A Christmas that shone brightly for freedom
Ho-Ho-Ho. Merry Christmas, everybody!
‘Tis the season for family and friends to gather and celebrate the holidays. There are many who make this season “merry and bright,” and many who are not able to be home for this special occasion. Yep, first responders, convenience store clerks, hospital personnel, employees of restaurants, and of course Press circulation and delivery staff, bringing us news every day.
Police and firefighters are on duty keeping us safe. Our military is standing tall in foreign lands, on the high seas, and in the air protecting our United States as we cherish and celebrate the season.
A recent article here in The Press about the Pearl Harbor attack chronicled survivor Ray Garland, and how DNA is being used to identify those killed in the attack, to bring closure to families who lost so much. That day brought us into World War II and changed the world forever.
An article by Anita Manning, Historian of The Order of Elks Honolulu Lodge No. 616, describes how the attack affected them and Honolulu in general:
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December 1941: Honolulu plans a busy Dec 7th: Elks Memorial services compete with a Royal Hawaiian band concert, Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club Makua to Kaena Pt. hike, Kamehameha student parade, Academy of Arts recorded Gilbert & Sullivan opera.
Instead….
Dec 7th 616 Elks awakened by bombing find a pre-printed Advertiser describing a life gone forever: Saturday’s Shrine benefit University of Hawaii vs. Willamette football game and Santa ads for now irrelevant luxuries. With Advertiser presses down, Honolulu Star Bulletin ran Extras pairing fear and the mundane: mounting death toll AND Bus Runs on Reduced Schedule; how to put out incendiary bombs AND no Library overdue book fines; marital law declared AND theaters will open early afternoon (blackout).
Incoming shipping stopped, food became a serious concern. Rationing meant the Elks Club could only get enough food to serve Lodge residents. Newspapers printed official directives to DRINK MILK as military buying dropped yet local cows kept on giving. Despite the city going ‘dry’ as liquor sales were halted in the first months of martial law, switching to milk may have been too much even for patriotic Elks.
When the Lodge met again members looked out on barbwire-protected beaches. Blackout and curfew moved Lodge meetings, and all public events, for the duration to Sundays or Saturdays. Gas rationing made it hard for the visiting committee to see sick Elks; members donated ration coupons.
Newspapers ran practical columns: Gardening for Defense, Defense Dishes [cooking with limited ingredients], Blackout Brevities [what to do in the dark], and diagrams for digging your own bomb shelter. Society pages became ‘On the Home Front.’ Sports stories included Boxing: Big Help in Bayonet Work. Have a pass to be out at night? Car headlights had to be darkened. Going anywhere anytime? Gas mask required, adults and children. Life settled in: work hours extended; homes blacked out; patriots rode Honolulu Rapid Transit (bus saved gas), collected scrap metal, recycled bottles. Bottlers ran blunt ads — return bottles or no new soda and beer. Incoming freight needed a military priority; empty bottles didn’t qualify. Hoarding was unpatriotic: bring in an empty X to get a new X (toothpaste tube, light bulb, anything).
Hawaii changed as thousands of young men streamed to the islands and military dependents were shipped to the west coast. For Hawaii born wives this often created great hardship with no mainland support system. If your family had ‘pull’ you might get ‘war work’ and an exemption as did a woman who related: “My father barged into that office and told them ‘Not my daughter you don’t’ and I worked the whole time at Pearl.” Women took many jobs vacated by men; people were frozen in their job; many worked two jobs. Elks, everyone, pitched in.”
[Article by Anita Manning, 616 Lodge Historian]
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The Hawaiian Islands accepted the brunt of the opening salvo of the war, and did not have a Merry Christmas. Here on the mainland, the economy turned from peacetime to wartime, with everything focused on the war effort. Rationing included everything consumable. But the American spirit prevailed, enduring the hardships of war.
As we celebrate this Christmas season, please remember those on duty and those who gave it all so we can have these wonderful holiday traditions.
Ho-Ho-Ho. Merry Christmas!
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Jack Evensizer is a resident of Dalton Gardens.