Tiki drawerpull
from Crazy Al Evans

Years ago, Accoutrements made some tiki head drawer pulls. They were crap. The design was okay, but the quality was terrible — the resin cracked when you tried to mount them. I wound up gluing them onto the drawers in my bar. Blech. They were cheap, and I got what I paid for. It’s no surprise that Accoutrements stopped making them a while ago.

Tiki drawerpull
from Crazy Al Evans

Thankfully, this hole in the market has been filled in a fantastic way by Crazy Al. He’s offering a whole range of designs, all of them traditional tiki styles, including Hawaiian, Tongan, Maori and Tahitian, and Papua New Guinean, with small and large sizes. I haven’t tried them myself, but I do have a small resin chimpanzee made by Crazy Al that I bought from him about four years ago — it’s been on my Bamboo Handbag ever since, and has seen, and lived through, much abuse. It has held up incredibly well, and still looks fantastic — I would think that Crazy Al’s door pulls would be of similar strength and quality.

• Drawer Pulls [Crazy Al's Bone Productions]

Tiki Magazine at the Tonga Hut

On Saturday, November 11, there will be a party for the release of Tiki Magazine’s latest issue, and an art show with seven artists. Tiki tOny, the featured artist in Tiki Magazine’s latest issue, will be there with a new mug for sale; other artists include Squid, Ken Ruzic, Kirby, Suzanne Mosher and Johnny the Pinstriper. DJ Lee Joseph will be playing tunes, and there will be drink specials.

The party starts at 7pm and goes ’til midnight. Tonga Hut is at 12808 Victory Blvd. in North Hollywood. Regular readers have heard the great news about Tonga Hut’s recent revival (the bar opened in 1958 and until just last year seemed doomed to be a dive); this is a great opportunity to check it out.

• Tiki Magazine release and Artshow Nov11 at the Tonga Hut [Tiki Central]
• Tiki Magazine
• Tonga Hut [Critiki]
• My Travels: Tonga Hut [Humu Kon Tiki]

Tiki Jack o’ Lantern, by Crazy Al Evans

There are tons of great examples of tiki-carved Jack o’ Lanterns every year around this time, but this one is really gawk-worthy. Leave it to sculpting master Crazy Al Evans: this pumpkin sports not only a tiki, but a A-frame building in the distance. The tiki itself is carved so well, he looks like you could pick him up and put him right on your dashboard. Fantastic work. For more pictures of this and other tiki Jack o’ Lanterns, check out this thread on Tiki Central.

• Jack-o-Lanterns [Tiki Central]
• Tiki Mania [Crazy Al's website]

This short film is a documentary on Bosko Hrnjak, the famed San Diego tiki carver. He shares he goes about making his creations, how his interest in tiki was sparked, how it expanded over time, and toward the end of the film, he speaks eloquently about the importance of Tiki as a cultural art form. The 7-1/2 minute film was produced in 2001 by Paul Desjarlais, with music by Bosko’s wife, Truus De Groot.

• Bosko [YouTube]
• Tiki Bosko

Mimi Payne’s Arkiva Tropika

I’m very excited about my lastest website project — Mimi Payne hired me to create a website to showcase her extensive and beautiful collection of vintage ephemera and collectibles, mostly from Polynesian and other Exotic restaurants and hotels. The result launched today, and it is called Arkiva Tropika.

Mimi’s collection is massive — not even she quite knows exactly what she has at this point, which was one reason she wanted it catalogued. Another is that it makes a great resource for her to sit and look through her collection, without having to take the sometimes-delicate items in and out of their proper storage. Paper ephemera is notoriously difficult to display; I think this is a great solution. Tags allow her to find all of her hotel postcards from California quickly, or even all of her hotel postcards except those that are from California. But the best part, I think, is that she’s also chosen to share her collection with the world, with relatively large, high-quality images. She has just a small bit of her collection in Arkiva Tropika right now (but there are already more than 175 images of nearly 100 items); she’ll continue to add items on a very regular basis.

The phrase “eye candy” seems woefully insufficient — to me, looking through her collection is like stepping into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I’m incredibly proud and honored that Mimi asked me to create Arkiva Tropika for her, and I look forward to much time spent in a dreamlike-state, looking over her collection.

Detail of 1955 brochure from Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, from Arkiva Tropika

• Arkiva Tropika
• Humuhumu
• Introducing…. Arkiva Tropika [Tiki Central]

Picasso with his Marquesan tiki

At the end of October, Prestel Publishing is releasing a detailed book by Peter Stepan about Picasso’s love affair with African and Oceanic art. Here he is on the cover of the book, with a Marquesan tiki he was particularly fond of (can’t blame him!). The tikis and other items from his collection now reside in museums and also in the private collections of his family members, and many of them have been photographed and described in detail for this book. The list price for the book will be $85, but Amazon is offering pre-orders for $53.55. Tip of the hat to Aaron’s Akua for the heads-up. You can learn more about Picasso’s Marquesan tiki on this thread at Tiki Central.

• Picasso’s Collection of African And Oceanic Art (Hardcover), by Peter Stepan [Amazon.com]
• Picasso’s famous tiki [Tiki Central]

Tiki bar by Nacho

Yesterday was Forbidden Island’s parking lot sale, and boy howdy was it crazy — in a good way. I spent the day working the booth of leftovers from the Forbidden Island build-out (all the FI employees were very busy doing what they do best — taking care of scores of guests). The weather couldn’t have been better (unusual, for Alameda), and I hear that there were about a hundred people lined up around the block to get in when the sale opened at 3pm. Everyone seemed to be having a very good day indeed — from the folks who snagged great tikis, art and vintage clothing, to the vendors who across the board seemed to be having a banner day.

Towering over the proceedings was this tiki bar, created by Nacho. Nacho had a similar massive Moai bar that he brought to Viva Las Vegas three years in a row until it was sold. He created this massive Ku bar to bring to Viva Las Vegas this past year, and it got use again yesterday, when Forbidden Island bartender Jim worked behind it making Mai Tais for the crowd. Pictures really don’t do it justice, it’s hard to get a sense of the scale of the thing — it’s about 18 feet tall, eight feet wide, and 10 feet deep. The inside is nicely decked out, too, thanks to Nacho’s friend Kahaka (the fellow who does those great lamps). There’s a thread on Tiki Central detailing the progress of the construction of this beauteous beast.

I was behind the booth all day, so I didn’t have an opportunity to chat much with folks (though I did a lot of waving and smiling). Hanford was free to roam, and he bought a snazzy lamp and an end table that perfectly matches my half-pretzel rattan living room set. I’ve put my pictures up on Humuhumu’s Life in Photos, and there are more from other folks in a thread on Tiki Central. It went so well, I’m betting there will be more sales like this one at Forbidden Island in the future.

• Alameda: Forbidden Island Parking Lot Bonanza [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Deluxe Custom Lamps by Kahaka [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Nacho’s VLV Ku Tiki Bar (updated 4/20) [Tiki Central]
• Forbidden Island: Sunday Super Sale Sept. 24th! DETAILS PG 3! [Tiki Central]
• Forbidden Island Parking Lot Bonanza [Humuhumu's Life in Photos]

Insert Coin, by Heather Watts

I’ve highlighted Heather Watts’ art before; she’s a very talented young artist out of Vancouver, B.C. whose talent seems to increase daily. The above piece, Insert Coin, is part of the Tiki Art Now show currently at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle. It’s simply gorgeous, I can’t even imagine what it must look like in person. She is currently pre-selling prints of this and other works on her website. The Insert Coin prints are a 23.5″ x 12.25″ limited edition glicee, and are signed by the artist. The cost is $150; if you place your order by October 1, shipping is half-off. The prints will start shipping on October 15.

Exotic Origami Fortune Teller,
by Heather Watts

You don’t need to wait until October 15 to have a bit of Heather’s art at your fingertips… she’s designed a clever (and of course, beautiful) Exotic Origami Fortune Teller that you can print from your own computer. You’re just a few folds away from learning your destiny!

• Heather Watts
• Exotic Origami Fortune Teller [Heather Watts]
• Roq La Rue Gallery
• Artwork by Heather Watts [Humu Kon Tiki]

Ad for Chin Tiki, from the collection of Chub

A collection of advertisements for old Polynesian restaurants is forming in a thread on Tiki Central. Many of these ads come from old phone directories. The above 1967 advertisement was posted by thread-starter Chub, and is from the Chin Tiki in Detroit.

• Show your old restaurant ads [Tiki Central]

Carved wood album frame, by Monkeyman

You might remember my post back in March, when Derek Weaver, a.k.a. Monkeyman, was sending out feelers for the possible demand for inexpensive album frames. He is now testing the waters with his first larger-production offering, with mass-produced (but still wood — not resin) frames, available for $30 ($25 each if you’re buying 3 or more). He has 50 of them right now, and if they sell well enough, he may do another round. If you’re interested in purchasing frames, you can contact Monkeyman via Tiki Central PM, or email him at derek@monkeymandesign.com. Monkeyman also has a new website, where you can see his many custom pieces (be sure to take a gander at the Enchanted Tiki Room frame he did!).

• Album Cover Frames-READY for Sale- 09/17/06 [Tiki Central]
• Monkeyman Design
• Album Frames by Monkeyman [Humu Kon Tiki]

Maiden Offering, by Velvet Glass

Mark Bloom and Maggie Rickard of Velvet Glass create the most lovely scenes of tikis, wahines and other midcentury-pop inspired tropical scenes, all rendered in mosaics of glass tile. The Tuscon-based couple have been creating these mosaics for some time now, but they have not been offered for sale on their website — until now. There are a dozen or so mosaics available, including Maiden Offering, pictured at left (the maiden is likely inspired by a menu from Zombie Village in Oakland, and is one of my very favorite pieces of Poly-Pop imagery). These are exquisite pieces of art, and are priced accordingly — if there isn’t room in your budget for one, they also are offering reproductions of the originals as prints, cards and coasters.

• Velvet Glass

Homemade Enchanted Tiki Room Birds, by ZuluMagoo

ZuluMagoo (publisher of the Rocky Mountain Tiki Newsletter) is currently working on his new home tiki bar, the Kona Luanii. One of the projects for his room are these fantastic birds, inspired of course by the ones at the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. He took inexpensive feathered plastic parrots from Party City, mounted them on some garage-sale-find rattan plant hangers (which, when turned upside down, become perfect perches), and added a few decorative elements, including hats and shells. To cap it all off, he named his birds “Otto” and “Sven” as a tribute to Otto von Stroheim, creator of Tiki News, and Sven Kirsten, author of the Book of Tiki. A very inexpensive project that turned out to be impressively spot-on. You can see his post about the project, and his work on his home tiki bar, on Tiki Central.

• The Kona Luanii, Denver, CO (home-bar) [Tiki Central]

Headlights, by Crazy Al Evans

The latest updates on this weekend’s Tiki Art Now show at Roq la Rue in Seattle’s Belltown district:

Shag Will Be There
Not only will there be art by Shag in the show, Shag will be there in person. Other artists who will be in attendance include Lisa Petrucci, Heather Watts, Dawn Fraiser, and Davey.

Busotica: A Seattle Tiki Junket
Some of the Tiki Central folks have organized a lunch at The Islander downtown, followed by a trip to four very excellent Seattle home tiki bars for Saturday, the day after the art opening. $15 gets you a seat on the bus, you can read more details in the thread on Tiki Central. Should be a great day!

View the Art
For us poor schmucks who can’t make it (or for those who can and can’t wait to see what’s in store), Roq la Rue has an online preview of the art.

You can also read my earlier Humu Kon Tiki post for more of the nitty-gritties. I won’t be able to be at the show myself, which has me a bit bummed (I’ll be drowning my sorrows at Hooptylau, so don’t feel too sorry for me). It will be a great weekend in Seattle, with some fab art and some of my favorite people — the Jet City Mucky Mucks.

• Seattle: Tiki Art Now III [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Roq la Rue
• Seattle: Jet City Junket ~ Home Bar Tour 16th [Tiki Central]

Volcano lamp by Kahaka

Bay-area artist Kahaka makes some of the best lamps for tiki bars out there. He makes them custom, and uses bamboo and tapa cloth, re-creating some of the best traditional styles, and also coming up with some of his own. His lamps have been hung in professional and home tiki bars around the globe, including the Kahiki Moon in Vermont, the Tabou Tiki Room in Berlin, Kona Club in Oakland and Forbiden Island in Alameda. This lamp is in a volcano shape, with tapa cloth sides, and crosscut bamboo rings for the base, and can be seen hanging at Forbidden Island.

Eight-sided lamp by Kahaka

Like the ones mentioned in my post about Orchids of Hawaii lamps, Kahaka’s lamps are very much in line with the lamps I mentioned in my Perfect Tiki Bar: the Lighting article; unlike Orchids of Hawaii, which is long out-of-business, Kahaka’s lamps can be purchased today. Lamps like these go a long way to setting the perfect, exotic mood, and are a must-have item for a good tiki bar. A photo gallery of Kahaka’s work can be seen on Yahoo, and he also has a thread of his creations on Tiki Central. If you’d like to have Kahaka create one of his wonderful lamps for your home or restaurant, you can contact him at jchadgreenwood@aol.com, or by sending him a PM on Tiki Central.

• SWAG TIKI LAMPS [Yahoo! Photos]
• Kahaka’s Tapa Lamps – New Stuff (8/2) [Tiki Central]
• Perfect Tiki Bar: The Lighting [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Lamps by Orchids of Hawaii [Humu Kon Tiki]

Las Vegas Don the Beachcomber menu, from the collection of Derrick Bostrom

I love the graphic look of this Don the Beachcomber menu from Las Vegas. It comes from the collection of Derrick Bostrom, whose grandparents had quite a collection of menus from their travels. Bostrom has these menus now, and has been posting them on his blog. He’s also shared a menu from the Islands in Phoenix, and he has a 1948 Don the Beachcomber menu that he hasn’t posted yet — I’m looking forward to seeing it; longtime readers may remember that the look of Humu Kon Tiki was inspired by a vintage Don the Beachcomber menu.

• Menu Collection, Part One: Las Vegas [Bostworld]
• Menu Collection, Part Two: Phoenix [Bostworld]
• Humu Kon Tiki’s New Look [Humu Kon Tiki]