Máscaras de madera

A new mascara has entered my collection.

I first heard about his mask a couple of weeks ago when a friend noted he had seen a tiki mask (at a thrift store I don’t often visit) and that he was waiting until payday so he could go purchase it. 2 weeks later I visited the store and. noticed the mask on my way out. I was going to walk straight past it but curiosity got the better of me and I checked it out.

I am so glad that I did. The first thing I noticed was the “Hecho en Mexico” price tag (with the princely sum of $22.60 being charged for the mask – this price leads me to believe the mask was made prior to 1976)

I have very few Mexican wooden masks in my collection (plenty from Asia – and Bali in particular – though). The following two are those masks.

This one was gifted to me by a Mexican amiga who had it in her house and absolutely hated it. She palmed it off on me (as a bit of a joke I think) but the jokes on her as I absolutely love this mask. I have Posted on this mask (and others) previously….

Mascaras Mexicanas : Mi Colección
Mascara de Xochipilli? I go into more detail on this mask in this Post. It has been suggested that perhaps this mask is of Xochipilli (It is most certainly Teotihuacano in design though).

I purchased this mask many years ago and had no inclination it might have been Mexican. This fact (that it is Mexican) is by no means 100% certain. It does resemble some of the tigre dance masks of Mexico. You can find more on the tigre masks here….Mascaras Mexicanas : Mi Colección

Masks of unknown provenance.

An internet search found some similar masks (but almost no information about them)

Ebay also had some masks similar in design (and made in Mexico) but they are by no means similar enough to my newly acquired mask (in my opinion)

Made on January 20 in 1972 Pair Of Vintage Hand Carved Wooden Tiki Mask Measuring 11.5” X 5” Made in Mexico City.

I found a very similar mask on a Reddit query when a responder to a question posted an image of this mask.

The author was describing a conversation with Bill Sapp who told them “we went down to Mexico to buy some of the Decore for the Kahiki” (in a conversation about wooden masks)

Another mask from the Kahiki Supper Cleb

The Kahiki Supper Club was a Polynesian-themed restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. The supper club was one of the largest tiki-themed restaurants in the United States

Bill Sapp and Lee Henry were the owners of a Tiki bar known as The Grass Shack popularly frequented by World War II veterans in the 1950s but a fire in 1959 impelled them to upgrade the bar and the Kahiki Supper Club was born

The Kahiki. A name that literally translates as “Sail to Tahiti” (according to an undated Kahiki pamphlet – see image above)

The design of the building was based on men’s meeting houses of New Guinea and the details featured along the curved roof were found on many of the war canoes of the region. Pelicans and fish lined the apex of the roof, thought to be symbols of plentiful good food.

Construction began in June of 1960 at a cost of over a million dollars and the Kahiki opened her legendary doors in February of 1961.

Two replicas of the Easter Island heads stood guard at the doorway that was lined with murals to ward away evil spirits.

The restaurant changed hands several times, including its sale in a backgammon game in 1978. (Heritage Ohio)

Drinks were hard to resist. With three bars on the ground floor alone, the Kahiki’s menu included drinks served in 30 different glasses, goblets, and ceramic cups and bowls.

The Kahiki was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in in 1997 and recognised for its “rich Polynesian culture, architectural design and influence on national and local restaurant history.” Sadly receiving this national recognition didn’t stop The Kahiki from being demolished in 2000 to make way for a Walgreen’s supermarket. The doors of the Kahiki were shut forever on August 25, 2000.

In an article about “Remembering the Kahiki’s Glorious Reign”, historian Doug Motz notes that even though “a Walgreen’s replaced it”, it was short-lived and the Walgreenst “lasted only about half the time the Kahiki did, and the former drugstore—an unprepossessing building at best—is now in another use. Somehow, this doesn’t feel like progress.”

Google Earth shows this as the current occupant.