Posted on: Monday, September 30, 2002

EDITORIAL
Fond farewell to Kodak Hula Show

It's always lamentable when the curtain falls on an old Waikiki tradition. And that's certainly the case with the Kodak Hula Show, which has entertained some 20 million people in its 65-year run.

Yes, we know that the name was changed to the Pleasant Hawaiian Hula show in 1999 when Kodak pulled out and Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays founders Ed and Lynn Hogan rescued it.

And the entire state owes a debt of gratitude to the Hogans. But to those who were part of the event, from the hula dancers and musicians to the tourists who cheerfully snapped photos of the event, it was always the Kodak Hula Show.

It was in 1937 that Eastman Kodak executive Fritz Herman came up with the idea of a free show as a ploy to sell film to tourists who wanted to snap pictures of hula dancers, who usually performed at night, during the day.

And thus grew an ensemble that included May Akeo Brown, who danced with the show and was later its manager and narrator. Originally, the show took place on the Sans Souci beachfront next to the Waikiki Natatorium.

In recent years, you couldn't assume that all the tourists were using Kodak film, but you could be assured of that Kodak moment when the cast would spell out H-A-W-A-I-I in big red and yellow letters.

And there was another poignant Kodak moment last week when the cast spelled out P-A-U for the very last time.