As close as I can figure it started back in about 1966. My uncle was a surfer, and he once gave my dad a three foot stone Tiki as a gift. My dad put it out under the big tree next to my play house, where it stood for almost twenty years until said tree was cut down and the Tiki disappeared. But back then that Tiki was about as close to magic as it gets. It made an impression I guess. I have been carving Tikis as long as I can remember, but things really got going in 1993 on the day my wife and I drove up north for our honeymoon. We brought along a Tiki to leave at the house we rented, and on the long drive the question arose, aside from myself, where can one get a good Tiki? I had scoured the good will, and all the local thrift stores, but it was hit and miss, and the local Tiki bars turned up nothing, souvenir-wise. There was, of course, Hawaii, but that was too involved for the average potential Tiki seeker. I mean, where can a normal working Joe go to get a decent Tiki in a hurry?
The answer?
Nowhere.
We decided right then and there that what was needed was a simple source for fine Tiki products that would cater to the Tiki needs of everyone! Not long after that came the first edition of the Tiki King Catalog. Back then the two questions I got asked most were: 1. "What exactly is a Tiki?" and 2: "Who in their right mind would want one of those!"
Now, many years later, it has all changed. We have seen a lot come and go, and these days you can get Tiki's pretty much anywhere. Why don't I pack it in? give it up? close up the shop? I guess because I am still having fun too much fun, and that is what started it all.
In the years since those humble beginnings I have sold my Paintings, original Art carvings and reproductions world wide. My work has also received mention and / or critical acclaim in several National and International Magazines, including Shape, Barracuda, Surfer Girl, Porthole Cruise ship Magazine, Tattoo burst, and The Tiki News. I have done nine of the most successful designs for a leading American Ukulele company, "The Magic Fluke, LLC".(which have sold thousands worldwide) Some of his original Ukulele art designs can be seen in "The visual history of the Ukulele", as well as "Tiki Art Now!" and two of my Ukuleles were displayed at the NAMM Museum of Making Music, as examples of Art in Ukuleles and Modern Lutherie. I am also a Musician, and have released Four CD's, three solo, and the fourth with my band "The Idol Pleasures"