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Kon Tiki, Waikiki, HI (restaurant) |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10560
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2010-01-07 07:53 am Permalink
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On 2010-01-07 00:32, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Buying old Hawaiian vacation photo albums on eBay paid off again.
Here are some snapshots of the Kon Tiki taken March 1973.
 this one was really over-exposed. I may play with it in photoshop a bit more to improve it.
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Wow, that first photo really has a high TYPSY factor! What a dense Tiki jungle, that looks like a purely decorative centerpiece to the place, a Tiki ALTAR!  (did you mean UNDER-exposed?)
And vintage photos of Tiki revelers actually holding Tiki mugs! Very rare!, even if these are 70s-vintage.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10560
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-01-07 08:19 am Permalink
Sabu, I went ahead and played with the pic with my limited image correction tools:
We can see some of the Janus and Cannibal Tiki posts that La Mariana took over, but again one wonders, WHO has those freestanding Tikis?
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2010-01-07 09:58 am Permalink
Wow! Those are some great photos!!
I love that "altar", especially how the large post are placed in there at an angle. I would really like to see a close-up of that tiki in the middle.
The other photo confirms that most of the tables at La Mariana also came from here. They are nice, big slabs of what looks like koa cut in free form, natural shapes.
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[ This Message was edited by: Mo-Eye 2010-01-07 09:59 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-01-07 10:13 am Permalink
Sabu,
Another AWESOME find! Those are great shots of the interior. Full TIPSY overload.
Amazing that they were still using the old style Steven Crain mugs at that time, I would have thought that those were long gone from circulation by then.
DC
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HOUSE OF KU
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 15, 2005
Posts: 537
From: TIKILAND, USA
| Posted: 2010-01-24 02:12 am Permalink
Got these at separate times at the local Collector Shows...
The lady selling them said she got them from a former waitress from the Kon Tiki... these were candle holders Freddie
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10560
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-01-24 08:49 am Permalink
No to say they are NOT, but keep in mind that vendors have told me amazing stories of Witco fountains being from The Luau in Beverly Hills and such things. Here in L.A. they have definitely caught on to the fact that it increases desirability for Tiki collectors if the item hails from a known Tiki temple. And this does not always happen in an effort to deceive, but sometimes someone else says "oh I saw them at the Kon-Tiki" and the info is eagerly taken and passed on. It would be unusual for the Kon Tiki to use non-stock Stephen Crane items, like the table lamps you see in the photo Sabu posted.
But then again, maybe someone brought these into that restaurant at a later date and they happily lived their life there until the waitress took them home.
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naugatiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 02, 2004
Posts: 806
From: Port Angeles, Wa
| Posted: 2010-01-24 09:34 am Permalink
Not sure if this mug would fit on the Dark Continent thread but it says it’s from The Sheraton Waikiki so I’m thinking it might have been drink option on the Kon Tiki menu, unless they had a “Safari Bar” after the Kon Tiki was phased out.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-15 6:53 pm Permalink
Here is another Waikiki Kon Tiki postcard I tried unsuccessfully for on ebay.
You really get a feel for how packed with stuff this place was.
DC
[ This Message was edited by: Dustycajun 2010-03-15 18:55 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10560
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-03-15 11:50 pm Permalink
Indeed! We can see the Tiki Altar, but that big lamp is blocking a lot of it. The photographic reproduction looks kind of low quality, another symptom of the devolution of the 70s. It would be interesting to figure out WHEN most restaurants ceased to have postcards made of their interiors.
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aquarj
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Apr 02, 2002
Posts: 1040
From: SF bay area, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-17 1:38 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2010-01-07 00:32, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
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Not only is he holding the beautiful Crane mug, but he's got the Brady Bunch tarantula guest star from the Hawaii episode, climbing up his shirt!
-Randy
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2010-03-17 4:57 pm Permalink
That photo above has got to be one of the best photos of anybody holding a Tiki Mug I have seen! I love it!! And that mug of all things!!! Very rare to see photos of any mugs in use let alone that one!!!!
These other photos of the interior of this Kon Tiki are also unreal!
What a incredible place!
Keep them coming!!
TabooDan
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Aug 20, 2002
Posts: 2784
From: Carson, California
| Posted: 2010-03-17 5:27 pm Permalink
That Steve Crane mug was so bright and cartoony and "cute" that I think it begged to be photographed. That's why I think it also turned up in this 1966 Playboy article on how to throw a luau in your home:
That makes me think that it will probably turn up in more tourist photos of the various Kon Tiki locations. Same with that Tiki Altar - it was such a focal point in the restaurant that I bet a lot of tourists snapped it. I have hopes for a clearer photo appearing some day.
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JONPAUL
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 12, 2010
Posts: 134
From: Venice, California
| Posted: 2010-03-19 11:50 pm Permalink
Here's an unusual item from our collection...
The complete package consists of the salt and pepper shakers, the original box, and a
small certificate. Apparently, the Kon Tiki gave away the salt and pepper shakers as
a thank you to guests staying at the Sheraton.
 
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[ This Message was edited by: JONPAUL 2010-03-19 23:52 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10560
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-03-20 12:50 am Permalink
How cool! I think that is a first, that the management consciously offered Tiki S&P shakers to guests as souvenirs, instead of just the mugs. I love those boxed artifacts, like all the different Hawaii Kai mugs. My favorite set though must be the Swizzle/Coaster/Matchbook card from the Ports of Call in Dallas.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-23 3:24 pm Permalink
Jon Paul,
Very nice S & P gift package from the Kon Tiki. Funny, Sheraton required that you hit the early bird special (5:30 to 6:30) at the restaurant to get the free gift.
Here is a matchbook from the Kon Tiki from ebay. This is the only one I remember seeing from a Kon Tiki Restaurant that used a Hawaiian boat image for the logo.
DC
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