Tiki Finds

Is it not a slit drum?

That would be wayyy cooler than an incense holder.

(edited to add image)

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine on 2005-02-03 15:58 ]

Incense holder?? I've had one similar to that for years, and I was told it was a musical instrument. Hmmm... most curious...

Thats what the tag on it said...I admit I had my doubts. How do you play a slit drum? Let me try a drum roll on it.

On 2005-02-03 15:56, Tikiwahine wrote:
Is it not a slit drum?

That would be wayyy cooler than an incense holder.

Yes indeed, that is a slit drum. Mine came with a little drum stick and as far as I could make out you hold it around the head with the slit up and strike the drum across the slit. You'll sound just like the guys on the Drums of Bora Bora album! Drives my dog crazy.

On 2005-02-03 16:08, Juno wrote:
Thats what the tag on it said...I admit I had my doubts. How do you play a slit drum? Let me try a drum roll on it.

As far as I know you strike it like this:

But holding it, not on a table. I may be wrong but it sounds pretty good.

Thanks to everyone for the info. Yes...much cooler than a incense burner. I'm glad I didn't try to burn incense on it.

Today I found this Bora Bora incense holder:

It's actually not an incense holder but a musical instrument. I sold one on ebay in december of last year. It has a smooth stick like a drumstick that you rap on the side to get that hawaiian wood block sound. the trough carved out of the center of it creates the hollow sound.......since the stick is missing from yours, use a drumstick or piece of 3/4 round wood dowel....or just burn incense in it.

Ok... I know this isn't really "tiki", but I saw this online the other day and was seriously thinking of buying one and putting it on my bar as mood lighting. Its terrarium for reptiles shaped like a volcano that lights up with a red glow and emits a foggy mist. How cool is that? Check it out: http://store.yahoo.com/pet-king/97612940107.html

Here's some pictures:

Joefla
Thanks for the heads up on this. My iguana's 6ft tall x 4 ft wide terrarium makes up one of the walls of my tiki bar. i have been talking for years about painting a backdrop of the islands on the back wall of the terrarium for the sake of my iguana to having something more visualy stimulating and to make this wall of the tiki bar more interesting; these volcanos will greatly help with the illusion. also i have a hard time keeping the humidity up in the terrarium for Lester, so these volcanos are really killing two birds with one stone. Thank you

No problem, 'Tanked. Glad to help! I Hope that Lester enjoys the volcano in his new tiki-fied terrariam... Tiki-rariam. Hell, I don't even have a reptile and I want that volcano! Hey, the baby's room needs a humidfier. I wonder if i can use the volcano instead!

[ Edited by: joefla70 on 2005-02-04 14:37 ]

I was wondering how others were doing this weekend for finds. Found a Trader Vic's Rum Cookbook in a used bookstore for $5 Canadian(guess about $4 US) perfect condition. Imagine my surprise when I opened it after paying to see it was a signed edition. And next door to the bookstore found a 3 masked barrel mug from the Tonga Room for $3 Cdn ($2.75 US).

here is a funny story about checking in on local thrift stores.

i was in the bay area this weekend helping a friend hang luhala matting is his tiki room ( i'll leave his name out of this to make sure he remains a friend). well we had to make a run to the hardware store and afterwards i asked if we could pick up some lunch. as we were pulling into the BK i noticed a thrift store in the lot behind it. so i then ask "do you ever check here at all?" his response was a 10 min lecture on how thrift stores are a waste of time and no one ever finds anything of any value at them but if you want to check it out be my guest.

so we walk in and start looking around. we are kinda making fun of some of the crap that was there. ya know the old spaghetti factory glasses and such. then it happens out of the corner of my eye i spot the beachcomber logo on this barrel mug. of course as soon as i see it i snag it up and say " check this out!" he then rather loudly says " was that on this shelf!?" of course i say " where else would it have been." so i proceed to turn the mug over to look at the tag. it was put out for sale on Oct 11 of 2004. i show him the tag and i get "NO WAY!" so of course it was half off of the original price of $3.50!

any way i think the moral of the story is: if you live 2 blocks from a thrift shop you should check it every so often!

Nice find DH

[ Edited by: tomanikitiki on 2005-02-06 14:16 ]

On 2005-02-06 11:45, the drunken hat wrote:

any way i think the moral of the story is: if you live 2 blocks from a thrift shop you should check it every so often!

But I never find anything at that thrift store! :cry:

Nice Rum Rarrel mug :P Well, it was made in Japan... :D

Thanks for the help this weekend, man.

we went down to temecula yesterday antique shopping with the in-laws. in one of the shops i found a pair of kahiki moai salt & pepper shakers for $4. they seem to be in excellent condition. not much else tiki found there. another shop had a harvey's surfer girl mug for $32, but i thought that was too high, so i didn't get it. not sure if i was correct or not by not getting it.

On 2005-02-07 13:10, tiki5-0 wrote:
we went down to temecula yesterday antique shopping with the in-laws. in one of the shops i found a pair of kahiki moai salt & pepper shakers for $4. they seem to be in excellent condition. not much else tiki found there. another shop had a harvey's surfer girl mug for $32, but i thought that was too high, so i didn't get it. not sure if i was correct or not by not getting it.

good score on the kahiki shakers!

was the mug harvey's or trader dick's? harvey's uses a hula girl mug like this:

and dicks used this version of the surfer girl:

either way $32 clams seems like a lot. they are both fairly common and trader dick's still sells a version of the surfer girl mug to this day.

tikihula~ sorry man how could i not tell that story! any time you want help with your room let me know. i want you to get it done so i have another bar to visit!

it was the harvey's mug in the first picture. i thought $32 seemed kinda high for it. thanks for the info! how common are the shaker's?

[ Edited by: tiki5-0 on 2005-02-07 13:30 ]

On 2005-02-07 13:28, tiki5-0 wrote:
thanks for the info! how common are the shaker's?

[ Edited by: tiki5-0 on 2005-02-07 13:30 ]

kahiki shakers are pretty common. they had a gift shop and anyone who visited could buy them (but you still did good buying them at $4). there are 3 different examples from there. they are all basicly the same moai shape. the difference is in the color. two shades of green and a yellowish tan. the most common ones i see on ebay are the pale gree. the least seen are the yellow ones. check out tikihulas site http://www.tikiroom.net. i think he has all of them in his gallery. hope this helps.

thanks again for all of the info on these!!! mine are the tan colored ones. i was just happy to find something tiki cuz i wasn't sure i was going to find anything at all.

Here are 2 of my latest finds at the local Goodwill... unfortunately they aren't imprinted with any logos or bar names but, they do have the OMC stickers and the "Import Otagiri Co" on the bottoms. Besides, these are the first rum barrels I've ever found and I'm quite pleased...both for $5.00.

On 2005-02-07 13:24, the drunken hat wrote:
either way $32 clams seems like a lot. they are both fairly common and trader dick's still sells a version of the surfer girl mug to this day.

One which Woofmutt memorably compared to a root vegetable. This much more detailed mug really doesn't compare to the crude splodge that Trader Dicks was foisting on it's customers during it's later years.

Trader Woody

I would like to share my new finds, how do I actually get a picture posted? Can anyone help me?

coconut pete

Just click on the Help/FAQ feature at the top of this page. Instructions on posting photos are there.

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-03-26 13:42 ]

We went to a few out of town places last weekend and found some loot. I am assuming the shape of this bar set is a Moai but, I could be wrong. Is it possibly WITCO? The grooving of the wood reminds me of it.

We found 4 masks (Hawaiian)
We found about 19 mugs in the 3 days, including a Mr. Bali Hai w/lid
and some other oddities. This was beginers luck. Weve gone out in our own area and haven't found much of anything.

These are some things I found in the past 3 weeks or so...

Generic Wood mug at the Sally Anne...TV Seahorse Mug ($1!!!)..."Maori" club/paddle (no doubt a mass produced souvenir) says New Zealand on the back ($1!!!)...bunch of swizzle sticks from local (extinct) tiki/nautical restaurants

A better look at the Maori thingy

This picture contains some things that are of great interest to me.
First are the tiki foodpicks. I couldn't get a decent photo of it, but they all say "The Beachcomber" on 'em.So they could be from the little known Calgary location...but they could also be from Edmonton's Beachcomber (or Vancouver's for that matter)...
Next, are the swizzels from (from top to bottom):

1)The Cove, Calgary (No idea what or where this was. Probably just a seafood restaurant, but I have heard stories from long time residents that this was a tiki-ish restaurant in a hotel lobby downtown)

2. The Beachcomber, Van (Vancouver) B.C

3. Tiki Tiki. I believe this was also in Calgary. One of my 40's ish co-workers remembers eating there when she was about 8 yrs old. That makes sense to me. I'm gonna try to find out more about this place. But this swizzle alone seems like a revelation.

4. Waikiki Restaurant, Edmonton. Hey Sweet Daddy Tiki...if your still there...can you tell us anything about this place? I'm assuming it's now extinct?!?

On 2005-02-12 17:43, Slacks Ferret wrote:

4. Waikiki Restaurant, Edmonton. Hey Sweet Daddy Tiki...if your still there...can you tell us anything about this place? I'm assuming it's now extinct?!?

I'm still here, mostly lurking these days. My family used to go to the Waikiki a lot -- it was near our house. It was a typical Chinese restaurant, nothing tiki about it that I remember. The building is still there but being used for something else. There was also a Tiki Tiki in Edmonton up until the early 90's.

That TV seahorse is a sweet find -- I've come across 2 in my years of thrifting and they've both been badly chipped.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki on 2005-02-12 18:45 ]

Aaaah, swizzlstick archeology!
Thanks to your post, I checked my Beachcomber paddles and for the first time realized that two were from the Edmonton Beachcomber and one from the Calgary Beachcomber. Comparing my Ku Beachcomber foodpicks with them revealed that they were made out of the same clear plastic with the colors being an exact match, so it is safe to conclude that the picks were used in both locations too.

Never heard about the Tiki Tiki (only the ones in Japan) or the Waikikian. Good research in questioning the locals.

Okay here are few of my more recent finds from left to right.

Tiki's Coconut - just delivered from Hawaii (Valentines Day present)
Tiki Bab - $2
Generic Tiki Mug (acting as chaperone) $10
Tiki Bob - $2
Ku Figure - $3.50
Tiki Liki - $3.50

(Question for anyone who might know about a tiki pendant that is made out of piece of bamboo very smooth with a brass full body tiki in the middle probably in the shape of Ku about an 1 in. to 1 1/2 length. I came across one but can't find a reference in my books. PM me. Thank you).

A friend gave these bookends to me and my girlfriend as a house warming gift. (she's knows I'm into this stuff)

Sorry for the size, I'm new to picture posting.

[ Edited by: Captain Morgan on 2005-02-15 12:22 ]

Well, I made the jump back in to collecting Tiki. I made my first official purchases since selling off my entire collection to buy an engagement ring. :)

I found the Bill Lee's Bamboo Chopsticks Planter Mug, the Harvey's Sneaky Tiki (which is in great shape for this kind of mug) and the Warehouse Barrel in the wild.

The Kahiki barrel is from the person on eBay wholesaleing stuff recently found in the move.

The Mai Kai Shrunken Head mug (with the gold OMC lable still intact) was also purchased on eBay, I was very fortunate to find this one for under 20 bucks with shipping. :) Thank god people still mislable....

[ Edited by: Cool Manchu on 2005-02-18 17:37 ]

Most recent thrift finds:

Two handicraft Moai. The one on the right has a lovely metalic glaze.

A couple of Coco Joes, no. 45 (Ku) and no. 17

And the piece de resistance:

I was delighted to find this lamp because it's just like the one on the table in this picture of the Beachcomber (Edmonton)

I need to find a frosted glass chimney which has been tougher than I would have thought -- the modern replacements I've found in lighting stores have been either too large or too small by a fraction of an inches.

closeup of the base:

I also got some assorted swizzlesticks including a Beachcomber food pick, which I didn't even know existed until Slacks posted his last week.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2008-09-18 00:20 ]

That's a great lamp SDT! I love the look on that lady's face in the pic you posted.
Aloha,
:tiki:

Went to a flea market today and picked up a few things. A Daga mug marked Kauai Resort Hotel Wailua, Kauai. A mint Tiki Gardens postcard book. A mint "Decorator Tiki Bowl" in it's original box. And the coolest is a wooden knife from Rapa Nui (I suppose) with a kavakava man and a birdman carved into the handle.

There was a lot of tiki we passed on, especially Coco Joe's which are now apparently more valuable than gold ("Hawaiiana's in now." I was told by a dealer). There were quite a few overpriced mugs as well.

Semi-tiki(almost sort of?) Unga Bunga bar tool caddy.

Not tiki but couldn't pass it up. Cool ceramic elephant kicking some tiger ass.

[ Edited by: Kono on 2005-02-19 17:16 ]

Mrs. Fury's $17.00 thrift store find.......

The Tahitian dancers' outfit.....not the Tiki. The top, headress, and waistband are like barkcloth. Looks similar to the one in the display case at Oceanic Arts. Bob at OA said they used to import them from Tahiti in the early 60s and sell them for $22.50.

I did get her permission to post........

Wow - it's hard to top that tiki find! :)

Anyway, what started out as a pain in the ass became a decent experience...our babysitter was unable to watch our son and daughter last week so I ended up having to drop them at our friend's house in Baltimore and had the wife pick them up after she got off work. They live in a neighborhood called Hampden which has a lot of vintage and antique stores so I figured if I unloaded the kids quick enough I could do a little browsing before getting to work at 2:30. So I went to this store called Hampden Junque, which those in the area know well, and found this...

A Trader Vic's "Fogcutter" mug with the semi-clad girls and the guy lounging on the rum barrels! I've been wanting to add a Trader Vic's vintage mug to my collection but was scared off by what they were going for on Ebay - got this one for $12.00!

nice john-t, i'm glad you're the one who got that :)

we went over to watermelon sugar last monday to see if leslie had any new tiki farm, but they're closed mondays :(

I ordered this online a few days ago. It only cost me $24 for a set of two. They are similar to a swatch watch in construction.

A few weekend finds:

A nice vintage pair of matching bamboo shelves and a lovely little framed print.

And a few items to go on the shelves:

A pair of Westwood handled mugs, a HIP hula figure, an amateur? made jeweled 5 1/4 " tall figure marked "House of Clay". It is probably from a ceramics mold created from the Westwood bank pictured in Tikiquest on page 152. Also found a lidded Aku-Aku Las Vegas Moai, a small cocojoes tiki, a black OMC mug, 3 swizzles and an unused vintage 60's or 70's box of Holland House Mai Tai mix. The directions on the back conclude with this bit of advice: "A Mai Tai can also be made with Gin or Vodka". YUCK...Why not include Bourbon, Tequilla or Wine ???

When we first met.......

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2005-02-22 15:28 ]

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2005-02-22 15:30 ]

[ Edited by: 8FT Tiki on 2005-02-22 15:32 ]

my old jaded eyeballs couldn't believe what they were seeing...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6144360910
how friggin tasty is THAT set?
Wow!

Who's surprised that the winner was Kohalacharms?

[ Edited by: johntiki on 2005-02-22 22:16 ]

On 2005-02-22 22:02, bigbadtikidaddy wrote:
my old jaded eyeballs couldn't believe what they were seeing...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6144360910
how friggin tasty is THAT set?
Wow!

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? I WOULD HAVE PAID TWICE THAT, AND IT WENT TO MY FAVORITE EBAY ENEMY AND YOURS, KC!!!

I reckon for all the time & money that cat spends for stuff, he deserves a smokin deal once in a while.
Never ever saw those candlesticks before...amazing!

The guy must have been born with a gold spoon up his ass...in more ways than one!

That's pretty rare isn't it?

Really, I don't get this whole hate-the-big-bidders thing though. Isn't it pretty cool that someone with the wherewithal to collect, is someone with good taste (by our standards)? Compared to all the other ridiculous ways that some people spend money, I think these mega-bidder types must be pretty interesting people.

-Randy

I figure that if Kohalacharms gets anything,it's going to a real collector-if only he'd show all his juicy finds-would be drool central.

On 2005-02-22 23:36, aquarj wrote:

The guy must have been born with a gold spoon up his ass...in more ways than one!

That's pretty rare isn't it?

Really, I don't get this whole hate-the-big-bidders thing though. Isn't it pretty cool that someone with the wherewithal to collect, is someone with good taste (by our standards)? Compared to all the other ridiculous ways that some people spend money, I think these mega-bidder types must be pretty interesting people.

-Randy

Shit Randy, I was hoping I deleted that message before anyone got a chance to respond...I realize it was a bit mean spirited and I didn't want to offend anyone. I don't want to be perceived as an asshole, I'm really a nice guy.

Here's my opinion and I'm going to state it once and for all... I feel as if watching the majority of rare tiki collectibles going into the private collections of these "high-rollers" is like witnessing them disappear for good. Sure they may be interesting people but who the hell would know? When's the last time you were over "Kohalacharm's" for a mai tai? Or how many memories have you shared with Maxifac or Fagetaboutit or his latest incarnation Tikirecon? What I can't understand is that people perceive them as cool people...I perceive them as self-absorbed fanatics almost on the same level as those sociopaths who collect comic books. Sure tiki envy has a lot to do with it but perhaps I should have pity instead.

What I need to do is concentrate on buying more rum and leave those untouchable collectibles to whoever is willing to pay through the nose for them. Besides, the joy I've felt buying Orchids of Hawaii mugs at the Goodwill or trading with my other TC ohana has always been more rewarding than shelling out hard cash on Ebay.

Enough said...time for me to move on.

JohnTiki

Aloha from the enchanted Pi Yi Grotto in exotic Bel Air Maryland!

[ Edited by: johntiki on 2005-02-23 06:08 ]

Really, I don't get this whole hate-the-big-bidders thing though. Isn't it pretty cool that someone with the wherewithal to collect, is someone with good taste (by our standards)? Compared to all the other ridiculous ways that some people spend money, I think these mega-bidder types must be pretty interesting people.

Randy, my 2-cents on this is this, I sold off my collection last year and a couple of the high-rollers that you talk about emailed me directly and asked me to take down the listing and to purchase the mugs for a set amount. This is completely against eBay and the rules set forth. Additionally, I cannot count the number of times (even as recently as last week) that I have been watching an item, hoping to jump in and get the item for a reasonable price and all of a sudden the item has a "Buy it Now" designation and has been purchased by one of the aforementioned bidders (showing me that they do this with everyone).

So in my opinion, the bitterness from this board comes from the fact that these people are less than scrupulous in their bidding and do not participate in the forums. They do things that are questionable to gather large collections and keep them to themselves, and I ask you, is this what Tiki collecting has become, is this what its now all about?

Maybe you should consider everyone's personal opinions on how they have been shafted by high-rollers and if you still want to stick up for them, we will respect your decision to do so.

-CMC

CMC-
You hit that one right one the head.....
Just look at the bottom of the Emerson Hotel Hawaiian Room mug listing....at the bottom..Q and A. Someone offered them $40.00.
I think with some people out there it is all about amassing everything they can get their hands on....and they never really appriciate what they get.It's all about the next conquest.
look at maxifac/faggetaboutit's new handle.. "Tikirecon" that says it all.

BTW, I was able to pick up a couple of your mugs, and at a reasonable price.I have been collecting for about 11 yrs, but have a somewhat small collection, (about 40 mugs)but it is all about quality, the mugs are high end and mint condition.But I do not spend big $$$, I just get lucky with good finds, and really dig my collection.

[ Edited by: freaky*tiki on 2005-02-23 16:35 ]

If i was a seller and someone emailed me to end a auction early , i would say no and then ask everyone i know to bid it up .
I enjoy the thrift store more than ebay .