Kon Tiki mug question

Just got my copy of Tiki Quest, which has gotten my tiki questing juices flowing. I acquired a Kon Tiki mug a few years ago that I find to be unusual. Here's a pic of the mug:

What's unusual is that the back has no markings, but if you look into the inside, you can see a reverse image of the words "Huke Lau" embossed into it. To see a pic of the actual mug, go to page 24 of Tiki Quest. So this mug was no doubt meant to go to the Huke Lau restaurant, but somehow was stripped of it's moniker. Does anyone else have a mug like this? What's the story on the one I have? Is there no end to this Tiki Quest?

Greg,
Very strange. Do you have a picture of the back? I just looked at the other mugs we have of the same design but see no marking/embossing on the interior...EXCEPT the Huke Lau mug. The letters are visible on the inside– though more faint.

I guess that you can make changes to a mug after it's cast and before it's fired. So perhaps your mug was cast from the Huke Lau mold but since it was not to be used there, they shaved the name off the back... still leaving the ghost impression on the interior.

From what I understand from conversations with Munktiki, a mold will deteriorate over time (that would explain the variations in quality within the same mug design) so to mass-produce a mug you make "master mold" which other molds are cast from. Maybe Stuckie or Holden can explain this better as I'm sure they are much better informed than I. But it might make sense that OMC would perhaps use a mold that was on hand so they could fill a customer's order.

Very cool observation, and no, I don't think there is an end to this eternal quest!

boutiki,
The back of it appears to have been "sanded off", and then the glaze applied. This wouldn't show up in a pic unless you had a really good camera. So it was probably an overrun for the Hu Ke Lau and they salvaged some mugs. Just thought it was interesting and wondered if anyone else had a similar anomaly.

You're right, there is no end, but why would we want it to?

Mahalo!

Two of these mugs just popped up on ebay, and have pics of the inside of the mug showing the Hu Ke Lau lettering. Here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3241027759&category=29460

Well there you go! That looks like what happened. The back is totally smooth where the name would be. The rest of ours have lines running down the back except for a small smooth section where a logo could be applied.
Good eye to catch the marking on the interior. Don't think I'd have noticed if I had one like that since by the time I saw the inside of the mug, I'd have finished the contents. :D

Wow, that's creepy! I'd been wondering about his for a while, and the minute I ask about it, its doppelganger shows up! The power of Tiki!

[ Edited by: tikigreg on 2003-09-04 20:01 ]

These mugs were originally cast with the Huke Lau on the reverse. The slip (clay) followed the raised letters on the reverse and with the wall being an even thickness, dipped in where the letters protruded outwards. However, after the mold was cast in either greenware (still not fired) or in bisque (fired clay), the raised exterior letters were removed which generally happens after bisque firing )due to the fact that fired bisque can remain in tact and on the shelves longer than greenware). Generally, this happened as a result of the fact that the customer cancelled their order, went out of business or wasn't paying their bills!

So, it's a bonus mug??

SCORE!!!