Pretend that somebody found a native hardwood that’s as handsome as koa and even more significant in Hawaiian myth and legend.
Suppose this wood is in plentiful supply so we don’t have to cut down our forests to make furniture.
You may be as surprised as I was to learn that this wood is coconut, and that it’s the material out of which a lively new industry is growing in the Pacific.
Whoever heard of coconut furniture? Stop and think.
What do you suppose the ancient Hawaiians made their big pahu, hula drums, out of? That’s right, sections of coconut log hollowed out and polished.
I first realized what an ornamental wood coconut can be during my last stay at the Manago Hotel in upland Kona.
A Japanese good-luck post occupies a place of honor in the lobby. Harold Manago said his parents wanted one when they built the original hotel, but at the time, all they could afford was a coconut log.
The contractor soaked it in the ocean to discourage termites, and installed the post. This one is a tawny tan with a delicate grain. It’s a gorgeous, unique piece of wood, hard as stone.
A few weeks later in Ho-nolulu, I showed some friends a coconut sushi tray from a store in Kahului called Maui Leather & Palmwood Furnishings. Everybody oohed and aahed over the elegant tray, but nobody could guess what it’s made of. This wood is dark and glossy with a lively grain.
I admit that the idea of using the coconut palm in yet another way intrigues me. For the old Hawaiians it provided meat for eating, leaves for thatching, wood for fuel, fiber for making rope, the ribs of palm fronds for stringing kukui nut candles, fresh liquid for drinking, and cylinders for making drums.
By contrast, the koa tree was used only for canoes, spears and images.
Jay Rose, owner of the store on Maui, said he admired palmwood furniture in a hotel in Fiji. He asked around and discovered that an Australian, Bruce Dowse, had started a factory. Dowse chose Fiji as a base of operations because the copra plantations are no longer in production, and hundreds of thousands of senile palms are no longer bearing nuts but perfect for making furniture.
It’s the kind of economic activity the Pacific needs. Plant manager Ravin Chandra, on a visit to Maui last week, said the company has outlets in Kahului, Los Angeles, Sydney, Paris, Canada, New Zealand, Tahiti, Japan and South Korea.
In nine years, the business has expanded to $12 million annually.
"What got me interested was saving the forest," said Rose. "I doubt that a furniture company in Louisiana thinks much about that. These people want to be the foremost ecological furniture makers in the world.
"They don’t fumigate. The wood is soaked in saltwater to preserve it. They don’t use glue or lacquer."
