An anonymous reader asked whether former Mayor Frank Fasi had a business selling Quonset huts before he entered politics.
Yes, he did. He served in the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war he went into business in Honolulu, selling surplus military supplies, including lumber, ovens, water heaters, sinks, tarps and Quonset huts.
The Frank F. Fasi Supply Co. was on the corner of 3000 Kamehameha Highway and Puuloa Road, near the old airport.
A Quonset hut was a building that could be built quickly. It had a wooden base and a semicircular corrugated metal roof.
Most were 20 feet wide and 48 feet long with doors and windows at the ends made of plywood. An unskilled, 10-man crew could assemble one in a day, using hand tools.
They were named for Quonset Point, R.I., where they were developed, based on the World War I British Nissen Hut.
From 1941 to 1945 the U.S. military mass-produced more than 150,000 of the shelters, making them the standard building used by the military.
In the 10 years after WWII, Fasi sold more than 4,000 government-surplus Quonset huts, most for use as civilian housing.
‘Quonsetize’
“Be Wise — Economize — Quonsetize,” read one Frank F. Fasi Supply Co. ad from 1947. It offered 1,120-square-foot Quonset homes valued at $1,600 and priced for $350, delivered.
“Solve your housing or beach house problems now,” the ad said. “This is by far the best mass housing value ever offered in Hawaii.”
Fasi also advertised deluxe officer homes, including 2,880-square-foot units for $1,650.
Fasi offered delivery to building sites. “This aspect of the business led him into politics after he felt harassed by a city engineer who began requiring a dual police escort for such moves that added to Fasi’s cost,” Honolulu Star- Advertiser reporter Andrew Gomes wrote in 2020.
“A defiant Fasi, who argued that he employed his own escorts making transportation safe, refused to pay police officers and racked up about 150 tickets that he challenged in court.
“Fasi eventually prevailed with his lawsuits. But even after winning, he remained perturbed enough at what he viewed as an arbitrary city decision that he decided to get involved in making policy.
“That’s what led him to politics,” his son David Fasi said. “He was getting ticketed. He said, ‘This is not right.’
“The move soon made him a household name in government that overshadowed his brief but successful time as a businessman,” Gomes wrote.
Fasi led Honolulu for 22 years during six terms as mayor.
So, there you have it. Not only was “Fearless Frank” Fasi involved in selling Quonset huts, it led him into politics.
Living in a Quonset hut
I asked readers about their Quonset hut experiences. Bob Hampton, who co-founded Waikiki Beach Activities, said he grew up in one at Pearl Harbor during the 1940s and early ’50s.
“Our ‘Qhut’ was just across from Sub Base. I always thought that was how all Navy housing was, until I entered fifth grade at Pearl Harbor Elementary and was invited to a classmate’s birthday party.
“He lived in Makalapa and his dad was a commander. They had a huge traditional house. So, I learned, not everyone lived in a Qhut during the war.”
Makaha
“My parents bought a Quonset house about 1953,” Jim Cook recalled. “My dad was a fan of Frank Fasi, and I believe he bought it from him.
“According to my dad, it used the minimum amount of materials to enclose the maximum amount of interior space. My dad purchased two house lots on Fricke Street in Makaha. There were several Quonsets in the neighborhood.
“The Quonset was an empty shell when we moved in. My mom’s sisters came to visit and were all crying when they saw where my mom was living.
“They said, ‘You should have never married a haole. Look how you have to live!’
“We lived in it while he had Hicks Homes build a brand-new house on the adjacent lot. When it was finished, we moved into the new house but decided we liked the Quonset better. All the rooms were bigger. So, we moved back into it and rented out the new home!”
Ford Island
Wendy Tolleson said: “Growing up on Ford Island, I remember the large, two-story Quonset hut located by Luke Field next to the airfield. It was huge.
“The top floor was large enough for a basketball court, with offices at one end. We used it as a skating rink.
“The ground floor served as the youth center. It was spacious enough for Halloween parties, slot car track races, pool tables, a lounging area, and offices for the Boy Scouts.
“Hanging out there is one of my favorite childhood memories. Unfortunately, it was demolished when Navy contractors built new housing on the airfield.”
‘Learned something new’
John M. Cummings III learned a pidgin term for metal roofs, found on Quonset huts and plantation homes.
“After Hurricane Iniki, I worked with the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Center in Waimea, Kauai.”
Cummings said he was interviewing a Filipino man about the damage to his house, and he kept referring to ‘de totung.’”
“I’m like, what? What is ‘totung’?
“Finally, a Hawaiian tutu who was working at the desk next to me smiled and said laughingly, ‘Honey boy, “totung” is pidgin for metal roof. He’s saying his metal roof blew off his house.’
“I learned something new!”
Totung
I had not heard the term “totung,” referring to a galvanized metal roof, before, so I asked readers what they knew.
Craig Woods said: “I worked for two companies that made metal roofing: Jorgensen Steel on Oahu and HPM based in Hilo. A total of 25 years in the metal roofing business.
“‘Totung’ seemed to mean only the wavy corrugated pattern made of galvanized steel. Not the ‘fancier’ shapes and not aluminum.
“I asked a lot of old-timers locally what language or country it came from, but they didn’t know. I tend to think the term is of Asian origin. Maybe it’s from plantation workers because the roofing was on their plantation houses.”
From the Portuguese
Ken Fujii, who grew up in Hilo, said: “Iron roofing was commonly used on houses in the early part of the 20th century.
“Most of the carpenters, especially those who built houses and business structures on the plantations, were of Japanese ancestry. The words that those carpenters used were often from their own Japanese lexicon, like ‘totung.’ Co- workers of other ethnicities also adopted the words that the carpenters used.
“The word was then borrowed and used in pidgin by other ethnic groups, especially on the plantations.
“Historically, the word was introduced to Japan several centuries ago, by the Portuguese, who first settled in the Nagasaki area of Japan. They introduced the use of galvanized iron roofing there.
“The Portuguese word for the iron sheets was ‘tutanaga,’ which was then borrowed by the Japanese, who pronounced it ‘totung.’
“Many Japanese words actually have Portuguese origins, like tempura, bobora, kabocha, pan, tabako (tobacco) and jabon (pomelo fruit).
“Now we can add ‘totung’ to the list of Japanese words which originated with the Portuguese.”
Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
