Tiki-Kate’s Collections
Tiki-Kate's collections were amazing, simply massive. But there are many people out there with large collections... she was unique in her ready willingness to talk about her collections, in the interest of sharing information, helping others understand history and context, and even just beating the bushes to see what other information might come out of people who would come across her posts.
Tiki-Kate's posts on Tiki Central were some of the best. Chock-full of information, questions, history, pictures, and tiki goodness.
Kate didn't pick up just anything... she had rules. The biggest is that for many of her collections, she wouldn't buy it if it didn't have an actual tiki on it. Also: she was not a fan of monkeys.
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Cannibal Tikis
Kate was fascinated by the history of a trio of cannibal tikis that pops up over and over again through the history of Polynesian Pop. She collected together a compelling archive that tells a bit of the story of this iconic piece of Tiki imagery.
Her own trio of cannibal tikis were 1923 carvings from Bora Bora, and the exact style used in the very first tiki bar, Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood! She felt strongly that after her passing they should be on display in a really good tiki bar, so she bequeathed them to Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco. If you find yourself there, raise your drink to Kate and thank her for sharing her cannibal tikis.
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Mr. & Mrs. Van Oosting's 1963 Four Week Hawaiian Vacation
Tiki-Kate was entrusted with the scrapbook from this trip-of-a-lifetime... 46 pages of mementos, carefully scanned and annotated. The Van Oostings were none other than the parents of Bob Van Oosting of Oceanic Arts, who felt very close to Kate.
The Van Oostings saved everything, and the scrapbook offers a rare look at the very different experience that Hawaii of 1963 offered. Page after page of enchanting visuals really drive home the appreciation of what a big deal it was to visit Polynesia back then, and how life-changing the experience could be.
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Tiki Wear
Kate collected aloha wear, but she was a little funny about it... she bought stuff regardless of whether it fit her (including lots & lots of men's shirts), and it had to have an actual TIKI on it. Tropical prints didn't cut it.
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Tiki Beach Towels
In Kate's own words, she was just buying a couple new tiki beach towels each summer, and one day she realized she had seven: "Good grief! It's a collection."
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Swizzle Sticks
Almost all of the swizzle sticks in Critiki are in Tiki-Kate's collection. She purchased most of her collection in one fell swoop, and was very excited to have them.
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Matchbooks
Kate's keen tiki radar helped her root out even the smallest bits of tiki, including the many matchbooks she submitted to Critiki.
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Yellow Pages Ads
Kate used to go to libraries just to look through old phone directories for Polynesian restaurant advertisements. It was a pretty clever and unique angle on urban archaeology. She photographed the ads she found so others could see them.