Witco brochure (please add yours)

Here, kitty...

...kitty...

...kitties

The paydirt was actually on the back: some documentation, albeit primarily of conquistador stuff. One of the cats bears a Witco sticker, an old price tag from Donaldson's and a Witco brochure in a plastic bag. The price on the tag was $65. The tag also bears the numbers 660, 140 (stock numbers?) and '78.

Was Witco in business in 1978?

Only one of the cats is tagged; I don't know if the price referred to one cat or both. Would anyone know if these were sold separately or in sets? I can't find any reference to a Donaldson's that was likely to sell Witco in Wichita, KS, where they were purchased in an antique store:

There is little tiki in the brochure, but I'm hoping others add material to this thread that contains more tiki, hence its posting in Collecting Tiki rather than Beyond Tiki:

[ Edited by: tikijackalope on 2004-09-18 15:51 ]

Wasn't Donaldson's the store where The King bought his furniture for the Jungle Room? Maybe these kitties where a souvenir from a pilgrimage to Graceland.

Wow, all that conquitador stuff! What a gas!

I remember the Sears catalog from maybe '66 or '67 featured page after page of Mediterranean furniture. The Witco accent pieces would have been delicious with it.

I was just thinking about the fact that we usually only consider how much these type of things are "worth" now. Even if those cats were sold as a set as late as 1978, $65.00 was a lot of money! For comparison sake, back then, a $30000 house was about the median price (outside of places like LA)and the mortgage rate was around 9.5% That gives you a base payment for a 30 year note of about $250 (principal and interest only) However 20 year (or less) notes were still pretty common and that puts it close to $300 per month. So those cute little kitties represent a retail cost when new of 20-25% of a decent mortgage payment.
So, do you still think the surviving "collectable" items from that era are that expensive today (or the newer carvings, mugs etc)??

SOOOOO, i'm thinking the $100.00 for the witco bar,and $50.00 for the witco foutain i paid must have been good deal {insert smile here} TD

Hey David, how much for the fountain? Sell, Sell it to me. How much for the little girl? Sell me the fountain, the bar, and your women.(Think Blues Brothers when Belushi is in the restaurant hounding the family at the next table).

"HOW MUCH FOR THE LITTLE GIRL?" just where is the"the fobidden isle of sunshine?TD

I live in South Florida, Pembroke Pines, which is a suburb of Ft Lauderdale. Nice finds on the Witco stuff. When I first started collecting tiki, I didn't care for it to much. The more Witco I see, the more I am really starting to appreciate the style of it all. I especially dig the fountains, bars, and lamps. I like everything on that page in The Book of Tiki, where it shows the whole set up together. Are you going to Hukilau next weekend? If so, I will be glad to meet ya.

Aaron

can not make the HUKILAU, but will be SOFLA in FEB. TD

In that case, I will have a Mai Kai Mystery bowl for you my friend! By February I will be living in Northern Florida, most likely Gainesville/Ocala area. We will have to catch up sometime.

Aaron