Elvis, Graceland, and Tiki

Just got back from Memphis, and had an amazing time. Went to Sun Studio, Stax Museum, and of course Graceland. I hadn't been down there since my first visit over ten years ago and it was nice to be back visiting Elvis and all of the amazing music history that originated around there.

On my visit to Graceland I saw that in the Trophy Building adjacent to the mansion were a pair of coveted 'Blue Hawaii' Tiki Bobs on display in a section devoted to memorabilia and costumes from Elvis' films. The crazy thing was that most everything in the Trophy Building had a card next to it indicating what it was but the Tiki Bob's didn't. I wonder how many non-Tiki Elvis fans knew what they were. Whatever the case may be, it was impressive that they actually had them.

The other really cool thing I found was in one of the gift shops across the street from Graceland. They were these really cool 'Blue Hawaii' ceramic.... goblets, I guess you would call them. One had a blue tapa pattern with the 'Blue Hawaii' logo from the film on the base of the stem. The other had a red Hawaiian shirt pattern that looked like it was modeled after Elvis' shirt that he wears on the cover of the soundtrack. The base of that piece had an Elvis signature at the bottom of it. They had one of the blue left so I got that one. They were $25 each, and I couldn't see dropping $50 for both. I had to control my Elvis/Memphis vacation shopping frenzy or I would have broke the bank! I know this technically is not a Tiki mug, but it's going on the shelf with the rest of them.

Anyway, what can I say about Graceland? If your as big an Elvis fan as I am, this place is absolutely the Holy Grail!! If you're a fan, and you haven't been there yet, you HAVE TO go. My wife and I got what they called the 'VIP/Entourage' ticket which among other minor benefits, entitles you to go through the mansion as many times as you want during the day. We went through three times and I gawked at the Jungle Room as intently as possible.

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2009-08-06 22:15 ]

Nice!

It's been a few years since I've been to Graceland (been there three times) and it's hard to explain just how interesting the place is, especially if you know the details of Elvis' life.

Go there for Elvis. Go there for the kitsch. Just go! Plus, the rest of Memphis is fantastic too!!

On 2009-08-06 20:58, aloha.taboo wrote:
Nice!

It's been a few years since I've been to Graceland (been there three times) and it's hard to explain just how interesting the place is, especially if you know the details of Elvis' life.

Go there for Elvis. Go there for the kitsch. Just go! Plus, the rest of Memphis is fantastic too!!

Yeah, it's really an amazing place. Including this trip I have been through the mansion a total of five times (went twice on my trip back in '96). I think now I have that place totally etched in my brain.

First time I went was the summer of '89 or '90. When the tour group was in the Jungle Room, I caught a whiff of something in the air. I turned to my buddy and asked, "Do you smell bacon??" Then the tour guide told us that Elvis' aunt still lived in the mansion and was cooking her breakfast!

To this day, I tell people that I smelled Elvis' aunt's bacon in the Jungle Room!

My Uncle, Chuck Murphy was contacted by Graceland to design a Pop Up Book for the place. He had done mostly children's book and thought a pop up book on a house would not be interesting, until he went there... he was blown away.

I didn't know he was working on it until after it was completed. I was so excited when he gave me a copy and the Jungle Room was one of the pop up pages... At the time, he couldn't find info on the furniture and Graceland said they didn't know who made it, and I was so bummed when in the book it says they didn't know where the furniture came from... WITCO, I told him. William Westenhauver, I've even met and talked to his Grand Daughter and Grandson-in-law who still carves in the same style!!! Well, I guess that will have to be in GraceLand 2.

There's a Witco right on the cover!

On 2009-08-06 21:46, tikitony wrote:
My Uncle, Chuck Murphy was contacted by Graceland to design a Pop Up Book for the place. He had done mostly children's book and thought a pop up book on a house would not be interesting, until he went there... he was blown away.

I bought that book for my wife last year as pre-wedding gift. That's an amazing piece of work, we love that book! The paper Elvis shades that you can take out and wear are a riot. Tell your uncle he did a great job!!!

And the Tiki Bob mugs were made for the release premier of Blue Hawaii(labeled on the back with the movie studios name, but I'm sure someone else has more details. I seen that book at Barnes and Nobles recently, and I gawked at the pop up Jungle room! Really nice work, and Elvis had decorating taste, as most everyone who worked/lived in the Estate thought that room was ugly and gawdy, over the top. So I read somewhere.... :D

The story they tell about the furniture in the Jungle Room goes something as follows. Elvis' dad, Vernon, came home one day and told the gang, "Man, I've just seen the ugliest furniture in the world."

Which made Elvis say, "Hey, I've gotta see that!" So his Dad told him what store had it, and he and the Memphis Mafia all bopped down to check it out. Elvis came home having bought the whole suite! There are a few variations on this story in this thread here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=20721&forum=1

Allegedly the semi-round chair with the fur on it was Lisa Marie's favorite when she was little.

The GRACELAND pop-up book is awesome and is always on our coffee table. It is a terrific gift for anyone you know who digs the King.

I've read that at the time of his death, Elvis was seriously considering having the Jungle Room completed redecorated. So if he had lived a little longer, there's a good chance the Jungle Room and all its contents would have been stripped down for some -- who knows? -- late '70s fern bar/disco/Star Wars look.

On 2009-08-07 09:23, arriano wrote:
I've read that at the time of his death, Elvis was seriously considering having the Jungle Room completed redecorated. So if he had lived a little longer, there's a good chance the Jungle Room and all its contents would have been stripped down for some -- who knows? -- late '70s fern bar/disco/Star Wars look.

That would've sucked, but then again maybe not. Considering Elvis' taste, he probably had some far-out idea in mind.

We bought a DVD of the Graceland tour which includes alot of information you don't get during your visit. One key thing they tell you is that the way it looks now for the public is not completely the way Elvis left it when he died. Apparently the main living room and the dining room up front had been redecorated in red sometime in the early 70s, then restored to the 1960s design when they started letting tours through. During the tour they make a point of telling you that the kitchen has been untouched, and I'm guessing the Jungle Room is too. Because of the carpeted floor and ceiling it was ideal for recording, so Elvis recorded 'Live From Elvis Presley Boulevard' there and some tracks on 'Moody Blue', so the next time you listen to any of that stuff imagine that there was a bunch of cool Witco furniture within a few feet of Elvis and his band. Sounds like a nice way to record.

My wife and I celebrated our 15th year wedding anniversary in Graceland last year. We even dined at Graceland eating the famous peanut butter and banana sandwich. I have at least 30 Elvis one-foot statue decanters in my house. I’ll try to take a picture of them and post them here on TC.

There is an episode of "The X-Files" where Muldar is phoning Scully from the Jungle Room in Graceland.

I'm still kicking myself in the ass for not buying a Tiki Bob from the Blue Hawaii party on ebay. It was going for $50 and money was tight for me. Next time I see one for sale I will buy it.

On 2009-08-09 10:34, Tikitatt wrote:
I'm still kicking myself in the ass for not buying a Tiki Bob from the Blue Hawaii party on ebay. It was going for $50 and money was tight for me. Next time I see one for sale I will buy it.

Huh? What Blue Hawaii party? Do tell! I'm sure once you give me the details I'll be joining you on the ass-kicking machine for sure.

Another view from the other side of the couch.

Apparently they did a Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot here at one point...

On 2009-10-12 04:45, Trader Tom wrote:
Another view from the other side of the couch.

Apparently they did a Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot here at one point...

Holy Mama Lama!

On second viewing though, the Mama Lama Bar was photographed in a most unflattering angle!

Another view from the other side of the couch.

Apparently they did a Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot here at one point...

If Elvis was still around he would've been happy about this. Then he'd buy her a Cadillac.

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2009-10-12 18:58 ]

What an incredible story!
I wish Las Vegas was somehow intertwined in the Tiki Bob mix.

On 2009-08-06 20:54, donhonyc wrote:
On my visit to Graceland I saw that in the Trophy Building adjacent to the mansion were a pair of coveted 'Blue Hawaii' Tiki Bobs on display in a section devoted to memorabilia and costumes from Elvis' films. The crazy thing was that most everything in the Trophy Building had a card next to it indicating what it was but the Tiki Bob's didn't. I wonder how many non-Tiki Elvis fans knew what they were. Whatever the case may be, it was impressive that they actually had them.

I didn't know what they were until I saw this post:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=41830&forum=5&31

With Dustycajun's close-up!

"Tiki Modern" readers know more! :D

Though admittedly I had been unable to find out any specifics about the screening mentioned on the mug. Since then I have come to the conclusion that "T.O.A." stands for (Movie-) Theater Owners of America, which became the National Association of Theatre Owners in 1965:

"NATO was founded in 1965 by the merger of the largest movie-theater trade organizations, the Theater Owners of America and the Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors."

Would be interesting to find a program for that screening...anybody know any movie theater owner families?

While we're at it, I might as well post this:

Elvis with Maori performers!

And here's the clip in question from Blue Hawaii which, coincidentally, I was watching seconds before spotting this thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-r4JSm8vq4

And I put this in Tiki Finds some time back, but here it is again for those who missed it:

I suspect it was loosely inspired by that scene in Blue Hawaii, even though it only features the Maori performers for a few seconds.

Ok the King. My grandparents got to meet him when they worked at the cocoa palms on Kauai. They both said he was nice and I think my grams was smitten lol.

On 2012-02-15 14:09, bigbrotiki wrote:
"Tiki Modern" readers know more! :D

Though admittedly I had been unable to find out any specifics about the screening mentioned on the mug. Since then I have come to the conclusion that "T.O.A." stands for (Movie-) Theater Owners of America, which became the National Association of Theatre Owners in 1965:

"NATO was founded in 1965 by the merger of the largest movie-theater trade organizations, the Theater Owners of America and the Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors."

Would be interesting to find a program for that screening...anybody know any movie theater owner families?

In further efforts to bring some light into the origin of this mug (instead of whining and griping about it's pricing), the most recently sold Elvis Bob had an interesting sticker underneath:

This is what I found (nothing specific to this mug though):

UCAGCO actually means United China and Glass Company. Its offices were based in New Orleans and New York. Ucagco was primarily a distributor of dinnerware and glassware. They were the distributor of many Japanese china patterns during the early 1950s. United China & Glass Co. Inc., better known as UCAGCO, dating back to 1850. Founded by Abe Mayer and originally called Abe Mayer & Co., the importer did business throughout the Southeast U.S. as well as Central and South America. It wasn't until the 30s that the company took on the official trademark of UCAGCO and began expanding overseas. In fact, after the war, the company's agent in Japan, S.A. Stolaroff signed the very first contract allowing imports from Japan. A talented ceramic designer himself, Stolaroff worked alongside many Japanese potteries to lead the company's line of ceramics. In 1956, UCAGCO was sold to Sammons Enterprises and in 1962, Stolaroff, who had become the company's president, retired.<