Let’s not forget the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!!!
Here is Willie K singing O Holy Night:
Let’s not forget the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!!!
Here is Willie K singing O Holy Night:
by Peter T Young Leave a Comment
“The little ones who are looking forward to the Malihini Tree do not know anything about the sugar tariff, but they do know that Santa Claus will not come this year if anything should happen to the Malihini Tree.”
“They do not know anything about free sugar in 1916, but they do know that their little arms ache for a really doll, with really hair. They have not worried their little heads over dividends. They never heard of a dividend.”
“But they have their hearts set on being in line when that glorious tree glistens forth again in the Christmas morning sun. And they must not be disappointed. And they will not be disappointed.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 16, 1913)
“(T)he Malihini Christmas Tree was raised by some malihini who visited Honolulu two years ago, after discussion, they decided that it would be a fine thing to give presents to the children of this town, whereupon they collected money to purchase gifts and to do everything that would it enjoyable for them.” (Kuokoa, December 30, 1910)
“In the beginning when the children started to move in line to where the presents were, the very first were the orphans of Kapiolani Home, and to those baby girls of the home who were given the first time in the previous year, they were given first and following them, everyone else.” (Kuokoa, December 30, 1910)
“In the past two years, the Foreign Tree stood in Bishop Park, Ewa side of the Young Hotel, and it was there that the presents were distributed to the children who had tickets …”
“… but because of the decision to increase the amount of gifts with the knowledge that the number of children would be great, the tree was moved to grounds of the Executive Building and there the children would receive the presents.”
“Being that it was a great happening held on the morning of this past Monday, there were many folks who went to see the presents being given to the children, and the grounds were filled with people and children too, those children who had tickets and those as well who did not.”
“(T)here was an area cordoned off with children lined up reaching somewhere over two thousand. It was clear from the looks of the children who arrived that there were all the ethnicities who lived in this town; some were in their dress clothes, while others were in their everyday clothes which showed how poor they were.”
“There were other poor children, but because they did not obtain a ticket, none of them approached the place where the gifts were being handed out, and some people came with presents for them.”
“There was a long table filled with presents of all sorts that were separated so there would be no confusion, and from there the gifts were given as per the sort of child; …”
“… if it was a boy, they would give a gift appropriate to him, and if it was a girl, she would receive only a gift that would befit her; and every child was counted for; the table was heaped up with things from fruits to dolls and toys.”
“Overall, what is to be said about the Malihini Tree that was set up this year was that the public cannot hold back giving their admiration and appreciation to the people who gave their assistance in promoting this tree …”
“… for there is no other tree of this type in any other place of the world; it is only here in this Town and County of Honolulu, for the benefit of the poor children.” (Kuokoa, December 30, 1910)
“It draws no lines of creed, color, race nor location, the only limitation it places upon those it benefits being that they come from homes where Santa Claus can not find them. This year, if the plans of the committee can be fully carried unit, the tree will bear gifts for sixteen hundred boys and girls.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 7, 1910)
“However, we never forget, we can never forget, that the loving founders of this particular and to-be-famous Tree, were tourists in our midst, travelers, and they were inspired so to speak, to donate a special tree for poor children and manifest their love for Honolulu and their interest in that way. They were thinking of their loved ones far over the sea.”
“And they could not stand idle at that blessed season and so they hastened to give and to try to make happy, at least for that one day.”
“And it was a marvelous outpouring such as the city had not known. It was an original a unique affair, and the message of love struck home to every heart. And so, is now well-rooted the malihini tree for all the coming years as we do believe.”
“With all the rest it seems the very best and easiest method of reaching all and giving a happy outing to all, receiving each his own gift and sharing also to the full in the joy and gladness of the hundreds of little comrades a treat, too, of music and of laughter …”
“… for what can be more musical than the merry laughter of children at such a time! True melody and always welcome to the ear.” (Honolulu Times, January 1, 1911)
“The Malihini Christmas Tree returns big dividends. It returns more to the ones who contribute than it gives to the children, and, why should there be several hundred Christmas-less baby boys and baby girls in this city …”
“… even if the rich have to pay fifty cents a pound for turkey and cannot buy each other as expensive presents as usual? … The high cost of living has hit the family where poi is the staff of life, just as hard as it has hit the people who simply have to have plenty of eggs in their cake even if they do cost six cents each.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 16, 1913)
“The founders of the Malihini Tree established the one form of Christmas giving that reaches into every part of the city and takes in every needy child that can be found.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 7, 1910)
“And in that spirit, the tree was again put up on that day for the children, and it was a joyous thing for those who gave the gifts …” (Kuokoa, December 30, 1910)
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Originally a Cantonese custom, dim sum (literally small snack – cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food) is inextricably linked to the Chinese tradition of ‘yum cha’ or drinking tea. Teahouses sprung up to accommodate weary travelers journeying along the famous Silk Road.
Rural farmers, exhausted after long hours working in the fields, would also head to the local teahouse for an afternoon of tea and relaxing conversation. (Parkinson)
Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. The first to arrive in the Islands were the Chinese (1852.)
“When they (Chinese contract laborers) reached Honolulu, they were kept in the quarantine station for about two weeks. They were made to clean themselves in a tank and have their clothes fumigated. Planters looked them over and picked them for work in much the same way a horse was looked at before he was bought.” (Young – Nordyke & Lee)
“These Chinese were taken to the plantations. There they lived in grass houses or unpainted wooden buildings with dirt floors. Sometimes as many as forty men were put into one room. “
“They slept on wooden boards about two feet wide and about three feet from the floor. … (T)hey cut the sugarcane and hauled it on their backs to ox drawn carts which took the cane to the mill to be made into sugar” (Young – Nordyke & Lee)
The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi. Between 1852 and 1884, the population of Chinese in Hawai’i increased from 364 to 18,254, to become almost a quarter of the population of the Kingdom (almost 30% of them were living in Honolulu.) (Young – Nordyke & Lee)
They brought their customs and cuisine with them – and it caught on in the Islands.
One such, dim sum, includes char (or cha) siu bao, a bun with a barbecued pork filling. It is either steamed to be fluffy and white or baked with a light sugar glaze to produce a smooth golden-brown crust.
Char siu refers to the pork filling; the word bao simply means ‘bun.’
In the islands this Chinese pork cake became known as mea ‘ono pua‘a (‘mea ‘ono’ (delicious thing) as in cake or pastry, and ‘pua‘a’ for pork.) Reportedly, the pidgin adaptation “mea ‘ono pua‘a” evolved to “manapua.”
These steamed or baked buns are sometimes are filled with coconut, black bean paste or chicken (and other meats and vegetables,) but char siu pork has been predominant.
Not only did the tasty snack receive a Hawaiian name, they were also Hawaiian-sized, turning the ‘small snack’ to accompany tea, into a meal. (Some suggest the name is a variant of “mauna pua‘a” (mountain of pork.)
After finishing contracted terms as sugar plantation laborers, many Chinese opened businesses and restaurants. Food peddlers would walk neighborhoods selling snacks, including manapua, from large aluminum cans hung with cord at the ends of poles hoisted on their shoulders. (Hawaii Magazine)
A Manapua Man (vendors carrying tin cans on either end of a pole over his shoulder) would walk the neighborhoods, yelling “manapua, pepeiao, manapua pepeiao!”
(Pepeiao (the Hawaiian word for ear) is what is now known as Half Moon (har gao (a shrimp dumpling) because its shape looks like an ear – or what you would imagine is a boxer’s cauliflower ear.)
The walking street vendors are gone, but manapua continues as a local staple. (The Ma‘iola Indigenous Health Program notes manapua in the foundation of the Hawaiian food pyramid.)
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A little before 8 am, radar informed the Air Warning Service at Nielson Field that at least 30 Japanese aircraft were flying south over Luzon apparently headed for Clark Field. (Gough)
Ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, ‘another Pearl Harbor’ occurred in the Philippines, 4,500-miles to the west. On December 8, 1941, at 12:35 pm, 196 Japanese bombers and fighters crippled the largest force of B-17 four-engine bombers outside the US and also decimated their protective P-40 interceptors. (Bartsch)
Fifty minutes after the first bombs fell on Clark, the Japanese flew back to Formosa, leaving Americans confronting death and wounds, destruction and damage, fire and smoke, and demoralization.
When the Japanese flew away, half the B-17s and one-third of the P-40s were destroyed, and two of the four P-40-equipped pursuit squadrons were eliminated as combat units. (Gough)
One of those killed at Clark Air Base was Lt William Alexander Cocke, Jr, a pilot.
“In May, 1941, 2nd Lt Cocke and the 19th Bombardment Group (H) GHQ AF, left California to ferry B17s first to Hawaiʻi, and then, in October, to Clark Field in the Philippines.”
“Due to his role under the adverse conditions encountered on these historic and dangerous trans-Pacific flights, Cocke was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the San Francisco to Hawaiʻi leg, and the Air Medal for the Hawaiʻi to Clark Field leg.” (Blacksten)
It was these events, as well as an event about 10-years prior that Cocke is remembered. In the Islands in 1931, he didn’t just fly airplanes, he also soared.
Gliding/Soaring is a generic term for the art of flying a heavier than air craft similar to an airplane, but not provided with an engine.
In gliding, the apparatus loses altitude continually throughout its course, never rising above its starting point. In soaring flight, however, the machine is carried aloft by the rising air currents and is capable of completing maneuvers, high above the point of departure. (VinDaj)
Because of prohibitions imposed on military aircraft by the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, Germany embraced gliding and was the first to use them in the subsequent invasions leading to and part of WWII.
But it wasn’t military aviation activity that Cocke is known for in the Islands, it was an “off duty time” flight, December 17-18, 1931, that brought Cocke national, as well as international fame.
Reportedly, an International Glider Meet was held November 22 to December 19, 1931. LT Cocke, with the help of his BOQ roommate, Jack Norton (and others, including Lts Crain and WJ Scott) designed and built a ‘pretty good’ sailplane glider – called ‘Nighthawk.’ (WestPointAOG)
Based in Wheeler, Cocke and his support crew set up on the windward side of Oʻahu, at what was referred to as John Galt Gliderport (some related references also note the ‘Kaneohe experimental grounds.’) Cocke attempted to break the endurance record.
Launching on December 17, 1931 and flying along Oahu’s Nuʻuanu Pali, he flew his homebuilt sailplane glider through the night and set the World and US Duration Record of sustained powerless flight at 21 hours, 34 minutes, 25 seconds and traveled an estimated 600 miles. (hawaii-gov)
This broke the previous record of approximately 14-hours set by Germany in 1927. (WestPointAOG) Although the World mark was subsequently broken, the Nighthawk still holds the official US Duration Record. (Blacksten)
Illuminating the path for Cocke and his Nighthawk along the cliff face during the night was the US Army’s 64th Coast Artillery Battery. (Soaring Museum)
A memorial plaque was placed at the Nuʻuanu Pali lookout, dedicated to the people of Hawaiʻi who helped make this flight possible and to the thousands of glider pilots inspired by this feat. (National Soaring Museum Marker)
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“The most interesting medical journal that has come to this desk in a long time is Number 3 of the first volume of the Hawaii Medical Journal. Although the publication date given on the cover is January, the Journal did not arrive until the middle of April.” (North Carolina Medical Journal, May, 1942)
“The delay in the publication of this issue of the Journal is due in part to the pressure of activity following the events of December 7th (1941) which delayed the preparation of material by the authors and in part to the necessity for securing permission from the office of the Military Governor for continuance of publication. That permission was finally received on January 15th…”
“The whole issue breathes the spirit of American medicine at its best. The first page of reading matter is headed ‘War Came to Hawaiʻi’, and briefly retells the story of the Pearl Harbor tragedy.”
“A dramatic story of the Honolulu Blood and Plasma Bank is told by its director, Dr Forrest J Pinkerton. He first tells of how ‘wounded men … very evidently marked for death … still live because of the life-giving plasma poured back into their veins.”
“A call for donors was broadcast over local radio stations and the response was overwhelming. From a previous maximum of 8-donors a day, 4-days a week, volunteers were now being bled at the rate of 50 an hour, 10-hours a day, 7-days a week. This continued over a period of 2-weeks. Every available doctor and nurse was enlisted to assist.”
“Men and women waited in line for hours. Soldiers stood their guns with fixed bayonets in the surgery hallway and rolled up their sleeves and helped; sailors gave their few precious hours of liberty to wait their turn. Mothers asked strangers to hold their small children and took their turns on the surgery tables.”
“Civilian defense workers from Pearl Harbor, and workers from Red Hill, red eyed from long hours of welding, stopped by to donate before snatching a few hours rest.”
“A crew of husky iron workers in their oily work clothes came en masse; whole crews from dry docks and inter-island steamships; the dock workers and society folks waiting in line side by side to do their part. Sugar and pineapple plantation employees came direct from their work in the fields…”
“The question most commonly asked was ‘How soon can I come again?’” (North Carolina Medical Journal, May, 1942)
Founded in 1941, the organization was originally known as the Honolulu Blood and Plasma Bank operating out of The Queen’s Hospital.
The Blood Bank operated as a war-time agency with the outbreak of World War II returning to its civilian status in 1942. Over the years, the name changed to Blood Bank of Hawaiʻi, services were expanded to include neighbor island blood drives and Hawaii’s unique ethnic population became nationally recognized as a source for many types of rare blood.
Later, to encourage folks to donate, ‘Fang’ called into Aku’s morning radio program (Hal Lewis – J Akuhead Pupule) to announce a coming Blood Drive. That was Betsy Mitchell (the Blood Lady;) she was Director of Donor Recruitment and Community Relations for the Blood Bank.
The Mitchells used to live in our old neighborhood on Aumoana on Kaneohe Bay Drive. In the early-‘80s she moved to Volcano, co-founded and was past president of the Cooper Center Council, and was one of the most energetic and community-minded people you would ever meet. Unfortunately, Betsy passed away on December 16, 2013.
I looked forward to the monthly meetings we had in Volcano; I think of Betsy a lot, especially when I give blood.
Unlike the post-Pearl Harbor waiting lines to give blood, the Blood Bank of Hawai‘i needs folks to drop into their offices or mobile locations to make donations to meet Hawaiʻi’s needs; they require approximately 250 donors every day.
There’s no substitute for blood. If people lose blood from surgery or injury, or if their bodies can’t produce enough, there is only one place to turn – volunteer blood donors.
You may donate if you are in good health, weigh at least 110 pounds, have a valid photo ID with birth date and are at least 18 years old (or 17 years old with signed Blood Bank parent/legal guardian consent form.)
Every donor completes a health history questionnaire and screening interview to identify behaviors that indicate a high risk for carrying blood borne disease. There is strict confidentiality.
They like my blood (O-negative,) it’s a universal donor type (can be transfused to almost any patient in need;) I’m also CMV-negative (not been exposed to the cytomegalovirus (so I am a ‘baby donor.’))
They regularly call me for donations – there is an 8-week wait period between donations. I was called again last week. The process is relatively painless – the worst part for me is when they pull the tape holding the needle down and it pulls the hair on my arm.
Please consider giving blood.
More on the Blood Bank of Hawaii here:
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