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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, June 28, 2002

Matson line murals inspire dishware sets

By Kaui Philpotts
Advertiser Staff Writer

Lynn Krantz has designed a fast-selling line of dishes inspired by the cover art from menus of the first of several Matson liners named Lurline.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Meet the designer

Lynn Krantz, author of "To Honolulu in Five Days"

A book and plate-signing

Noon tomorrow, The Cellar at Macy's in Ala Moana Center, fourth-floor housewares department

941-2345

Also: a cooking demonstration by Royal Hawaiian Hotel chef Warren Uchida

A California native's passion for the romance of Hawai'i's "Boat Days" has blossomed into a line of fast-selling dishware and a new hardcover book.

Lynn Krantz developed a love of things Hawaiian while still in her teens, thanks in part to her father's work as promoter for exotica musician Martin Denny. She used to throw dinner parties complete with mai tais, real lei and chicken satay (that's barbecue sticks to you kama'aina).

The HawaiianaWare line and her book, "To Honolulu in Five Days" (Ten Speed Press, $24.95), are natural outgrowths of her hobby.

The dishes are inspired by four murals painted by Eugene Savage in 1938 for the Matson Navigation Co. Savage, an art professor at Yale University, worked on the 8-by-4-foot murals for three months in Hawai'i. But when they were finally completed in 1940, with war looming, the company chose to keep them in a vault in San Francisco.

In April 1948, six images from the murals were released as menu covers and given to passengers aboard the famed liner Lurline, first of several ships to bear that name, as souvenirs. (Because Krantz felt that two images depicted scenes that might not please everyone today — the landing of Capt. James Cook and the annexation of Hawai'i by the United States — she left them out.)

The brilliantly colored dishware, 25 pieces in all, is produced by the Homer Laughlin China Co., which also made the famed FiestaWare. The four-piece place settings, platters, bowls and cups cost from $19 into the $80 range. The pieces are decorated with eight-color decals made in England.

When the HawaiianaWare collection was offered in San Francisco in April, it sold out in just two hours, even though it included 36 oval platters priced at $85, Krantz said. At Macy's in Ala Moana Center, where the collection has been on display for several weeks, some items have sold out.

"We've been surprised by its wide appeal. Even people who were not even born then love it," says Lavina Wong, Macy's director of special events. "It captures a period in time, and the colors are so vibrant and striking. People mix and match the pieces depending on their own style," she says.

On Saturday, Krantz will be at Macy's with Royal Hawaiian Hotel chef Warren Uchida, who will prepare Chicken Lurline, an item that was on the original Lurline's menu, and the recipe will be available. Uchida also will prepare the Royal Hawaiian's bread pudding, a favorite since 1927.

Krantz and her husband, Nick, a stock broker with a background in television production, have produced a documentary, "Save the USS Arizona," for TV's History Channel. They are now planning one on the Lurline for PBS, based on her book.

Also in the works is a CD of digitally remastered recordings of old tunes such as "Songs of the Islands," "Sweet Leilani" and "Lovely Hula Hands."

Last January, Krantz created special pink plates and pitchers for the 75th anniversary of the Royal Hawaiian. Her book also was featured at the celebration. The items are available online at www.royal-hawaiian.com.