Authentic Johnny Sens Tiki mugs

Now, I know KokomoTikiBar&Grill makes repros like this...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=733246535

...but I have just found an original on Ebay...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=732179515

This original is a full body tiki mug...did Johnny Sens make a variation with just the head like KokomoTikiBar&Grill sells?

Maybe someone else has the body?!

...did Johnny Sens make a variation with just the head like KokomoTikiBar&Grill sells?

Probably so. As with many vintage tiki mugs, there were slight variations from one place to another. Actually, the full bodied mug is in itself a variation on the Orchids of Hawaii R-3 mug. Notice how similar they look to each other:

Orchids of Hawaii R-3
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=734426499

Johnny Sens
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=732179515

That mug is a reproduction. I can look at it and tell. Sens is from New Orleans and someone has jumped on the bus of re-casting like I have. The only authentic that I have seen has "Allmans Resturant" on it. I would say that several of these will be seen soon. Damn I wish I had the Mold!

Kokomo,
Just out of curiosity, how did you acquire the original Johnny Sens molds? I know I've seen tiki molds on eBay before but not the Johnny Sens. Good score, by the way!

This is my mug. On back is the typical "Johnny Sens N.O L.A." imprint.

Have seen quite a few Sens mugs, the best being the model used at the MS restaurant previously mentioned, and some vintage mugs that closely resemble that mug. The latter were attributed to amateur ceramic hobbyists,and showed real age.

Holy crap! I cannot believe I got the pic to load from Mike's site. This is a new feat from little ole moi.

[ Edited by: midnite_tiki on 2002-11-11 15:02 ]

I got the molds from a little old lady that pours ceramics. She aquired them in the late 70's at a auction somewhere down in Louisiana. She said she had some more of them but did not know where. She has over 30,000 molds. I asked her how much she wanted for them and she just gave them to me.

And this lady knew about Johnny Sens? Wow, did she mention what the "other" molds were of? Any OMC/Otagiri molds?

She told me she met Johnny Sens at a Ceramic Show in Mobile. She had a booth set up and he walked by and told her that one of her pieces she had made was his mold. So she talked to him for a while. She told me he went to prison for infringing on some of Sears and Roebucks copyrights. He made some copy-cat molds of some cookie jars and got busted. Then he got busted again for the same thing and went to jail on the second arrest. This was way back though. Maybe thats why his mugs look similar to Orchids. Intresting Man she said.