Wednesday, May 29, 2019

did you know Duke Kahanamoku, famous Olympic athlete and surfer, went into business after his many Olympics with a couple of gas stations? That only lasted a while, then he was elected sheriff in 1936, and he was a military police officer during World War II


The head of Union Oil in Hawaii asked Duke if he'd run a couple gas stations. "I said heck yes, I’m not too proud to pump gas. I did it because it was something to do," Kahanamoku said in 1965.

Duke ran a Union Oil gas station on the corner of Nuuanu and Pauoa roads. He ran another in Waikiki near Kalakaua and Seaside avenues. This lasted at least 2 years, no online source is specific


That he had a blue collar job, and a business pumping gas is omitted from dozens of websites I've found online except for the few below. No website mentioned him working as a custodian at City Hall, or that he dropped out of high school to support his family to work several jobs, including the Dole pineapple plant, and a shaved ice job, are also not in many of the tributes, but, I guess nothing but glamour is mentioned in most obits. No website missed the number of gold medals.

While living in Newport Beach, California on June 14, 1925, Kahanamoku rescued eight men from a fishing vessel that capsized in heavy surf while attempting to enter the city's harbor.

 29 fishermen went into the water and 17 perished. Using his surfboard, he was able to make quick trips back and forth to shore to increase the number of sailors rescued. Two other surfers saved four more fishermen. Newport's police chief at the time called Duke's efforts "the most superhuman surfboard rescue act the world has ever seen". It also caused U.S. lifeguards to begin using surfboards in their water rescues.



 the corner of Nuuanu and Pauoa roads still has a gas station, and nothing that points out this location's historic claim to fame. The Kalakaua and Seaside avenue is too high rent for anything like a gas station anymore, it's now the Waikiki Shopping Plaza, business plaza, about a block away from a restaurant in the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort named Duke's Waikiki that has an online timeline of his life and events, even mentioning that he was on a school soccer team, but not that he had a gas station a stone's throw away from that very restaurant. https://www.dukeswaikiki.com/duke/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Kahanamoku
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2011/07/15/hawaii-news/rearview-mirror/duke-ran-gas-stations-then-served-13-terms-as-sheriff/
https://www.roughdiplomacy.com/the-big-kahuna-duke-kahanamoku/#respond
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/upshot/duke-of-hawaii-a-swimmer-and-surfer-who-straddled-two-cultures.html
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/old-gas-stations.75124/page-147#post-2388787
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/sports-and-games/sports-biographies/duke-kahanamoku
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/08/22/features/index.html
https://www.newspapers.com/image/?
clipping_id=21016147&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI3NTA1MjEyOSwiaWF0IjoxNTU5MTk0ODIxLCJleHAiOjE1NTkyODEyMjF9.zlVYgTTy3DCqzucj8D95L6KNiFDZ9Y5SYabmdPX_nC4


Duke Kahanamoku's Gas Station next to the Waikiki Theater

https://www.facebook.com/groups/353785941367129/permalink/2498894640189571/

4 comments:

  1. Of ALL the unexpected things on your page I would have never thought Id see a post about the Duke and gas stations!

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    Replies
    1. lol... then I have truly accomplished what I aim for, to be informative and entertaining about car stuff (like gas stations) but also to give you what NO ONE ELSE is sharing.
      Not only do I expect that no one has any news or history that's interesting, but that when it comes to stories on any of the websites of my contemporaries, that post a variety of things instead of car reviews and how to upgrade with turbos or swap in an LS, I simply feel they all ignore Hawaii. There is a disconnect in the USA with coverage of East and West coasts, but there's a greater lack of connection with what happens on the islands, and when I lived there, there was a large noticeable disconnect with what was happening on the mainland.
      Damn shame that there are so many problems on the islands that locals aren't able to find a truly upstanding leader who can tackle and handle.

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    2. Id certainly agree that this isnt something youd find somewhere else!

      Im not familiar with Hawaii much but it certainly does have barely a bleep in general news wise or anything else really.

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    3. then I'm pleased to be the only car guy that cares enough to get into gas station history, mixed with incredible Olympic gold medalists, and add in some Hawaiian history too!

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