newbie question - "Can someone explain the use of skulls in tiki."

Can someone explain the use of skulls in tiki. There seem to be alot of them in decor, mugs, etc. It seems more Halloween than Polynesian. I got no problem with skulls or Halloween, just wondering.
Thanks
Bruce

[ Edited by: Hakalugi - added question to title - 2017-02-20 09:28 ]

Two things, both may probably not be very useful to you:

1. Friendly suggestion - it would help me and others if you put your question into the topic of this thread.

2. My unresearched answer is that, to me, skulls are more common in tiki today than they were in the past, so to me this seems be a relatively recent (10-20 years) development. There are a number of crossover things which have entered tiki - hot rods, the horror genre, and more which others may comment on. In mid-century America, when servicemen and women returned from the horrors of the war in the Pacific, I think the last thing they wanted to be reminded of was skulls, death, and stuff like that which they saw in their exposure to armed conflict. Therefore tiki in its mid-century incarnation was much more fun and escapist and celebratory as opposed to being somber and dark and realistic. Having said that, I do own some very cool tiki mugs from Kahuna Kevin which feature skulls pretty prominently. I also have other glassware in my bar (it is non-tiki, though) which feature skulls.

Hope that helps? Not at all? Glad you posted this question, and welcome to Tiki Central! Let's see what others say about this.

Many native and "primitive" cultures around the world have histories and iconography that include the human skull. Since the earliest days of the Polynesian Pop craze restaurant owners and designers tried to invoke the allure of savagery into their establishments. No better way to perpetuate that titillating feeling of urban escapism than sipping an exotic cocktail from the severed head of a fellow human. In my view the popular skull mug was just another prop to lend the feeling of mystery and a bit of political incorrectness into the prudish everyday lives of uptight suburbanites back in the day. I could be all wrong about this and often am.

Uncle trav - you're right - skull mugs! Those have been around a long time. Didn't consider that when I wrote my post, but it's early on a Monday and I'm still recovering from my weekend... And a good weekend it was! :)

Trader Vic introduced the Coffee Grog mug as far back as 1939 as seen here

Also in this image from 1944.

On 2017-02-20 06:47, uncle trav wrote:
Trader Vic introduced the Coffee Grog mug as far back as 1939 as seen here

Very good info - so skulls definitely pre-date the war in the Pacific by a few years.

I've always thought that when you think of islands you think of pirates. When you think of pirates you think of treasure chests. When you think of treasure chests you think of skeletons of those protecting the treasure. So it just makes sense to have a skull among the tikis. Wendy

IMHO as far as my skull collecting is concerned skulls fall into 4 categories.

1. Skulls signed as being from a specific restaurant which I would buy.

2. Unusual designs from a known company/designer which I might buy.

3. Unusual designs from a non-specified source which I might buy.

4. OMG I can't find any tiki stuff today. Oh, wait there's a skull which I would probably buy because I can't go home empty handed. It's a disease.

I agree that skulls are not tiki per se but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Ancient Polynesian Trophy Skulls
https://tinyurl.com/j9nzkyt

Haka, that's deep, amazing that island cultures really did that to such an extent. I've always thought that things like shrunken heads and stuff were borrowed concepts from other parts of the globe and just tacked on to the tiki phenomenon.

So in mid-century tiki, we had the Zombie cocktail, skull mugs, references to cannibalism, and more stuff like it. Still it seems like it all stayed at a superficial level, fun escapism and interest in "things exotic" at the core of tiki.

Of course not all of the images in the above link are "trophy skulls" from Polynesia, but there are still many good examples in there.

In the book "Polynesia - The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art" (The University of Hawaii Press), the following text and image of a trophy skull from the Marquesas Islands is shown:

Skulls from powerful enemies were often carried into battle attached to a woven fiber belt worn at the waist. The most sacred part of the body, skulls were believed to be imbued with mana, thus protecting the warrior in battle.

Cool, thanks.

So getting back to the original question, we could say that skulls and that sort of imagery have been present in tiki from an early point, but used mostly in a superficial and somewhat playful sense. I'm thinking that this would be consistent with mid-century tiki which we know as a form of escapism.

Bruce, how does that sound to you in light of the various posts above?

Some Polynesian cultures were cannibalstic. Skulls were leftover "longpig". :D

OK interesting. The Skull thing comes from ancient Polynesian culture; trophies or even ancestor worship. (I know in New Guinea they wore enemy bone necklaces and nose and ear ornaments and grandpa's bones were incorporated into the walls of the house.) Then as Tiki becomes more pop culture skulls become part of the imagery, because real skulls, sadly, are more difficult to come by. I'll help address the deficit of real skulls; soon as I'm done with mine one of you can have it.
Bruce

On 2017-02-20 12:34, Berryb wrote:
OK interesting. The Skull thing comes from ancient Polynesian culture; trophies or even ancestor worship. (I know in New Guinea they wore enemy bone necklaces and nose and ear ornaments and grandpa's bones were incorporated into the walls of the house.) Then as Tiki becomes more pop culture skulls become part of the imagery, because real skulls, sadly, are more difficult to come by. I'll help address the deficit of real skulls; soon as I'm done with mine one of you can have it.
Bruce

Bruce, that's a very 'anthropological' or 'historical' summarization for the sources of the skull imagery. But it doesn't seem to cozy up to the mid-century Polynesian-pop thing we call "tiki."

Tiki was much less sterile and more haphazard, family-friendly, and less realistic in connecting skulls and other imagery with restaurants and cocktails and such. I would suggest finding and settling on a much less technical and much more whimsical pop-culture approach to any sort of summary of how this association happened.

Cheers!

I will have a drink from one of my skull mugs tonight.

Aceexplorer: You're right I did kinda get carried away when I saw the photos of the ancient skulls in the link, but history of anything interests me. But I realize it can also suck the fun right out of something. You guys have not lost sight of the fun involved. Tiki is still a moving target for me but I think I'm hooked.
Thanks
Bruce

This is my first thought when I think of skulls in Tiki, the Papua New Guinea Asmat tribe 'ndambirkus'

"The Asmat, once a very belligerent people on the south-eastern coast of New Guinea, had a distinctive skull cult. They had two types of ritually venerated skull:
1: The skulls of important and honoured ancestors would be decorated (like the present example) and kept within the clan, to be venerated and publicly presented during special ceremonies.
Occasionally these skulls were also used as a pillow for sleeping or as a neck rest by the ‘reigning’ family head. These skulls were called ‘ndambirkus’.
2: The skulls of enemies who had been killed, however, were kept in the central mens’ house as trophies, as proof of the bravery and skill of a warrior, proudly displayed and decorated similarly to become a ‘ndambirkus’. These, however, were called ‘ndaokus’; they have two features that make them easily recognisable: these ‘war trophies’ always have a hole in one of the skull’s temples. Through this hole, the brain of the enemy was removed. In addition, ‘ndaokus’ skulls generally lack a lower jaw. This is because the jaw bone was removed and given to the women as a pendant for their necklaces – as a final, humiliating insult toward the defeated enemy.
The present Asmat skull is undoubtedly a ‘ndambirkus’, the head of a highly venerated ancestor (with lower jaw attached and without a hole at the temple).
The eye sockets and nasal cavity are lined with beeswax, with red and light grey seed capsules pressed in as decorations. The red pods are so-called ‘abrus beans’ (abrus pecatorius), while the grey are ‘tears of Job’ (coix lacryma jobi). The lower jaw is attached to the skull with rattan wickerwork.
The nose has a large nasal ornament called a ‘bipane’, just like the ones Asmat warriors usually wear through their pierced septums. This ‘bipane’ consists of a seashell, divided into two parts, with the ends curved inward into spirals and connected with cord. Round rings of rattan wickerwork hang from the left and right cheekbones, with pendants of Job’s tears and feather tassels as purely ornamental elements.
A carefully braided decorative cord headband spans the entire top of the skullcap from cheekbone to cheekbone. It is studded with a row of interwoven Job’s tears, with the rear decorated with a wreath of (formerly) white feathers. Three original teeth can be found in both jaws of this very completely preserved, old ancestral skull.
Overall a perfect, culturally highly interesting object, with a very beautiful, red-brown patina due to long storage in a smoky Asmat dwelling. "

On 2017-02-19 21:22, Berryb wrote:
Can someone explain the use of skulls in tiki. There seem to be alot of them in decor, mugs, etc. It seems more Halloween than Polynesian. I got no problem with skulls or Halloween, just wondering.
Thanks
Bruce

[ Edited by: Hakalugi - added question to title - 2017-02-20 09:28 ]

Some tiki aficionados have a more modern view/take on tiki. I do not.

Well the first Trader Vics had a drink called The Hinky Dinks Frankenstein.
This place also had sleds and tricycles hanging from the ceiling.

These places were not true to Polynesian history, Heck lots of the Kahiki décor came from mexico
And has a Mexican look to them.

"Some tiki aficionados have a more modern view/take on tiki. I do not."

Would not call it new, Don the Beachcombers had the three Cannibal tiki so did The Mai Kai right?

Man if that aint old school.

Kahiki too had a skull mug.

Plus I can remember the story about Cannibal killing finally revealed: The gruesome details of how Rockefeller heir was gutted and cooked by the Asmat tribe of New Guinea.

So the whole jungle tribe thing was hot.

These guys who built these places were not building a museum, they were decorating a restaurant as best they could.
Most of them would not have anything like tiki décor at home.

These Kahiki masks have a Mexican look I think.
And they may have come from Mexico as Bill Sapp said they went there for décor.
Even the last carving here has a Mexi look I think but all together in the Kahiki it looked great!

Plus even MORE skull mugs, Hawaii Kai come on that's old school right.
Forget where the small skull is from.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2017-02-21 15:17 ]

I always felt my Randotti skulls were right at home in my Tiki bar, along with my Trader Vic's skull mugs and rubber shrunken heads.

PTD

Oh sh!t now where going to get a bunch of how do "Orange Bird" statues fit in tiki bars questions.

Love yer Skulls and Orange Bird.

On the mid-century cannibal-tip, let's not forget the fabulous "Cannibal Pot" mug from the Mauna Loa in Detroit:

(photo swiped from a random google search)

...always been a favorite design of mine.

And lest we forget fabled Ren Clark severed head mug, which will probably always be my Tiki mug holy grail:

(again, photo swiped from the internet... this belongs to somebody on Ooga Mooga, that lucky devil...)

I think skulls were part of that whole "deep dark jungle," creepy, forbidden vibe the vintage Tiki palaces were going for.

Skip, I think that shorter skull mug in your photo was used a a number of places - I've seen it with a few different markings. It was made by OMC and was part of their standard catalog, but is one of the rarer vintage skull mug designs out there.

In my experience, the "Long Jaw" Vic's skull made by Tepco and that OMC skull in your photo are the two toughest vintage skull designs to come by that I've seen. The kinda more lumpy, rounded skull used by Trader Vic's in later years, straight up to just a couple years ago (and at the Hawaii Kai and others years ago) is a bit more common. The small side-handled skull mug Kahiki used is most common (obviously the Kahiki branded ones are rarer, but still pretty easily had) - Dynasty actually still manufactures a version of it today.

I'm sure there are other vintage skull mugs out there. I have one kinda goofy pirate one from the historic Pirate's House bar in Savannah, GA...

There have been a bunch of iterations of this... they've been using variations on the same branded skull mug since at least the 1980's, probably long before (the structure is one of the oldest bars in the US, and it's been in its current iteration since the 1940's.)

I'm always on the lookout... I'm a big monster nerd (amongst Tiki and other varieties of nerd) so I'm always interested in vintage stuff with a spooky/Halloween-y/monster tie-in.

-Pete

Here are a few of the skull mugs in my collection. I believe these add a little darker and ominous element and effect to the overall feel of a Tiki space. Mentioned in a previous post-skulls have been connected to the ancestry of tribal communities, as well as prized trophies of one's victories.

Trader Vic's pointed chin and Hawaii Kai, Tiki Bob and plain skull mugs, including a more recent Tiki Farm version of the skull mug.

Islander Stockton OMC skull mugs.

A few more Randotti skulls-some rubber Disneyland shrunken heads hanging to the right.

Munktiki skull mug.

Unmarked short chin mug.

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2017-02-22 09:03 ]

I think everyone might give a different variation on this answer. For me..and those I have sold "skull related" images and mug designs to in the "Tiki community", the tie in always goes back to the notion that "Tiki" always has had some element of "darkness" and exotica that both fascinates and involves a spirit of adventure. Anyone that will tell you skulls don't represent the "Tiki" culture is not being fully aware. Haaaa
Tiki is always about a good story. Great movies often have both an element of "darkness" against the other elements of awe and beauty. Villians make hero's shine that much more...and movies like "Indiana Jones"...mix scenes of dark exotica with those of wonder and conquest. Skulls add this to the best Tiki collections and bars I have seen. Same goes for shrunken heads. They bring you into the depths of tribal adventure. Like a really well painted black velvet...the sinister mystery of darkness lends the perfect stage for magic to shine a glow with enchanting radiance~~~

Can we make a distinction between jungle/safari/headhunting skulls from the exotic Hollywood adventure movies/themes of the mid-century, and the grinning skulls associated with hot rod/kustom kar culture?

The former I like, the latter, not so much.