The interesting thing I considered upon finding their website -- and this isn't the first time I've thought this, it's just the most recent instance -- is how different the actual bona fide Shriners are from the Shriner-glorifiers of modern day. Now, I'm not immune from using a subculture to over-idealize and escape, I do this myself with tiki, but... there seems to me to be so many people eager to toss a fez on their head, dress in a suit, drink like crazy... these same guys would go nutsy if presented with a wee car to ride in while tossed... but at the end of the day, there's a big, glaring difference between legit Shriners and Shriner-glorifiers. Modern-day "Look at me, I'm wearing a fez and I'm drunk and having a grand old time!" folks turn to each other and say "let's do a hot rod show, it'll be cool!," while the old-timers took all that ability to organize and they figured out how to do something for their community -- not just once in a blue moon, but year 'round, and all over the country. The Al Kaly website was chock-full of information about how they work to help sick children, and they clearly make sure that those unfamiliar with their organization understand it's a priority of theirs. It's just not something you see a lot of in our modern subcultures, and it saddens me a little. We all banded together a bit for those of our own who were hit by Katrina, and there's an effort to help with the American Stroke Association, but it's frankly pathetic compared to the real honest-to-whoever Shriners. They're an interesting model in balancing having a great time and bonding with doing something for others. It makes me feel like it's time to do something a little more real with our ability to get people working together.

And it makes that mug look a lot cooler.

Yes, the Shriners do a lot of charitable work, and my silly comments shouldn't be construed as either an attempt to denigrate them or a desire to actually dress up in a suit and fez; your actual chances of getting me to wear either are about equivalent to the probability of seeing me drunk and shirtless at a Green Bay Packer game, with a foam cheesehead perched on my melon...i.e. nil.

Actually, I *have* spent time around bona-fide Shriners (my step-father belonged to a lodge), and I can tell you that it isn't all sick kids and parades; they definitely do their share of drinking and carousing, so it would be a mistake to put them on some sort of pedestal. Also, practically every fraternal organization I can think of engages in charity work, partly because they care about their communities, partly because it helps their image by making people forget about their carousing in said communities, and partly because it confers tax-exempt status on much of their fund-raising and lodge activities, so it would also be a mistake to ascribe totally altruistic motives to them.

Your comments about modern sub-cultures not using their communal powers for good are intriguing and I'm sure that more could be done to use the tiki/lounge scene as a platform to organize charitable giving and volunteer work. However, I'd be concerned about it having the potential to turn into some sort of exclusive Greek thing, replete with hazings and sekrit initiation rites. I also think you might be assuming, incorrectly, that a lot of these folks aren't already doing charitable work with other groups.

Cool mug!!

You can find some fez here:

http://www.mcphee.com/items/10643.html

and

http://www.mcphee.com/items/10667.html

(and I think you'll like the rest of the goodies that this site has to offer... LOL)

Yes, Archie McPhee is a great source for nuevo-Tiki tschotkes. Thanks.