May 1 is Lei Day here in Hawaiʻi — a tradition that goes back to the 1920s. With the help of our partners at the University of Hawaiʻi's Center for Oral History, we'd like to share the voices of a couple of longtime lei sellers from earlier days.
You’ll hear some crackle in the first recording — but please understand these are decades old! Our guide is ethnic studies professor Ty Kāwika Tengan.
Moana Umi was born in 1927 in Kalihi, O’ahu. Her mother, Rachel Aanana, was a lei seller at the waterfront and on Maunakea Street, and at the age of 11, Moana began to help gather flowers and make lei for the family business. In 1948, the family opened a lei stand on Lagoon Drive near the airport. Eventually, Moana opened Gladys' Lei Stand at the Honolulu International Airport — which is still in business.
UMI: We have to get up 5 in the morning. We used to pick up pakalanas. The reason for that is, you got to pick it up before the sun comes up because the bees, they come out when the sun comes up, they're all over the place. We used to pick up every morning before we go to school. We soak it down, keep it cool, then we come home and we string it up. Sometimes we string late at night. My mom used to have Hawaiian Village, she used to supply them with leis for the lūʻau. At that time the leis ran into 1,000, you know, 1,200. We used to stay up late and string them. Sometimes I used to sleep in school, I'm so tired. Lot of people feel well, oh, anybody can sell leis. Anybody can go pick up flowers and string it. But it's the time you give it. Some of them pick it up and they string it, you know. Feels good the first few times that you do it. But then, if you stay with it, it isn't. It's tiresome — lot of the old folks drop out because they can't handle it. But if you're a determined person and you're strong in your mind as well, because this is what's going to keep the rest of your body going, it's your mind. You got to keep yourself straight.
At age 6, Maile Lee, born in Pā'ia, Maui, moved to O’ahu with her mother and brothers. In 1945, her stepfather and mother opened a lei stand out of the back of a truck on Lagoon Drive. Grass huts were later provided for the lei sellers at the old Honolulu Airport, and in 1962, Maile inherited her parentsʻ business and changed the name to Maile’s Lei Stand, which is still at the Honolulu International Airport.
LEE: The local people is where our trade come from, most of our trades come from. There's the tourist that they claim gives us more business, but I wouldn't say this is true. It's the locals that support our business. And through their friends, they're buying leis for them. But maybe throughout the year, the only time I would really say that the tourist industry would be during the summer. Then we have a lot of tourists. But come any other time of the year, it's the locals. You know, kids coming home for holidays, say, long weekend, Thanksgiving. The locals, the parents, will buy leis. Christmas, visitors visiting, it's the locals again. And then, again, there's people that come in to get away from the cold weather. But majority of my trade, sales, comes from the locals. They're wonderful to deal with. Friendly, very nice. I enjoyed selling leis to locals. To the tourist, for that matter, too, but the locals are wonderful people. And I've had some wonderful experiences.
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This oral history project is supported by the SHARP initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities through the American Council of Learned Societies.
