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The Kahiki selling off Tiki, lights, And other Tropical, Hawaiian decor |
mrsmiley
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 3153
From: Las Vegas, NV
|  Posted: 2005-12-01 4:34 pm Permalink
RIP, Kahiki!  not a big surprise, though...
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Tiki Joe
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 15, 2005
Posts: 149
From: Cincinnati, O-Hi-Yo
| Posted: 2005-12-01 8:09 pm Permalink
Hakalugi ~ tiki anarchy! I like it!!!
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 814
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2005-12-01 8:37 pm Permalink
As someone who has bought a few Orchids of Hawaii lamps in the past, I'm curious as to the range of prices asked by the Kahiki. I can't get there and the last thing I need is another lamp, but I've got to know where to set my envy meter.
I hope someone is documenting this sale with photographs...it'd make a nice ending shot for anyone's future story on the Kahiki, the same way my favorite Rt66 book ends with a pic of the auction of the road signs.
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http://www.thelope.blogspot.com
[ This Message was edited by: tikijackalope 2005-12-01 20:44 ]
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Tiki Joe
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 15, 2005
Posts: 149
From: Cincinnati, O-Hi-Yo
| Posted: 2005-12-01 8:58 pm Permalink
The lamps are going for $200.
Some are pretty beat up too.
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 814
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2005-12-01 10:22 pm Permalink
Thanks, Tiki Joe! I'll be curious to see if the influx of long-used lamps into tiki collectordom results in renewed debate as to how to remove years of oil and grease residue from bamboo, tapa, resin and seashells.
_________________
www.thelope.com
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Sweetbeak
Member
Joined: Aug 09, 2004
Posts: 6
From: Columbus,Ohio
| Posted: 2005-12-02 5:36 pm Permalink
I was out there today picking up a couple of lamps for a chicago TC'r and it's getting really picked over now. They have about 3 or 4 HUGE lamps (with bamboo and glass panels with seahorses on them) left. They are about $300. I really wanted one, but not only have we already bought 8 lamps (plus the driftwood birdcage), but they weigh about 50 lbs. We just don't have a room that big (they're 2 feet in diameter).
They also have 2 shell lamps left, several wicker lamps, and 6 seahorse lamps that are really beat up. These are one of the styles that was sold on ebay. Most of them have pieces of bamboo that are fallling off. They could probably be fixed easily as long as you can get one with panels that aren't cracked! These might be had for $100. We bought our lamps for between $150 - 200.
They cleaned up very well and quite easily considering they had 40 years of dust on them. It took me 2 hours to clean all of them. They made the room smell like fried eggrolls and the longer I cleaned the stronger the smell was. I just brushed most of the dust off and used 409 to clean the dust and grease off of the glass panels (the paper towels were orangish brown!). They look practically brand new. I expected the grass matting and the braided trim to start flaking off but none of it did. I think all of the grease preserved it and kept it from getting brittle.
What I want to know is what is Bruce going to do with all of those velvet paintings? I wish we knew him well enough to call him up. He would recognize Jim if he saw him but...it's not like they're friends or anything.
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 814
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2005-12-03 03:55 am Permalink
I just posted a couple of Orchids of Hawaii catalog pages - ones that had lamps - at: http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=9865&forum=5&10
_________________
www.thelope.com
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-05 2:50 pm Permalink
Sorry I did not get back to some of your questions, But me and the wife were in chicago on a whirlwind tiki tour. Hala kahiki, trader vic's, tiki terrace. Great time!
Tiki Joe you are the cheapest man I know. I was going to sell you a Kahiki light for $40.00 bucks and
you thought that was too high!
I know bruce well and will ask him what he wants to do with the paintings. He was interested in what they were worth, But I don't know if that means he wants to sell any. He collects all things hip. I now wish I had gotten at least one! I will try and post some pic's but I am not good at that stuff.
Glad you and Jim made it out there Sweetbeak had to work hard to convince you to go and then you buy 8 lights.
_____________________________________________________________________________
*-:¦:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-•:*TIKISKIP*:•-:*MAKES*:-•*:TIKI*:•-:*LIGHTS*:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-*
Lights for home and
commercial TIKI bars.
_______________________
[ This Message was edited by: tikiskip 2013-03-13 05:14 ]
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chisel slinger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 23, 2004
Posts: 263
From: columbus,ohio
| Posted: 2005-12-05 3:45 pm Permalink
corection, we are like friends or something. just not real close. anyway, if you talk to bruce, mention jimmy from the cheatin dogs. thanks, jimmy.
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-05 6:26 pm Permalink
Did try to get a velvet to Jim and his wife but could not make it happen.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Did you see this! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7729944758&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 Looks like you will see some of this on ebay.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
‹(•¿•)›‹(•¿•)›‹(•¿•)›‹(•¿•)›•:*TIKISKIP*:•:*MAKES*:•:*FLOAT*:•:*LIGHTS*:•‹(•¿•)›‹(•¿•)›‹(•¿•)›‹(•¿•)›
__‹(•¿•)›__‹(•¿•)›__‹(•¿•)›__‹(•¿•)›__‹(•¿•)›__
[ This Message was edited by: tikiskip 2013-03-13 05:17 ]
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Feelin' Zombified
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 15, 2003
Posts: 1328
From: The Exotic Shores of Lake St. Clair
| Posted: 2005-12-05 7:26 pm Permalink
ouch.
so it looks like the bullsh*t story I tried to tell my wife about driving down there, buying two lamps, selling one on Ebay to pay for the other and make a profit... was true.
if she had only listened to me.
-Z
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chisel slinger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 23, 2004
Posts: 263
From: columbus,ohio
| Posted: 2005-12-05 10:56 pm Permalink
yeah, I'm glad we bought seven lamps. should have bought a couple more to pay for them. only we couldnt part with them.
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 814
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2005-12-06 03:08 am Permalink
Hey guys, please post some pics of the lamps you bought, either here, or over at http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=9865&forum=5&10.
We could have a very impressive data base on those lamps if more of the Kahiki stuff was posted here instead of just on ebay. Unlike the ones I bought last year, the ones from Kahiki might be precisely dated.
Do any of our Kahiki devotees know if the restaurant added or replaced lamps after it opened? That would be good to know in order to date these things.
The one in this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7729944758&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 provides a varient I hadn't seen.
Theirs is closed at the top where as mine are open. One of mine has thicker supports than the other, is slightly taller and has wood panels with inlaid glass pieces; the other has resin panels with glass bits glued to the inside surfaces.
Regarding the claims in the auction listing, the lamp *may* have been purchased from from OA (Bob tells me they sold them over the years) but OA didn't make them. Orchids of Hawaii either manufactured them, or had them made in China and imported. Bensons may have done the same, or sold them to OoH who sold them to OA. The farther back you go, the harder it is to figure out who made what, and sold what to whom.
It sure is a nice price appreciation; the most that could have cost Kahiki was $123, based on the wholesale value in 1992, so it was probably a lot less expensive when they bought it.
Incidentally - and I assume most of you know this - Orchids of Hawaii ended its corporate life in the Bronx; I don't think they were ever actually in Hawaii, as implied in the auction listing.
Did anyone notice the paintings in the background of one of the pics on that listing?
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[ This Message was edited by: tikijackalope 2005-12-06 03:11 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10562
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2005-12-06 09:34 am Permalink
Judging by the condition of the lamps, they might not be that old, from the late 80s or so. I am sure that Michael Tsao was a regular customer of Orchids of Hawaii and regularly replaced older original lamps that had become too grimy or were falling apart.
The real rare lamps are those made by O.A. and the Sea and Jungle shop. You can see them at the Royal Hawaiian in Newport Beach, at the Hanalei Restaurant in San Diego (there used to be more), and the Alibi in Portland has a great selection for example.
This is not to say that these are not cool, anything with resin/glass mosaic work naturally is, and the shell lamps were always a classic, made and sold by all three companies.
The velvet painting (on the right behind the lamp) seems to be Hina Rapa, Leeteg's bestseller. He himself made many copies of it, and later printed copies were sold by Barney Davis' gallery.
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2005-12-07 09:25 am Permalink
I talked to bruce last night, And he said he is thinking of selling some of the paintings. He needs a new car, can't drive a painting to work. Sounds like maybe after christmas. He dose not sell on ebay, plus they are big! shipping would be hard. Will let all know if or when he decides to sell.
________________________________________________________________________________
•:•:••:•:••:•:••:•:••:•:••:"If you do fine work you will never die":••:•:••:•:••:•:••:•:••:•:•
_________________________________TIKISKIP_________________________________
Lights for home and
commercial TIKI bars.
_____________________
[ This Message was edited by: tikiskip 2013-03-13 05:19 ]
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