HAWAI'I WAYS, HAWAI'I DAYS
War time provided rich memories
By Victor Yamashiroya
Memories, memories, of the fond days of our youth. I still recall the many events during my growing-up years in downtown Honolulu.
The war years after the attack on Pearl Harbor were not a time for pleasant memories, but I recall shining shoes on Hotel Street as a young boy for the many military personnel that were taking their shore leaves before heading off to war. That was when I learned to do the spit-shine.
I also sold The Advertiser on street corners, and to sell my papers, I occasionally got to board the many troop ships that docked at Honolulu Harbor, filled with soldiers heading for some remote island in the Pacific. Whatever papers that I carried on board the ship sold out in minutes to the many soldiers on the deck eager to read the news and telling me to keep the change after giving me a dollar.
I grew up in a two-story tenement house at Hotel and River streets, similar to the many tenement houses that lined Hotel, River, King, Beretania, Vineyard, Kukui, Hall and 'A'ala Streets. 'A'ala Park was my back yard, and I'd recall the many times that we would play "sky inning" (a softball game) there with the neighborhood kids.
If you grew up in the area, you may recall that raw sewage would be dumped from the tenements directly through pipes into Nu'uanu Stream. I always got scolded by mom for swimming in the stream. We would often go upstream and swim at Waikahalulu Falls, which was above School Street. If you had a car, you could drive down a ramp that led to the stream, park your car in the middle of the stream and wash your car.
If you're about my age, you may also recall the trucks that would spray DDT in the downtown area, sending up a cloud of white smoke in an effort to kill mosquitoes. Do you also recall standing in line for rice? It was rationed because ship transportation, the only link to getting food supply to the Islands, was needed for the war effort. Chocolate was also hard to come by, and it would be a treat to get your hands on some.
Streetcars were still on tracks with overhead electric wires, and the trains still ran then, mainly to transport sugar and pineapple.
If you were in your teens, the only place to find employment was either at the pineapple canneries or some retail outlet. To get a job at one of the pineapple canneries, you sometimes needed to know someone to get hired at either Dole or Libby's. You really worked hard for less than a dollar an hour, with a luna (foreman) or sub-luna constantly looking over your shoulder.
I still recall the route I took from where I lived to Ka'iulani Elementary School. I would cross Nu'uanu Stream, walk down King Street along 'A'ala Park, cross 'A'ala Street, and come to the intersection of King and Beretania Streets, continue along King Street, and pass Oishimochi, a manju shop where I would ogle the many delicious confections that they had displayed in their shop window, then cross Liliha Street.
Mayor Wright Housing was not built yet, and I recalled the area being a swamp. I would continue along King Street, past Palama Street and Palama Theatre. I would buy ice cakes there after school. I didn't wear any shoes, like most kids, and went hadashi, or barefoot, to school. Sometimes the pavement was really hot, but my feet were as tough as leather.
Victor Yamashiroya lives in Waipahu.
Hawai'i Ways, Hawai'i Days is a column of essays by readers on what makes Hawai'i unique. Send your article of 500-600 words with your address and daytime phone number, and address it to Hawai'i Ways, Hawai'i Days. You may e-mail islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com; fax 525-8055; or mail to The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Sending a head photo of yourself is optional. Articles and photos submitted to The Advertiser may be published or distributed in printed, electronic or other forms.
