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| NEW TIKI!!!! |
| Here is my new tiki! My father originally located it about 4 years ago in the town of Lakeview Ca. It was next to a Mobile home that looked like a scene from the movie Deliverence ......anyways, it was obvious the tiki meant very little to them. They would hang things off of him, beat nails into him to hold christmas lights, flags, etc. We tried to purchase him on several occasions, but the answer was always "No, it belongs to my brother that doesn't live here". |
| Last month before X-mas, my father stopped by their place to try to purchase it again. Either they got sick of us stopping by, the needed the money, or the tiki gods were looking down upon him, but they finally said Yes. What was the final asking price they were holding out for....$40. |
| Standing about 7ft tall, he is an ugly, yet beautiful sight. He is in horrible shape. As I mentioned, he is full of nail holes, cracks, bb gun holes, etc. He used to be painted at one time, hints of color are still on him. He was carved out of palm, and part of his nose and hands are missing. (see red arrow in Pic below for missing hands). The bottom/legs of the tiki are crude, but its hard to see if it was carved that way or just busted up. The colors are as follow...The eyes and mouth were once red. The face was Gray. The sides of his face and the chisled areas were black. The top of his head, arms, body and legs were not painted. It also has a hole carved in its back. I'm not sure what its for, perhaps to hold a torch, light, etc. |
| They had owned it about 20 years.They got it out of San Jacinto Ca (near Hemet ca). Part of the San Jacinto valley had flooded, causing damage to many homes, buildings, land, etc. He was floating in a yard behind some buildings and the police were using him to "ride on" from place to place. When the police were done with him, they abandoned it, and these peoples brother took it.--- I don't know how true the story is, but that's the one they gave us. |
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| Here is what else I know, (which isn't much really).... San Jacinto wasn't far from where I grew up and I remember the flood. It was in 1980. There is also a restaurant in Hemet (very near San Jacinto) called "The Anchor". While not tiki, it is old nautical, very cool, and tiki would fit right in. It is still operational today. Cool Place. Maybe it came from there? I also found another tiki years ago in Nuevo Ca (where I grew up) that had a very similar paint scheme. I also know there used to be a Mini Golf course in Hemet that is no longer in business and hasn't been in years. |
| I looked in the "Book of Tiki" and didn't find anything close to it. Even though it's damaged now, you can see many years ago this was carved very well, not someones backyard project. It must have come from a restaurant, mini golf, hotel, etc. |
| I hope you all enjoyed looking at it. Anyone who might have any history on it, please email me. I would love to know more. [email protected] |
| This is the only thing they were able to tell us about the tiki.---- |