I love this. I am fascinated with the thriving woodcarving industry that flourished in Honolulu beginning in the late 1930s with Fritz Abplanalp carving perfume flacons for Gump's. Fritz also taught woodcarving classes during the war. And, he was a wood carving and wood shop teacher at Kamehameha school. Two servicemen stationed in Honolulu, Chris Sorensen and Millard Blair studied woodcarving at night classes given by Fritz. After 1945, both men started woodcarving businesses: "Sorensen the Woodcarver" and Blair's Ltd Hawaii. Boris Horn, founder of Woods of Hawaii was also a major player. I am not sure if Boris Horn studied with Abplanalp, but I would not be surprised. The primary wood they all used was Monkeypod harvested on the Islands. Koa was second. . The primary items carved were bowls, leaf trays, and other functional tableware. In the late 1950s, there were twenty-two woodcarving businesses in Honolulu. The mid-60s saw boatloads of hurriedly knock-off Monkeypod bowls and leaf trays from the Philippines. Honolulu long-time woodcarvers were forced to downscale their businesses and many went out of business. Between imported Monkeyppod, the end of the Vietnam war, the environmental movement, the Hawaiian renaissance, concerns about eating out of wooden bowls, and the scarcity of available Monkeypod on the Island, monkeypod fell out of fashion and got that "Kitsch" reputation. When looking through all the Paradise Island Magazines from the early 50s to the mid-60s, you will find Blair, Sorensen, and Woods of Hawaii advertisements. I would love to find some time to go over to Honolulu and do some archival research. Most of these shops were open and some gave daily tours. Finding photos of the shops and the tours is almost like finding a hen with teeth. My in-progress website on this subject: www.waikikiwoods.com. And thanks again for this fascinating presentation!
Interesting. There was a lot that I didn't know before, but some of the early aerial pictures was the Honolulu I knew before I left the Islands in 1953. KGMB was across Ala Moana Park in the vacant land that became the Mall. My childhood was spent in the Keehi Lagoon area and remember going up the stream from the railroad bridge to Moanalua Garden, the most beautiful place I have been to. There were taro patches and coconut trees and crayfish.
Great talk n slide slide show, Mahalo, I am a "Navy Brat" born at Tripler in 49 n move to the mainland when my dad retired in 58 or 59. Little did my parents realize them going back to their home took me away from my home. :( By chance any old photos of Waianae and or Pearl City Peninsula military housing area you could direct me to on the iNet? Glennnnnnn
You are like me, scouring all these old videos for pictures of your neighborhood. I have found one, a video of a steam engine and its cars passing my elementary school and eventually would pass my house. Nostalgia.
