Tiki Torch

Tiki torch

A tiki torch is a pole-mounted torch, typically made of bamboo, that originated in the tiki culture of mid-20th-century United States, which has increased in popularity and spread elsewhere as a popular party decoration with a tropical island aesthetic. Though early mass-produced torches were made of aluminum or other metal, the most familiar style of tiki torch consists of a bamboo stick with a container of flammable fluid at the top from which the lit wick draws.

Tiki

In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him, and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small wooden, pounamu or other stone carving in humanoid form, although this is a somewhat archaic usage in the Māori language, where a tiki is usually a hei-tiki, a pendant worn around the neck. Hei-tiki are often considered taonga, especially if they are older and have been passed down throughout multiple generations. Carvings similar to tiki and coming to represent deified ancestors are found in most Polynesian cultures. They often serve to mark the boundaries of sacred or significant sites. The word has cognates in other Polynesian languages, such as tiʻi in Tahitian and kiʻi in Hawaiian. In the Western world, Tiki culture, a movement inspired by various Pacific cultures, has become popular in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Torch

A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end which can be used as a light source or to set something on fire. Torches have been used throughout history and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling and entertainment. In some countries, notably the United Kingdom and Australia, "torch" in modern usage is also the term for a battery-operated portable light.

tiki torch

Noun

1. A bamboo torch used as a party decoration and in tiki culture.