Luau Hut -- possibly silly question

I'm a newbie here and just started collecting tiki (tho I've been a fan for ages). I did a search trying to make sure no had posted this answer elsewhere and didn't find anything.

I have TIKI ROAD TRIP and use it to check on defunct restaurants and bars when collecting mugs. But am curious about the LUAU HUT mugs I see everywhere. Was the Luau Hut an actual place that all of these mugs came from? Or was it a brand?

I'm assuming it was a place. If yes, where was it located? And does anyone know when it went under (if it did)?
p.s. is this information in the Book of Tiki -- which I realize I need to purchase?

Thank you.

Searching the WWW I found the following restaurants:

Luau Hut, Silver Spring, MD
Luau Hut, (in Luke's Chinese restaurant), Providence, RI
Both are closed according to http://www.tikibars.net/tiki/closed.html

Hope this helps...

Also found:
Luke's Luau Hut, Providence RI
The Luau Hut, Washington, DC

Luau Hut, Japanese Mug Maker

So the mugs like this:

Are MADE BY Luau Hut? And are not from any restaurant, right?

I believe the mug you posted is an Orchids of Hawaii mug that the Luau Hut customized and used... I'm not positive but the 2 mugs I have from the Luau Hut are both marked "Orchids" on the bottom. Also, if you've been finding them everywhere would you want to make a trade for one? I don't have one like this.

On 2005-08-08 15:51, johntiki wrote:
Also, if you've been finding them everywhere would you want to make a trade for one? I don't have one like this.

I might have been slightly exaggerating with the word "everywhere!" I meant that I had seen one recently on eBay and also on another auction site as well as photos from folks' private collections. The eBay one was green, tho.

If you're still interested in the eBay one:
http://tinyurl.com/a8k57

The auction ends in 3 hours, tho and it's already up to $27 (too rich for my blood).
Thanks for the info.

I ran across four mugs last weekend at a antique mall that I passed on. Two were printed "Orchids of Hawaii" on the bottom and the other two had "Luau Hut" formed into the base. All four were very similar, dark brown glaze ring at the base and top, flat finished tan 'carved' looking Tiki bodies in the middle. They wanted $60 for the four (which is why I passed on them) and they didn't seem very old to me. But what do I know, other than I can't afford $60 for four mugs. Haven't seen anything like them yet on eBay.

I picked up two Luau Hut mugs here in Knoxville yesterday. One is an OMC Ku mug that is the same mug as my Hawaiian Inn mug. Green with ornage interior. The other is a green mug with a hula gal on it, with boobs exposed surprisingly. The Ku is an OMC mug, not Orchids. The hula gal is un-marked. I also found an Emerson Hotel mug here in town. Makes me wonder what former Maryland tiki lover was here...

I have that one as well. I found it at an antique shop in Takoma Park which is right next to Silver Spring, where the Luau Hut was located. The lady remembered the place and said it came from there. I had never heard of the place, but my mother recalls it as well.