today. After consulting with my pal TikiRoyale, we both did a search & couldn't find a match for this one: a drum mug from Trader Vics Hawaii?
It is fairly lightweight & faintly marked on the bottom "Trader Vic's Hawaii".
I got excited when I saw it, because I knew what I thought it was, but didnt recognize the style. When I looked at the bottom I got a nice warm fuzzy! :)
Anyone seen/have this mug? I couldn't find anything like it on the TV coctail menus I've seen. Any info is greatly appreciated.

Nice one BBTD! An interesting piece for sure.
Aloha,
:tiki:

I looked at the bottom too and couldn't see anything! :wink:

How great that still, to this day, completely unheard-of, never seen before mugs can be found in the wild. It ain't exactly the Mai Kai PNG drum mug, but the Tapa colors and look are great.

just snapped those pics quickly, clearly not the best quality. I can take better shots if anyone is interested.

[ Edited by: bigbadtikidaddy 2011-02-19 11:15 ]

Got this mug a few weeks ago at an antique fair in Oakland. The seller said that he thought it was a hobbyist mug. I wasn't sure but I really like the mug, great colors and seemed like an early version of or inspiration for the Tepco or Harvey's Hula Girl mug.

Then the other day, in a posting discussing a photo of the original Trader Vic Kava Bowl, DustyCajun Posted This picture from a 1944 Life Magazine article on Trader Vic...

The Fog Cutter Mug in the 1944 image struck me as very familiar...

Sure looks like it could be the same mug to me but I'd appreciate peer review...

I originally posted this in Tiki Finds but I think the scrutiny in the Crypto Thread might be a little more rigorous...
What does everyone think?

Cheers,
John

I say no it's not the same TV mug.
The one in the photo has a moon above the surf girl.
And it's not just a painted moon, IE it was in the mold.

It really looks close. The coloring of the sky and general tones are similar to the other bowls in the picture as seen in earlier pics.

There are some Shell Bowl vessels discussed and pictured back on page 15 of this thread and it reminded me of the one I have made specifically for The Islanders Restaurant (Thread here: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27054&forum=2&hilite=islanders ).
Dustycajun thought this one should go over here as well so here it is.

Here's the custom name in raised letters:

Very cool to see one actually named to a restaurant. This one is also quite large and is quite fragile. I am surprised it has survived this long.

I know Leilani Lanes which was once in Seattle, Washington, also used this type of Shell vessel. I have not seen one marked with their name or in ceramic but they did have them made out of plastic. I am sure quite a few places had these versions as the ceramic ones would just be too costly and quite fragile.

Mahalo, TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2011-06-11 16:51 ]

Best mug thread EVA!

Will winkle my way through in my own sweet time, savoring each new revelation...

John,

Congrats, you've found the real deal. The first TV's fogcutter mug has several features which distinguish it from later versions: it's thicker & heavier, the top rim is brown vs blue, it is shorter in height, the base design is flat vs concave.
It's a keeper!

On 2010-03-22 17:19, Big Kahuna wrote:
My contribution to this thread:

Just saw this on the internet. Could it be? They are located in NY so the chances are good considering they were a giveaway from Hawaii Kai. Anyone know when these were given away? They are claiming they are vintage 50's, but I'm pretty sure they aren't that old. Might be able to get them down in price.

I think you're onto something. I'd love to have one of those to go with my table card.
Where are they for sale?

Just shot you a PM

Funny that I posted the same things months ago and someone told me to stay out of the thread.

There is a creamer, salt and peppers, tea kettle and the bowls like the ones pictured above.

I too think they are the ones in that original ad, but when I received such a harsh welcome, I refused to post the other pics.

Glad to see that someone is taking the time to look at these again.

Paul

Isn't it possible that the mugs were created by the same people that did the other items you mentioned? If the restaurant wanted a promotional item, who better to turn to than a company that was already producing something. That would have saved money in designing the item. Any idea who created the other things you mentioned?

@Phillip Roberts--

The Halemaluna volcano is fantastic! I have something of a fetish for volcano mugs but can't ever find them. =( Where on earth did you find that one?

Aloha,

On 2011-06-27 08:09, Iscah wrote:
@Phillip Roberts--

The Halemaluna volcano is fantastic! I have something of a fetish for volcano mugs but can't ever find them. =( Where on earth did you find that one?

I think it was at an estate sale here in the islands, about 7 years ago. Haven't seen one since. Terra Ceramics probably didn't do to many.

On 2011-03-08 12:35, Aquatic Safarinaut wrote:
Got this mug a few weeks ago at an antique fair in Oakland. The seller said that he thought it was a hobbyist mug. I wasn't sure but I really like the mug, great colors and seemed like an early version of or inspiration for the Tepco or Harvey's Hula Girl mug.

Then the other day, in a posting discussing a photo of the original Trader Vic Kava Bowl, DustyCajun Posted This picture from a 1944 Life Magazine article on Trader Vic...

The Fog Cutter Mug in the 1944 image struck me as very familiar...

Sure looks like it could be the same mug to me but I'd appreciate peer review...

I originally posted this in Tiki Finds but I think the scrutiny in the Crypto Thread might be a little more rigorous...
What does everyone think?

Cheers,
John

John, I told you where it was from in the other thread that you posted it in. It's most likely from Bert Rovere's The Hurricane. Which was a bar in San Francisco. It closed in the mid-50s due to Rovere passing away...

Here is my Sea Goddess mug and I believe them to be one in the same. The company that makes these bowls/ashtrays also make teapots, salt and peppers and a creamer using the same sculpture with slight modifications. There is one of these at a local antique store for $10, saw it today and it reminded me to post a picture of mine.

Paul

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Link to the S&P's in my collection: http://www.ooga-mooga.com/cgi-bin/my/mug.cgi?mode=view&mug_id=2099&ind_mug_id=39684

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[ Edited by: blacklagoon 2011-07-05 12:40 ]

Sorry, I'm so late with this post. Thanks to a little birdie, I found myself in position to purchase the 2 aforementioned mugs/bowls that I'm convinced are the correct ones for the Hawaii Kai Sea Goddess. Blacklagoon, yours is obviously from the same company. Where did you find yours?
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Yesterday, while vacationing on Cape Cod, I scored the matching S&Ps!
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PS: littlegiles, I owe you one.

On 2011-08-14 15:59, Big Kahuna wrote:
Sorry, I'm so late with this post. Thanks to a little birdie, I found myself in position to purchase the 2 aforementioned mugs/bowls that I'm convinced are the correct ones for the Hawaii Kai Sea Goddess. Blacklagoon, yours is obviously from the same company. Where did you find yours?
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Well guys, I don't know if these ARE the real thing, after all...

The only way to ascertain that these indeed ARE the Hawaii Kai drink vessels is to ask yourselves ONE question:

Do you now COMMAND THE WIND AND THE SEA, AND THE DESTINY OF THE ONE YOU DESIRE !?

I think that would be a pretty clear-cut test of authenticity! :D

I still feel like the same schmuck! I'm guessing I not only need to possess the vessel, but also must consume 2 of the Sea Goddesses. I wish I had the recipe! :D

THAT'S it! You need the magic potion! And then >poof!

BK...happy that you got them! Looks nice with the card. Now I'll need to start a hunt for the drink recipe.

Another Mayfair Beachcomber Mug was up on ebay recently, closing price $218.50

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My goodness, that puppy looks so bad!....but is so cool, cuz it's so rare. Only the Butlin's Beachcomber mug is worse. :D

Wait, you can't really see it that well...

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There you go!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-09-03 10:14 ]

On 2011-09-03 10:04, bigbrotiki wrote:
My goodness, that puppy looks so bad!....but is so cool, cuz it's so rare.

:lol: I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that :lol:

They are so damn cheap and nasty looking, they can only have been made in Britain, but where and by whom?

Anybody know what that glaze would be, it looks like a matt staining?

On 2011-03-08 12:35, Aquatic Safarinaut wrote:
Got this mug a few weeks ago at an antique fair in Oakland. The seller said that he thought it was a hobbyist mug. I wasn't sure but I really like the mug, great colors and seemed like an early version of or inspiration for the Tepco or Harvey's Hula Girl mug.

Then the other day, in a posting discussing a photo of the original Trader Vic Kava Bowl, DustyCajun Posted This picture from a 1944 Life Magazine article on Trader Vic...

The Fog Cutter Mug in the 1944 image struck me as very familiar...

Sure looks like it could be the same mug to me but I'd appreciate peer review...

I originally posted this in Tiki Finds but I think the scrutiny in the Crypto Thread might be a little more rigorous...
What does everyone think?

Cheers,
John

Update: 1/14/12.............................................

When I previously posted this, there were varying opinions as to it's origin...I hated not knowing for sure so I decided to go directly to "mecca" and get a ruling on the provenance of the mug. So yesterday I stopped by the Trader Vic Warehouse in Richmond to show it to Keir and see if she had seen the mug in the TV archives. Her initial opinion was that it was not a Trader Vic Fogcutter but she decided to send some pictures to Peter Seely, the CEO and who happens to be The Trader's grandson.

I got this email this morning...

Hi John,
I spoke to Peter last night and the mug IS a Trader Vic's mug!!!!
He said they were made by someone local and each one was unique- there weren't that many made. That explains the variance on the pictured one as you and I thought it could. This was before Tepco was making our ceramics.
I guess it is possible that the one you have is a copy, but I really doubt it.
They were used in the original Oakland Restaurant.
Pretty exciting and very cool find!!!
Have a great day.

Kier

Kier Fullmer
Director of Operations
Trader Vic's Inc.

I woke up this morning to a roof leak...but this news certainly brightened up my day!

Aquatic,

That is great news on the confirmation, congratulations on that find and the verification.

DC

Mahalo DC!

In a phone conversation, Kier said Peter told her it was produced by a friend of Vic's and that the time of production was "just after the Pearl Harbor attack"...

That mug was also used at Bert Rovere's "The Hurricane", which was a short lived SF Tiki Restaurant, which closed in the mid-50s soon after Bert's untimely end. I have seen two mugs that have the name very lightly etched into the side pre-glaze.

Here is a bamboo mug I posted a while back from here... http://www.arch-ive.org/houstonaire

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Not so Crypto but not often seen Daga mug

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I have another with a different color lettering.
OMC horn mug from Tom Ham's (of Bali Hai fame) Lighthouse

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7 ring clear glass

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[ Edited by: Bora Boris - Fixed Link - 2012-03-17 17:13 ]

On 2012-03-17 16:52, bongofury wrote:
OMC horn mug from Tom Ham's (of Bali Hai fame) Lighthouse

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I have three of these. :)

Found this Brown Sam's Seafood Spurlin Fogcutter at the Alameda Point Antique Fair yesterday...

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scrolled through again quickly and did not see it posted, does anyone have the "Tub of Oke" bamboo mug, pictured in the link http://junkhaulersjunk.blogspot.com/2011/02/serve-it-in-beautiful-vessel.html

Kona Hilton from my collection
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On 2012-04-09 11:09, OceaOtica wrote:
scrolled through again quickly and did not see it posted, does anyone have the "Tub of Oke" bamboo mug, pictured in the link http://junkhaulersjunk.blogspot.com/2011/02/serve-it-in-beautiful-vessel.html

OceaOtica,
My guess is that the "Tub of Oke" was actually made of bamboo and had a glass insert in the top to hold your drink. I think making it from ceramic would have been way too fragile.
I recently acquired the "Hawaiian Eye" bowl to go along with my Diamond Head, Hukilau and Tapa Punch mugs.
Aloha,
:tiki:

[ Edited by: Tiki Royale 2012-04-09 14:52 ]