Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: September 14th, 2006
Hawaiian Airlines,
Honolulu Airport, 1956
Aloha!
This slide isn’t about the lovely lady tourist about to get the center back seam ripped out of her dress, no. It’s all about those triple-wide panoramic windows on that short-lived island-hopping DC 3. Apparantly these view-friendly flyers didn’t last long in the Hawaiian Airlines fleet. They wern’t structurally sound and shook alot.
This week I’m in “Alohaland,” to do a slide show in Maui. The first thing you see after leaving the Maui airport is a big K Mart store. Passing by any K Mart always makes me think of the first time I ever saw a car on fire. I was about five. It burned then exploded in a ball of flames in front of my childhood K Mart in Montclair, CA. I’ll never forget it. The people and thier little poochie barely escaped. It was quite a show.
The supermarket SPAM displays here in Hawaii remind me of my favorite cake recipe to share - SPAM cake. Take a regular white cake mix and sub grated SPAM for the oil. Your trustworthy mixer will pulverize the miracle meat product and you won’t even know its there, (except for the little bits of grissle.) But never mind that. Frost it generously with cream cheese frosting and serve with Americana pride. And if you’re a good food colorist it’s even better if you tint the cake and frosting mixes to match that very savory shade of SPAM pink.
This morning while driving through pineapple plantations and sugar cane fields it occured to me that Hula dancing inspired the Hoola Hoop. I had never put the names Hula and Hoola together. It was a divine moment of Alohacana inspiration.
Here’s to K-Mart, SPAM cake, Hula dancing, Hoola Hoops and YOU! Aloha!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
September 2006
Related Slides:
- Sears, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1954
- Spam Cake Birthday Party Luncheon, Alcoa Aluminum Company, Los Angeles, 1955
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Transportation
11 Comments on “Hawaiian Airlines, Honolulu Airport, 1956”
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September 15th, 2006 at 4:48 am
Wow! What a vivid picture. The plane looks like one I saw in an early Man From UNCLE show.
I caught the show when they were rerunning it in the 80s on CBN and in the early 90s on TNT. Finally, I’m going to buy the Americana the Beautiful book this weekend. I can hardly wait to purchase it. Aloha Charles! Hope you have a good visit in Hawaii.
September 15th, 2006 at 6:53 am
I have a picture of myself in, 1953, standing in front of the DC3 flown by Air France. I was flying home to the US to go to college from Natitingo Dahomey, west Afrca. I had been in Sansanne Mango with my missionary parents for 18 months after a year of language study in France.
I flew to Niamey, Niger, where I caught a larger Air France plane to Paris.
Marita
September 15th, 2006 at 10:20 am
spectalcular shot! Love the thought of that glorious bucket of bolts blasting over the islands with wide eyed tourists having such mixed feelings: “My lord, what a view …My gawd were gonna die!!
September 15th, 2006 at 10:36 am
Rock on, Grammy! Mildred’s hitting the islands in search of the big bamboo.
Charles, you owe it to your fans to post an island themed self-portrait, perhaps doing the hula.
I am going to make the spam cake for my vegetarian friends. Why? Because I can.
September 15th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Charles-I hope you are having fun in Hawaii. Your slide of the Hawaiian Airlines DC-3 brought back some memories. I can tell you that they were still flying them in 1965 when I visited with my parents. I remember that there were these large metal tubes just above your seat if you were by the window. If you wanted some air you pulled them down and the air came in from outside the plane.That is an experience that you don’t have on plane travel today.
September 15th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
I want that dress.
September 15th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Mr. Aloha Charles!
As I’ve been struggling under a deep depression brought on by the finale of Rock Star: Supernova (Magni! We hardly knew thee! Keep your head up, you Icelandic darling!), I wasn’t sure I was up to the task of today’s comment. Be cheerful? When I know that Lukas beat out a true talent? It’s been hard to shake off the pain. But I managed to drag myself off the couch and make my way over to my Amy Vanderbilt Success Program For Women — a collection of books covering such topics as “How to Shop Wisely,” “Your Trip to Europe,” “How to be a More Interesting Woman,” and “How to Help Your Husband Get Ahead”. I found “How to Give Parties With a Theme” (1964) and immediately turned to the Hawaiian section.
All the usual things are there: leis on the table, barbecue ribs and baked bananas, a muumuu competition … I think we all know how to throw a Hawaiian themed party, right? (But what about an Icelandic themed party? MAGNI!) I listlessly leafed through the pages of the usual suggestions, and then I hit upon a fabulous game idea! Oh did I start to cheer up and feel ever so much more chipper! Let’s start:
“For a game, a variation of Twenty Questions with a South Seas locale could be hilarious and reveal quite a bit about your guests. The title of the game is ‘Shipwreck’; here are twenty questions. Each guest is asked the question in turn, and what a variety of answers you’ll get!”
This is an odd game because I’m not really sure of the point. Does someone win for the best answer? Unclear. Is the point embarrassment or forced honesty? Don’t know. But here are some of the questions:
1. What woman (or man) would you like most to be shipwrecked with on a South Sea Island? (Politeness may dictate that married couples name their spouse, but that is against the rules.) [Whew! Magni! That’s my answer! Magni! See, honey? The rule of the game is to name someone OTHER than you. Magni!]
4. What one mechanical aid or tool would you choose to have with you? [Why a sewing machine, naturally, so I could whip up a darling island ensemble!]
6. For women: What one cosmetic would you take? For men: What one grooming aid would you take? [One? Oh dear. I don’t like this island one bit. I guess mascara. A girl needs lashes to bat, of course]
9. What would you do to attract rescuers? [We’re getting rescued? Why?]
16. If you discovered that the island was inhabited, would you attempt to keep hidden or seek out the inhabitants? [Can they make a good cup of coffee and a coconut pie? If so, let’s be friendly!]
17. What pet would you choose? [I adore monkeys. And with my sewing machine, I could make him a little pair of pants.]
19. What would you do to avoid panic? [Listen to soothing Icelandic lullabies]
20. What would you worry about most? [That my hands would get unduly aged without gloves, obviously]
It seems to me that these questions might lead to a strange, uncomfortable evening. Or at least a too-revelatory one. Oh well. Perhaps everyone would be a little bit loopy on baked bananas and Coconut Ring Ding Cocktails so no one would remember the answers anyway!
I sure do feel better. Thank you, Charles, for the chance to ruminate on something other than Wednesday night’s Travesty of Justice! Magni forever! [Darling, the rules said I can’t pick you! Calm down …]
xoxo!
Miss Sharon
September 15th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
I second the request for a photo of you in Maui. Wish I was there tooooooo! Great photo……personally, I’d happily put up with the shaky, unsafe flight in a plane like that anyday. I’d certainly get my picture taken in front of it if possible. What a shot!
September 20th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
I hate to be a thorn in your otherwise lovely side (I’m sure)but my years of spelling, English and more spelling require me to correct your spelling….
Webster’s Ninth states -
**gris-tle : CARTILAGE: fibrous matter esp. in meats**
Ummmmm Good! Especially in your cake recipe. Thanks, Charles.
October 16th, 2006 at 8:44 am
Charles,
Your observations are always so telling!
Those crazy Hawaiians and their canned meat products.
On vacation in the 49th state once, I was told that Hawaii has the highest Spam consumption of ANY state. In the next sentence the tour guide told us that Hawaii also had the highest per capita population on government assistance.
Are the two related? I will let others ponder this quandary?
Warm regards,
BB
May 11th, 2007 at 9:38 am
The Hawaiian Airlines Viewmaster DC-3s were outstanding. As Hawaiian replaced DC-3s in front line service with Convair 340s, they added the large windows and upped seating from 28 to 32, using them on special tourist flights and when regular scheduled flights needed more seats. They used these aircraft for over 15 years. I flew on them and was too enthralled with the view to notice if they rattled more than a regular DC-3, which all rattled. Thanks for sharing a fond memory from the past.