A L O H A !
King David Kalakaua
of the Hawaiian Islands
David Laamea Kamanakapuu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalakaua
Ruled from February 12, 1874 until his death in 1891
His motto:
"Hooulu Lahui"
"Let the Hawaiian Race Flourish"
Hula celebrating Kalakua
upon his 50th birthday jubilee
Iolani Palace.
November 1886
Contemporary Street Mural,
Honolulu
\O-O/
There are TOO Many books.
Even I wrote one.
Clicking around your blogs
makes the reading
of one book,
hour after hour,
seem hopelessly
old fashioned.
BUT when I was a kid
my town of Philadelphia
seemed full of
Old Books,
hundred-year-old books
that crumbled
in your hand!
I spent lots of time
at Legendary
Leary's Book Store
" Leary's Old Book Store in Philadelphia,
9 South 9th Street
around 1910.
When it was sold out at auction
in 1969
it was the oldest used book
store
in the U.S.
Getting ready for the sale,
a copy of the Dunlap first
printing
of the Declaration of Independence
was discovered forgotten
and neglected.
It fetched over $400,000.00.
Leary's was a great place
to
root around for old books -
and to overhear the conversations
of old
book men.
"
Books Rare
" The building consisted of three floors
and a basement full of books.
On the third floor, an opening in the floor
allowed a view of the
mezzanine down below.
Additional books were placed outside
on shelves on the Leary’s side
of the
[cobblestone! cloudia)
alleyway
separating it from Gimbels Dept store.
Some provision was made
to
shelter the books
and the readers
in the alley way,
but, most of the
time,
the books and browsers,
suffered the inclemency of the
outdoor
Philadelphia weather.
Throughout the building,
numerous used books were everywhere:
on wall
shelves and piled high on tables
for readers to browse through.
The
policy of the bookstore
was not to interfere
with readers and browsers,
but simply to direct customers
to their areas of interest if asked. "
" Leary’s heyday
was during the “Golden Age of Books,”
a period during the
19th century
and the first half of the 20th century
when books were the
key source
of entertainment and enlightenment. "
How I loved
to find treasures,
and to read away
a Summer's afternoon;
Back then,
those afternoons seemed
endless,
lasting for DAYS!
Old books were cheap,
cheap enough for me to buy,
though I'm ashamed to admit
(all these decades later)
that I also
"borrowed" a few
from Leary's!
Burying myself
in old books
was my
Safe Place.
Nowadays,
books seem expensive,
and there are
SO MANY
coming out!
Lately, though
I have discovered
a wonderful place
to recall the joy
of old books,
many of them
FOR FREE!
Today's Leary's is
Google Play.
At the top of the
GOOGLE Page
one of the choices is
"PLAY."
There you may purchase,
read and watch/listen
to films, TV shows,
and Books!
Lots of the historic books
there are FREE!
Lately I have been lost
in Hawaii's past
as written in the 19th
and early 20th Centuries.
Here is a first-person
(rather Blog-like)
account of
Kalakaua at the
opening ceremonies
of the
Kingdom's Legislature.
Note the racism
common to that day
in the grudging admiration-
(Tip: hold the Ctrl key
while you tap the + key
to make reading easier.
Holding Ctrl while tapping
the zero '0' key
brings screen back to
your normal setting.
Or click on the photo-copies. )
Published 1888
{ }
From 1918
" One often hears"
Hawaii Past & Present
William Richards Castle
{ }
Premature lament
for the passing
of "The Hawaiian"
Katherine Fullerton Gerould, 1916
{ }
Their Future Honolulu - My Today
Would Kalakaua
recognize
his capitol?
Now I understand
how my paradisaical
Home Town
came to be
as it is-
from 1917:
Thanks for visiting!
Warmly, cloudia
Hear the Kalakaua March HERE
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