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What was the first Tiki mug? |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10563
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2012-12-02 9:37 pm Permalink
To sum this all up, I think the Rosebud, the key to the mystery could be finding a living connection to Otagiri Mercantile, as they did the Tiki Bob's mug. But they are a Japanese company that just had reps in the US, and Tiki mugs were just a small side business for them. That's why it burns me to hear that the Spurlin mugs came from the ESTATE of a Otagiri rep - another link died off. I would love to hear how the process of designing a logo mug went - obviously, in many cases, the restaurateur gave the rep something, like a menu, that had the Tiki on it, and the Japanese translated it into a sculpt - yet sometimes Otagiri's designers seem to have came up with the designs on their own.
But I am also not one to be entirely mug-centric in Tiki, I am more interested in the whole picture, the social and historic developments that lead to it happening. I am currently developing a new perspective on Polynesian pop, as I love viewing the phenomenon from new angles: Outsiders always act surprised that I am still at it, after two exhaustive books, but when you delve deeply enough into any subject, it opens up new macro-cosms and facets that you didn't think about yet.
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tikicleen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 324
From: ripon: almond capital yet no orgeat
| Posted: 2013-01-30 8:11 pm Permalink
this is a fascinating read, thank you for continuing to re-examine these unanswered questions and reignite that tiki flame that sometimes goes a bit dormant inside of me.
so the objective now is to find a living connection to the otagiri mercantile company. i think i am on the verge of this, but i do not have the detective know-how or time to sink into this.
i have found someone that seems to have some legit info about an older gentleman who claims to have "made the tiki mugs" for the -stockton- islander. as we all know, the stockton islander was a bevy of OMC mugs. and now that i have read this thread, i do see the spurlin copy influence that OMC did with development of their mugs that the stockton islander used -- i never noticed this before! (gasp!) but i digress, this elderly gentleman was an artist and ceramicist according to my contact. he supposedly said that "they" made the tiki mugs in batches of 100 and delivered them on Mondays back in the early days of the stockton islander. i'm not sure how convoluted this information might be, but it is possible that this gentelman was part of OMC since they were based out of SF, and this gentleman now resides in mill valley.
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 got tiki?
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nui 'umi 'umi
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 21, 2011
Posts: 379
From: La Mirada Atoll
| Posted: 2013-01-30 9:12 pm Permalink
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On 2012-11-30 12:32, bigbrotiki wrote:
But the lack of reaction to your thread, and not the slightest activity in the advancement of this age-old mystery by any readers here, seem like just another nail in the coffin of Tiki Central.
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I am both riveted to and fascinated by this thread. The lack of activity/participation on my part is due to sheer intimidation that overwhelms me as I read the expert sleuthing and analytical displays of logic and research posted here. I have nothing to offer but Mahalo. I'm certainly not alone.
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atomictonytiki
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: May 14, 2002
Posts: 1267
From: Bangkok
| Posted: 2013-01-31 04:30 am Permalink
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On 2013-01-30 20:11, tikicleen wrote:
this elderly gentleman was an artist and ceramicist according to my contact.
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go speak to him now, too often I've found a good leed on tiki history through an obituary.
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Hale Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 19, 2004
Posts: 1413
From: Pittsburgh
| Posted: 2013-01-31 06:18 am Permalink
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On 2013-01-31 04:30, atomictonytiki wrote:
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On 2013-01-30 20:11, tikicleen wrote:
this elderly gentleman was an artist and ceramicist according to my contact.
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go speak to him now, too often I've found a good leed on tiki history through an obituary.
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Yes. Run to him.
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