flash: witco fountain found in southern california!

o.k. so here is the story. tikicleen found this on craigslist on wednesday.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/clt/71736493.html

it had been listed for a week so we figured the net savoy hoity toits would have snatched this baby up. we call the lady and sure enough it was still available! of course we shit a brick! she was having a garage sale the next day so if i really wanted it i had to get it the next day. she promised to hold it for me since i was driving 7 hrs to get it.

when we arrived at her house at 1pm on thursday we looked at the tiki and told her i would take it. when we walk up to talk to her mike (tikihula) noticed the cabinet that is pictured below. not sure if this is witco but it is really close and for what i paid was well worth the money.

after that we looked around the house and notice the clock(pictured below). when i asked if it was for sale she asked if i liked it. i said that i thought it was nice. she said that since i bought the other two items i could have it for free! here are the pics!

i need to throw out major thanks to: mike for coming with me to get it! al & shelly putting us up for the night and to my wife colleen for having a govt job that allows her to search endlees web sites in search of tiki stuff while she's there!

don't let the bus leave without me!

[ Edited by: the drunken hat on 2005-05-20 12:46 ]

Fountain, Clock... LUCKY!!

Some might think the weathered patina is a negative. I think it's a positive. Gives it a ton of character!

Right on! Another Witco soldier liberated.
I love it when stuff like this happens. Congratulations on a great score.
KG

Awesome ! Congratulations !

SWEET!
and well worth the drive!!

craigslist is fantastic!

On 2005-05-20 12:40, the drunken hat wrote:
i need to throw out major thanks to: mike for coming with me to get it! al & shelly putting us up for the night and to my wife colleen for having a govt job that allows her to search endlees web sites in search of tiki stuff while she's there!

---

well, it is a tough job, but someone's gotta do it! it's rough browsing through endless tiki listings...maybe that's why i get the summer off. :)

and wow, that cabinet is huge! when you described it to me over the phone, i was imagining something much smaller. where are we going to put that?

and um...when are you guys coming home?

$100? SHIT!(Sorry Hanford)
Congrats on a great score. Can't wait to come up and see it.

Talk about yer dream come true! What a score!!! Congratulations!

With the graying of the wood I would speculate that it's made from cedar, which is a huge plus! It weathers really well, and is pretty immune to pests. It seems to have nature's preservative built right in.

When it gets there, I'd love to see pictures of it in it's new home! Are you going to get it working again?

Holy Moly!

That's one hec of a price to pay for the fountain! Great score! I'd drive 7 hours too for that! The patina is nice, but if you plan on actually using it as a fountain you will have to stain/varnish it. As is, in or around the home would be my choice.

The cabinet, not a Witco, looks like it would be cool as a backbar to put your larger bottles of liquor, extra mugs, etc.

That clock...for free! Double score!

On 2005-05-20 13:40, tikicleen wrote:

and um...when are you guys coming home?

ok, i had to laugh... spousal communication through Tiki Central!

im impressed with your search skills, Cleen! and with Hat's spontaneous road trip to fetch that carving!

SCORE!!!! nice one DH! and a great price too!

The dark marq room has several new additions!

Outstanding! Aces (beats King-Queen)!

-Randy

So, how many people checked their local Craigslist after reading this topic? I know I did.

Since y'all are coming over tonight, does this mean I have to babysit yet another Witco fountain for you?

Awww...gee...c'mon guys...

Wow! What a score! I think I'd lose my mind if I ever found a Witco fountain... why oh why do I have to live in Maryland?! Nobody had cool stuff like that!

$100.00 woohoo what a score. I have a clock just like the one you got. Congrats

Absolutely awesome! I bow to the great tiki huntress Tikicleen! Outstanding!

Wow! That is awesome. You must be so excited. Nothing like that would ever happen in Texas; however, we can find genuine jackalopes, sometimes still alive. I am very jealous. Aloha, Benehune

thanks a lot everyone. he is in pretty rough shape and not complete (hey 33 years outside will do that to ya) but damn he has character. he has also been painted black. the paint is flaking really badly so i don't think it'll be too hard to remove.

i just got home yesterday and i have a little history that i did not have time to type up when i was at al's house.

first i would like to say that stella the former owner was a super nice lady and had one awesome house! this place was just breath taking. she is from africa and her living room was done in real animal skins, at least 3 sets of tusks, african masks and fetishes all over the place, and one of the coolest sectional sofas that i have ever seen. she had a built in bar inside her lounge and this is where the clock and cabinet where located.

as a side note i'll bet that she has some witco masks too. but she is moving and all of her masks were packed up and we could not see one in the boxes. if she had the tiki and the clock she's got to have a mask somewhere!

the tiki was installed in 1972 when the folks moved here from the east coast. it was brought from conneticut and installed by the pool.

well i better get going i've got a pump, some hose and a half barrel to buy so i can get him up and running.

here are some pics of him in his new home:

more mahalos are in order to dr z and dolphintiki for letting us crash at their place on friday nite. thanks for the tasty drinks as well!

Very cool, Drunken Hat.

After traveling all that way across several county lines, I gotta say that you and Mike were team #1 -- the winners of The Amazing Score!

Congratulations!

WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1 :D

That was quite a trip- a real adventure. We left at 6:00AM Thursday morning to drive 450 miles not even being sure the Vitco would still be there. The clock and cabinet were a definite plus, and as Hat said, Stella was the nicest person you could ever meet!

After, we hit the Bali Hai for celebration drinks and food, and then over to the Hanalei Islands restaurant for more celebration drinks and food.

Then it was off to Alnshelys for a wonderful night at the famous Lagoon Room. A big mahalo to them for having us!

The next night was spent with Dr.Z, TikiDolphin, Sabu, and the Velours hangin' in the Castaway Lounge and playing poker in the poker room until 3:00AM. Mahalo for having us, you guys!

It don't get no better than that!
And Hat, we are now Vitco fountain brothers! :)

On 2005-05-22 11:45, TikiHula wrote:
WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1 :D

And Hat, we are now Vitco fountain brothers! :)

ok so i guess i'm not a witco sister eh? guess i'm just chopped liver! nevermind the fact that i found the darn thing! :)

thanks mike, thanks a lot! :wink:

cleen

What will you do with the money you save on Tiki?

On 2005-05-22 11:45, TikiHula wrote:
playing poker in the poker room until 3:00AM.

Oops, sorry Cleen- I guess we are Vitco fountain sisters! ...and that's with two snaps in V formation :)

Congrats on a VERY tasty score!
I dont love witco like alot of people here do, but that fountain is undeniably one of the sexiest vintage tiki items out there.
I've scored a few serious nuggets from Craigslist over the years also.
Cant wait to see it after the refurb, should look amazing!