St. Pete man builds business based on passion for Polynesian culture

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A St. Pete man’s passion for collecting Tiki mugs has gone from a hobby to a full-blown business.

Twenty years ago, John Mulder and his wife Janet were in a thrift store and found a Tiki mug that kicked off his collection.

"I've always been a collector," he recalled, "I found a mug... a classic (Tiki) mug at a thrift store in the '90s. Now I probably have about 1200 mugs in my collection."

In the process of collecting Tiki mugs, Mulder, who spent 15 years in the Army and seven as a civil servant, decided to try his hand at creating some custom-designed mugs.

The ideas for the mugs come from Mulder's fascination of Polynesian exotica mixed with a bit of recognition for the people and places he has met in his business travels.

"I've always been an artist. I've made art my whole life," he said, "I always thought I'd be a famous painter. I went to college and I majored in sculpture."

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He put those skills to work and created a Tiki mug business called Eekum Bookum.

John Mulder created Eekum Bookum after he began collecting Tiki mugs. 

The ideas for the mugs come from Mulder's fascination with Polynesian exotica mixed with a bit of recognition for the people and places he has met in his business travels.

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"I think that I was fortunate in that I started as a professional company in 2010," admitted Mulder. "That was right about when the resurgence of collecting Tiki mugs was beginning. A lot of our clients are along the West Coast... we service the bar and event industry."

That means his mugs are available in very limited quantities at those venues he contracts with for business.

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"We make mugs in the Tampa Bay Area for three different bars," Mulder said.

Eekum Bookum is a business that makes unique Tiki mugs. 

His studio is in St. Petersburg. All of the mugs start with a drawing as he takes ideas and meets a theme for an event or a venue.

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"Fifty mugs a day, that's our production goal," he said.

John Mulder has always been an artist and designs each one of the mugs, 

Its business model is changing for the New Year as they work to create inventory to sell online.

LINK: Learn more about Eekum Bookum at https://www.eekumbookum.com/.