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Tiki Finds

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mytiki.life – The best place to build and manage your tiki collections.
PTD

Still seeing great finds...thanks to everyone here who posts them!

Been painfully slow the past couple of weeks...nothing found new except this one item...


Like I said, painfully slow...

I will make up for it though this weekend (I hope)!

Later,

PTD
I
Iscah posted on Thu, Jun 30, 2011 8:49 AM

On 2011-06-26 15:56, littlegiles wrote:
Thanks teaKEY, I wasn't thinking it was vintage, but now I know some of the things to look for. I'm happy with it for 80 cents. LOL Now I wish it had a hole in it so I could put a light in there to light it up, but it might have to be happy just hanging around.

I know there's a thread in Creating Tiki about this subject-- I posted in one after I had cut a float open. Ah, found it. Here it is

Send me a PM if you want some help getting it set up for a light.
L

Thanks for the research Iscah.

I think because the ball is only 5" I'll just leave it as hanging decor, but the link was great should I decide to use a larger diameter ball in the future for a light.

Thanks!
I

NP. I actually felt the same way-- the float I cut open was a smaller one, only about 5 inches or so. The light looked a bit... large, so I tried frosting the inside, but it never turned out the way I wanted it to. I think a bigger float would work really well.
B

On my way back from Fed Ex this morning I stopped at a local flea market and a woman was selling her 600 pair S&P's. She had four tiki sets and two that I didn't have all for $1 a set. The skulls are old carnival chalkware S&P's and very cool. The crabs, well they fit the theme. :wink:

Thanks for looking,

Paul
8T

An Otagiri shell and a hobbyist Duncan mold in black.

A pair of CocoJoes "Lava Lamps" I guess you could put incense or a tea light candle on them. I won't. And a great moai that might be lava. It's porous and has nice details.

Lastly is this lovely Hawaiian couple that I found just in time to give as an anniversary present for Mrs. 8FT
They are marked: Handcrafted by HEEIA CLAYWORKS KANEOHE, HAWAII. Yeah, she loved them. I done good.
N

Hi, How is everyone doing? Im new here and have been fascinated with vintage items my whole life and just found my first Tiki, it's an interesting wood carved Tiki that is signed "Kimi" on the bottom. It stands about 12 1/4" tall. Does anyone have any idea what type it is or any other information on the carver? Thank you, Nick

img]https://tikicentral.com/uploads/73070/4e0facac.jpg[/img
G

That is an awesome tiki. I don't know anything about the carver.

I had a great morning of tiki hunting. First, I found a trove of OMC mugs at a local place that buys estates. The black ones are not marked.

I only plan on keeping two of each, so I'll list the others in marketplace before ebay.

After dropping those off at home, I found something even cooler:



It is a fishtank/bar. The guy I got it from said it came from a place called Nanay Betty's Filipino Restaurant and Karaoke Bar that recently closed in Colorado Springs. I thought I might put my pet snakes in it but I think I'll use the tanks for mug/ephemera storage instead. Found it for $60 delivered.

I also found a cool 45 w/ cover and some tiki lighters.


My best day for tiki yet.

gabbahey
H

On 2011-06-27 06:58, littlegiles wrote:
Nice find on those mugs. You just have to love when you find things like that just sitting in a thrift store.

Does the two-faced mug have the Polynesian logo on it? I know that the Disney Resort logo is the older one. If it says "Polynesian Village" on it, it is prior to 1985. In 85 they switch the name to "Polynesian Resort".

thank you for the tip! upon further inspection, it definitely said "resort"..there's some R and O left on the glass
P

Scored some cool vintage lighting in Pasadena a few weeks ago:

These floats are not true fish floats, but round glass with netting. The one on the right is about 12" diameter, thin glass and resembles lights I've seen sold from Trader Vics and hanging in other vintage tiki bars. The two on the left are the really interesting ones:

These two are obviously DIY float lamps, made back in the '60's. They are very well painted, round, glass light covers (similar to ones you can buy at Home Depot) that the maker wrapped in wire netting. I'm not sure why they're wrapped in wire netting, but it adds an interesting look to them. All 3 of these lights came from a vintage home tiki bar/room that the owner made himself back in the 1960's. I was told that there was a sliding glass door that he rigged up to thunderstorm with strobes and water every time a button was pressed. With the exception of a few things, the guy made everything himself! Including this way cool cork fish float wall light:

He did a real good job of cutting the cork and fitting in the colored replica floats. If you turn it over, you can see how he rigged up the lighting:

He had it hard wired to a wall switch, so I had to cut the cord to get the cork/fish float piece out. The first image above was taken with back lighting to give an idea of what it would look like with the lights on.

The last pieces that I found were a crapload of cork floats. Nothing super fancy there, except that many of the corks still had the price tag on them! Check it out:

They came from a store called "Pally's". Any So-Cal'ers ever hear of a store called Pally's?

Gonna rig up some new lighting and hang these little gems next to the other float lamps!


Polynesiac - putting the "F" back in "ART"

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2011-07-02 20:58 ]
UT

Great finds everyone! I am thinking this piece just may be a paper weight but I am not sure. No markings anywhere as to the maker. For a quarter I had to bring it home. Kapu paperweight to hold down your forbidden papers.
M

I like it! You find the koolist stuff.
B

wow, cool finds everyone! damn, Gabbbahey, that fishtank bar is phenomenal! Coolest score I've seen in a while! nice mugs too!
PTD

Wow, you can tell it is summer, cuz the finds are getting better and better. Really nice finds everyone, that is only the second tiki/aquarium bar I have seen, the first one was selling for over $1,800.00 at a local antique store.

Today's finds...



Tapa styled "Party Passport" with items (matchbooks, napkins and momentos) from the places listed!


2007 Tiki Farm Shag salt and pepper shakers.


High school art project, marked "By Wesley Ballard, 03-30-71" "Black student San Jose Class of 1971.


Hobbist mug ala Skipper Kent's moai, unmarked?



Tall slim Smiley mug from Kelbo's.



And, I kid you not, a Frankoma War God Woodland Moss mug!

Great day today!

Later,

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2011-07-03 16:40 ]
4

On 2011-07-02 16:44, nickg1971 wrote:
Hi, How is everyone doing? Im new here and have been fascinated with vintage items my whole life and just found my first Tiki, it's an interesting wood carved Tiki that is signed "Kimi" on the bottom. It stands about 12 1/4" tall. Does anyone have any idea what type it is or any other information on the carver? Thank you, Nick

img]https://tikicentral.com/uploads/73070/4e0facac.jpg[/img

I would bet it's a Tahitian tourist carving, and a real nice one, IMO! The tiki style is Marquesan.
Was there a second pic in your post that isn't showing up? I'd like to see it, if you can fix it...

Somebody more authoritative may chime in on this, but I hated seeing you hanging without any answer.
CM

Where did you find the Frankoma mug? And what did it set you back?
N

Hi, thank you for the info. Any idea what decade it may be from? Thanks again. Here are some more pics....
AS

On 2011-07-03 05:19, uncle trav wrote:
Great finds everyone! I am thinking this piece just may be a paper weight but I am not sure. No markings anywhere as to the maker. For a quarter I had to bring it home. Kapu paperweight to hold down your forbidden papers.

it's a poi pounder...
PTD

On 2011-07-03 21:19, Cool Manchu wrote:
Where did you find the Frankoma mug? And what did it set you back?

This was found late morning at the Alameda Antiques Faire. Not on the table with the rest of the mugs, but on a table in the back of the booth inside an upright display case.

Paid about 25% of the last sale price of the same mug which sold on eBay for just slightly over $800.00 in May. That was for both the Frankoma War God and Kelbo's Slim Smiley mug together. The vendor was asking $425.00 for both, I paid somewhat less for them.

I don't ususally spend that much on mugs, but what are the chances of finding a Frankoma in the wild, much less with a Kelbo's mug sitting right next to it?

Later,

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2011-07-04 06:24 ]
D

Duane you are a true tiki hunter. Good finds guys, Wendy
CM

On 2011-07-04 06:24, Psycho Tiki D wrote:

On 2011-07-03 21:19, Cool Manchu wrote:
Where did you find the Frankoma mug? And what did it set you back?

This was found late morning at the Alameda Antiques Faire. Not on the table with the rest of the mugs, but on a table in the back of the booth inside an upright display case.

Paid about 25% of the last sale price of the same mug which sold on eBay for just slightly over $800.00 in May. That was for both the Frankoma War God and Kelbo's Slim Smiley mug together. The vendor was asking $425.00 for both, I paid somewhat less for them.

I don't ususally spend that much on mugs, but what are the chances of finding a Frankoma in the wild, much less with a Kelbo's mug sitting right next to it?

Later,

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2011-07-04 06:24 ]

Yeah, I agree with you. You would never find one of these again in the wild. I am glad you found them, even if they did put a dent in your budget! Man, I should have went to the faire yesterday! :)
T

Picked these up in Hudson Wisconsin on Sunday. The goblets have no markings and the little guy in the middle says Westwood Japan. I didn't have anything like them in my collection so far.
M

A few finds from the 4th weekend here in Minnesota. The old Hawaiian Party Book has some nice tips. The menu is from the Waikiki Room here in Minneapolis and appears to be from the 50s. The mug is a bit of a mystery to me. It has a nice geisha (I believe) image wrapping around the mug and the bottom is labeled 'Japan' it also has a homemade sticker on the bottom with the date 1/31/1976. The price was right so i took a chance on it.I couldn't find anything like it on Ooga Mooga. If anyone out there know's anything about it I'd really appreciate finding out it's origin.
T

On 2011-07-05 11:10, MNZombie wrote:
A few finds from the 4th weekend here in Minnesota.

Nice. Cheers!
B

jeez Duane, you are truly a tiki phenom. I think i would need uncle trav's poi pounder to keep from shitting myself! I've found a few things at Alameda but nothing on that level. both great mugs!
good finds from everyone this summer!
BPB

I came home for the weekend and stopped by my old hunting grounds and picked out this stuff:

Tiki farm warrior mug

Hapawood HIP tiki

CocoJoes Menehune pendant

Maori tiki

Saipan Tiki

Pacific Ocean Park foldout postcard set:

Four of the images are of the South Sea Island part

A PNG figure carving

Buzzy Out!
I
Iscah posted on Wed, Jul 6, 2011 7:56 AM

PTD--
magnificent finds. The Frankoma war god... holy crap. I'd have probably been jumping up and down in excitement and not watching my purse and ended up breaking something expensive.

It seems like everyone has been finding some really amazing things! Keep up the good work-- at least I get to live vicariously through you!
TR

Not much lately but I did make a nice score yesterday... I hope.
A Cannibal Pole.

Top Section

Middle Section

Bottom Section

Backside (patina)

Bottom (Mounted somewhere?)

Chip on the eye

It appears to be carved of redwood and has pretty crisp detail and a nice patina overall so I believe it's vintage. A couple of chips but otherwise nice shape. It stands about 36" tall and is about 4.5" wide.

It looks like it could be an OA piece judging by this example from BigBro-
"4.) The "Asian eyes mistake" Bora Bora post style:"

Your thoughts?

Aloha,
:tiki:
T

It looks like it could be an OA piece judging by this example from BigBro-
"4.) The "Asian eyes mistake" Bora Bora post style:"

Your thoughts?

Aloha,
:tiki:

Yup, that's an OA piece alright. I picked one up just like it last year at the OA store.
PTD

Saw the exact same pole at Alameda last Sunday, but I couldn't place it. Cool piece!

A couple of items this morning...


I have been looking for the Treasure Craft tiki since I started collecting, so it was cool to find him today with the Islander mug for a whopping $3.00 total!

Later,

PTD
BPB

On 2011-07-08 09:26, Tiki Royale wrote:

Here's the OA catalog page with the pole version:

Buzzy Out!
B

Newest addition to BeerMindas " Drift-Inn", He is huge, Mean and heavy, marked Tonga.

CheersNBeers BeerMinda.
TR

Big Mahalo to you Buzzy!
Aloha,
:tiki:
S

Goodwill was very good today! Rounded up a couple vintage Suffering Bastards,a huge Marquesan carved tiki, barrel mug, and a newer tiki bank.
LL

My wife came home from the thrift store with this 9 inch wooden guy:


No markings.
UR

A few new things
A Chiki Tiki mug , an unmarked Ku mug, and a nice OoH R-70
The R-70 has a cool story, a few years ago my friends neighbor,(an elderly man) died, his house sat empty in limbo while the family fought over it. Recently it was all settled and they cleaned it out for sale and had a yard sale. My friends went over and bought the R-70 for 50 cents with me in mind.

I also found a home carved balsa wood tiki and a tourist toy uke.

and here is my favorite recent find ...although it's not really "tiki", it was so wierd and obscure that it found a permanent home in my bar.
an unmarked pink chalkware monkey-like figure with a knitted hat.
My dad said these were given away at carnivals before stuffed animals.


Has anyone ever seen another?
PTD

Today's finds...


Minnie's Modesto, Trader Vic's Hawaii, Pika Kewalaka, Trader Vic's San Francisco, Stockton Islander Moai mugs and DTBC salt and pepper shakers.


Miguel Covarrubias large print of "Economy of the Pacific".

Later,

PTD
D

PTD,

You are on a Tiki-find'n roll. Nice Covarrubias map. Did you ever go see the real deal when they were in San Jose?

DC
PTD

On 2011-07-10 14:52, Dustycajun wrote:
PTD,

You are on a Tiki-find'n roll. Nice Covarrubias map. Did you ever go see the real deal when they were in San Jose?

DC

Thanks Dusty, it has been a pretty good run so far. I did not make it to the exhibit in San Jose, but I did see the pictures you posted. Looked pretty amazing!

I think I have now found a version of each different mural in some form or fashion. I sold my three larger ones to Dan and Wendy, sold one at the Forbidden Island parking lot sale and will probably end up selling the one I found a couple of weeks ago and the one from yesterday at some point.

Nice score on the Suffering Bastard mugs, especially from a thrift store!

Later,

PTD
T

Meanwhile, in Minnesota..

Two thrift store mug finds and an estate sale find. Grand total spent $4.25

The barrel mug says 'Orchids of Hawaii Taiwan', The Tiki Leilani mug just has 'USA' on the bottom.
G

TravnerRavenweird - that is how you spend $5!

On 2011-07-03 16:38, Psycho Tiki D wrote:
Wow, you can tell it is summer, cuz the finds are getting better and better. Really nice finds everyone, that is only the second tiki/aquarium bar I have seen, the first one was selling for over $1,800.00 at a local antique store.

PTD

Man, I respect your opinion so much because you have probably passed over more cool tiki stuff than I'll ever buy. I knew $60 was a good deal but that helps put it in perspective.

Anyway, here it is a little cleaned up and being modeled by my little one.
D

Gabbahey,

That aquarium is sweet, nice score for $60.

DC
PTD

Gabbahey,

Thanks. Your bar is actually nicer than the one at the antique store.

The one I saw was three sections that joined together, so there were three individual tanks and it was about the same size as yours. The fact the one you bought is one large tank makes it better than the other one. You should be extremely proud of that find. I would have contemplated purchasing the one I saw if I did not have one already have a nice bar (and had $1,800.00 to spend).

And the look on your daughter's face is priceless. She looks very happy with your purchase and the whole "tiki" thing as well. Keep that flame going with her!

PTD
JD

On 2007-04-12 17:30, KuKuAhu wrote:

On 2007-04-12 12:51, Johnny Dollar wrote:
anyone ever seen this bizarre mug before?

sorry the shot is over-exposed, i tried to fix it in photoshop.

i can't figure what the design is supposed to be.

Yep. Very rare and quite old. It is from the long gone Tiki Trapper up north. That one looks odd though. Like it was spray painted or something. Normally they were brown.

And it is a tiki beaver.

Here's a matchbook from there:

Is it yours? Where did you find it? I have only seen one other one before.

Ahu

seems like a mug collector from georgia found another one while in lake george, which makes sense, considering its proximity to the canadian border:
K

reminds me of the idol from the first indiana jones movie :)
T

My first lamp and a lucky score at that. A pink version of the "The Tahitian" Bumatay lamp. That is, I presume it's from the Tahitian... yes/no? Impossible to tell from the one interior postcard I've seen posted.

Also, the base is pitted and would be best re-plated or replaced. Any suggestions?

Mahalo!

[ Edited by: Tattoo 2011-07-14 16:03 ]
TM

leave the base as is.... keeps it original that way. That lamp is worth a small fortune. guard it well.

here's my finds today-

wine menu from the beverly hills tropics.

dusty cajun posted one under the tropics thread if you want to see more detailed pics.
B

Tattoo, that Bumatay lamp is off da hook... love it!

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