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Okay, this is pretty freakin' amazing; apparently, a number of the unique tiki mugs created by "Trader" Vic Bergeron, the restaurant chain's founder, were actually registered with the U.S. Patent Office. Here are a few of them:
Skull Mug
Sufferin' Bastard Decanter
Samoan Fog Cutter Mug
Cocktail Glass
You can dig through this directory listing for a few more non-Vic's mug designs.
Spotted in the Tiki Central Forums
This happy li'l guy showed up on my doorstep tonight. No, it wasn't a Random Act of Tiki from my Secret Tiki Santa, I ordered it from Hawaiian artiste, Gecko. This is one of the coolest non-vintage tiki mugs that I've ever seen, and he's a lot of fun to drink out of. However, I was a bit disappointed that there was nothing underneath his gen-yoo-wine tapa cloth breechclout but smooth brown glaze.
Here's a photo of the wily Tongaroan in his native habitat, and here are a few other interesting tiki products that various folks have hepped me to over the past couple of days:
Czeltic Girl sent me this link to a Tiki Bar Doormat (the rest of the gurly-gurl stuff on that site is pretty scary tho').
The Cartoonist turned me on to Tiki Head Tissue Dispensers, but I dunno if mixing mucous and Moais is such a good idea.
Urban Muse pointed me to Archie McPhee, which I've always found to be a reliable source for Nuevo-Tiki and Neo-Lounge accoutrements.
Strange New Products steps right in the middle of the Poo-Poo Platter, which has absolutely nothing to do with tiki, I just like saying "Poo-Poo".
And finally, here's my own creation, the Tiki Tick...SPOON!!!!
UPDATE: Mark Frauenfelder sent me a link to these nifty little Tongaroan liquor decanters he spotted while living in Polynesia a couple of years ago. Unlike my asexual mug, these guys have quite a package, and it ain't hiding under their breechclouts!
Several Kanes and Wahines on the Tiki Central forum have recently been the recipients of Random Acts of Tiki from person or persons unknown. The very groovy salt and pepper shakers shown above were found in Scott McGerik's mailbox recently.
What a cool idea! Hopefully, there's a Secret Tiki Santa out there for all of us.
And speaking of secret tiki, please note that all of my tiki/lounge-related links have migrated across to the Goof's bottom righthand column.
HumuHumu, may the tiki gods bless her, apparently did a little research on the Shriner mug I picked up in Colorado Springs, and came up with the following info:
"This mug was created for the Al Kaly Shrine Club in Colorado Springs, which is part of the Al Kaly Shrine based out of Pueblo, Colorado. The mug is shaped like a shriner's head, with painted details including a dark red fez with "Al Kaly" and the Shriners logo in gold, and the fez's tassle makes a handle. The mug says "Colorado Springs 1972" on the back."
Needless to say, I want to roll that old geezer and steal his fez (I actually found one at an antique store in the Springs, but they wanted $90 for it), and I want to be called Grand High Bali Poobah by an adoring group of drunk, middle-aged white men who ride around in little clown cars. That would be sweet.
As the title suggests, I've been down in the basement, playing pinball and drinking Caipirinhas. Bali Hi needed some major brain surgery the other night, so while I was digging around in it's electro-mechanical guts, trying to find the problem, I took the opportunity to polish up the playfield, replace burned-out bulbs, clean the relay contacts, and resolder a bunch of wires that were barely making contact. I also installed a couple of posts in the left and right outholes to keep the ball from draining so quickly.
My efforts paid off handsomely, the machine plays so beautifully now that I can turn the scorewheel over past 100,000...no problem!
I also cracked open my bottle of Cachaça Ypioca and mixed up a couple of potent Caipirinhas using my brand-new muddler. I modified the recipe a bit by using Trader Vic's Rock Candy syrup instead of granulated sugar. Consequently, they came out much smoother than the ones I had in Boulder.
Man, that silver ball really flew around the playfield once I applied a little lubrication!
The only thing my bar is lacking at the moment is tunes, and that situation should be rectified shortly. I ordered a 5-CD changer and a pair of JBL wallmount speakers in cherry cabinets that should arrive just in time for the weekend.
I've been incredibly busy since returning from Boulder, but I've still had time to do a little scrounging in the local thrift stores and antique malls. Last night I stopped in at a vintage shop that exhibits a large private collection of authentic Island art that includes a number of gorgeous masks and tikis. Their owner won't sell any of this stuff (the bastard), but he will occasionally toss some of the pieces he doesn't want into a cast-off pile of African and Polynesian junque. It was in this pile that I found the beautifully carved ceremonial paddle you see above. Here are a couple of larger images of the paddle and the intricate carvings on its face. I'm unsure of the origin, but it appears to be authentic, and at least one person who should know about such things seems to think that it's of Tahitian/Marquesan origin. In any case, it looks just fab hanging on the door to my wine cellar!
In other tiki news, Sweet Daddy Tiki's Mugshot Gallery has been making the 'blog rounds lately, and it's definitely worth a look, but if you want the real dope on mug collecting, you need to have a gander at Ooga Mooga, another fine site brought to you through the auspices of HumuHumu (who seems to have a predilection for silly 4-syllable names...;-)
My Ooga Mooga mug collection can be viewed here.
