Images of Old Hawaiʻi

  • Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance
    • American Protestant Mission
    • Buildings
    • Collections
    • Economy
    • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
    • General
    • Hawaiian Traditions
    • Other Summaries
    • Mayflower Summaries
    • Mayflower Full Summaries
    • Military
    • Place Names
    • Prominent People
    • Schools
    • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
    • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Collections
  • Contact
  • Follow

June 30, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lalani Village

“In this idyllic setting, you will thrill to the romance of Island yesterdays. Delicious foods of the lū‘au will please the discriminating, Ancient Hula … native maids … weird chanting … thumping gourds … strumming ukulele … plaintive Island melodies … majestic palms … quaint grass huts.”

In 1932 George Paele Mossman opened the Lalani Hawaiian Village in Waikiki with demonstrations of traditional crafts, music and lū‘au as a way of preserving and teaching what he termed “Hawaiian lore that is fast vanishing.”

The village, conceived of as living museum, archive, school and tourist entertainment center, of 8-grass houses was erected on 1-acre and a program of classes (in Hawaiian language, hula, music, food preparation, surfing and fishing.)

For $2, the visitor received a 1-hour lecture on village life, followed by a lūʻau and a show, with performances led by the Mossman family.

Born March 28, 1891, Mossman was one of 11 children. His father was Scottish and his mother, Nahua Kealoha, was Hawaiian. George grew up fluent in Hawaiian culture. On January 21, 1910, Mossman married Rebecca G Kainapau.

The earliest written account of the life of George Mossman appeared in a Time magazine article describing a teenage Mossman’s attempt at the craft of violin making in 1908.

But it was not the violin that became Mossman’s musical instrument; Mossman turned his craftwork efforts to building ukuleles.

Mossman entered the ukulele business the year before the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition, in San Francisco. The Exposition featured Hawaiian culture of music and dance – including a new and curious instrument, the ukulele.

As an ukulele maker, Mossman was a major influence during the golden era of ukulele popularity and innovation. In 1927, he claimed to have perfected a ukulele which could be heard from half a mile away and yet still retain its clarity and tonal sweetness (he called it the Bell Tone.)

By 1933, he suspended the manufacture of ukuleles and devoted his time to Lalani Village. Lalani Village was designed to look and feel like an ancient Hawaiian community, one that had existed before western contact and long before the development of Waikiki as a visitor destination.

Lalani Village was the first of its kind and “probably the first ‘Hawaiian cultural center’” ever “for what (Mossman) hoped would be a great cultural awakening”. (Kealoha)

The Village, situated at the corner of Kalākaua and Paoakalani Streets (where the family was residing and now is the present site of the Waikiki Beach Marriott,) conducted hula and musical performances, featuring the entire Mossman family dressed in the fashion of the ancient aliʻi; Mossman himself in a loincloth and feather cape.

The family operation included every member of Mossman’s immediate family: his wife, Emma; several sons; and three daughters: Leilani, Piʻilani and Pualani.

Pualani was known for her “Volcano hula” dance, the highlight of the show. She would dance alone on a raised platform with another performer blowing fire and lighting a model of a volcano. (Pualani later performed at the Hawaiian Room in the Hotel Lexington.)

It was “called the last stronghold of real Hawaiian culture. It is encircled by a high wail and every day a cross-section of life as lived by Hawaiians 200 years ago is reenacted. There are grass huts for the men and grass huts for the women.”

“The native dances, the language, the customs are taught and preserved. There is a heiau (temple), and an imu (underground oven) where pigs are roasted.”

“Guides take you from point to point, lecturing on a picturesque form of living that has practically disappeared. It is Mossman’s idea to a preserve this culture through education. (The News, Frederick Maryland, August 11, 1938)

In 1934 the hula teachers, kapa makers, and canoe builders were joined by the 87-year-old Kuluwaimaka, who became a resident of the village; Kuluwaimaka was court chanter for the King David Kalākaua.

There were also afternoon shows targeting the regularly arriving ocean liner passengers, where a presumably less elegant show that could be enjoyed for a mere 50 cents. Also, for those who were residents or staying for a while, 40 hula lessons cost $10. Ukulele and language lessons were also available.

The Lalani village provided a restaurant, Lalani’s Poi Inn, where the visitors would adventure and where the kamaʻāina would savor genuine tradition.

A Lalani Village was considered for New York, as well. An August 24, 1938 newspaper article noted, “Yes, I like this. It will do. I don’t know just where it will be, but New York is the right place for it.” (Mossman quoted in the Free Lance-Star after a driving and aerial tour of Manhattan.)

During World War II, the military took over the property and used it for army bathhouses and a post exchange. The Mossmans finally reopened the village in 1946, and it stayed open until 1955 (the year Mossman died.) (Lots of information here is from Imada, Tucker, Desmond, Reynolds and King.)

© 2024 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hula Show at Lalani Hawaiian Village, Waikiki-BM-ca.1935
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-001
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-003
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-005
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-006
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-007
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-008
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-009
Grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-010
Hawaiian man thatching a grass house at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-3-004-1930s
Hawaiian man who built grass houses at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-021
Hawaiian_man who built grass houses at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-021
Lalani Village-Coconut Tree Climbing-ebay
Lalani_Village
Pualani Mossman dancing the hula at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-33-1-017-1935
Tourist at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-004
Tourist at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-011
Tourist at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-32-4-024
Two hula dancers with ukulele, wearing tapa outfits, Lalani Village-PP-32-10-007

Filed Under: Economy, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Hawaii, Lalani Village, Pualani Mossman, Waikiki

May 8, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Pualani Mossman

“They say she is the most photographed girl in the Islands …”

“(I)f you are really lucky … If you are one of those of whom refreshing and enchanting things sometimes happen. You will have wandered into the Hawaiian Room at the Lexington and seen her dance those ancient native hulas of Hawaii.”

“You will have hailed the first passing waiter and inquired her name. Let me beat the waiter to it. Let me tell you her name. It is Pualani, which in the land beyond old Diamond Head means ‘Flower of Heaven.’“ (Tucker, Man About Manhattan, June 14, 1938)

Pualani Mossman was born on April 16, 1916 in Honolulu. She began to work at the age of six in her father’s (George Paele Mossman) various Hawaiian ventures, which included ‘ukulele manufacturing and a Hawaiian language school. (Imada)

In 1932, her father opened the Lalani Village in Waikiki with demonstrations of traditional crafts, music and lūʻau as a way of preserving and teaching what he termed “Hawaiian lore that is fast vanishing.”

The family operation included every member of Mossman’s immediate family: his wife, Emma; several sons; and three daughters: Leilani, Piʻilani, and Pualani. Mossman and her sisters performed and taught hula.

Pualani was known for her “Volcano hula” dance, the highlight of the show. She would dance alone on a raised platform with another performer blowing fire and lighting a model of a volcano.

In 1934, Mossman was originally tapped by the Hawaiʻi Tourist Bureau to star in “Song of the Islands,” the first color movie made in Hawaiʻi, intended to promote tourism. After the film, she started modeling.

In 1937, Matson Navigation sent Mossman to New York City to be photographed for the company’s national advertising campaign. She became known as the “Matson Girl,” appearing in Life, Time and Fortune magazines.

“If you opened a major national magazine in those years it is very likely you would have seen Pualani in a Matson ad.” (Brown; Wilson) She was the face of Hawaiʻi in national travel advertisements.

“That photo appeared all over the country and was everywhere in New York City, even a year later. My, that was exciting, to be the Hawaiian poster girl.” (Mossman; Ryan)

For more than 50 years, Pualani Mossman epitomized the image of a Hawaiian hula dancer as the original poster girl for Matson cruises and the Hawaii Visitors Bureau. (Gee)

After the Hawaiian Room opened in the Hotel Lexington in New York City, Mossman, Meymo Ululani Holt, Mapuana Bishaw and Jennie Napua Woodd were dancers there – they were known as the “Aloha Maids.”

There, Mossman met her future husband, Randy Avon Sr, the hotel’s chief accountant; they married in 1939. The couple returned to Hawaiʻi for a few years, then relocated to Florida in 1950 where she taught hula.

Mossman was one of the most active fighters for statehood in Washington, DC, in the early-1950s. Her family later endowed the University of Hawaii with funds to perpetuate the Hawaiian language and traditions. (Ryan)

Pualani Mossman Avon’s hands symbolized the wind and the flowers when she danced and were like the song she inspired: “Graceful as birds in motion, gliding like gulls over the ocean.”

Mossman spent her last 55 years in Florida. She continued to dance hula and spread aloha well into her 80s, performing at senior-citizen centers during visits to Hawaiʻi and with Hawaiian entertainers appearing in South Florida. She died on May 8, 2006 in Palm Bay, Florida.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Pualani Mossman Avon, Hawaii Statehood promotion-PP-33-5-034-1947
Pualani Mossman Avon, Hawaii Statehood promotion-PP-33-5-034-1947
Pualani Mossman - the Matson Girl-1937
Pualani Mossman – the Matson Girl-1937
Pualani Mossman-Matson
Pualani Mossman-Matson
'Aloha Maids'–Jennie Napua Wood, Pualani Mossman, and Mapuana Bishaw-HawaiianRoom-1938
‘Aloha Maids’–Jennie Napua Wood, Pualani Mossman, and Mapuana Bishaw-HawaiianRoom-1938
Pualani Mossman-Hotel Lexington-Hawaiian Room
Pualani Mossman-Hotel Lexington-Hawaiian Room
Pualani Mossman dancing the hula at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-33-1-017-1935
Pualani Mossman dancing the hula at Lalani Village, Waikiki-PP-33-1-017-1935
Hula dancers-Pualani Mossman, Leilani Mossman, Piilani Mossman
Hula dancers-Pualani Mossman, Leilani Mossman, Piilani Mossman
1949matson1949
1949matson1949
1949matson1949 lei greeting
1949matson1949 lei greeting
Pualani Mossman-Ad
Pualani Mossman-Ad
Matson-cover-(eBay)-1949
Matson-cover-(eBay)-1949
Matson_cover_(eBay)-1952
Matson_cover_(eBay)-1952
Matson_cover-(eBay)-1952
Matson_cover-(eBay)-1952

Filed Under: Prominent People, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Lalani Village, Pualani Mossman, Matson

Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Connect with Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Kīlauea Military Camp
  • Hopu
  • Atooi
  • Okino Hotel
  • John Howard Midkiff Sr
  • Kalihi
  • Hawaii and Arkansas

Categories

  • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Mayflower Summaries
  • American Revolution
  • General
  • Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance
  • Buildings
  • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
  • Hawaiian Traditions
  • Military
  • Place Names
  • Prominent People
  • Schools
  • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
  • Economy

Tags

Albatross Al Capone Ane Keohokalole Archibald Campbell Bernice Pauahi Bishop Charles Reed Bishop Downtown Honolulu Eruption Founder's Day George Patton Great Wall of Kuakini Green Sea Turtle Hawaii Hawaii Island Hermes Hilo Holoikauaua Honolulu Isaac Davis James Robinson Kamae Kamaeokalani Kamanawa Kameeiamoku Kamehameha Schools Lalani Village Lava Flow Lelia Byrd Liliuokalani Mao Math Mauna Loa Midway Monk Seal Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Oahu Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Pearl Pualani Mossman Queen Liliuokalani Thomas Jaggar Volcano Waikiki Wake Wisdom

Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Copyright © 2012-2024 Peter T Young, Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Loading Comments...