Magnet #259 - HawaiiSo, today in 1950, the territory of Hawaii ratified a state constitution, and became a state nine years later.
Yay, Hawaii!
My sisters will remember, but I wonder if anyone else will - remember those I Can Read books? We owned a ton of those things. Freakin' loved those books!
The Toad and the Frog. Where they were having guests for dinner or something? Took forever before I realized that it wasn't Wind in the Willows that I'd read.
Danny and the Dinosaur. Where the dinosaur was running around town?
Sammy the Seal. Where the seal was running around town, something about getting out of the zoo?
That pig one, where the pig was looking for a home, and tried out a few houses or something, and then found a puddle of mud and he was really happy?
And, then, there was this one that was all white, with splashes of green trees, and the tiny people in Hawaii - the Menehunes? Which I totally looked up on that site I just linked to. And just now realized that they're supposedly fairy people. Dudes. Whoa. Now I understand why they traveled by leaves and pea pods!
Good gravy. It's like every time I remember something about my childhood, it gets turned on its axis.
Anyway...so congratulations, Hawaii!
*I'm SO hoping that this magnetpost title actually says, Congratulations, Hawaii! If it doesn't, blame this site. And, yes, I looked up Yay! in Hawaiian and it yielded no results.
4 comments:
I am not sure everyone in Hawaii celebrates becoming a state of the Union. Although, Hawaiians do love their holidays.
Hawaiian sovereignty can be a very sticky and painful subject. Nice magnet though :)
Oh, noes, really?
Hmmmm, food for thought...and further research.
Thanks, anon!
Sammy the Seal! I totally had that book! I totally STILL have that book! I swear it's somewhere in my parents' garage.
But yeah, Hawaii was bullied a little bit during the process of becoming a state. When I lived there the event was mentioned, but never as anything but one of those random facts on local morning talk shows one day a year.
Fun Hawaii information of the day: King David Kalakaua wanted to learn about the world around him, so he took several round-the-world trips in the late 1800s, visiting foreign heads-of-state and stumping for the islands. He had a telephone and an elevator installed in Iolani palace, and I believe his elevator even pre-dates the first one installed in the U.S. White House.
He's my favorite Hawaiian monarch. Way to think progressively and globally, dude.
Too bad he died in a hotel in San Francisco and never made it home to Hawaii on his final trip. (I actually had my senior prom in the ballroom at that same hotel.)
Thank you. I knew someone outside of my sisters would remember I Can Reads. Heh.
Thanks for the King David Kalakaua info. The final State quarter (Hawaii, obvi) gets released today, which is exciting. I still have a few more Hawaii magnets, so I might explore the statehood thing further down the line.
You know what I love about this country? That students get to learn their own state history. There's something lovely about the thought that 50 different sets of history books are giving 50 sets of localized knowledge to 50 different states of schoolkids.
That makes me incredibly dorky, I know.
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