Tiki

The word tiki comes from Māori mythology, where it refers to the first man. The Māori and other Polynesian cultures carved images of their gods into wood and stone, known as tiki statues. The term “tiki” was then used in American culture in the mid 20th century to describe style and decor from Polynesia and the South Pacific.

- KegWorks

Admittedly, I didn't know very much about Tiki.  I didn't realize the Tiki "bar" culture that I had seen on TV or in the form of strange ceramic monster-faced mugs originated in the United States back in the 30's.  I knew there was a connection to the past and to the South Pacific (as I recall being spooked by the massive carvings on Easter Island (Thanks, Leonard Nimoy and In Search Of...).  Adding to the creep factor in my brain was a particular episode of The Brady Bunch, of all things.  

Vincent Price guest-starred and was something of a lunatic.  He kidnapped the Brady boys.  There were tiki carvings and a cursed tiki idol necklace.  Greg Brady nearly died whilst surfing.  

Tiki designs are spooky, and to this sheltered guy - they were mysterious.  And tiki mugs, oddly enough, always seemed to be where Halloween stuff was.  There were mugs and similar tiki designs at horror conventions.  They'd always pop up in my searches for Halloween and horror merchandise.  You'd see tiki designs at the shore in the summer, on the boardwalk and in shops.

Strangely, I never owned a tiki mug, despite being into weird designs and odd stuff.  And despite always wanting one.  That changed this past weekend when we went to a cool Tiki event at a local brewing company.  Vendors were selling food, beer, bottled spirits, and mixed cocktails (I had my first Zombie).  There were tables with small shop owners offering tiki-designed mugs, clothing, and jewelry (at really great prices).

And the music.  Being extremely new to psychobilly and all the related forms of the rockabilly/punk genre offshoots, I was thrilled to hear similar-sounding tunes as we approached the venue and started to see people wearing Hawaiian shirts and colorful leis.  There was a record label there called Hi-Tide Recordings and the music they were playing was absolutely perfect (apparently, there's a genre called Surfabilly [apparently, I'm a square]).

We walked out of there with two tiki mugs, a sugar cane liqueur called Falernum (made with lime, ginger, and cloves), and a pair of coffin skull earrings from a cool shop called Retro-Verte.

This will definitely be an annual tradition (and my quest for a haunted tiki idol necklace has officially begun).

Below are some photos and music links...

Click below for Surfin' Spooks:

Click below to hear Cha Cha Challoween:

Click below to hear Cemetery Beach:

Some more Tiki information at the always-awesome KegWorks blog.