info on orchids of hawaii headhunter #R1 mugs

I am searching for any information about these mugs...purchased a couple recently and thought they were really cool...

can anyone tell me what colors there are?...I have green, yellow and brown, all three are marked orchids of hawaii, japan...no glaze on bottom....do they come in any other colors?

In my research on the web, I've found people referring to them as Maori, Maoi, Headhunter, and #R1...can anyone tell me why R1?...and what is the proper spelling, Maoi or Maori?...seen it both ways but always thought it was Maori...(but hey, whaddo I know)...

I've seen them new for about 5-6$ or so but these have a narrower chin and seem more detailed than the newer ones...any way to date these?

Any information on these guys would be greatly appreciated.

Moari= a people from New Zealand

Moai= Tikis of Easter Island aka Rapa Nui

Forgive me for any sweeping generalities, or spelling problems, its been a long day.
TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

thanks for your response, sounds hokie but after seeing movies like 'Rapa Nui' and 'Once Were Warriors', I got curious...

I am really interested to know why some of these mugs (orchid's) include 'r-1' on the bottom while others simple have 'orchid's of hawaii, japan'?

also, why is it that some orchid's tiki mugs say Taiwan?...(i understand it obviously means they were made there but when did that start happening?...)

I guess I'm trying to figure out how to date them...I realize that similar mugs can be purchased new but I'm interested in the date they may have become available, colors, etc.

hookilau,
The R-1 on the bottom of your mug is the model number of that mug. All of the Orchids of Hawaii mugs have a different model number. For example, the Ku mug is numbered R-71, one of their bowls is numbered R-14, etc. This was to help facilitate ordering of their products because at one time, Orchids of Hawaii manufactured a line of ceramicware for all kinds of restaurants (not just Polynesian restaurants). A restaurant could simply call them and say "I need (12) R-1's".

I believe Orchids of Hawaii went out of business in the early 1990's with the demise of the whole Polynesian Pop era. The last catalog I have of theirs is dated 1991 and shows all the last mugs they produced before they went bust. Dating the mugs can be a challenge as you'd probably need some back issues of their catalogs to help you do that. For example, some of the mugs are marked R-18, R18A, etc. I believe the 'A' in R-18A indicated an update/modification to the original R-18. As such, to date these two individually, you'll probably need the catalogs that each of these was featured in to get the date of manufacture.

Interestingly, a former employee of Orchids of Hawaii eventually acquired the original molds of their mugs and is now reproducing them in China. They are now widely used in many establishments such as the Taboo Cove in Las Vegas, Ohana in Seattle, and the Hala Kahiki in Chicago to name a few. The mugs are imported by a company named Dynasty Wholesale. They are the same however, they are just not marked with the Orchids of Hawaii moniker. You'll also notice that their quality is not as crisp as I'm sure there's differences in the manufacturing environment, the glazing process, the firing method, and the mold quality since a ceramic mold has a limited production life.

Here's a link to the Dynasty Wholesale webpage:

http://www.dynastywholesale.com/

When I get a chance I'll scan some pages from the OOH catalog I have and post them for everyone to see.

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2002-09-26 08:31 ]

Polynesian Pop,

Excellent info on Orchids of Hawaii. I think my wife must have at least 30 O of H's mugs.

Hey!...great information!...that's exactly the type of history I was looking for!

while late night browsing on ebay, I got a little carried away and could'nt stop...now I need information to feed my new found obsession...

One thing still bugs me though...I've seen some Headhunter mugs with the OOH moniker but no (re-order) number...what gives?

are there any books or magazines that chronicle collecting mugs?...I've come across some stuff on the web but nothing that comes close to the information you so generously posted...maybe I'm not looking in the right places?

regards,
ant