Any tiki souvenirs in New Orleans?

A friend of mine is going to be in New Orleans for the next few days and has offered to pick up goodies for me. Are there any cool tiki souvenirs from bars, restaurants, etc that I should have her bring back? I don't see anything listed in Tiki Road Trip but that may have changed. Thanks!

Yes! At Purple Jades for sure!

Maybe not Tiki, but forgive me if I use this thread to inquire about another kind of New Orleans cocktail culture souvenir:

PJ, is there anything from The Old Absinthe House, like matchbooks, Absinthe spoons or so that can be purchased?
I am having an Absinthe research session at my house soon and would like to have more appropriate utensils...

AND, I like to point out, Absinthe is not completely un-Tiki, as it was supposed to be the original ingredient to the "Dr. Funk" cocktail, as mentioned in the Outrigger cocktail menu (here named Dr. Jekyll) on page 171 of the BOT.

BigBro~

Have you or anyone else dealt with or seen Absinthe America? Also, there are, quite often, absinthe spoons and pictures of the Old Absinthe House in New Orleans on ebay.

Thanks, SCD, no, I hadn't. I also got the website for the Old Abdsinthe House now, seems like quite a tourist destination.

Since I am not an e-bay watcher, if you ever come across an authentic spoon during your surfing (not the reproductions like they have on the website), could you alert me?

Sven~
In late December you posted that you had some trouble with the "Personal Messages" when you logged in, so I am making this public announcement to check your personal messages since I have just sent you some info.

tkijackapole,

Currently there are no "tiki" places. You would probably do better on ebay for long ago souvenirs. Some antique shops on Magazine St or Decatur towards Esplanade may have some items. And the flea markets. There are 2 Polynesian named bars....

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2003-09-09/shoptalk.html
K J's on the Blvd
And Polynesian Joes on Magazine St.

My great grandfather operated/owned the Absinthe House in the late 1920's. There is a plaque of some kind with that info in the bar.

http://www.oldabsinthehouse.com/generalinfo.html

http://www.oldabsinthehouse.com/history.htm

[ Edited by: suzywong on 2004-01-21 15:49 ]

I've had good luck finding tiki stuff in Louisiana/New Orleans. You gotta hit the weekend fleas and thrifts.

Back in the mid 90's I used to absolutely CLEAN HOUSE there. My girlfriend at the time's parents lived there and everytime we would visit, I'd come home with about 8 Ponchartrain Tiki Bob's and countless "Huki Lua" moai mugs.. plus lots of oddball stuff too. I think alot of those mugs had literally been sitting on the shelves in these dusty indoor fleamarkets for YEARS until I came along and grabbed them all in one fell swoop.. it was like shooting fish in a barrel.. one of the most exciting tiki find experiences I've had.

The last time I hit these fleas, there wasnt as much, but its still out there, and its been years since ive hit them.. I remember that I was able to spend about 2 solid days just driving and searching thrifts, fleas, antique shops, etc

fatuhiva,

You were lucky! That was also before eBay. Sadly, It's not like that anymore.

Your best bet would be on Magazine street. I was down there (since it is down the road for me) If you concentrate on the shops between the Prince and Pauper and Big Life Toys you will find a few things in the "antique" shops.

As far as bars, while not necessarily tiki it is pretty cool look for Lucy's. On Friday in the warehouse district you will end up with a hugh "yuppie/5:00 downtown work" crowd. But they actually still serve sharks, plastic monkeys, etc in the drinks.

Tikijackalope~

This info may be late coming, but while reading some of the old posts, I saw this.

Hope it helps.

Thanks! Its not too late at all as she is still down there. It looks like the best chance of her returning with tangible tiki is going to be from a stop-over in a bar in Shreveport though. I'd sure figured there was a chance something new had opened in N.O. since the last posts.

[ Edited by: tikijackalope on 2004-01-26 12:01 ]

Came across this thread while prepping for an upcoming New Orleans/Baton Rouge trip...

Can anyone make any other current recommendations for Tiki Questing? Modern drinks or ancient mugs?

Cheers,
Rupe

Rupe33,

I have my system that has been working well and producing heavily. "If I tell you then I would have to kill you" Ha Ha.

Anyway if you are looking for mugs the ones most prominent are:

Huki Lau
Bali Hai (mostly tiki bob's)

Where to search for these wonderful mugs. Best places is going to be in the thrift stores. The best one is Salvation on Jefferson. Try to do the Saturday morning run. That means you got to get in line at 8:50 to be first in. Doors open at 9:30. Bring sunscreen and shade. Look for me I will be wearing the hawaiin print. Mugs for 50 cents or $3. I scored 3 on one day.

The other stores that have also produced are the Bridge House. Don't need to do anything special.

The flea markets are cleared out. Haven't seen anything good for a while. I know that there are 2 Huki Lau's at the Jefferson woman is charging I think $15 a peice. You can also pick one up the flea market on Airline.

Magazine will charge anywhere from $15 to $35 just for Leilani.

Also there is a woman at the end of Decator that I happen into that has a few tiki items. I am going to have to give you directions though. PM me if you want them. You will pay top dollar though. She had a cool tiki rock art hanging thing that I thought was reasonable.

BR . . . I tend to stay away from. Don't do the flea market its lame.

Anyway, PM if you want to talk.

Get the ultimate tiki souvenir while in new orleans at my tiki themed tattoo studio , located about 5 mins from the airport, go to http://www.freakytikitattoos.com for more info` , bottoms up!!