Whatever Happened to the Cursed Tiki Idol from the Brady’s Hawaiian Vacation?
It’s perhaps the most infamous Brady Bunch episode outside of the one where Marcia gets smacked in the nose with a football: 1972’s “Hawaii Bound,” in which the Bradys go on vacation, only to encounter bad luck, doom, and Vincent Price.
But whatever happened to the cursed tiki idol?
Many would rather the idol stay lost, as they remember what happened after Bobby (Christopher Knight) decided to keep the small tiki as a good luck charm. After the Brady boys laugh at the warning of how the idol curses anyone who touches it, strange things happen. Bobby sits on his ukulele. Alice (Ann B. Davis) hurts her back. And “Groovy” Greg (Barry Williams) wipes out while wearing it around his neck.
After too much misfortune plagues the Bradys, the boys seek to return the idol—only to get captured by the paranoid Professor Whithead (Price). But cooler heads prevail, the tiki is returned, and the Bradys have a happy ending.
The origin of the Cursed Tiki idol is still somewhat of a mystery. Many online in the Tiki community think that it’s an actual Hawaiian souvenir, possibly produced by Coco Joe’s or Hawaiian Island Products (aka H.I.P.).
Everett Collection
According to MyTiki.Life, which claims to be “the largest resource of modern and historical tiki collectibles and culture,” Coco Joe’s was located in Punaluu/Hauula, Hawaii, and was a maker of lava-based and wood-based resin souvenirs. The original “Coco Joe” has been lost to time, since Donal R. Gallacher and Andy Huhn started the business in 1960. The company continued into the 1980s before going out of business. H.I.P. closed its doors in 1988.
So, where is the original necklace? As of a decade ago, it was around the neck of Greg Brady himself, a.k.a. Barry Williams. When appearing on the OWN in 2013, Williams wore the idol around his neck. “Paramount Studios was nice enough to present me with the tiki,” he says. “I’m convinced that now it brings me good luck. I keep telling myself that. I’m not sure. But I’m very careful when I do.”
For those who would like to obtain the idol, Williams sells replicas of the tiki on eBay. Each comes signed by the Brady Bunch star. “Now you too can have a piece of the island to call your own. But, not just any piece. That’s right…it’s groovy!”
Remind