I’ve been on a Tiki kick for a while now. Tiki refers to the tropical style that was popular in the 1940’s and 50’s after men served in the South Pacific. Exotic drinks and tropical decor was made popular by Trader Vic’s restaurants. I think my hobby started with listening to the Bachelor Pad radio show were it plays the lounge, exotica, and other music of the era. Then I started watching the Tiki Bar TV and was inspired by their giant wall of Tiki mugs. The show is just silly fun created by actors who have a fake bar in their apartment. Not to mention the drinks look pretty tasty. I just thought it was fun and I like the retro bar look.
I’ve been going to our local thrift stores and scoring some really nice mugs to start my collection. I was able to utilize my collection at my birthday party back in May. We treated our friends and family to a meal of corn salsa, garlic bread, and country ribs. The drinks of the night were Mojitos, Dark and Stormies, and Margaritas. The day before we went to a party supply store and bought some decorations including some Tiki torches and lies.
Here are some of my mugs. I found the four mugs on the left at two separate thrift stores. I bought them for .50 cents each. I tragically broke one the next day while cleaning up. They are from a Tiki chain called Trader Dick’s. The tiny one on the right doesn’t have any markings. It had a sticker on the bottom that said Costa Rica.
I found this one tucked away behind some china dolls at the local Goodwill. He’s a shrunken head and he’s designed so two people can drink at the same time.
The only new item in our collection was a gift from my boyfriend. It’s the official Drinkbot decanter from this Tiki bar episode.
The food and drinks were excellent. It was just so much fun having friends and family coming over and enjoying the themed party.
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