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Tiki Finds

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mytiki.life – The best place to build and manage your tiki collections.
MC

My boyfriend and I received one of them nice tiki pitchers from his mom. He says that she bought it in San Mateo, CA at a high-end grocery store called Dreyger's or Dreiger's or quite possibly Drayger's. It's wonderful. It's so easy to stir up a big batch of Zombie and relax with friends without constantly getting up to make more drinks. (after work, I'm too tired)
P

Oh poop...way to ruin my day...

Well, that's what I get for getting into Shag's artwork so late in the game.

Sorry paranoid123. I guess I misinterpreted your post. $125.00 for 3 is not bad but $125.00 each is a little....well, you know...
STCB

Doctor Z and I had another fruitful day of Garage-Saling. Here are some of our finds:


Doctor Z's finds:

  1. Tiki Ashtray from Hawaii
  2. Hawaiian book from 1960s
  3. "Eden's Island" cd by Eden Ahbez
  4. Tropical fish statue for his bar

Sabu's Finds:

  1. Polyester Hawaiian shirt from the 1970s (just my size).
  2. Captain's hat (I may show up to the next event as "Cap'n Sabu"
  3. Book entitled "Cannibal Valley"
  4. Connie Steven's "Hawaiian Eye" lp.


Doctor Z picked up the mint-condition copy of Eden Ahbez's "Eden's Island" for only a buck! How lucky can you get!? But the record albums are my obsession. I picked up a few with amusing cover art today.


The "Cannibal Valley" gets a mylar dustjacket protector and goes on my coffee table. The Connie Steven's album (1960) is definitely my best find of the day. She's photograped singing in a great vintage Polynesian club, with glass float in nets, tapa cloth walls, bamboo, etc. I've read that the club scenes were filmed at the Shell Bar of the Hawaiian Village Hotel, and that Martin Denny's group played for her numbers. Can anyone confirm or deny this for me?

Sabu
B

That Shell Bar on the cover was a set built on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank, just like the Hotel front porte cochere and the lobby. Only once a year cast and crew would venture to Hawaii to film the scenes and background plates necessary for the whole season (they even shot the beach scenes on the soundstage, with rear projection of the beach in Waikiki).
I don't know how closely the set resembled the original Shell Bar at the Henry Kaiser (later Hilton) Hawaiian Village Hotel in Waikiki.

Not Martin Denny but Arthur Lyman appeared in several Hawaiian Eye episodes as the band in the Shell Bar. I guess he guested whenever he was touring or recording on the mainland. Conny always sang one song in each episode, mostly American, not Hapa Haole tunes, with an anonymous background combo. Whenever Arthur was on the show, he was announced by name.
Sometimes Poncie Ponce sang, and it got really scary when Robert Conrad took the mike and crooned.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2003-01-26 11:33 ]
STCB

Thanks for the help again, Bigbro.

It's nice to know of another Los Angeles tiki location - even if it was only a movie set in Burbank.

I've also got a copy of the rare "Warner Brothers Stars" Chrismas album from the 1950s. On it, Poncie Ponce sings a great rendition of "Meli Kalikimaka". A young Robert Conrad and Connie Stevens also sing Christmas songs, as does Roger Moore, if you can believe it. The stars of "77 Sunset Strip" sing some really cool, swingin' versions of Christmas tunes as well.

Sabu
A

I found this mug at a local antique dealer. It's the first mug I've found in a long time. It says Kahiki and has the Hoffman pottery stamp. It's kinda like the one on pg 160 of "The Book of Tiki".

[ Edited by: Alnshely on 2003-01-29 14:10 ]
TR

Nice score Alnshely!

Daddy is pretty happy... I was feelin' the tiki vibe this afternoon ad hit up the ol' Goodwill after lunch. Got me a right nice Mark Thomas moai mug for 99 cents. What a bah-gen!

Is it just me or is that adrenaline rush you get when you spot a mug at the thrift just the best? I gotta' change my shorts...

Aloha and happy hunting.
:tiki:
T

Way to go Al!! That Kahiki mug is a rather rare one- I'm still looking for one too. That is a great mug and I'm sure you got a good deal on it! (?)
S

Alnshely wrote:
I found this mug at a local antique dealer...It says Kahiki and has the Hoffman pottery stamp...

Al~
Did you see this one from ebay? Whoa!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2153395596&category=29460

SugarCaddyDaddy
T

I scored some fabulous huge op polynesian patterned fabric curtains at the Value Village yesterday - well not exactly scored cause they were 20 bucks... but anyway... I need to know - what is barkcloth exactly, and how can you tell if something is or isn't?
MTT

Pet it and see if it's tail wags!

Ba-Dum-Ching
Thank yoou very much I'll be here all week, and don't forget to tip your waitress
T

Acoording to an old interior decortating book of mine, the only definition is thick textured cotton...pretty vague! The best way to tell is if it is polished or really textured, the most textured stuff being what most people will consider barkcloth. It is was made much past the late 60's its not usually what collectors consider "barkcloth". I hope someone else has a better way to tell, really, its know it when you have it, if you don't think it is or can't tell it probably isn't.
T

Then I probably have curtains of thick cotton, but not barkcloth. No matter, the effect is the same - Poly pop!
T

I guess I should share my success at Dayton's "Flea & Tique Show" over the weekend.

I found an excellent Kon Tiki matchbook, as well as a couple others for .50 cents.
Also found an old Hula girl arcade card from WWII era. Ton's of drink stirrers for $3.00 - including a Kahiki, Tahitian Bar / Castaways and some others.
However, I passed on the Harveys little mug for $5.00 as I already have a few.

I was very encouraged to find some pieces at reasonable prices at an antique show.
I think the majority of vendors had made their purchases at estate sales though. Which makes me think I should start doing that a little more. (It's just been so damn cold!)

:sheckymug:
A

Fan-dabby-dozy Tiki find today.
I had a mid-term hand in of work at my college and after bunking off, i went a wee tiki hunt and scored.
For a paltry £15 I got bamboo tiki bar, admitedly its a small one, a tiki-bar barrel type thing, but due to the unlikely-ness of finding one in scotland a monumental find.
I even have this pod wood tiki mask that'll look lovely on the front face of it.
STCB

Congratulations Atomictonytiki!

Wow. I agree - finding a tiki bar in Scotland has got to outrank any of my garage-sale scores here in Southern California. Awesome! Enjoy that bar. Post a photo if you get the chance.

Sabu
E

The Gods are bounteous! Was on my way back from a client's who lives just a few blocks away this afternoon, and coming up the back lane I saw something my eyes could not believe: two ceramic Tiki items sitting on the dumpster across from our building. They are both mint (probably very new). The green job is over twice the height of the yellow one, which is more of a shotglass. The green one reads "Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee" on the back , and the shot says "UCLA, Los Angeles, California". Probably souvenir items from frat bashes or something? No value I'm pretty sure, but hey, that's not why I collect! They made my whole damn month - and when I think about the constant parade of junk and bottle-pickers through our lane, and what the odds were against my being first to see these...I am so grateful.

aloha,
emspace.
S

FANTASTIC EMSPACE!

I hope that you will be 'initiating' both of these properly? MaiTai? Navy Grog? Both?

Any address (number) on the dumpster? Maybe the resident(s) have more to 'dump' your way!

SugarCaddyDaddy
E

Aloha SugarDaddy,

initiation...a good topic indeed. Well, the little guy could be used to add rum to a mix; on the other hand I have been known :wink: to take a straight shot now and again. My bro has some really nice Matusalem Gran Reserva that would work well to that purpose. The mug, now...I've never had any drink other than beer in a handled mug. This is my first handled Tiki mug in fact, but there's no way I'm gonna put beer in it. maybe just a big ol' Mai Tai, yeah. We're getting some really Springlike weather here so I'm in the mood all right.

I know who belongs to that dumpster, it's another apartment bldg. not unlike ours. I did in fact open MS Word as soon as I ran in the door with my prizes, and banged out a thank-you note, left it on the front steps of that building - with my phone number, just in case...

emspace.
T

On 2003-02-24 18:59, SugarCaddyDaddy wrote:

I hope that you will be 'initiating' both of these properly?

I would think the first order of initiation would be a thorough and proper disinfecting! You don't want any college boy cooties. Or dumpster diptheria!
E

Amen to that tikifish, your Hogtown common sense has sent a vital wake-up call to this dippy Wet Coast boy! Honestly, they LOOK clean!

:)
em
F

Way to go emspace! I dumpster dive myself here in Vancouver. The only thing I ever get is dirty.
E

fartsatune, I hope you're not diving due to poverty, that would be so sad! I live in Kits (OLD bldg., bear in mind I'm only marginally employed at the moment, no fat-cat I), and the march of people, young and old, through here is CONSTANT! That's why it was so stunning that I arrived to see the 2 mugs sitting there: my window was prob 5-10 minutes at most.

If yer diving to find Tiki, you have a patience, optimism, and intestinal fortitude that is humbling to say the least. My only other finds here in town have been a couple of Dagas, one in Sally Ann, one in Value Village. Had to eBay pretty much everything else. Oh, and CoCo Joes turn up in flea markets once in a while (not to everyone's taste I know).

Good luck, may Lono guide you!

aloha,
em
A

Garage sale Finds today,
Plastic Tiki mug
tiki keychain
Tiki Candle
Arthur Lyman "Taboo" 45
3 different sales, $3.00.
Z, Sabu how did you guys do?
Al
BK

Here's my goods for the week....Mr. Bali Hai (15.00 but the mintiest one I've ever come across), oddball speckled mug with a lounging oaf being wooed by wahines marked C. Trader Vic's, 1963 (5.00), Castaways ashtray and Kauai Surf matchbook (.50 each), Orchids Fu Manchu (1.00), and an oddball, "JAPAN" marked handle mug, really thin and delicate (1.00). The float in the background is a 16 incher, not as large as Swanky and Kiliki's, but I couldn't pass it up (60.00). Oops...forgot... Insert last description here! - the Cocojoes Lono is kind of neat...it's a Hawaiian Arways giveaway with the original tag.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-03-09 11:28 ]
E

Basement Kahuna, your radar is obviously sensitive in the millimeter ranges...or your 'aumakua is guiding you...or however we wanna put it, what a trove! Some of you folks find stuff in one day that is nearly as big as my whole collection! I MUST hit more yard sales...

enviously (in a good way),
emspace.
T

Today I found...

One cute little tiki oil lamp (for sale):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=2164269238

2 tiki mugs - tall ones with geisha's cold painted on them - probably from a Benihana's or something - but at 2 for 5 bucks I couldn't resist

And a lovely New Zealand Tiki wall carving, made of teak, with mother of pearl eyes, sticking out his toungue atcha.

That's pretty impressive for this neck of the woods in one day.

Also got some cool architecture books, but that's for another forum...
BK

Not baddddd.....not bad at all.
BK

I really dig the description on your e-bay page for the lamp....
G
GECKO posted on Sun, Mar 9, 2003 8:06 PM

it must be nice having time to walk around hunting down tiki! I gotta stop carving! no time fo play! great finds Al, BasementK, TikiFish.
JT

WOW. All of you did well.
Al, isn't that a Bosko candle? I can't believe his Tipsy Bob mugs are already gone. I had no idea they would be so popular.
T

On 2003-03-09 19:21, tikifish wrote:
Today I found...

One cute little tiki oil lamp (for sale):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=2164269238

Tikifish,
I must ask, how you can part with such a treasure?! I could never sell that! Or do you already own one?
T

I know, I know... it's just that Mr. Tikifish and I are about to enter the scary waters of home ownership, and need all the clams we can get. And maybe all the space we can get too, considering the price of a condo these days!
BK

Fish..we own our house and property, just bought less than a year ago. Don't be scared of it.. It seems overwhelmingly intimidating when you are trying to buy/get the red tape done/get the loan out of the way. Sometimes it will seem like all the elements of the world working against you owning a home. But once it's done it's the greatest feeling in the world. Not to mention a nice tax writeoff! And you can put all the holes in the wall and all the giant dinosaurs in the yard that you want.
E

On 2003-03-11 11:43, tikifish wrote:
it's just that Mr. Tikifish and I are about to enter the scary waters of home ownership

Hey Tikifish, me and Mrs. emspace too (possession April 1, moving April 13 - good thing we're not superstitious)! Check this out: we're now paying $1010 for a 1-br. in a decrepit 80-year old bldg, communal laundry, tiny kitchen (good for singles who eat a lot of Hamburger Helper), landlord has control over the heat, astoundingly insufficient closet and storage space, progressive mildew problem...but we're near the beach.

We're moving to a 2-br. plus cute den/office/computer/Tiki space condo, 2 full bath, huge master br., scads of closet and storage, in-suite laundry, bldg is FIVE years old, and near the beach. Price difference: about $300 a month more. wish we'd done it long ago, but the timing is good, low-interest mortgages right now.

Good luck to you and Mr. Tikifish in the great home adventure! It is SO worth it!

aloha,
em

PS so, who's the new client anyway? :)
BK

Went up to a nice little wednesday morning flea market nearby and picked up a few things. Here's the breakdown: Harvey's style handled highball mug, R-72 Orchids, full-size older (non-frosted)Disney Polynesian Village Mug, neat chalkware tiki bookends, tiki plaque, 5 Outrigger hotel matchbooks, 2 yard swath of cool, fiery vintage fabric, and a handy tiki beach bag to carry it all in!

G
GECKO posted on Wed, Mar 12, 2003 8:24 PM

I can't see how you find all of that stuff in jawja!?!??!
A

BK,
You are on fire.
Mahalo,
Al
BK

Up where I live is the summering ground of the Florida retiree crowd, which usually leads to tiki goods here and there. There are good weeks and bad, like any time, but we always seem to find stuff.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-03-13 01:18 ]
BK

Got a hell of a record today from a thrift store....Original pressing 78rpm set of Yma Sumac's classic "Voice Of The Xtabay"...all the records are near mint inside....The incredible Miss Sumac was backed by the incredible Les Baxter on this album.

E

Beautiful, BK! My bro has that same set, found it at Sally Ann.

BTW, "icks-ta-bay"?"stab-ay?" "shtab-ay?""ztab-ay"? I've always wondered...

:), em
BK

I always thought "ix-taah-bay". Tomato, tomahto, who knows?
PJ

[ Edited by: purple jade 2006-03-20 21:26 ]
S

The Mrs. and I went to a few thrift shops thismorning. Besides a few hawaiian music compilations I found Arthur Lyman's "Yellow Bird" album. I haven't played it yet but it looks to be in good condition. The prices in the LPs went up last week. I had to pay $.99 for the darn thing!
E

On 2003-03-13 19:01, purple jade wrote:
That's what I thought too, because of the pig-latin for "Baxter" story.

Thanx for input BK and purplejade - but what's this pig-latin story? Intriguing!

em
PJ

[ Edited by: purple jade 2006-03-20 21:29 ]
TW

Hey, I just found a first edition hardback of "The Happy Island" by Bengt (Kon-Tiki)Danielsson for the equivalant of 75 cents.

Neat-o!
Trader Woody
S

While I was at work yesterday I went to a flea market and found two Kahiki Tiki mugs and one Kahiki Skull mug and a generic but cool Tiki mug all from the same vendor.

She said she may have more at home and to check back in a week.

Then to top it off one of my co-workers saw them and said he had two of the Kahiki Tiki mugs and a Kahiki Skull mug and that I could have them! I've offered him money but so far he has refused.

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