The Mystery of the Hawaiian Fern Wood Tiki

This ad belongs here:

I peg this to be the location of the pic Kirby found on Wikipedia. The descendants of this mom & pop biz still seem to be around.

Also, I wanted to ad these lovely ladies and their little companion:

I have no names or info here, just a loose 8X10 found in a flea market paper stack

These pics belong in this thread as well. I am assuming they are fern wood tikis.

On 2011-01-25 11:42, GatorRob wrote:
One thing to take notice of is the photo Kiliki posted at the bottom of page 5 of this thread. The fern wood tiki shown in her photo is perched on the same corner post as the tiki in this photo. I don't know which one came first though because we don't know the date of her photo. But I guess its another example of how the fern wood tikis just did not last long, especially when sitting out exposed like that.

Here's a side-by-side:

A Hawaii tourist photo with a fernwood Tiki at the beach.

DC

Yeah I saw that one on ebay too and almost got it. Pretty sure it's the Big Island.

I got this tree fern tiki just before the new year. It's a little over 4 feet tall and when I found it at an antique mall in Seattle it had a little brother next to it that I think Dogbytes now owns. When I first saw them they were standing on their heads!

Posted these over in Tiki Finds, but wanted to document them here too. They are from an old rumpus room and are in excellent condition:

They look a lot like the ones Dogbytes and tikicoma posted above.

-Trad'r Bill

Tourist photo showing a Fern Wood Tiki at the Polynesian Cultural Center (found on-line).

DC

Another old tourist photo with a beauty of a fern wood Tiki!

(from the Vintage Vacations website).

DC

aloha DC,

That is the one I've been trying to get a better shot of for ages... I think it was at the "Little Grass Shack" at the Kona Inn... Brilliant.

On 2013-07-06 18:01, Dustycajun wrote:
Another old tourist photo with a beauty of a fern wood Tiki!

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/big/clt/3839755019.html

Seems a bit under priced??

On 2013-07-08 10:53, AlohaStation wrote:
Seems a bit under priced??

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey that's only $377.35 an inch!

I remember when I was a kid (early 60s) I would see fern tiki in many gardens or outdoor entryways all arould Hawaii. If I recall fern tikis were relatively inexpensive and very available at one's neighborhood Garden Supply store but they we far from permanent. Although they could last for a handful of years once they started rotting in Hawaii's wet outdoor weather they were tossed. They are not available as they once were and they were not replaced. Pershaps this is another reason to the relatively absence of tiki in Hawaii today. This to me is a big mystery that I'm slowly working on.

I remember when I was a kid (early 60s) I would see fern tiki in many gardens or outdoor entryways all arould Hawaii. If I recall fern tikis were relatively inexpensive and very available at one's neighborhood Garden Supply store but they we far from permanent. Although they could last for a handful of years once they started rotting in Hawaii's wet outdoor weather they were tossed. They are not available as they once were and they were not replaced. Perhaps this is another reason to the relatively absence of tiki in Hawaii today. This to me is a big mystery that I'm slowly working on.

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-07-10 12:36 ]

A few more ads from a store called The Akron in southern California featuring the Fern Wood Tikis.

More proof that these things were relatively cheap and abundant on the mainland back in the 60s.

DC

Just this past week I recovered(purchased) this fern tiki from a local hotel's storage area. They bought it from The Crystal Garden, a tropical indoor garden and zoo(birds, bats and marmoset monkeys mostly) that operated in Victoria from 1980 to 2004. I'm still interested in finding out where/when it and it's three PNG companions(not pictured) were originally purchased.

This is such a wonderful and thought-provoking thread. Thanks Sabu for your dedication!

Found a tree fern tiki that was said to have been outside in the Puget Sound area since the 60's.

At it's original site.

And it's new home.

aloha, tikicoma

He's great! I wonder if the lichen and moss will help to protect it from erosion?

so glad this came up again fernwood tikis are my favs

Here's a fern wood tiki I found today. Can anyone help me with the age or history of the piece?

Found this guy in April. Cost me $3.00

I got an email from a non-TC member who sent me pictures of this 4' 8" fernwood Tiki. History is kind of incomplete: it had belonged to her uncle who was in the service and lived in Hawaii for a year in the early 60s. It's not known where the Tiki originated but early 60s Hawaii is a good guess. Her uncle, who was a bit of a character, had it on display in his sunroom for years. I am posting here mostly to preserve the picture of another fernwood Tiki but I think it is for sale. She lives in the Virginia area and doesn't think it would ship well due to it's fibrous nature. If you are interested and in the area, send me a PM and I can connect you with her

I think she has it upside down.
This makes more sense to me,

Though I could be wrong...

:up: :lol:

I think you're right Heath! I was having trouble making out a face but didn't think to turn it over.

What part of Virginia? I know that seems dumb, but it can mean hours more driving depending upon where it is.

It's in Virginia Beach. Here's some pictures without him standing on his head :lol:

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2019-11-22 07:54 ]

Somewhere in Western Washington...

[ Edited by tikicoma on 2022-06-08 20:59:43 ]

...it was placed out in 1962 remaining there at least until this photo from 2018.

[ Edited by tikicoma on 2022-06-09 19:34:08 ]

Awful quality, but straight from streetview I was able to document the end of our family's fern wood tiki which my parents purchased in the early 70s, remained with the house when we moved to the mainland, and I guess sat neglected for decades. I used to check streetview to check on the buggah.

Still standing (well 45 degrees from when I had last seen him) about 13 years ago but not looking good

And about 11 years ago, still neglected

And around 3 years ago, I was bummed to see he was gone.

Also looks like the tiki wasn't the only thing neglected on that property after we left. :(

[ Edited by Iolani on 2022-06-09 13:18:28 ]

From sales material by Johnson Products Company in Chicago.

A couple from our collection: