Tiki Finds

BK,
you lucky suffering bastard you! I gotta move to jawja. I been lookin for a SB and a Hawaiian inn mug at them prices fo'evaz!

congrats...dam u

Yikes O Momma! That just ain't right.

The Hawaiian Inns and Sufferin' B would get at least $175 on Ebay. Of course, the unknowing sellers probably thought they had a live one with you, "Look Gladys, that rube actually bought those ugly mug thingies!"

I am green with envy.

midnite

BK - Love those orangish salt & peppers.
Suffering Bastard - Really like those blue-grey mugs you found. Nice scores all!

Here's what Doctor Z and myself found while garage-saleing this weekend.

Witco-esque plaques (are they tiki or some kind of king?), a large carved wooden head, early book of SHAG, tumblers from the Tasman Sea and Tony's On The Pier, vintage book on raising Parakeets (because, um.. "Tiki" would be a good name for a parakeet).

Also some matchbooks from Raffles Hotel in Singapore (home of the Singapore Sling!) and the Warehouse in Marina Del Rey, (another beachcomber-style restaurant that's been mentioned here a few times).

The Tasman Sea was an amazing, sprawling restaurant/motel that was built into the hillside of Western Ave in San Pedro. The restaurant had a great Sixties feel to it and had rooms that dropped down or stepped up a few feet, depending where they were on the hill. It had a bit of a beachcomber vibe, but wasn't really Polynesian or tiki. The restaurant has sat vacant for years, but I noticed during the last month that a new owner had renamed and re-painted it. It looks depressing. But I guess that's our fault for not buying it and turning it into a tiki club. I've found matchbooks to the Tasman Sea before but had no idea there was a drink glass until Doctor Z found two this weekend.

Also found by Doctor Z: This giant foam-core tiki mask from a record-store display.

Sabu

On 2003-05-28 16:44, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
The Tasman Sea was an amazing, sprawling restaurant/motel that was built into the hillside of Western Ave in San Pedro.

I once heard a rumor that the Tasman Sea was where San Pedro's "working girls" conducted their business....is there any truth to that?

--cindy

Sabuuuuuuu!

Those Witco-esque plaques look like something that should be at TraderPup's house, since, well, they kind of look like a "puppy" with a king's crown and a little bow tie.

Not that Traderpup looks like a puppy, or that he's a king, or that he wears bow ties, or that....hey, can someone hand me a bigger shovel, I've dug myself about as deep as I'm going to get with this one...

I once heard a rumor that the Tasman Sea was where San Pedro's "working girls" conducted their business....is there any truth to that?

Cindy,

I hadn't heard that one, but Doctor Z and I were talking to some folks throwing a New Year's Eve party two years ago in the restaurant and they remember it as the hangout for all the stewardesses and pilots on layover from LAX during the 1970s. They said some wild, swingin' parties were had there.

Sabu

:o Awesome finds all around! Sabu, those plaques would look cool mounted on front of a home tiki bar. And Kahuna, don't even get me started on the prices you paid for those mugs----I'm so jealous. I never found stuff like that when I lived in Georgia! At least all this renews my faith in Ebay-less tiki hunting.

Basement Kahuna I need to stop reading your posts - first of all, your continual discovery of amazing artifacts at flea markets has me scouring the Goodwill and other thrift stores on a daily basis (going to start on flea markets whenever the weather improves) hoping to get lucky. Secondly, your carvings have dashed my hopes of ever carving anything worthy of sharing with all the other Tiki Central members again. I have thrown in the towel, as well as the mallet and chisels for good measure. Finally, your exceptional bar has me slumming it in my digs, crying in my Mai Tais! Damn you!! :)

I'm with Gecko I think I'm gonna move to "Jawja" as well!

JohnTiki

Green with envy in the sorry ass Pi Yi Lanai in exotic Bel Air Maryland! :)

[ Edited by: johntiki on 2003-05-28 22:18 ]

Whaddayoutalkinabout, John? You'll hit paydirt...Especially if you're beating the bushes. I dig the work being done here...I'm just glad to be a minute part of it...

Not much, but for upstate VT & NH, I think I did pretty good. $12.50 for the whole lot.

Flea Market this past Sunday and I was scouting out tiki... pretty much nothing as usual except for this mug that caught my eye...

A plastic tiki with "Origianl Kona Coffee Mill" "Hawaii, USA" on the back... don't know if it is from Hawaii... it was $3, I gave him $2 for it...

Good stuff...The mana is obviously with us here!

I'm not sure if these albums are "gems", or just "finds"? But the mugs (all 4 for 4 clams) is a score!

Obviously our beloved Basement Kahuna comes from one of those rare places where the thrift store employees don't do Ebay on the side. The woman at my local Sally Ann puts one thing in her personal box for every one thing she puts out on the shelf. It's a crying shame, and it's epidemic. The good stuff never even hits the shelf.

Plus the money thats suppposed to go to charity ends up in the workers pocket, thats stealling the money from starving childrens mouths that is!

Should I post this or is somebody gonna be sore with me?? The other day after I put the pictures up of the other stuff I got at the flea I had to make a 3-hour run down to Augusta, Ga. for a client and came across these two pieces...The '55 (is that the right year?) Strikow Art Porcelain Tiki decanter and yet another Hawaiian Inn mug along with the purple Mu-Mu you see it on. I think the big man decided I was due!

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-05-30 18:14 ]

On 2003-05-30 18:13, Basement Kahuna wrote:
Should I post this or is somebody gonna be sore with me??

BK you suck....

As long as it's through a straw with a zombie at the other end.. :)

My wife cannot believe how psyched I was to find this today!And to think it was less than a block away, and cost me a whole 50 cents! Whoo-hoo! Plus a couple of Hard Rock Washington D.C. Hurricanes glasses for 25 cents each. I'm quite proud of my $1 purchase today!But my cat seems to think it a threat.

We used to have a cat named Bob who jumped 3 feet straight up in the air when we snuck up behind him with one of those crossed eyed heads.

I picked this up at a flea market in N. Alabama earlier this week. Anyone know anything about it? I know it was from the Naval Air Station in Hawaii. Cool for $.50. It's a gold mug with handle, has a clear glass bottom and this label:

waikiki

On 2003-05-30 07:59, tikifish wrote:
Obviously our beloved Basement Kahuna comes from one of those rare places where the thrift store employees don't do Ebay on the side. The woman at my local Sally Ann puts one thing in her personal box for every one thing she puts out on the shelf. It's a crying shame, and it's epidemic. The good stuff never even hits the shelf.

We must get jobs at the thrift store! Actually I read an interview of Poison Ivy of the band The Cramps and she said she got a job at the thrift so she could score all the good stuff. But she quit because they made her work to hard. Evidently the cool stuff/labor ratio was way off.

Waikiki,

I love that graphic on your mug. Very nice!

Here's what Doctor Z and I came up with on our garage-sale expeditions this weekend:

Doctor Z grabbed ANOTHER Beachbum Burt's glass for a quarter(damn him!), but I did ok too. Found the Tommy Dorsey album for a dollar, a Mai Tai glass from the Outrigger in Hawaii for a dime, three matchbooks from the Half Moon Inn on Shelter Island, and a matchbook from the Laguna Reef Motel.

Here's a better view of the matchbooks:

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-06-03 13:22 ]

Nice finds Sabu. I have never seen MB's from the Half Moon, are they new?

All these great finds are encouraging in that stuff is out there on the cheap, but discouraging when we try and locate anything here in SF. Usually goes soemthing like this:

Look it's a Tiki mug, I think it's from Hawaii Kai! So, how much dear proprietor?

"That? Oh, it's rare, $40, they go for more on eBay."

No dice for us here in Baghdad by the Bay.
midnite

Hiya Midnight,

Doctor Z spotted the glass vase full of matches at a church rummage-sale. We unceremoniously dumped them out onto a table and began putting them back in one at a time until we confirmed we had some tiki covers. Everything in that vase was from the 1960s-70s, so these are definitely vintage. I've got another design from the Half Moon in my collection as well. I'll have to photograph and post it for you.

Sabu

I was on vacation from work this week and I've been hitting all the thrift stores within a 30 miles radius of my home and this is what I came up with...

The records: Hawaiian Favorites "Especially for You" - Larry Ferrari at the organ, Hawaii Guitars and Ukuleles - Malekowa and the Trade Winds, Tak Shindo - Accent on Bamboo -- all for $3.00

The wooden stuff: a wall hanging/carving of a woman holding a basket w/palm tree and hut, a pineapple bowl w/a tiny crack -- hanging $2.00, pineapple $.25

The mugs: 2 Orchids of Hawaii mugs w/raised Luau Hut logos on the reverse (I nearly jumped for joy when I saw these - best personal mug score ever!), Orchids of Hawaii coconut mug -- Luau Hut mugs $2.00 each, coconut mug $.75

I am totally psyched - it's been a good week! Also forgot to include pictures of the "Harvest Gold" Waring blender ice crusher attachment and the good looking aloha shirt that is in the washing machine as we speak!

JohnTiki

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

[ Edited by: johntiki on 2003-06-05 21:14 ]

I too have been hiting the thrift stores this week. Found many sizes of the wooden pineapples for usually less than a buck. Have yet to find one single tiki mug. One thing I do find is those fork and spoon tiki guys. Well I mostly find the forks, seems the spoons were all given to the children (theory) as shovels for the beach.

Sungod

Damn!

I never find anything worth while down
here. You guys in SoCal are always blessed
by the Tiki Gods....

Yea Mon.

Found these salt & pepper shakers at an estate sale for $2.00. They say "Otagiri Co., Inc. on the bottom. Sorry for the fuzzy photo, I need to buy a digital camera.

also found this bamboo frame which I have already adorned with a tiki.

I found this Autographed Don Ho L.P. at a thrift store a few weeks ago for 25 cents.

I didn't bother to look at the album as I just bought it for thr autograph. When I looked closer last night I found this inside:

Front

Back

Inside

Got a few little finds in the past couple of days...First off this neat tiki pu-pu platter...real shiny glaze and revolves like a lazy suzan, 1960's Enesco, Japan....12.00 at the flea..a Trader Vic's marked Samoan Fog Cutter mug, 3.00...a CoCoJoe's tiki penholder, 2.00, and a very cool 1950's square-end bartender's tie with drink recipes, 3.00. I also got two of the most incredible puka shell light fixtures I have ever seen...one is five feet long...incredible, time consuming beauty and craftsmanship (to be sold at Hukilau) ...Oh, and this old bamboo rickshaw for 80.00, which will be featured in the decor at Brad The Beachcomber's new place....made-up story of it's origin forthcoming.. :) My loyal companion Bill was my first customer!

Base!

I'm extremely envious of that tiki lazy-susan and especially that rickshaw. What a tremendous find! Just the item to become one of the cornerstones of decor for a tiki restaurant.

Be thankful you only have to haul dogs to and from their poker games. My rickshaw route includes four opera singers and the Samoan cricket team.

Sabu

BK, that's a funny pic man! We gotta put that one in the Member's Photo section!

BK-
you seriously have the best luck down there. can you send some of that up my way? i actually have a question regarding the Trader Vic fogcutter mug. i also just found one at a flea market aqnd was wondering what the story was on it. how old is it? are they still using it? just a little curious. btw- i payed $6 for mine. UGH!

Yeah...they still use it, but kind of a cheesier version of the original. We were drinking them the other night at the Hotlanta Vic's. P.S. I'd have to be dressed better before I'd post that on the member page!

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-06-12 09:53 ]

thanks for the clarification.
i really think you should stick with that picture, the hat is priceless. 8)

BK-
I found a brown CocoJoe's pen holder and put the tiki pen that Tiki Farm had at Oasis in it. If they are out of them, then you can contact The House of Tiki. There are, I believe, 4 different tiki heads available. I'm not talking heads printed on the pen, but actual molded "big heads" at the top. I'll get a picture online for you to see later today.

Cool finds!

That would be neat. I think Cocojoe's stuff is a big sleeper. There's just too many cool things they made not to get hot soon.

Went out this morning and had a light day but the one thing I found was a cool one...an original Torrance Tiki Torch with the box and catalog sheet! How many "hand carved from rare woods" Tiki Itis do you want for 10.00 each? Catalog description reads: "Original Hand cut Tiki God-Each an individual Masterpiece of primitive expressionism. So strikingly powerful are these tikis that they become outstanding decorative and conversation pieces for inside the home or patio, garden or pool areas...Only 10.00 plus 1.00 postage"

Here's that mask I got a few weeks back. It actually looks a lot older than the photo shows.

Trader Woody

I had to go and buy new shoes today, so i went to the local discount fashion clothing place (TK MAX) and had a quick look at the racks of mens casual shirts, last year i found alot of "dragonfly" pin-up shirts but today, oh this lucky day, i found two SHAG toe and nose limited edition shirts for £16.99 each, what a find, Hurrah for the SHAG-is-uncool-backlash.
The shirts still had american price stickers on them of $61.95, Ah the joys of dicount fashion stores, now if i could only get a channel suit i could join the country club.

On 2003-06-17 13:07, atomictonytiki wrote:
now if i could only get a chan[n]el suit i could join the country club.

Now that's a nice Simpsons reference!

Here are my finds so far this week....Witco King and Queen, a pair of 1950's Japan salt and peppers, a "Kona Kai Lounge" postcard, and two neat Marquesan tikis, one of whic is a percussion instrument.

I scored big. Polypop painted a logo painting for the Lagoon Room. It's awesome. Jungle Trader carved me a very cool big rootball hairdo Tiki. I wanted to thank Adrian and Vic for the great artwork. Thanks guys, these pieces are just terrific, really thanks allot guys.
Mahalo,
Al

Basement,

Do you ever sell any of the stuff you accumulate or does your collection keep growing and growing.

It is really amazing how much stuff you are able to find on a regular basis.

In San Diego, I go thrifting/antique store shopping maybe twice a month and I usually find NOTHING!!!! I will hit 10 spots in a day and literally see nothing even close to the tiki style.

You have all the luck and must put forth a ton of effort

Monkeyman

Some of it probably has to do with the fact that I'm an old junk professional, and a lot of my regular hunting grounds will occasionally get tiki stuff. I dunno.

I havn't ever posted anything on this thread, because you can't find jack on Maui. But I'm headed to California for a couple weeks, and plan on hitting two very large swap meets/flea markets. I'll post all my finds when I get back.

You sound like me Maui. I feel so left out from this thread because the only stuff I get now is more or less on E-bay. When I was at school a couple of years ago up north, I'd go to thrift stores four or five times a week. The thrift stores around where I live now are totally bare.

I'm not hard core enough to do it up like Sabu and Doc Z and go out to estate sales every weekend morning. Mostly, because I like sleep.

Maybe I'll start posting things that I found years ago and just tell you all that I just found them. Yeah, that's the ticket!