Tiki Finds

My recent finds:

Hawaii Kai S&P's, OMC Moai, PMP bamboo mug, Orchids R-82 Fu Manchu, brown Trader Vic's S&P's

I picked up this mask recently. It's a little scratched up, but still interesting. Does anyone know anything about it? I apologize for the background decor - I took the pictures in my boss' office.

Greater minds than mine will tell it's not tiki. You knew that of course. It's from the Philippines or Mexico. I've got two of them myself.

Vinyl finds of this week...maybe not tiki but definitely RETRO--Big Band Bossa Nova is a PROMO so...right on

Regarding Tiki in TX's Mask find:

Greater minds than mine will tell it's not tiki. You knew that of course. It's from the Philippines or Mexico. I've got two of them myself.

Just my two bits here but you're right, they are not a Tiki (God) carving or are they based on one. However I think these types of masks could be described as Tiki (Tiki Decor) as they were hand carved in the Philippines and were sold in Hawaii to the tourists during the sixties and seventies and maybe through the eighties as well. I do not believe them to be Mexican. Ever notice how many of these are out there? Ton's of these came back from the Islands to the Mainland.

They were available through the Monkey Pod Giftshops that were in Hawaii and also at other places like the International Market Place in Hawaii. Some are seen with gold labels and others with white Philippine stickers on the backs. I have not seen one marked from Mexico.

I would imagine alot of people buying souvenirs or gifts weren't too sure on some of the Tiki carvings (especially those with the sharp teeth and horns from the Philippines, or angry Ku's or well-endowed, etc.....) and this gave them a little more of a happier or pleasant choice in the form of a memory or souvenir from the Islands.

Some Tiki/Polynesian Restaurants and Hotels did use these in their tropical decor. Not my favorites at all but definitely something hand carved from the Pacific!
It is good to see the larger sizes so not a bad find!! TabooDan

Oh....and didn't Orchids of Hawaii offer these for sale in their catalog as well?? Don't have the catalog but I thought I saw one in there once. Maybe someone else can help me out here.

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2008-05-15 16:36 ]

WTF? While I'm sure these ugly carved statue dudes don't fall under the authentic tiki guidelines, I have a couple of small surfer statues like this HUGE one I stumbled upon at a thrift store this week. Does anyone know where/when these statues originate from, and what this particular one with slots was made to hold? Regular sized music CDs fit into the slots, but a bit loosely.
Tiki or not, I rather like this ugly guy. Kinda resembles many of the local Florida redneck men!

There made in Indonesia-primarily Bali.
Trader Bill

The argument if these Philippine masks or those Bali surfer statues are Tiki is moot in so far as they, sold in Hawaii or not, represent the cheapest, lowest bottom of the aesthetic ladder of mass-produced, generic "primitive" art. They are, to bring up my favorite Paul Theroux quote again, "nameless pieces of hacked wood".

Just because they might be the only thing resembling Tiki available in Tiki-poor areas is no reason to consider them as part of Tiki Style. The art form of Tiki style has brought forth so many unique creative pieces of art in the past, which inspired many books and a whole new generation of Tiki lovers, so that nowadays so many cool new Tiki objects are available, (as this web site demonstrates), it insults the art form to even remotely consider this and other non-descript, cultural context-lacking crap (for lack of a better word) as Tiki.

I realize the above posters are aware of the un-Tikiness of the pieces, just wanted to make it a little clearer. :D

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-15 22:48 ]

Just to pre-empt the responses of any members with hurt feelings because they own pieces like the above. I am not denying you the right to like them and display them as you please. I am merely sharing my expert's viewpoint, on a site that is dedicated to the preservation of quality Tiki culture as defined in my Book of Tiki. From time to time I feel compelled to do this forcefully, in response to posts which, however well meaning their intentions may be, are prone to muddle up the issue. I do this because I care, and I feel that to leave some examples up on this site uncommented, can have the following, undesirable effects:

A.) Newbies might see them and, since they are posted, think they are "OK" Tiki examples

B.) Much worth, true lovers of Tiki that have interesting collections and have valuable contributions to make will see some "bad example" post as the straw that broke the camel's back and give up on this site and leave

To prevent this, and because I know that many others share my feelings but do not express them, I sometimes pounce on seemingly innocent posts, I'm sorry. And I am aware how relative and individual these questions of taste are, as George Carlin once said (in the context of "people leaving their shit lying around so you don't have room for your stuff..."):"Funny how other peoples' stuff is shit, but your own shit is stuff!" :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-16 01:55 ]

On 2008-05-15 22:35, bigbrotiki wrote:
The argument if these Philippine masks or those Bali surfer statues are Tiki is moot in so far as they, sold in Hawaii or not, represent the cheapest, lowest bottom of the aesthetic ladder of mass-produced, generic "primitive" art. They are, to bring up my favorite Paul Theroux quote again, "nameless pieces of hacked wood".

Just because they might be the only thing resembling Tiki available in Tiki-poor areas is no reason to consider them as part of Tiki Style. The art form of Tiki style has brought forth so many unique creative pieces of art in the past, which inspired many books and a whole new generation of Tiki lovers, so that nowadays so many cool new Tiki objects are available, (as this web site demonstrates), it insults the art form to even remotely consider this and other non-descript, cultural context-lacking crap (for lack of a better word) as Tiki.

I realize the above posters are aware of the un-Tikiness of the pieces, just wanted to make it a little clearer. :D

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-15 22:48 ]

Much like the un-tiki 'cultural context-lacking crap' that your very own indulgent other half Naomi (+ writer of the recent article about you in Atomic Ranch) sells via her online store? Eeek @ items such as brightly colored rubber 'tiki' pencil toppers at http://www.8BallWebstore.com (Home Decor > Tiki, Tiki, Tiki!) but at least she does carry that 2nd book that you wrote :wink:

[ Edited by: Moai_Mama 2008-05-16 04:47 ]

On the way home I found these...

Old Trader Vic's brown salt and pepper, Homemade Moai mug and Trader Dick's salt and pepper!

PTD

Love those Trader Dick's S&P shakers.

On 2008-05-16 15:56, LOL Tiki wrote:
Love those Trader Dick's S&P shakers.

Thanks! I found the one in the middle awhile back (just one). As you can see, it is a little taller and lighter in color than the pair I picked up today.

PTD

Today I found 2 metal canisters of some 8mm vacation films of Hawaii from the early 70's. Half if it is footage of the Polynesian Culture Center with the huts, dances, scattered tikis, and even a person carving a tiki. It's like stock footage from Paradise Hawaiian Style.

I wonder if that could be transfered to DVD?

On 2008-05-16 16:11, Psycho Tiki D wrote:

Thanks! I found the one in the middle awhile back (just one). As you can see, it is a little taller and lighter in color than the pair I picked up today.

PTD

I believe there's a Langerman's Luau mug based on that design.

LOL Tiki!

[ Edited by: LOL Tiki 2008-05-16 20:40 ]

Trader Dick's also used that specific Moai design.

And I want to shed some light on M.M.'s post too, because I just realized there is a misunderstanding, the cause of which might be my choice of images in Tiki Modern:

On 2008-05-16 04:40, Moai_Mama wrote:
Much like the un-tiki 'cultural context-lacking crap' that your very own indulgent other half Naomi (+ writer of the recent article about you in Atomic Ranch) sells via her online store? Eeek @ items such as brightly colored rubber 'tiki' pencil toppers at http://www.8BallWebstore.com (Home Decor > Tiki, Tiki, Tiki!) but at least she does carry that 2nd book that you wrote :wink:

Those pencil toppers are not un-Tiki, or I would not have pictured them in Tiki Modern. Yet it is my fault that they might be perceived as such, considering the text on that page.

To clarify: I chose to use the Accoutrements pencil toppers on page 284 in Tiki Modern as an example for the widespread re-use of the Tiki image in general, and NOT as an example for "big corporations having abused the name for purely commercial gain". I really should have shown an example for that, too, but I did not have the room. Even the Shasta can does not totally qualify, because A.) It does show a Tiki based on an actual mid-century Poly pop mug, and B.) Shasta had already used "Tiki" as a soda brand name in the 60s. (plus the Tiki Central campaign tie-in, but that's a whole nother story).

"Context-less" means that an item has no roots in either authentic Oceanic Art, OR in mid-century Polynesian pop of the 50s and 60s, which applies to the Bali surfer figures, and (even respecting Taboo Dan's point about the tourist carvings) also to those Phillipine masks.

The Accoutrements pencil toppers actually have a many-fold context in Tiki style: For one, they are unique, never before used applications of the Tiki concept, and as such are modern Polynesian pop just as the "Tiki Tote" and the Tiki Soap-on-a-rope are vintage Polynesian pop. Plus they illustrate my point on that page that modern designers have made the Tiki image a common icon again, by the fact that

A.) They utilize the House Industries Tiki type face which has eased the popularization of Tiki (even the BOT and Tiki Mod covers used it), and

B.) The Tikis depicted were taken straight from the pages of the BOT (bottom left to top right: Tropics Tongue Tiki, Aku Tiki mug, Polynesian Village Apts Tiki), which makes these pencil toppers a great example of the Tiki Revival, one of the many that show me that, by waiting 8 years to find the right publisher, I succeeded in my aim to re-introduce the Tiki icon into contemporary pop culture.

And regarding their colors: Allow me to clarify that my ire directed towards bright colors on Tikis is mainly reserved for defaced vintage carvings, and for wood carvings in general. I do not judge modern plastic Tiki objects the same way. As long as in their design they, as mentioned above, either show SOME relation to authentic Polynesian art, or to 1950s/60s Tiki style, they ARE Polynesian pop.

I realize Moai Mama that you are just ribbing me (which is fine), and my reply might seem overly earnest, but: That's what I do! :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-17 08:14 ]

I also have to point out that we (Accoutrements) has or had discontinued all of the tiki products that we have had, so get them while you can via mcphee.com. Some of the tiki items can olny be found via http://www.8BallWebstore.com due to the mcphee website removing them compleatly. I think if you like em' buy them... if not, well don't.

Ha! take that shameless plug :D

[ Edited by: thefuzz 2008-05-17 11:36 ]

One of our local thrift shops was having a "Hawaiian Days" sale today.

Most of the stuff I bought is fairly common. A couple of items of note would be the #201 Coco Joe's lave tiki and the Van Briggle Pottery Colorado Springs blue seashell. Everything here was less than $20.00 total.

Happy hunting!

PTD

Man PTD, you are really on a mission! Glad your wife forgave me and Tiki in general and let's you roam freely! :)

On 2008-05-17 11:33, thefuzz wrote:
I also have to point out that we (Accoutrements) has or had discontinued all of the tiki products that we have had, so get them while you can via mcphee.com. Some of the tiki items can only be found via http://www.8BallWebstore.com due to the mcphee website removing them completely.

Thanks, fuzz, yet I am bummed to hear that such an early champion of modern Poly pop is leaving the Tiki market !?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-18 00:34 ]

a few posts back the 8mm Hawaii reels - yep they can be transfer to anything!PM me we'll talk

Sunday kind of fizzled. Aside from a couple of metal robots and a Nesbitts/Disneyland calendar from 1960, these were all I found.

A couple of different "Best Ever" tiki mugs made in Japan with the stickers. I did not have these yet!

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-05-18 11:41 ]

Here are my finds from the last couple of weeks:

Two bamboo mugs and a moai candle

Coco Joe hapa wood bowl that I've never seen before - it has a flower for each of the 6 main Hawaiian islands

I buy a lot of records - Polynesian and otherwise - but this is the most interesting one I've found lately. "Cinerama takes you on a South Seas Adventure to tropical islands set like jewels in dreamy cerulean waters..."

An old edition of Aku-Aku and the 1972 edition of Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide that I found today. It's pretty awesome, except for two things: he admits right at the start that some of the recipes have been "modernized" from the original 40s/50s versions and some of the recipes call for TV brand mixes instead of actual ingredients. I don't know if anyone else has commented on this (I didn't use the search function!) but otherwise I'm excited to start trying some of these drinks.

Good finds, Brando, especially the South Seas Adventure soundtrack - never seen that LP before. Apparently all prints of the film have been lost - what a pity.

Finds from the last 3 weeks:

Bought two big bundles of swizzle sticks for a buck at a church rummage sale - when I took away everything that wasn't tiki I had

7 tiki paddles from the Edmonton Beachcomber

1 pick from the Beachcomber and a skull pick of unknown origin

2 swizzlespoons from the Tiki Tiki

Tourist Tiki from Tonga (the mug is for scale). Very heavy and slightly unstable so I expect it to fall over and smash something valuable at some point.

Monkey pod Tiki compliments of Polynesian Imports (the second one I've found marked like this), little Polyart Tiki.

Hey everyone, It's time to play that fun and thrilling game IS ... IT ... WITCO?

Anyone?

On 2008-05-20 12:04, hecktow wrote:
Hey everyone, It's time to play that fun and thrilling game IS ... IT ... WITCO?

Anyone?

maybe definately...

Welllll...I don't recall seeing this guy anywhere in their oeuvre, but maybe Ken does...otherwise it might be an example of the output of their various copyists that I mentioned in Tiki Modern.

Thanks for the feed back. I really didn't think it was when I found it, but I haven't seen enough Witco to be sure. I got it from a barware collector, and I thought it may be a Primo Beer promotional item at first. But I don't know about those shark teeth. It is cool.

On 2008-05-20 12:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
Welllll...I don't recall seeing this guy anywhere in their oeuvre, but maybe Ken does...otherwise it might be an example of the output of their various copyists that I mentioned in Tiki Modern.

Saw this at the local Goodwill. Have no idea what it is. Don't know if it is tiki or not. Anybody seen anything like this? Is it worth going back and spending 10 bucks?

On 2008-05-21 19:15, blindy the pirate wrote:
Saw this at the local Goodwill. Have no idea what it is. Don't know if it is tiki or not. Anybody seen anything like this? Is it worth going back and spending 10 bucks?

It looks African to me, but I could be mistaken.

On 2008-05-21 19:15, blindy the pirate wrote:
Saw this at the local Goodwill. Have no idea what it is. Don't know if it is tiki or not. Anybody seen anything like this? Is it worth going back and spending 10 bucks?

it would cost you more in gas to go back and pick this nasty untiki item up...save yer $10 for a rainy day ......

Thanks Tipsy and Ratz. I had a feeling it wasn't tiki, but living this far east, anything that shows up in the thrift stores is worth the inquiry.

Some recent garage-sale finds. The Westwoods were found by Doctor Z, who also found some nifty Beachbum Burt's coffee mugs are not pictured and that I've never seen before.

The Warehouse rocks glass is one I've never seen before either. The Coconut is Trader Vics. The Ford Times magazine has an artist's rendering of the Mai Kai in Florida.

Here's a closup of the Mai Kai pic in the Ford Times magazine:

Wow, how psychedelic! It's a water color that looks like a photograph in some places. Kind of like being on acid and your vision's outlines start to get runny and melt into each other. Not that I ever experienced that!

I know exactly what you mean. Not that I've ever experienced that before either :|

picked these up at a yard sale for a lousy $1 apiece!!! all are in fantastic shape......the girl on tropical moonlight and south sea island magic is the same chick....probably a london records model..

bought these from an estate sale ,i was told the guy brought them back from Hawaii in the 60's

"just my opinion,i could be wrong"

the second letter is an 'R' 'DR' or 'OR'
[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2008-05-25 07:19 ]

[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2008-05-25 07:29 ]

finally found the second /third stage piece of my UNITED AIR LINES tiki fountaini have been looking for a while now.

now i see what you were talking about, wish that 150 miles away was only 15, beautiful backyard, great finds!

Forgot I even had this piece. It is a daiquiri mix. Well, was a daiquiri mix, has been sitting on my shelves for ten years or better.

Its made out of glass and has nice lines that don't show up as well in the photo

Found today...

Enchanted Tikt Room postcard, $0.25.

Two OMC crossed arm tiki mugs, $1.00 each.

Two Mr. Peanut "Tiki Bob's San Francisco" mugs, $2.50 each.

Probably more "surf" than "tiki is this...

Olympia Beer sign with happy beach goers frockling and building sandcastles, utilizing those steel Oly cans for decorations. This is the beach I remember growing up! This sign will work well when I finish my lanai this summer!

Later,

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-05-25 12:10 ]

You must be a Washingtonian (or Oregonian) to remember those old ads! I only remember that beach as being stormy, cold and gray! I don't remember seeing bikini-clad beach babes building beercan abodes either - usually wind-breaks and tarp-covered places to huddle in the cold!

On 2008-05-25 12:08, Psycho Tiki D wrote:
Found today...

Enchanted Tikt Room postcard, $0.25.

Two OMC crossed arm tiki mugs, $1.00 each.

Two Mr. Peanut "Tiki Bob's San Francisco" mugs, $2.50 each.

Probably more "surf" than "tiki is this...

Olympia Beer sign with happy beach goers frockling and building sandcastles, utilizing those steel Oly cans for decorations. This is the beach I remember growing up! This sign will work well when I finish my lanai this summer!

Later,

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-05-25 12:10 ]

Last couple of weeks worth of stuff:

First find last week was a cocojoes keychain:

First find this week was a cocojoes plaque

It's one of those painted variations. Hooray for swap meet find variations I don't have. The one I already have is all black and doesn't have this sticker on the back:

Another coco joes find:

This one has a sticker on the back and the number inscribed in the bottom. Another variation I didn't have!

I got this weird wood tiki hybrid thingy:

It has a common Tongan carving body and mouth:

but the head is very "stylized."

It also has shell inlays

My guess is an partially abstract Hawaii/tongan souvineer carving.

More easiy identfiable is this Tiki frying pan:

An OMC mug with sticker from Kono Hawaii, Santa Ana

Some matches:

Detail of the Club Royal Hawaiian matchbook:

And finally, a softball sized glass float:

It has this mark:

and is this full of water;

Buzzy Out!

Found a neat PNG story board this morning.

On 2008-05-25 12:24, beadtiki wrote:
You must be a Washingtonian (or Oregonian) to remember those old ads! I only remember that beach as being stormy, cold and gray! I don't remember seeing bikini-clad beach babes building beercan abodes either - usually wind-breaks and tarp-covered places to huddle in the cold!

Nope, neither Washington or Oregon, just good ole sunny Southern CA! Huntington or Seal Beach, mostly!

PTD

PTD,

That sign will look good hanging from your ceiling!!!

JOKING!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

it's 2 for tuesday here in chi-town!!...i never thought i would find one of these in the wild ever....instead, i found 2 today!!!!

here's the auction link for one of them....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=290234081412&Category=29460&_trksid=p3907.m29

"Don't sweat the petty stuff - pet the sweaty stuff!!"

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-05-27 17:16 ]

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-05-27 17:17 ]

Bet that find made your little heart go pitter-pat... :o