Where are all the RED Tiki Mugs??

Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with the color red. Especially dark, bloody, garnet-burgundy sorts of reds.

I am tired of brown, green, etc. I admit it.

I would love to find a red/wine/burgundy Tiki Mug, any vintage, any god, whatever. Closest I've come are a growly Tikifarm guy with big teeth (the glaze is creamy white edged with red) and a purplish-wine, kind of queasy colored newer mug, not very appealing.

So, am I tilting at windmills here? Is my dream attainable?

Help.

Simply put...

For the perfect finish start here

JohnTiki

Aloha from the enchanted Pi Yi Lanai in exotic Bel Air MD!

[ Edited by: johntiki on 2003-05-02 17:04 ]

Some of the Sneaky Tikis from Harvey's are red and black, and I have a Fog Cutter with red around the base and lip.

And don't forget Munktiki's mighty Evil Bastard!

-martin

Here's a couple red ones for you:

Munktiki Evil Bastard

The Tikis Moai

:tiki:

And don't forget Munktiki's Lil Bastard!

Simply put, there is no such thing as a safe red glaze. They are all poison. That's why there are no reds. If a mug is for show, maybe, but if you made it, someone would drink from it and you'd be killing them, slowly.

Are you sure? Because what's with the red dinnerware I saw last Christmas at Crate 'n Barrel, then?

Although I'd believe any wickedness of C'nB...joke, joke, sort of.

In any case, iz not possible put red glaze outside, other glaze inside? just curious.

Thanks so much for the info, guys!!! I really appreciate it.

Maybe you're joking but all red glazes being poison is not true.
The glaze I use is totally food safe. Vintage red glazes may have lead in them but the new glazes out are all lead and uranium oxide free. One major company I buy my supplies from resently even removed all of the leaded glazes from their catalogue.
-stuckie

There's also that neato Frankoma mug in the BOT, and which Sabu talked about a while back (here), but I think his was a lighter color.

And Bosko had/has a couple of nice red mugs over the years.

-Randy

Heeeeey, Tikivixen!

I'm also obsessed with the color red! I have a red candle shrine, (albeit a small one), in the bedroom...red candles are absolutely the best when burning! I'm always on the prowl for interesting red candles.

I prefer a classic red ranging to shades of crimson, and I love the combo of red, bright orange, and fuschia together and have designed a 60's mod room using them. (I usually warn people before I take them in there!!)

I bought some red leather pants while in LA. Wore them out--no big deal. Wore them out in the Seattle area last weekend and you'd think I was wearing what the Mondo Tiki bikini gals had on by the attention I got! I was really surprised. I guess people in different cities react differently to certain clothing styles or colors. I actually had some guy that I didn't know yell out at me and ask me if I was from LA, ha ha. Moral of the story...if you want to slink around unnoticed, don't go out in red. :) You probably have some red stories you could share, don't you...

I've been on this intense red kick for more than a year and I see no end in sight...glad to hear of your passion too! If I can figure out how to design my own Tiki Mug I'll make one for you with reds in it. I don't know who you are since I don't have much time to get here lately--but since you like red you must be ok--that's logic for you, ha ha). I know you have no idea who I am either so we're even...

I just had to say something when I saw the topic. :::: Clinking my strawberry margarita glass against your red Bordeaux:::

~ Exoticat ~

p.s. You mentioned Crate & Barrel...I don't know if they still carry it, but did you ever see the retro looking duvet with the big red poppies? I have that, and don't even notice how bright the red in it is anymore...

[ Edited by: exoticat on 2003-05-03 01:54 ]

The bright red TIKIS moai is the classic red mug. I have a few, and they are screaming red. They are, however, very difficult to come across, not to mention the bicentennial version in red/white/blue (got one of those too thank you very much sir) there is also a white and a blue, etc

Anyway- red is not necessarily toxic. Duncan makes a bright red glaze, which i believe is nontoxic. But as a general rule, dont drink out of any warm-colored vintage mugs. Especially the older kahiki mugs as the owner himself told me those had lead in them. (post hoffman era)

I have the Red frankoma mug, it is more of an orangey-red than Fire Engine red.. it also has the typical Frankoma gradations in the glaze.

[ Edited by: fatuhiva on 2003-05-03 02:00 ]

I love red too. All lipsticks I own are red. Tiki Farms "Hot Head" mug is brown but has red flames over his head. It's my only new, non-repro mug.

Here's a funny red story. I was getting some red paint for my bedroom, at Home Depot and told the girl I wanted some ceiling paint in the same red. She looked at me funny and said "Are you sure you want it that dark in your room?" I said "I want it to look like a cheesy whore house" She said OOOOO. K. and started mixing. I still have to paint that room, it's last on my list (ceilings suck). Next room is orange. My living room is chartruse, sons room is two colors of blue, and the kitchen/dining room will soon be sunny yellow. I'm thinking of painting my hallway black with some kind of funky lighting but I don't know. Some day, I'll probably, want all white walls but everytime you repaint, the room gets a little bit smaller. AHHHHHH!

I am having some comemmerative tiki mugs made
and had asked for them to be red. The maker said red was difficult for him for one reason or another but he would try. The tests came out looking pink. We decided to go with green.

It's really a matter of levels of toxicity. There may be red glazes out there that are "safe", but they are not totally safe. It is just impossible. I am sure it is much "safer" to eat off a red plate than to drink from a red mug.

This is from Saint Thomas. If there were a safe red glaze, he should know. There are reds out there, but they are not truly safe. That's why we don't have a St. Thomas flaming red mini volcano bowl for Hukilau.

But, the truth is that as seldom as we drink from a mug, and we are drinking cold, rather than hot, it's probably a slight risk overall.

Saint Thomas is making my mugs (for a golf tournament). These are prototypes.

[ Edited by: mrtikibar on 2003-05-03 11:33 ]

First off, the reason you dont see many red glazes are not only becuase they may be unsafe. Red glazes are notoriously hard to fire, just look at the example of the red saint thomas mug.

Secondly, All glazes are going to be unsafe before being fired. During the fireing process most of the bad "unsafe" components are burnt out.
And yes you could put the leaded glaze on the outside of the mug and a food safe glaze on the inside.

Also, this all only applies to low fire glazes. High fire is totally safe.

Anyways if you have doubts I would advise you to call a glaze manufacturer, like laguna clay or duncan.

-stuckie

I likes red. Coming out with one soon.

I have one older mug that's red. It's from 'The Mandarin' and looks kinda like an Ali'i mug.

I like red also. All the way from dark red to Jane Fonda red...

ha ha ha Laney

That reminds me of the time that I was buying BRIGHT yellow paint at the Home Depot and was asked what I was using it for. I said, "I'm creating a Laugh In wall for an event ," and I got one of those blank stares.

If you ever paint your bedroom red, you'll have to photograph it for us. My niece and her husband just bought a victorian house and are going to do a Moulin Rouge bedroom... I can't wait to see how that turns out!

That's strange, it looks very pink in this context, but it was more of a crimson color in my photo editor....

Here's the deal on red. The colors red, orange, and yellow all depend on compounds which are normally very toxic and/or unstable. Things like Cadmium, Chromium, Uranium, Cupric Oxide (copper)just to name a few. However, that doesn't mean that your browns and greens are safe. Here's a MSDS quote for Manganese which is frequently used for rich, chocolaty browns:
"....adversely affect central nervous system with symptoms including languor,..., weakness, emotional disturbances,...,and paralysis."
It sounds pretty bad, right? But in a glaze, it should be safe. Why? Because glazes are made of glass. Proffessionals spend huge amounts of time testing, formulating, and testing again their glazes to assure that they are fully melted and as resistent to leaching as possible. However, Not all you buy follows the same self-imposed guidelines that some of us potters follow.
Try this experiment: Go buy a cheap green or blue plate at you local thrift store or Wal-Mart. Place a slice of lemon on it over night and see if the color changes. That color change is copper or cobalt coming out of the glaze and going into your body.

I'll get to the point about reds... at earthenware temperatures reds are no big deal. However, these same formulae don't work at a temperature where the clay will vitrify (ie. become waterproof.) A ceramist's options become more limited at this stage and generally more expensive. I personally know of a few ways to get a safe deep red, but can't afford it, so I have been satisfied for the time being with crimsons and pinks.

On a similar note, anything metallic looking is definitely NOT safe!!! There is way too much metal in that glaze and you will end up drinking it. The only exception is Gold which is likely real gold (Au) but you are still drinking it!!

Sorry for the long post. Anyone who wants to know more can email me. I love this stuff!

Saint-Thomas,

Please no apologies, that's great info. If you have anything to add, post it.

THe Red Tiki mugs I used to make were totally food safe. Duncan makes a red glaze called Red Ripe Tomato that is safe. Hard as hell to get a good coverage unless you apply three coats. I think there were some pictures somewhere on here where I put up some red ones. Oh well.

One more thing:
I didn't want to scare everyone into not using ceramics anymore! The truth is, nearly all ceramic materials are bad for you, (clay itself causes cancer!!) but only in certain forms. Even if you are leaching some cobalt out into your coffee, tea or whatever, it is a very miniscule amount. You are exposed to far worse by drinking your municipal water, breathing air, and driving your car.
Responsible ceramists try to reduce the exposure of certain chemicals not only because it is the right thing to do, but it shows poor craftsmanship when your glaze starts fading away after it has been through the dishwasher 10 times.
Red glaze isn't that much worse for you than blue, its just a difficult color to get on utility ware. If one had a fuel burning kiln, one could basically "cook" the Oxygen out of Cupric Oxide which would, more or less, change it from green to red.

On 2003-05-07 13:25, KokomoTikiBar&Grill wrote:
THe Red Tiki mugs I used to make were totally food safe. Duncan makes a red glaze called Red Ripe Tomato that is safe. Hard as hell to get a good coverage unless you apply three coats.

Ah yes... the ever popular and terribly expensive Red Ripe Tomato (under)glaze. Yep. It's a bitch to apply correctly. You should get a bunch of it, thin it, and then dip or spray your pieces. Plus it tends to burn out at stoneware temperatures. Good looking red if you can put up with the hassle, though.
However, the label warns of high Cadmium content and advises not to use for dinnerware. I feel like it should be OK if you use a good zinc free clear glaze....

At $22 a pint I think I'll just do without. The money I save can be used to build that dream kiln I've been working on which runs on recycled cooking oil. Man, those copper reds will be right on!!

[ Edited by: Saint-Thomas on 2003-05-07 13:44 ]

To paraphrase the much overlooked Gerrit Graham (Jeff) in the way overlooked film classic "Used Cars":

Red Tiki mugs are bad luck.

midnite

I've told you a million times a rabbit's foot is no protection against a red car.

Ah yes, the infamous Red Tiki mug tests of 1966. Thousands of mice were force-fed Mai Tai's via a red ceramic Tiki mug (with little straws poking out for each tiny vermin). Only one cigarette break for each 4 hour binge was allowed (Timed to coincide with the smoking beagles' Mai Tai break). Every single one of those bloated mice died from 'acute alcohol poisoning', but were observed to be wearing what was described as being "A big, sloppy grin". Those damn red mugs!

Trader Woody

Some people worry to much. I say eat more RED meat, drink from leaded RED mugs and be RED-y to die from a semi running your RED ass over on the freeway while breathing that smoggy shit you call air.

I love Wild Animals, they taste great!

What an edifying, if not somewhat unsettling thread! So it seems only those who compulsively lick the outside of their mugs should be concerned with toxicity? Perhaps those Playtex disposable bottle liners should be used with questionably glazed mugs...and less air in baby's stomach means all that Lava Flow won't erupt all over the new carpet.

LaCroix, baby spew...LaCroix, baby spew...

[ Edited by: purple jade on 2003-05-16 08:07 ]

What part of Louisiana you from Purple Jade?

I'm in the New Orleans area.

Another red mug - Munktiki's original Big Shot was in a lovely red glaze before he went all green & psychedelic. He was black on the inside, all you death-by-red-glaze fans.

Trader Woody