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Lanai Liquors (in San Mateo) selling his tiki! |
Fonduie
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 80
From: San Carlos (San Francisco Bay Area)
|  Posted: 2002-04-28 10:23 am Permalink
I briefly talked to the owner of Lanai Liquors yesterday. He his going through a bad spell financially and is selling his beautiful tiki. This same Tiki was the one and same that previously donned the front of San Mateo's long departed THE LANAI.
According to the liquor store owner, he has "sold" it to a customer. The customer gave him $100 deposit but has never shown up to pay the remanding $1300. He says that technically it is sold, but if the other guy never shows up it will be for sale again. I'm also pretty sure he would reconsider it's "sale" status if he got a better offer.
I requested that the liquor store owner ask the purchaser where the tiki will be going after it leaves Lanai Liquors. I would hate to see another Tiki with a long and rich history just disappear from the public landscape.
Sigh, if I could afford it... Oh well.
[ This Message was edited by: Fonduie on 2002-04-29 09:16 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10564
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2002-04-28 11:33 am Permalink
Damn, a Barney West original! See it on page 247 of the Book o'.
We need a Tiki Museum that has the financial backbone to save such treasures. Kind of like the Getty, just a little smaller...
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aquarj
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Apr 02, 2002
Posts: 1040
From: SF bay area, CA
| Posted: 2002-05-01 5:10 pm Permalink
Thanks very much for posting about this, fonduie! I made them a higher offer, and they took it, so it's paid for and I'll be picking it up Fri morning.
Yes, it'll be sad to see the tiki leave it's home. I literally drive by it every day to/from work, so in a way I'll miss it too. But the owner told me he doesn't want to be responsible for it anymore. I guess if it had to go, it's an honor to get an original Barney West tiki with a history (thanks again fonduie).
Took a lot of photos of it, and will try to take some evening shots tonite or tomorrow nite. I can post some soon if anyone's interested. Of course, I'm totally open to letting tikicentral folks come see it in it's new home any time. Just get ahold of me.
-Randy (aqua)
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MonkeyGod
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 47
From: Monkey Island (L.A.)
| Posted: 2002-05-02 10:06 am Permalink
Yes! Please post pics!
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Fonduie
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 80
From: San Carlos (San Francisco Bay Area)
| Posted: 2002-05-02 11:53 am Permalink
Oh I'm so glad that The Lanai tiki will go to a good home. I was hoping that someone here at Tiki Central would adopt him!
But how are you going to move that bad-boy? He's bolted to the ground and weighs a ton! Let me know when you're going to make the move, I'd love to help in any dinky way I could.
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aquarj
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Apr 02, 2002
Posts: 1040
From: SF bay area, CA
| Posted: 2002-05-02 8:34 pm Permalink
Actually, some piano movers will transport the guy tomorrow morning. Not too bad costwise, and much better equipment than what I could scrape together or rent. Thanks for offering to help though! Indeed, the movers guessed he probably weighs around 800lb.
Leroy at Oceanic Arts guessed up to 1000lb. He also said it's probably redwood, since a lot of Barney West's stuff was. And he said another West tiki from the Lanai is now in a place in Redondo Beach, because the owner of the Lanai wanted to get rid of it - she was superstitious and thought it carried bad luck.
Tonight after work I'll stop there to take some night photos with a couple lights on him. Hope they come out good, and I'll post them soon.
[ This Message was edited by: aquarj on 2002-08-31 20:44 ]
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aquarj
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Apr 02, 2002
Posts: 1040
From: SF bay area, CA
| Posted: 2002-05-03 3:52 pm Permalink
Here's the update for those of you on the edge of your seats (haha). The move went real smooth this morning - fortune smiled with the mover team. There were 4 guys - two were samoan and one was a fan of the old Lanai restaurant (he said he had many a Sidewinder's Fang). So they were real careful moving the tiki - lots of jokes about pleasing the gods and so forth. Also, happy to say it's still very solid and in good shape after all these years. Even a couple small loose parts basically stayed on with the handling.
Couple pics for now - I'll try to put up some more later.
www.goofspot.com/images/gowest1.jpg
www.goofspot.com/images/gowest2.jpg
www.goofspot.com/images/gowest3.jpg
Wow, what a morning!
-Randy
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BONBONVIC
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 123
From: Los Angeles, CA
| Posted: 2002-05-03 4:02 pm Permalink
You Lucky bastard!!!!!! Enjoy your treasure.
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Tiki Chris
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 1543
From: London
| Posted: 2002-05-03 6:32 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2002-05-03 16:02, BONBONVIC wrote:
You Lucky bastard!!!!!! Enjoy your treasure.
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I SECOND THAT! AWESOME! YOU'VE GOTTA BE SO EXTREMELY EXCITED! MORE PICS PLEASE!
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TikiMaxton
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 556
From: Portland, OR
| Posted: 2002-05-06 4:24 pm Permalink
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TikiMaxton
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 556
From: Portland, OR
| Posted: 2002-05-06 4:27 pm Permalink
Oops - hit the return key too soon...
Might I suggest that you get a small plaque made (Things Remembered at any mall could do it) explaining the origin of the tiki, when it was carved, by whom, and when you purchased it. Future urban archaeologists will be glad you did, and it will also impress friends.
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4807
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2002-05-07 08:13 am Permalink
Am I the only person that looks at this thing and thinks "I ought to make something like that"?
I am not going to afford a huge tiki. But one day I plan to have a nice back yard with a number of tikis. So I either will have to buy them, make them or find someone to make them for me.
So I guess I'll be making them. I want to watch someone do it. See what tools they use and how they get started. The small stuff I can see how you'd do it. But a 6-8 footer is a whole other set of problems.
Is there a nice book out there anyone has used for a reference? Maybe just a "Wood Carving on a Large Scale"? My friend at the tool store says they used to have a very good tool for this sort of thing but stopped making it after too many people got mangled by it. I'd want to use a power tool as much as possible. The thought of having to get the hang of chisel and mallet seems a bit too extended of a learning period.
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Biotron2000
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 13, 2002
Posts: 248
From: Bakersfield, California
| Posted: 2002-05-07 5:26 pm Permalink
I'm with you. I don't want to/wouldn't be able to talk my wife into spend a fortune on Tikis, but I sure would love some for my yard. I have thought about doing it myself as well, just don't know where to begin. Any answers/tips out there?
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Lurker Extraordinaire
patrick@jacpat.com
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10564
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2002-05-07 8:26 pm Permalink
It will be a couple of months til it's finished, but my new book on Witco will have a section on "How to chainsaw carve Tikis for fun and profit" in it. Like the "Firewood mask"(original text):
"This example will jiggle your imagination, plus you can use all your carving mistakes in the fireplace."
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suicide_sam
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 26, 2002
Posts: 670
From: LBC
| Posted: 2002-05-07 9:34 pm Permalink
I'll make my first attempt soon. I was going by a house where some ladnsacpers had just took down a palm tree and I scored a palm trunk out their dumpster. Yes I resorted to dumpster diving.
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