Tiki Finds

Not mine...but another guy found this at a swap meet down here a few weekends back. Apparently the guy he bought it off had it stuffed in his garage and spilled paint on it, so decided he'd better get rid of it before he destroyed it entirely. Pretty cool mask.....anyone seen one like this before or is familiar with the maker??

Here are my finds on Friday.

It's a BANNER DAY for yours truly:

• I found a personal Holy Grail - a postcard of the Houston Trader Vic's, site of my first introduction to tiki!! The same poles in the Atlanta one (which BK is faithfully homaging in his for for the Hale Tiki), nice tapa, roof, hanging lamps, and eye-hurting red geometric carpeting. And a lame (to me) Bali-looking gold mask.
• Also, a postcard of Trader John's, found nowhere on TC and listed as closed in JT's Road Trip. It was in the "Cabana Beach Motel, U.S. Hwy 90, Biloxi, Miss., J. Mladinich & Sons, Owners & Operators". Also on the back:
  "Fun! Fun! Fun! and never a dull moment at Trader John's. Home of exotic mixed drinks. Nationally famous performers offer continuous entertainment in a completely friendly atmosphere."
• A postcard of the Weeki Wachee mermaids (here, tail-less)
• A postcard of Cypress Gardens waterskiers ("water ballet") in what are essentially tutus!
• A postcard of an attractive Hawaiian couple with a great tiki at "the Polynesian Center at Laie, in Hawaii." Written on the back:
  "Hi Mom,
  We posed for this picture yesterday. As you can see we have gone native. Having a good time.
  Love, Poni & Julie"
• AND: a Tahitian Lanai mug, the early one in green with the bamboo handle. (Thank you Naugatiki for the fotos on your cool Waikikian site!)
  http://members.tripod.com/gregg-n/waikikiantour4.htm

I now own a scanner and PROMISE to learn to load photos onto TC next weekend (Spring Break begins - wooHOO!)

TIKI: Now, more than ever

[ Edited by: formikahini on 2004-03-08 15:25 ]

A few goodies found in the last couple of weekends at the thrift and antique stores. A green Westwood mug and a small brown Westwood? toothpick holder/shot glass, An Orchids R-16 4-faced pedestal bowl, A Skipper Kent's surfer girl mug (missing a little red and yellow cold paint)and a 50's or 60's tin ashtray. We have seen these for several other states but this is the first Hawaii we've seen. Also found 6 of the coconut mugs marked Trader Vics.
The underneath of the Skipper Kent mug reads: "Princess Keolo-Na-Hihi" Exclusively for Skipper Kent's San Francisco, Calif. - Kona, Hawaii

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-12 12:37 ]

It was a good weekend. I picked up these two Tihati's mugs, the Lu'au Kauai resort glass and the Trader Dick's outrigger bowl very cheaply at various thrift stores. The tall yellow tiki is a German Stuwa candle that was on clearance at a Hallmark shop. The OoH Lono mug was a bit pricier at $5 at a flea market that seemed to specialize in used McDonalds toys and freight-damaged canned food.

Then things took an expensive turn. I got these six objects for $92 at an antique store. The dealer had $25 on each of them; apparently that was his price for most things tiki, including the very common OoH R-91 I left behind. At a final average of $15.33 each, I probably overpaid for a couple of them, but I think I did OK on the Suffering Bastard Mai Tai Rum bottle. I was just thinking the other day as I bought my TJ Maxx SB that I might never find a real one.

The SB and the Strikow-inspired mug discussed elsewhere.

The SB and the Otagiri

Trader Dick's (Sparks, Nevada) and black OMC moai. I've loved Easter Island since I was a kid but this was the first time I've ever run across a moai mug off the net. Had I known such things existed when I was in college I'd have been ecstatic.

I admired the Coco Joe's boat when I saw one in the Coco Joe's vs HIP thread. Now our travel mascot has a ship to call his own.

I also picked up the Witco cat discussed elsewhere. Seven tikis, a boat and a pussy...not a bad weekend.

well, damn, i dont really want to follow the last post, but i thought that i did pretty well for one mornings worth of thrifting. after a very long dry spell...i got the itch to go thrifting and here are my tiki finds. (this does not include three vintage shirts, and a 1947 western flyer mens bike, and a delta rocket ray headlight for tikicleen's schwinn) ahem....so here we go:

a complete mr smiley from islander (with lid...yea!) a trader vic's lady head grog mug, my 17 pound cat, and some carved stone tiki (anyone know anything about this?) there are no markings on the stone tiki.

:drink:

[ Edited by: the drunken hat on 2004-03-13 16:36 ]

[ Edited by: the drunken hat on 2004-03-13 16:37 ]

On 2004-03-13 16:30, the drunken hat wrote:
some carved stone tiki (anyone know anything about this?)

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-12 12:31 ]

Found a cool green daga-esque ( I've coined a new word!!! Ok maybe I haven't, but is cool sounding ) mug that appears to be a product of home casting.

One other very cool non tiki item was a "Victory at Sea In Jazz" lp with a cool '50's era shot of an aircraft carrier flight deck with ancient jets onboard. The whole idea of doing the Victory at Sea theme in a jazz style was so insane I had to own it.

Definatley going to be in heavy rotationwhen I gets me tiki room going. I got the record, now I just need a house.

It was also a treat to see Humuhumu and Floratina perusing the aisles of wayward treasures!

TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

[ Edited by: tikigardener on 2004-03-14 20:57 ]

a complete mr smiley from islander (with lid...yea!)

Thats a cool find! One of those would really set off a number of the more serious-looking mugs like the comic relief in a row of straight men.

GREAT CATCH ON THE "MR. SMILEY"
I just recently saw him go for $161 on eBay over the weekend.

After a long rut in finding any tiki or anything remotely Hawaiian at least, I finally made a decent thrift store score...at least for rural Maryland.

I got 19 records - some of which aren't Hawaiian or exotica but cool nonetheless (which aren't show) Three different Orchids of Hawaii mugs - a coconut, an alien looking mug and the super cool hula girl mug where the girls look kinda "stylized" as Duke Carter described them on Pg.88 of Tiki Quest.

How much would you pay for all this? Wait there's more...A New Zealand Maori mask at the local antique mall...

Grand total for all items...$36.00! I am quite pleased...

Dang, nice finds!

-Z

rock on johntiki! hey are you retroguy in ebay? ran across it last nite - not sure how many tiki freaks are in bel air... j$

Yes I am Retrocool on Ebay...and now that you've revealed my secret Ebay identity and have seen the lovely merchandise I have up for sale I highly encourage everyone to bid high and often! :wink: I don't often list many things and now I'm obsessing on getting enough money to mat the ceiling of the Grotto - so I'm gonna keep it up for awhile!

On 2004-03-17 08:11, johntiki wrote:
Yes I am Retrocool on Ebay...and now that you've revealed my secret Ebay identity and have seen the lovely merchandise I have up for sale I highly encourage everyone to bid high and often! :wink: I don't often list many things and now I'm obsessing on getting enough money to mat the ceiling of the Grotto - so I'm gonna keep it up for awhile!

hey, sorry if i let the cat out of the bag, :( i guess i should have pm'ed you instead~ tell you what, i'll put some bids in, hopefully that'll even things out~

hope to see you all soon, j$

Hey all
FYI just posted more pictures on of my big find, These were taken on the day we took everything away. I also have pics of my collection on there,
Enjoy
Jay

I know we don't typically list ebay "finds" in this thread but I just bought this exact same tiki item on ebay for $4.25!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3903014248&category=29460&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWA%3AIT&rd=1

I guess it's all in the write up.

Also recently scored a copy of Les Baxter's "Original Quiet Village" in sweet condition in a lot of LPs for cheap.

I got this today if anyone can read Japanese maybe they can translate and solve the mystery on what it was used for. It was at a thrift that also got buttloads of records from Japan yesterday and even an Alfred Apaka 45 on The Hawaiian Village label with the hut and tiki torch logo.

[ Edited by: naugatiki on 2004-03-20 16:58 ]

Here are my finds for the week. Nothing too crazy but more to my collection.

2 Black Sneaky Tiki's From Harveys
3 Westwood mugs (two of the same)
1 Hawaii Cocnut mug by T.C.
I also found a Harveys barrel (not shown)

I know I haven't posted in a while so here's the scores from the last few weeks -- BACK ROW: Black Coco Joe's Tiki ($5.00), Molokai Mule Mug ($3.00), Orchids Coconut Mug (7 for $3.00), Green-Eyed Mug Bottom Marked KANG SUNG, similar to Orchids R-3 but taller and more glossy ($1.00), wooden Tiki from Hawaii ($1.00), FRONT ROW: Beachcomber Hi-Ball Glass (.50), Daga Maui Lu Mug ($1.00) & OMC Aku Aku Coconut Mug (.25).

I also picked up an Orchids Skull Mug (.50), Harvey's Hula Girl Mug ($2.00) and Kahiki Skull Mug (.50). And last, but not least, a vintage bamboo light shade for a whopping 50 cents! As always, questions and comments are welcome. Also, thanks for the recent comments on the old Aku Aku Ad!

On 2004-03-22 17:50, vegastikidude wrote:
...a vintage bamboo light shade for a whopping 50 cents!

I had a friend who used his as a trash can. I worked out pretty well until his brother got sick in it one New Years Eve! :)

Another successful day scouring the area for tiki!

A vintage polyester Kai Nani shirt with a print that my wife absolutely hates...which means it must be good...for $3.00! A set of older pineapple salt and pepper shakers for $2.00. A Runaway Bay Jamaica mug - not really tiki but a ceramic souvenir mug with a sailing ship motif for 99 cents. A Maori looking unmarked handled mug for 50 cents. A Treasure Craft Hawaii souvenir plate w/hanger already attached - $1.99. Finally, 8 of the Dollar Tree tikis for would you believe $8.00!

Things are finally starting to pick-up!

The hunting has been a little dry lately but today on the way home I managed to find a copy of Martin Denny's "Forbidden Island". The sleeve is a little worn but the vinyl seems to be in good enough shape and I just love the ominus tiki in the background of the cover pic.
So I figure, eh, not too bad... I get home and my mother-in-law comes over and gives me 3 mugs she found at the thrift today and thought I'd like. A Trader Dick's peanut guy, One of the 3 mask bucket mugs w/o a name and last but not least one of the taller thinner 3 mask bucket mugs from the Tonga Room. Heeellooo!
Today was a good day.
Aloha,
:tiki:

Here's a few of my finds from the past few weeks: (From left to right)
A hurricane glass from Hukilau Lounge in Key West Florida (address under name)$.50, Na Mele Hawai'i No Na Keiki (Hawaiian songs for children)$.25, a gerneric "tribal surfer" $2.00, Otagiri stlye face mug (no markings on bottom) $.25, Cocojoes 16-291 Kanaloa statue (with oragne tag on back) $2.00, Coconut Monkey w/baby $4.00. Heh Monkey.

-one man aspiring to be everyone’s favorite unkle.
http://www.unklejohn.com

[ Edited by: Unkle John on 2004-03-23 20:34 ]

How many times have you walked into an antique,flea or thrift for the first time and thought wow this looks good! There's gotta be something in here for me. Well yesterday I found a shop like that and although it wasn't loaded and I didn't find any holy grails, I did buy this one piece. Although it isn't tiki, I was glad to get it because it is from the same restaurant/bar as our namesake Ol' 8ft.

Then I had to go because I was trying not to notice all of the owl things in there but as I approached the counter I saw a WHOLE SHELF of them. Thanks to whoever started that conversation (in the what we wade through thread) :(

Save the Tikis!

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2004-03-24 12:27 ]

Hey, now we know WHY the Kansas City Kona Kai had to close:
Nobody wanted to drink out of their ugly mugs!

:) :wink: :) (sorry 8ft, just HAD to throw that in. An interesting find indeed)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2004-03-24 23:08 ]

I had a Daga week last week...found the one in the middle at a yard sale just blocks from my house and got the Kon-Tiki one on the right at an antique store for $5 just days after I bought one on ebay for over twice that. The smaller Daga on the left is there for size comparison. Which of the two Dagas, left or center, is called the tonga?...or is it both?

I bought this rusty TV tray to photograph, scan, clean up and turn into computer wallpaper. I got the Huke Lau Chicopee mug at the same place. Note to self: stop shooting dark and light objects together when on the road and away from proper software.

A few recent aquisitions:
First, one of my personal holy grails, a MARLIN!

Got this bad boy at an estate sale. They wanted $165 (which is why I'd never bought a marlin up to that point), but it was the last day of the sale and they were taking bids. I put in a bid for $50 and WON! But just to cheat me a bit for my bargain, they put the price and the "sold" sign on with masking tape. When I carefully pulled off the tape, both pieces took some paint off with them (hence the white spots in the pic). A friend of mine is an airbrush wiz and said he'd fix it for me.

Mext, a pair of
Al Harringtons:


...which I nabbed at a yard sale for $3.
Maggie gave me this cool TV Tiki Liki for Christmas:


And these two came from my inlaws:

Hoping to be working again soon so I can keep feeding my sick addiction!

today i got three pub tiki matchbooks (my fave tiki joint i've never been too!) for $1.00 and a postcard sized menu the other day from the same restaurant for the same price..!!

Well, it's been awhile since I found anything worth noting. I went into my local antique mall where a guy has a good collection of mugs and shirts and occasionally a nice piece of furniture. I looked over the selection and then stood there for a minute in a DAZE! Up on top of the mug cabinet where not one but two original Suffering Bastards with a tag reading Rare! Rare! Rare! I didn't want to flip it over in fear of sticker shock - I did, $24.00 each! I couldn't grab them fast enough! I was just about to bite on a few on the Bay but now....He He! I guess good things come to people who wait. Oh and I picked up a Green Islander Maoi later in the week - another one I have bid and lost on.

nice find with the suffering bastards! i am still waiting for that day....sigh

what is this green islander tiki you also found? from which islander? stockton by any chance? (keeping fingers crossed)

On 2004-03-23 19:45, Tiki Royale wrote:
I get home and my mother-in-law comes over and gives me 3 mugs she found at the thrift today and thought I'd like. A Trader Dick's peanut guy, One of the 3 mask bucket mugs w/o a name and last but not least one of the taller thinner 3 mask bucket mugs from the Tonga Room. Heeellooo!

So I went back to the thrift that the mother-in-law found said mugs in to see if there was anything she might have missed... Yep! 8 Orchids of Hawaii coconuts @ 50 cents a pop and... A Mr. Smiley Face mug from the Islander! He has a pair tiny chips on the lid but for $4, I'll take it!
I think all my Mana is used up for a while...
Aloha,
:tiki:

I thrifted an unusual light this past week ($12) The top and bottom ends have short segments of bamboo, with light bulb fixtures secured in them. The middle section is made entirely of fabric, painted with some tapa-like designs. You hang the upper end up, and the bottom bamboo piece stretches the cloth out via gravity. I purchased two green bulbs (from the Dollar Tree!) to give some accent color.

Two pictures here ... one with flash, and one without (the banana tree carving is from Bali)

Vern

The following is an item I thrifted several years ago, but is unusual enough that I thought I would show it off here.

It is a tiki cigarette dispenser. The top part is an ashtray that lifts up, allowing the smoker to fill the inside of the tiki with cigarettes. There is a bottom pull-out piece of wood with a groove in it. A single cigarette will fall into the groove.

This item is fairly old, because it can use only the shorter unfiltered cigarettes. The ones people smoke today are just too long to fit into this tiki dispenser.

I don't smoke, so I placed a Mai Kai floaty pen where the cigarette would normally be retrieved for illustration purposes.

Vern

Vern, thanks for posting that cigarette dispenser. I've heard rumors that such a thing existed & now I know it's true.

There's also supposed to be one that when you open the lid, all the cigarettes unfold themselves into a big flower shape.

On 2004-03-26 14:39, tikicleen wrote:
nice find with the suffering bastards! i am still waiting for that day....sigh

what is this green islander tiki you also found? from which islander? stockton by any chance? (keeping fingers crossed)

Okay I screwed up big time. The mug is from the Outrigger not the Islander. Sorry for the lost sleep I caused a couple of people!!! Thats what I get for posting at work when my stuff is at home.........

Yep, I was flying high on that find and a BIG YES - it was the Stockton Islander Green Maoi!! It is so cool looking!

[ Edited by: Maori_man on 2004-05-01 14:15 ]

Well I know they have been a buzz on the board, but I picked up a few mugs (an dupes) at KOHLS on sale for half the price. I left a few in case ma and pa want to get them for future b-day gifts. :wink: I also went to Dollar Tree... and yes, got all 8 of the statues and one palm tree statue. Feeling lucky I hit up a nearby thrift store and as I turned the isle to the glassware, there was the Dizknee Werld Polynesian Village Goblet stareing right at me (and a blue half off sticker to boot). I wanted to press my luck even more but my wahine was getting tired, so we just came home.

PS I checked the bottoms of the KOHLS mugs. They have no markings on the bottom indicating if they where used from OoH molds. But they are dishwasher and microwave safe.

-one man aspiring to be everyone’s favorite unkle.
http://www.unklejohn.com

[ Edited by: Unkle John on 2004-03-27 23:00 ]

WOW Unkle John...awesome score! My local Kohls never had those mugs. I've been checking weekly. I did manage to grab all 4 sets from Marshalls the other day.
:drink:

I must have been a good boy, but my luck tiki underware probably helped.

A great day for fixtures this weekend, first I found these two swags with the faux shell design for $5 a pop at a thrift then at an estate sale these fake wood 3 way lamps, that are now showcase lights, I got to make fake bamboo via instructions on another thread, pretty. Nothing like artifice and illusion. But the Twilight Zone experience was today walking out of gas station and spying a coconut mug resting on a news paper machine made by Haeger. I feel like I'm, being rewarded by a Cargo Cult.

[ Edited by: naugatiki on 2004-03-29 11:58 ]

I found one of these during lunch today. can someone give me info on this guy? (I borrowed the pic from JonPez's post in this forum. I hope he doesn't mind)

(I borrowed the pic from JonPez's post in this forum. I hope he doesn't mind)

TikiTrevor,
It's worthless. Send it to me, I'll dispose of it safely for you!

Actually, it's a version of a headhunter mug I believe. Several other people should have some info for you, I'm at work and haven't yet memorized which page it's on! :wink: Nice find, I like that one!

Trevor, that's the headhunter mug from the Mai Kai in Fort Lauderdale. Nice score.

I am now going to predict what Trevor will ask next.....and the answer is....somewhat rare, I would consider it a real good find, they were still using them at the Mai Kai up untill last week when I went and they didn't serve the Headhunter in it's proper mug.

[ Edited by: FLOUNDERart on 2004-03-30 06:23 ]

Is this mug pretty rare?

At my local restaurant supply store I found three tiki mugs made by Libbey. One is bamboo shaped, black with I think a red-orange rim. The other two are tiki, one being Easter islandish and the other being harder to describe. I should have all three tonight and I’ll take some pictures. They are really heavy and intended for heavy use, at $3 each I was very happy. Has anyone seen these? I did a couple searches and didn’t come up with anything.

I believe these are of what you speak: