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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, March 10, 2002

HAWAI'I WAYS, HAWAI'I DAYS
Times have changed, but aloha lives on

By Eloise Myers
Special to The Advertiser

My father was a Navy man, and we came to Honolulu in the early 1930s. Territorial Hawai'i was very different from the one we know today. The flavor of many cultures was evident in the way people dressed. There were no high-rise buildings. The tallest buildings were the Aloha Tower and the pineapple tower over the Dole plant.

There was no air travel, only Matson Line ships. The majestic Lurline was our introduction to Hawai'i. As the ship came close to the island, we were greeted by the pilot boat with a troupe of hula dancers to entertain us. In the water around the ship were many young men, awaiting tossed coins which they would dive for. They always surfaced with the coins in their mouths. As the ship pulled into the pier, a band was playing and the dock was lined with people.

We walked down the gangway into the throngs of greeters with leis for the newly arrived. The air was full of the perfume of the many flowers, and the lei makers were seated on the ground amid the flowers they were fashioning into the beautiful garlands that were to adorn the necks of the arriving passengers. What an introduction to a new home!

The languages of many nationalities rang through the crowds. The dress was a mixture of island style and Asian, with a little of stateside here and there. It was easy to tell the nationality by the mode of dress during that period. Everyone seemed proud of their heritage.

Lincoln Elementary School on Beretania was my school. It was like no school I had ever attended stateside, as we called the Mainland in those days. The main building had a circular slide from the second floor, used for fire drills. We could hardly wait to use it and wanted to practice all the time. There were art lessons at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, across the street, and excursions to the Bishop Museum. Of the many schools I attended, Lincoln made an impression. It is where the mayor came to visit the classroom and taught us how to spell the word "interesting."

There were other schools for the many races living here and after regular school many children attended these to learn their own culture. In the afternoons you could hear the many different languages of classes being taught. I felt very lucky to be able to play in the banyan trees in the parks. Yes, we could play in the trees then.

We lived in Makiki Court, across from the sugar growers' experimental station. It was a lovely area, and now there is a high-rise where the little cottages used to be. The experimental station is gone, but there is a small patch of cane and a park in its place. Behind the cottages was the home of the caretaker and his family; I enjoyed playing with his children in the foliage of the drainage ditches. Not allowed today.

There were street vendors of all kinds selling their wares.

Going to Pearl Harbor was an experience. It seemed so far away. As you left the downtown area, you passed by a rice paddy, where you could often see women working. There was an area called Tin Can Alley that was off-limits for military people, and then there was just nothing built up along that road until they started bringing in the civilian workers and built an area nicknamed "Boys Town" for the many men without families coming here to work. The stretch limo was often seen going back and forth on the highway to Pearl and they were all black, not the long, long white ones of today.

The beach at Hanauma Bay was very remote and not very accessible. No road down to the beach. Climbing down wasn't too bad, but after a day on the beach, it was a tough climb back to the top.

My memories have been filled with the beauty of the Islands and the aloha spirit of the people I remember from the happy childhood of my past. The impressions have stayed with me. When I had the opportunity to return to this paradise and live once more among the memories of my youth, I came back. There are many changes. The aloha is still here, and I see it daily in my walks around the Honolulu I remember, hidden within the Honolulu of today.

Eloise Myers lives in Honolulu.