Duke stamp creates sales swell
By Shayna Coleon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Duke Kahanamoku stamp made waves at post offices statewide yesterday as crowds of people, particularly in surf communities, lined up to get their hands on the tiny portrait of the legendary waterman.
Eugene Tanner • Honolulu Advertiser
About 250,000 of the 2 million stamps that were allocated to the state were sold Saturday at Honolulu post offices with ZIP codes starting with 968, said Postal Service spokeswoman Felice Broglio.
Peter Wilson of Wai'alae Iki was among the Duke fans who eagerly flocked to post offices yesterday.
The rest of Hawai'i and the nation started to sell the stamps yesterday, with some post offices already selling out or close to it after one day of sales.
Exact sale figures yesterday were not available, but Broglio said people shouldn't worry about a lack of the 37-cent Duke stamps. Broglio said post offices statewide will reorder the stamps from the Honolulu office, with an order usually taking two days to fill.
"We have plenty here," Broglio said. "The offices only ordered what they thought they needed, and some of them underestimated the sales. But, there's definitely no need to worry about them running out."
Yesterday, many residents were even buying the stamp in bulk, said Andy Inouye, a supervisor at the Lihu'e post office on Kaua'i.
"One guy bought 800 stamps, and another one came in to get 500 stamps," Inouye said. "We're pretty much sold out because it's a nice Hawaiian stamp."
To purchase Duke Kahanamoku stamps, call 1-800-STAMP24 or visit the USPS Web site.
Inouye said the office sold 8,000 of 10,000 Duke stamps it had in its supply. An extra worker was added into the morning shift to accommodate the crowd.
Duke stamps
"I don't know how well the stamp is selling in Idaho or Iowa, but here it's big," Inouye said. "We only have 2,000 more that we're pretty much expecting to sell (today), so it's been a busy, busy day."
The sales seem to be especially high in areas where the surf culture dominates. The North Shore, Wahiawa and the Leeward side all had long lines in the morning, said Broglio.
At the Wahiawa post office, Finance Supervisor Bo Mahoey said a line formed outside the office even before the doors opened at 8:30 a.m. yesterday.
"All the surfers were coming in with their slippers and surf shorts," Mahoey said. "It was definitely a different crowd. The Duke stamp is in great demand."
Surf communities on Maui, also reported heavy sales.
Officials from the Kihei post office said they sold out of the Duke stamps by 3 p.m., while Ray Cabrera, postmaster of the Lahaina office said the stamps are selling "like surfboards."
But Richardeen Kimura, a customer service supervisor at the Wai'alae/Kahala post office, said the stamps are also selling quickly because Kahanamoku has a mass appeal.
"Anything local is going to be very popular," Kimura said. "People are coming in to buy the stamp or they come in with a package to mail and they end up picking up some Duke stamps, too."
The Wai'alae/Kahala post office, which started with 40,000 stamps, now only have about 7,000 left, Kimura said.
Broglio said the stamp is a successful sell because it's a great way to remember Kahanamoku — the father of modern surfing, a four-time Olympian and an ambassador of aloha.
The plea for the Duke stamp was one of about 50,000 requests made each year to commemorate people. In 1999, Pamai Tenn, a Kahanamoku historian who served for 23 years as a personal representative for Nadine Kahanamoku, the surfer's widow, distributed petitions asking for the support for a Duke stamp.
"Everybody knows him, that's why we got such a tremendous response," Broglio said. "Duke is very popular in Hawai'i, but he is also becoming a fading memory as younger generations grow up. Hopefully, this will bring more awareness so his memory doesn't die out."
Nationwide, 62.8 million stamps were printed. The portrait on the stamp was done by Michael J. Deas, a New Orleans artist, who based it on a 1918 photograph from the Bishop Museum.
Reach Shayna Coleon at scoleon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8004.
