The Tiki Leilani Mug

Maui Tiki had a good idea in the 3-face mug thread. Let's start a separate thread to discuss all things "Tiki Leilani". The lowly Leilani mug has been discussed in many other threads, but I don't believe it's had a thread strictly devoted to it.

Let's talk history and prices. Let's post photos of as many variations as we can, (I know there are lots of them). Didn't we discuss a green variation from Club Tahiti in Tucson?

Since I'm primarily a paper collector, I'll start us off with the following offering; One of the original Leilani Rum magazine adds, where you could mail in for a 4-pack of tiki mugs:

Sabu

Here's the actual bottle found on the World's Longest Yardsale by Kiliki

The Swank Pad Broadcast - If it's Swank...

[ Edited by: Swanky on 2004-04-13 12:24 ]

Here's a mug I just saw on ebay, but I don't have one:

The description from the auction reads:
"This very unique and unusual BI mug was used to serve coffee on the"great pumpkin" flight from DFW to Honollulu."

I just bought six Hawaiian Inn Tiki Leilani's for $30. We wanted to have them for serving guests, or in case PolyPop ever comes for a visit (oops, smash!) I hated to spend $5 each for such a common mug, but I liked being able to buy a half-dozen at one time.
KG

Holy Sweet Leilanis!

Courtesy of http://hometown.aol.com/swizzledd/tiki.html

[ Edited by: badmojo on 2004-04-13 13:26 ]

:o BOING!

So THAT'S where they all are!

Lotsa swizzles too! Coooool.

Yet another:

I may have mentioned this before, but the one & only time I found 'em (3), they were with a bunch of Orchids of Hawaii mugs, Coco Joes, etc. The annoying thing was, most of the mugs were priced at $0.75 to $1.50 but the Leilani's were $3.25 each! My guess was that the employee who priced them only recognized the Leilani and figured that it must be more popular and valuble.

-Z

Ah, the beloved "Tiki Leilani". Excellent topic since I bet all of us here have at least one.

I saw one the other day on ebay that read "Vintage 'Tiki Leilani' Vase - NO RESERVE". They were asking something like $14.99 for it. I guess that's a good price since there is NO RESERVE?!

I love mine because I feel the same way Kailuageoff does... Certain friends of mine get this one to drink from.

On 2004-04-13 12:56, badmojo wrote:
Holy Sweet Leilanis!

I've seen that wall of Leilanis in person, its overwhelming! And she has MORE!
tg

when I have friends over for a party, I always let them choose whatever drink vessel they want from the wall of tiki mugs. It always amuses me that the ones they pick are not the ones we, as tiki aficionados, would consider the best. Leilani always gets picked. As does the generic coconut.

I'm actually going to sell a bunch of my Leilanis at a yard sale this weekend...how much should I charge?? I paid about $3-$5 for each of them...can I get that back?

(I'm in L.A., if that matters in pricing)

i collect a leilani if it is different from the others i have. the most noticable difference i have found is whether it is one-faced or two-faced. and of course the name on the base. i'll review and snap some fotos...

Man I wish I could post pics...(no I don't, have no digi-cam, scanner and no time), but what belongs here is the original 21 inch Vacu-form display Tiki from Leilani Hawaiian Rum, lit up from inside (plus a light bulb to backlight the bottle). This was a holy grail for me because it is that very Tiki that graces the walls of the Tiki Ti with the backlit menus on the forehead (sans feet).
I got a mint one in Waikiki years ago (cost a mint, too). Fatuhiva, can't you post a pic of yours, lit up?

The Tiki Leilani was the first Tiki mug I ever purchased, at the Sea & Jungle Shop, in the late 80s, just before it closed.

I've never found a marked "Tiki Leilani", but if this covers the Orchids of Hawaii R-91, here are my stats.

Cheapest: I got six R-91's, eight stacking two-faced tiki cups and a small Aztec figurine for $10 in a flea market.

Most expensive: I passed on an R-91 at $25 from an antique store. It was beside the suffering bastard decater I paid about $15.50 for...ain't life funny?

I see R-91's in midwestern antique malls priced in a range of $1 to $4. I've been trying to notice if they are still there from time to time as sort a guage of tiki interest in my neck of the woods.

Was at the local thrift store - now finding anything tiki or even anything Hawaiian is rather unusual and I will buy any tiki mug that I rarely come across even if I have 10 of 'em! There were three mugs behind the glass at the counter, without hesitation I bought two of them for $3.00 each...I passed on buying an Orchids Leilani mug...I didn't even ask to look at it...I didn't feel guilty leaving it there...Leilani's be damned! I've already bought three from the same Goodwill - one generic and two Hawaiian Inn versions! Now, where the hell are all the Tiki Bob's and Ren Clark mugs!?!

Wow, this whole thread makes me wonder. I've been collecting (seriously) for about 5 months and off and on for a bout a year and have never stumbled across one of these. It's weird cuz I have found good mugs like the VC Seahorse, Don the BC Rum barrel, shrunken head mug and so on. I'm not upset about my findings, I just find it amusing.

On 2004-04-14 18:03, TikiTrevor wrote:
Wow, this whole thread makes me wonder. I've been collecting (seriously) for about 5 months and off and on for a bout a year and have never stumbled across one of these. It's weird cuz I have found good mugs like the VC Seahorse, Don the BC Rum barrel, shrunken head mug and so on. I'm not upset about my findings, I just find it amusing.

Wanna trade for one?
Let me know
TG

My first tiki mugs were 6 Leilani mugs. My wife bought all 6 of them for $2.00 at a swap meet about 10 years ago. Funny thing is, I thought they were ugly even then!! I was a CocoJoe's collector at that time and intentionally avoided collecting tiki mugs because I was afraid it would take over my CocoJoe's collecting hobby. 450+ mugs later, I'd say I was right about that one.

Good thing is, when my wife complains about my "habit" I can tell her that she's the one responsible for starting it...

On 2004-04-14 21:06, PolynesianPop wrote:
Good thing is, when my wife complains about my "habit" I can tell her that she's the one responsible for starting it...

nice!!

I just keep telling him it's better to buy slowly now, rather than get everything when the Huki Lounge needs to be filled up.

muhahaha

Aloha, eh
-Tikiwahine
"The things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those who got there first"

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine on 2004-04-15 12:29 ]

I recently bought 3 TIKI Leilanni's for $12 each. They're all marked TIKI Leilani around the base on both sides and USA on the bottom. I don't know if this is a good price or not. I didn't even know what they were until I got home and did a google search.

My original thought was to see what was out there in the Leilani mug and what was rare or actually worth somthing.

Maybe we could list what we have in categories of "one sided" and "Two sided" mugs. Then someone (Like myself) could make a true list and share it with everyone.

I only have one in front of me (my pencil holder at work) but it would categorize like this...

One sided:
No name on front
Orchids of Hawaii - Japan, on the bottom

If we could get everyone to submit what they've got we could come up with some kind of list.

Why are we doing this?? I don't know, maybe because we can!

Here is a good example:

One Sided Mug:
Tiki Leilani on the front
USA on the bottom

Then we have this one:

Two Sided Mug
Leilani on the front/back
Orchids of Hawaii - Japan, on the bottom

Notice the raidsed letters and the lack of the word "tiki" on the front.

MauiTiki

[ Edited by: MauiTiki on 2004-04-15 22:00 ]

I have a one sided mug with no writting around the bottom rim. The makers mark says sang kung S with a few chinese characters.

My Leilani is 2-sided with no writing around the bottom rim, and no stamp on the bottom.

Both Leilani in my collection are one sided -one has Leilani on the bottom rim as pictured, the other has Hawaiian Inn around on the bottom rim as not pictured...

Per MAUITIKI's EXAMPLE: This is the type I have. There were 6 total at a local antique mall. 3 are totally unmarked and unstamped while 3 (I bought) are marked as the above photos. Can I assume these are the original McCoy's? If so, what are they worth?

Jontiki-
Is there any mark on the bottom of your mugs?

Freakbear-
sorry, unless this thread can determine otherwise, none of these "Leilani" mugs are worth more than a few bucks a piece.

I have one, it's double sided, says TIKI LEILANI at the bottom and is stamped with JAPAN on the unglazed white rim on the very bottom.
I'll post a pic soon as I set up FTP at home.

Aloha all,

Nobody had mentioned it yet, so I wanted to post a picture of my Tiki Leilani Mug that I got on "Padres Tiki Leilani Mug Day". Very rare. I think they only gave away this one.

My contributions:

The Tiki Leilani store display (with light bulb to illuminate bottle)

and original Tiki Leilanis in box.

the seller for this one wants $55, i suppose based on the braniff connection.

does anyone have this one?

Here are a few of the many faces and varieties of the classic Leilani mug along with some notes on maker's marks (a few of these mugs are distant relatives):

• Row 1: USA "Tiki Leilani", Orchids Of Hawaii (OOH) R91 Plain, OOH "Leilani", USA "Tiki Leilani" (Green)
• Row 2: "Braniff Int'l","Diamond Head", OOH R91H "Hawaiian Inn","Hawaiian Village"
• Row 3: USA (Rust/Gold), Unmarked (Chubby), "Tiki Tiki Tiki" (New), Unmarked (New)
• Row 4: Tahiti (Green), Tahiti (Blue), Enco Tall, Enco Handle

I'm sure there are many more but that's a good start. Also, I would love to see images of an original Orchids of Hawaii ordering catalog if anyone has one.

ModMana :drink:

[ Edited by: ModMana on 2004-04-26 12:57 ]

the seller for this one wants $55, i suppose based on the braniff connection.

I saw this exact Leilani in an antique store in Dallas for $36.00 (didn't buy it). There was a sign next to it that said "Only used once on flight from DFW to Honolulu." So whats the deal with Braniff? Is this an extremely rare mug? Is $36.00 a good price? ME NEED INFO!!

:drink:

On 2004-04-26 12:55, ModMana wrote:
I would love to see images of an original Orchids of Hawaii ordering catalog if anyone has one.

ModMana

Here is our little buddy in the Orchids of Hawaii Cataloge.

The full page...

The Cataloge Cover...

ModMana, Thanks for posting the pics! Definately some I've never seen.

Cool, thanks MauiTiki! I'd love to see the rest of that catalog sometime. I didn't realize that OOH were still in business in 1988 (see cover). Now, if we could just find someone with the elusive OMC catalog...

On 2004-04-26 12:55, ModMana wrote:
Here are a few of the many faces and varieties of the classic Leilani mug along with some notes on maker's marks (a few of these mugs are distant relatives):

hey modmana, do you know if the list above were single-or double sided? just wondering.

mahalo for taking the effort to compile!

On 2004-04-27 11:26, ModMana wrote:
I didn't realize that OOH were still in business in 1988 (see cover).

MM, OOH didn't go out of business until the 90's sometime. In addition to the catalog pictured above, I also have one dated 1991.

The catalog I'd really like to get a hold of is the one from CocoJoe's!

This lantern looks like it also belongs to the Tiki Leilani tradition

On 2004-04-27 11:26, ModMana wrote:
Cool, thanks MauiTiki! I'd love to see the rest of that catalog sometime.

ModMana this is the only other page I have an image of. I think these were the only pages with Tiki Mugs.

MauiTiki

[ Edited by: MauiTiki on 2004-04-30 21:54 ]

I can't believe that the lowly Leilani mug is receiving so much attention. He's gotten a bad reputation but it really is a quality mug...

On 2004-04-27 11:30, Johnny Dollar wrote:
hey modmana, do you know if the list above were single-or double sided? just wondering.

Sorry JD, the only ones in my photo that I actually own are the brown and green glazed mugs that say "TIki Leilani" across the bottom. Those are definitely 2-sided. The others, I'm not sure.

Thanks MauiTiki for posting the other OOH catalog page. I expected that it would have contained more tiki items. There are several OOH mugs (not in your catalog) that are pretty obscure. Maybe those were produced in earlier years?

ModMana :drink:

I went to a city-wide garage sale held in a parking structure this past sunday. I wasn't having too much luck, but then my wife came running up to me with arms flailing and a big grin on her face. By her excitement, you'd think she had found a dozen Witco fountains for $10 each. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me over to this table:

HUMPH! :roll:

-Z

Hey F Z .............Isn't that the "rare" tiki Leilani 10 pin bowling set ????

Well at least the Mrs. was trying to help.
Better luck next time! And one last thought,
that table represents more mugs than I will see all summer at the many yard sales I will go to here in the tiki-barren midwest.

Naugatiki, I just found 2 of those lanterns myself! What do you know about them?

Aloha collecting people!

So today I had one of my rare Tiki mug encounters at a fave Manhattan flea market and as it turns out it was a good one. I'll tell ya, it's very difficult to find anything Tiki collectible around here. In the last year I have only seen two or three Hawaii Kai collectible mugs and an Otagari, but these were all out of the price range when I found them. Today it seems it all gelled when I found two of these Tiki Leilani mugs. From what I have read here it seems like these are the latent/anti-heros of the Tiki mug world. Why is that? The guy originally wanted $10 a piece for them but I got him to give me the pair for $15. Pretty cool. The model I got was the straight up Orchids of Hawaii R91 (rust color) with 'Tiki Leilani' on the base. There's no USA marking on the bottom, just blank.

Also last week, I found a pair of lanterns for $9, very similiar the ones Naugatiki posted earlier on this thread. They are the same candle-lit/hanging lanterns but the ones I have are rust in color, and have slanted, rather than round eyes. There are no markings anywhere to indicate where these came from. The lady that sold them to me said they were 'from the 50s or 60s', but ain't that always the case? Anybody have any info on these?

Two weeks with some decent Tiki finds, and thanks to my fiancee for pointing them out, otherwise I prolly woulda glossed right over them. Hope this is the start of a trend for me...

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2004-09-19 21:06 ]

Excellent topic you guys. There is a lady here at my local Swap Meet who calls me the, "Tiki King." She's great because she always holds any tiki mugs she finds and sells them only to me. Funny thing, here's what I got from her today. I paid her $20 for the whole lot. My favorite piece, however, was the Kon Tiki Ashtray. Here it is, enjoy...

Holy shite man!! You got all that for $20?? I gotta move outta New York!

Came across another Leilani, but with a twist...

It seems that a few years ago Wayne & Teauila decided to make their own mug for their venerable "Teauila's Hawaii" Polynesian extravaganza at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach.
Someone took a mold of a Leilani (maybe a Hawaiian Inn version?), but before molding, they used an old-school Dymo labelmaker to cover up the old name on the base. The quality of the detail is pretty bad, being at least a 2nd generation mold...
Anybody else found one of these?

JonPez
http://www.playgroundzero.net/tiki/
------_-

-On the eternal search for the recipe for Kobe's white sauce -