Crankin' It Up

Today is the fifiteth anniversary of Hawaii's statehood! We pulled an old Columbia out of the record cabinet to celebrate, and it leaves me a bit confused. The title is "Hawaiian," but then the label says Portugese Tango. It is a guitar and ukelele trio played by Helen Louise, Frank Ferera, and Sam Kainoa, recorded in May of 1916. The price of the record in the US was listed as 85 cents, and a farmer could expect to earn around 20 cents for a dozen eggs in 1916, so this record cost 51 hen work days back then. I hope the farmer's family enjoyed it.

This anniversary reminds me of one of my favorite jokes: A man and his wife were taking a flight to Hawaii for a vacation, and the man fretted all the way there, wondering how to pronounce Hawaii. His wife told him, "Ask someone in the airport who is leaving; they will know." So as they headed out of the airport, the man stopped a tourist who was going home, and asked, "What is the right way to pronounce the name of this state? Is it HaWaii, or HaVaii?" The tourist answers, "It's pronounced 'HaVaii!." The man proclaims, "Thank You!" and the homeward bound tourist answers, "You're Velcome!" Now,let's go tango; for Hawaii!