Many ideas for this column arrive in my email inbox. Iris Nitta wrote recently, saying: “One place that I’d like to hear more about is the Waikiki Jungle.
“I grew up in Hilo, and when I came over in 1966 for grad school at UH, I heard about the ‘jungle.’ It sounded like such a mysterious place compared to Moiliili, where I lived. (Former President Barack) Obama mentioned in his first book that his grandfather used to take him there to visit a retired friend from Chicago. I never really went down into the jungle. I was too scared.”
I haven’t written about the Waikiki Jungle and decided to look into it. I think of the Waikiki Jungle extending Diamond Head from the Princess Kaiulani hotel to the Honolulu Zoo. The area has a rich history.
Several of Hawaii’s royals had estates in that part of Waikiki, including King Kalakaua, Queen Lili‘uokalani, Prince Kuhio and Princess Ka‘iulani.
With the death of Prince Kuhio in 1922, Waikiki’s royal period came to an end. A few years later the Ala Wai Canal transformed the area again. The three streams that flowed into Waikiki were diverted and the land dried out.
In the 1920s and 1930s, much of Waikiki was subdivided into picturesque, low-rise buildings amidst narrow dirt and later paved roads. It attracted those who loved to be near the ocean.
By the 1960s many of the homes in the Diamond Head end of Waikiki were termite-eaten and suffering from poor maintenance. Rents were cheap, and that attracted young locals, hippies and military folks.
The words “Waikiki Jungle” didn’t appear in local papers until 1964. A search for the term by decade produced the following number of articles in the two daily papers: 1960s: 45, 1970s: 250, 1980s: 35, 1990s: 30, 2000s: 14, 2010s: 11.
Clearly, use of the term “Waikiki Jungle” peaked in the 1970s and declined after that. I drove through the area Saturday and did not see many one- to two-story homes remaining. Instead, there were lots of hotels and tall condos.
I asked readers for their Waikiki Jungle experiences.
Termites holding hands
Margie Kiessling wrote, “In the mid-’50s my sister and I lived on Kapili Street in one of those small, two-story houses in the Waikiki Jungle. The house had a small kitchen and two bedrooms on each floor. The eight of us all knew each other.
“I am not sure when the house was built — the owner lived in Kailua — and since my dad was paying the rent, I am not sure what it was. All I know is that it had termites! We always said they were holding hands to keep it from falling down.
“We felt very safe. We had a cocker spaniel that ran all over the place, and a neighbor had a St. Bernard called Bozette, who spent time on their flat roof.
“We used a Coke bottle to keep our kitchen door ajar for our little cat to go in and out. It seems unbelievable in retrospect. Anyone could have come in.
“After graduation I moved to the ‘Gold Coast’ to the old Esther Darrow estate, now the Colony Surf hotel, where I shared the $85 rent with my roommate for a studio with a small balcony facing the ocean!
“The Queen’s Surf restaurant complex was a couple of minutes away. Sterling Mossman was in his element upstairs at the Barefoot Bar. Mossman was called the ‘singing cop,’ for his dual careers in entertainment and law enforcement.”
Venturing into the Jungle
“Ah, the Jungle. I remember it well,” Carole Richelieu said. “I attended sixth grade at Thomas Jefferson Elementary on the edge of the Jungle and eighth grade at St. Augustine School, which was in the Jungle.
“It was not unusual for classes to be disrupted by the neighbors, and we would run outside to watch the latest argument or fight coming from across the street at what was basically a brothel.
“Usually, it was the women who worked there getting very angry when the men wouldn’t pay or broke a promise. They would chase them to the sidewalk and out on the street and scream, throw things and pound on the men, all in broad daylight.
“We had to walk to St. Augustine Church once a month through the Jungle to attend Mass. I believe the school is now the Waikiki Community Center. Otherwise, we were always warned to never go into the Jungle, always detour around.
“Of course, I recall at least two occasions of venturing into the Jungle as a young teen. It was a bad idea.”
“When I was 13 my 19-year-old date took me to a crowded party in one of the Jungle bungalows. There was plenty of booze, smoking, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.
“He told me not to tell anyone my age. Not that I would say a thing to that adult crowd. I sat very quiet, glued to him, pretending to be invisible. That was our last date.
“The other time, I was suffering from teenage angst and defiantly walked through the Jungle, resulting in whistles, jeers and propositions. Frightened, I got out as quickly as I could. Lesson learned.”
The White House
Rosalind Young said: “My husband, Alan Wilkinson, remembers living in a house between Paoakalani Avenue and Ohua Street called ‘The White House’ back in 1963.
“There were six to seven guys renting together, half of them military, who were only around on weekends. Everyone shared one kitchen and bathroom. It was already destined to be torn down, so the landlord didn’t care that it was known as a party house.
“Breakfast every day was at the Blue Ocean Inn, where we would have two eggs over easy, hash browns and toast, with a ‘bottomless cup’ of coffee, all for 75 cents. Delicious!
“Da Swamp nightclub was at 2478 Kalakaua Ave., closer to the International Marketplace. Alan loved going to hear Dick Jensen whenever he could afford the cover charge and a couple of drinks. It was for the great music, not the alcohol, that he loved being there. Dick Jensen would bring down the house each time he played ‘Malaguena.’ Good times!”
Watchdog
Wayne Shiohira said his brother lived in the Waikiki Jungle in the 1970s on the ground floor of a three-story apartment behind a strip club on Kuhio Avenue.
“He and his roommate lived way in the back, so it was pretty quiet most of the time. They had a Schnauzer-mix dog that was very friendly.
“One afternoon, all three of them fell asleep while watching TV. When they awoke, the TV was gone. I guess they were all heavy sleepers, or there was enough snoring to mask the burglar’s visit. In any case, they didn’t have the best watchdog.”
New Year’s Eve
John Robinette said, “On New Year’s Eve 1970, I was home on leave before heading to Okinawa. My wife and I wanted a little of our own time and spent a few days at the Princess Kaiulani hotel.
“We had experienced New Year’s Eve many times before, but when the evening came the Jungle erupted! From our balcony all we could see was smoke and fireworks going off, and the noise reminded me of basic training and all the ordnance the Army would set off to get us ready for real combat.
“Come the morning, all was well in the Jungle, and none of the little homes had burned down. I considered that to be a miracle.”
What happened to the Waikiki Jungle? Over time the land increased in value, and owners sold or developed it into hotels and tall condos. Kuhio Avenue and other streets were widened. Rents went up, and the party crowd had to move on.
Did you live in the Waikiki Jungle or have a story about it? If so, send me an email.
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Bob Sigall’s “The Companies We Keep 5” book contains stories from the past three years of Rearview Mirror. “The Companies We Keep 1 and 2” are also back in print. Email Sigall at Sigall@yahoo.com.
