Last week I looked back at the more interesting stories I covered in 2023. One of the reasons I enjoy writing this column is that there is so much I learn about Hawaii people, places and organizations. Here’s Part 2 of that column.
Today’s topics include Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter wearing lei and dancing the hula; the history of Spam musubi; the top 25 Oahu restaurants that are gone but not forgotten; and the famous Columbia Inn sign at the old Honolulu Stadium.
Rosalynn Carter
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter died in November. Reader Walter Chow noticed that members of the Carter family wore lei at her private funeral.
It’s always interesting to me to see people on the mainland wearing lei unexpectedly.
“The Carter Center said the leis came from a couple who are close friends of the Carters and who live in Hawaii,” People magazine wrote.
“Former President Jimmy Carter, 99, wore a lei of red flowers for the occasion, while other family members, including the Carter children, wore brightly colored leis as well.
“The accessories were a nod to the Carters’ time in Hawaii, which came during Jimmy’s Naval career when he was stationed at the USS Pomfret at Pearl Harbor from 1949-1951.
“The family was happy to receive them and eager to wear them,” a spokesperson for the Carter Center said.
“Given Pastor Tony Lowden’s description of the funeral as a celebration of Mrs. Carter’s life, the festive flowers seemed quite appropriate.”
Jimmy and Rosalynn’s son, Chip Carter, remembered, “One day, my mother was sitting with my wife, Becky, and reminiscing on what it was like to live in Hawaii, and she was talking about learning all the native dances.
“She got up from the sofa, pushed her walker away, which she couldn’t take a step without, and proceeded to do the hula for two or three minutes.”
According to the Carter Center, Rosalynn learned hula while living in Hawaii, and even won a hula contest while living here.
Chip continued, “She grabbed her walker, turned around, sat back on the sofa, turned to my wife and said, ‘That’s how you do it.’”
Spam musubi
Spam musubi is a big deal in my household. Maybe yours, too. I never thought about who invented it until a reader named Keith Fujita wrote about family outings when he was younger, before the “discovery of Spam musubi.”
Spam is recent. Hormel began selling it in 1937, so I knew it wasn’t around when Adam and Eve were pondering what to have for dinner.
Musubi — rice balls — date to over 1,000 years ago in Japan. So, I was wondering, who combined a slice of Spam with rice and nori?
I spent some time rummaging around in the newspaper archives and at the library looking for a clue as to who invented this unique snack food.
The term “Spam musubi,” as far as I could tell, first appeared in print in 1987. It was in Ann Kondo Corum’s book “Hawaii’s 2nd Spam Cookbook.”
Corum says the creator of Spam musubi may have been Mitsuko Kaneshiro, who first made them for her children, then started selling them out of City Pharmacy at Beretania and Pensacola streets.
“By the early 1980s, she was selling 500 a day from her own shop, Michan’s Musubi,” Corum wrote. “This was in the pre-acrylic-mold days, so all 500 were formed by hand.”
To really catch on, Spam musubi needed a technological lift. That took the form of a clear, acrylic, rectangular Spam musubi maker. It was designed in 1987 by Alvin Okami. Okami owned a company called Precision Plastics.
Okami’s older brother, Bob, said his wife was making Spam musubi by hand. The Spam was inside the football-shaped rice ball, which was then wrapped in nori.
Bob Okami asked whether Alvin could make a mold out of plastic. He suggested it be rectangular and the size of a slice of Spam. This standardized the shape of Spam musubi and made them easier and faster to make.
Okami sold them at Longs, Pay ‘n Save, Holiday Mart, Marukai and other stores for under $5. Okami said they sold like hot cakes, until a company in Taiwan exported their own version at such a low price that he couldn’t compete.
Okami now owns KoAloha Ukulele and says that they are selling ukulele like hot cakes, too. He can’t make enough.
In 2002, Betty Shimabukuro wrote in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, “The Japanese may have first claim on the rice ball, but Spam musubi, that’s ours.”
Gone but not forgotten
In November I thought it would be interesting to ask readers to vote for their favorite Oahu restaurants that were no longer in business. This way, we could generate a list of the top 25 fondly remembered restaurants, according to the more than 150 readers who voted.
The No. 1 vote-getter was the Willows, which had a pond fed by artesian springs. It created a lush, tropical setting that wowed visitors and locals alike. It felt like old Hawaii.
The Willows was well hidden, down a side street in Moiliili. Business theory says such a location would be a challenge, but the Willows did well for over 70 years.
Several other “special occasion” places made the list, such as No. 5 Alan Wong’s, No. 6 Swiss Inn, No. 7 John Dominis and No. 10 Canlis.
Half of the top restaurants were everyday eateries, such as No. 3 Columbia Inn, No. 4 Flamingo, No. 8 Fisherman’s Wharf and No. 11 Ranch House.
Readers: Tell me about your favorite gone but not forgotten restaurants.
Top 25 restaurants
1. Willows
2. Tahitian Lanai
3. Columbia Inn
4. Flamingo
5. Alan Wong’s
6. Swiss Inn
7. John Dominis
8. Fisherman’s Wharf
9. Pearl City Tavern
10. Canlis
11. Ranch House
12. Wisteria
13. Patti’s Chinese Kitchen
14. Like Like Drive In
15. Yum Yum Tree
16. McCully Chop Suey
17. Haiku Gardens
18. Kuhio Grill
19. KC Drive In
20. Keo’s
21. The Third Floor
22. Indigo
23. King’s Bakery
24. Waikiki Lau Yee Chai
25. The Bistro
Home, dinner plates
I wrote about Tosh Kaneshiro this year. He was the baseball-loving owner of the Columbia Inn on Kapiolani Boulevard.
When we had a minor league baseball team in Honolulu — the Hawaii Islanders — Tosh offered a free steak dinner to anyone on the team who hit a home run. The Islanders played at the old Honolulu Stadium on King Street in Moiliili.
A pitcher who threw a shutout won two steak dinners. In 1968, Columbia Inn served up 65 free steak dinners to players who earned them.
Another incentive Kaneshiro created was a banner that was placed on Honolulu Stadium’s right-field fence. It said, “Columbia Inn. Top of the Blvd.”
The banner had a big puka, about 4 feet in diameter, with a net behind it. Any Islander who hit a home run through the puka won $1,000. Only one player did that. His name was Walter “No Neck” Williams.
Williams was 5 feet 6 inches tall — the shortest player in the league. But on May 26, 1968, in the sixth inning, he put one through the puka. He was the only Islander to ever do so.
Tosh’s son, Gene Kaneshiro, had a photo of Williams and the teenager who collected the ball from the netting, but he didn’t know his name. I spent a few hours sleuthing the newspaper archives and found it.
He was Michael Freitas, 14 years old in 1968. If you know him, please get in touch with me.
Tosh remembers Williams collecting his $1,000 check (worth more than $9,000 today) as well as his medium- rare steak with teriyaki sauce. Tosh said Williams was “as good with a fork as with a bat; an all-around good man at both home plate and the dinner plate.”
Those are some of the things I learned in 2023. I hope you enjoyed Rearview Mirror this year and learned as much as I did. Mele Kalikimaka.
