Maui Kauai, Worcester, MA (restaurant)

Name:Maui Kauai
Type:restaurant
Street:19 Pearl St.
City:Worcester
State:MA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:617-753-1918
Status:defunct

Description:
I'm guessing this must have been quite a place. All I know for sure, is it was open in 1974. Sorry for the blurry pic.

I just need to rant. After I got that Yellow Pages pic, I went to Pearl St. The location was closed and I KNEW it had been closed for like 25-30 years. There was no sign of what or how recently there's been a business there. Then last month there's an estate sale where the contents of the place WHICH WERE STILL INSIDE got unloaded. Many of you have no doubt seen the NOS mugs on Ebay. (thanks to Luke who first noticed them)

Please pardon me when I say: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! It's just not fair!!!!!!!! I live two towns from Worcester. I stopped getting the Worcester Telegram this year where I always checked for estate sales. I just wanna puke when I think about it.

Geez, Pappy! I went to Worcester State, (the college not the mental hospital), in the early 80's & I thought I had hit every bar in town but I just don't remember this place. Shortly thereafter, my wife-to-be & I became regulars at the Wind Tiki on Park Ave., to the point where the host called us by name. They had great food, great drinks & a great atmosphere. I wasn't the Tiki Nut that I am now, but I was already fascinated with everything mid-century & I remember it being like a smaller Kowloon. It was very well taken care of, right up until the time it became Sokura Tokyo. It was always busy & I was surprised to find out about the change. I'd still give anything for info about the Mauna Kai in Marlboro! That was my hometown Tiki joint & I'd be pickled tink if I could get ahold of something from that place. Oh, well, once I finish my time machine, I can check out all these places again!

Take me! I'll buy you a drink when we get there.

The seller pappy mentioned who got all the New Old-Stock mugs has been selling them again on eBay, including a few matchbooks with each boxed mug. I went ahead and bought one:

And here's one of the matchbooks. They came in various colors:

It looks like they might have got their logo from this book published in 1961:

The plate below matches the logo figure almost exactly:

The accompanying text reads: "Head of a malanggan doll-like figure from Burra, north-western New Ireland. Wood, painted with earth pigments and soot, and trimmed with cord on either side of the head. this head belonged to a huge seated figure made of rattan and cord, with raised arms and hands of wood, which personified a mythological character. On the head, rendered in an austere simple manner, emphasis is given to the hairdress (crest) formerly worn by men, and to the double nose ornament, which consists of small pieces of shell. In essence this is a typical malanggan style. Height 33 3/4 in."

Bigbro - you would love this book. It's the english translation of a German book by Alfred Buhler and all the images within seem to be taken from the collection of the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde in Hamburg.

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-11-28 18:01 ]

Hey, Sabu! Right after the estate auction, I bought one of those mugs with the matchbooks on ebay & then scored 5 more mugs, NIB for $22.00. Nice job connecting that image. How do manage to remember all that stuff? I actually live about 15 minutes from that place & went to Worcester State College in the '80's, but I don't remember the place.

[ Edited by: Big Kahuna 2009-11-28 18:19 ]

On 2009-11-28 16:06, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Bigbro - you would love this book. It's the english translation of a German book by Alfred Buehler and all the images within seem to be taken from the collection of the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde in Hamburg.

You mean THIS book :D :

Yah yah, those Germans and their Oceanic Art books....

I do see myself in the tradition of Karl von den Steinen, whose books helped Marquesan Art to survive. Also, the first book on African "primitive" art ever was written by a German, Carl Einstein (no relation to Alfred) in 1915, around the same time Picasso and the moderns discovered its power.

Apparently, it had quite an impact on African American artist Hale Woodruff, here an excerpt from his bio:

Hale Woodruff began to copy newspaper cartoons and images in the family Bible, and at Pearl High School, he was the school’s newspaper cartoonist. After graduation and a brief summer job as a hotel houseboy in Indianapolis, he began art studies at Herron Art Institute.

While there, he became friendly with German-born Herman Lieber who gave him a book entitled “Afrikanische Plastik” by Carl Einstein in 1923. Fifty years later Woodruff still treasured this book. It made him one of the first black artists to study African art intensively and be influenced by it.<

Here's what Woodruff said about it:

I kinda fancy my Book of Tiki having a similar effect on the American Tiki carver. :D

Sabu,

Nice reference back to the book. I got those mugs and matchbooks on the first release. Lots of different colors.

DC

The seller has a few more of the mugs and matchbook combos on ebay if you missed the first few rounds.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-MAUI-KAUAI-WORCESTER-MA-TIKI-MUG-MIB-W-MATCHES-/370415679236?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563e7eb704

DC

These are still showing up on eBay, NIB,with two matchbooks.