Webley Edwards/Hawaii Calls Biography

I was directed this way by DigiTiki.

I am doing research for a biography of Webley Edwards of Hawaii Calls fame. A summary of what I'm doing was a feature article of the Honolulu Star bulletin: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/08/12/features/story02.html

I got started doing the research about Webley about 2.5 years ago. I happened across "Hawaii Calls" on Wikipedia and listened to the 1949 program that it linked too. I realized that I didn't really even know who Webley Edwards was, even though I'd listened to the program as a kid in the Pacific Northwest for many years. I remember seeing many of those Hawaii Calls vinyl records saying Webley Edwards presents: Hawaii Calls, but I didn't really understand why he was presenting Hawaii Calls. So, I flipped to the Wikipedia page on Webley Edwards and found perhaps 4 paragraphs and then followed some links and found precious little else! I began a search on the web and found that perhaps there were 10 paragraphs of information and that many sites borrowed from other sites so it comes down to about 2 actual sources about Webley.

About this same time I mentioned Hawaii Calls to my wife (who is only 4 years younger than I) and she didn't know what I was talking about. I then began asking around my friends and associates (I live in Montana) and none of them knew what Hawaii Calls was!!! I have come to realize that people older than 60 or 70 are probably the only ones who know about Hawaii Calls and they are getting fewer and fewer everyday. So, I decided to start doing research on Webley to see what I could find out. I've been learning quite a bit; collecting articles, chapters of books, newspaper clippings, etc. I've found his living relatives and talked with most of them. I set up a Webley Edwards family history on Ancestry.com and with help some of his relatives have traced family back to the Mayflower. I've been talking with Nina Kehalihiwahumana and her brother Boyce who were both regulars on HCs. I found his physical therapist who cared for him after his first stroke up till he died. I also talked a couple times to Bill Bigelow who tried to bring the program back in the 90s.

I've learned many things that are not in any biography. But I still have MUCH to learn.

I am also doing a history of Hawaii Calls, because it's hard to separate Webley from HC. I'm here on this forum to contact those who are also interested in Hawaii Calls. I'm certain that there are many snap shots of Hawaii Calls taken by visitors to the program out there in thousands of old family photo albums. If your parents, grandparent, great-grandparents, or weird ol uncle Hal, visited Hawaii during WWII and after (during the 50s and 60s), chances are they visited the program. Also, I'm certain that there are many home movies of the program. And scripts of the programs. etc. I'm not collecting this stuff, but would like the information that can be gleaned from them about the program. What ever may be used in a biography will be properly sourced.

So thanks;
Allen Roy
Bozeman, MT

WOW!!!!

Sounds like a great project you've got going there. I would definitely be interested in helping out.

I have lot's of Hawaii Call's albums if you need pictures. A lot of these albums have booklets with tons of pictures and other information on Webley Edwards and the Hawaii Call's show.

Good luck with your project and please keep me updated on your progress.

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Aloha Allen:

My Great-Aunt, Madeline Kaululehuaohaili Lam (Maddy Lam), was a soloist with Alfred Apaka on NBC Across the Sea, and then with Webley Edwards on Hawai'i Calls. She, herself, was a Hawai'i Music Hall of Fame Honoree in 2000.

http://www.hawaiimusicmuseum.org/honorees/2000/lam.html

My eldest sister (the ohana historian) has an album of pics from Aunty Haili's (that's what we called her, but she was known by her professional name "Maddy") days with NBC and Hawai'i Calls. I will be happy to contact her and ask her if she can copy some of those pictures if you're interested.

Good luck with your project!

Pua

[ Edited by: TikiShopPua 2009-05-01 08:12 ]

On 2009-05-01 08:11, TikiShopPua wrote:
My Great-Aunt, Madeline Kaululehuaohaili Lam (Maddy Lam), was a soloist with Alfred Apaka on NBC Across the Sea, and then with Webley Edwards on Hawai'i Calls. She, herself, was a Hawai'i Music Hall of Fame Honoree in 2000.

I have read of Maddy and seen her name in relation to Hawaiian Music and Hawaii Calls in various of my sources.

My eldest sister (the ohana historian) has an album of pics from Aunty Haili's (that's what we called her, but she was known by her professional name "Maddy") days with NBC and Hawai'i Calls. I will be happy to contact her and ask her if she can copy some of those pictures if you're interested.

I would love to obtain any copies of photos and what-nots that your sister may have. Surely there are computer experts among your ohana too for whom making scans is child's play. :)

Mahalo
Allen
Bozeman, MT

[ Edited by: allenroyboy 2009-05-04 05:03 ]

The Story Of Hawaii Calls - By Webley Edwards http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=146408&highlight=webley

On 2009-05-05 12:16, msteeln wrote:
The Story Of Hawaii Calls - By Webley Edwards http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=146408&highlight=webley

Thanks for the great link. I have a copy of the programme, But the list of old timers who used to listen to the show is priceless. I hope to engage them in conversation.

Thanks: Allen

A checklist of known LP's: http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/webley_edwards

A-LO-ha Allen,

Webley's Hawaiian Calls were some of the tastiest musical broadcasts ever to grace the mainland.

I listen to my collection of Hawaiian Calls albums regularly and love the smooth, relaxed and beguiling island vibe they evoke.

Best of luck in your efforts to further document the life and accomplichments of this great ambassador of the A-LO-ha spirit, Hawaiian music and culture.

I can't do much with out the help of those who were closer to it than I. :)

Allen

A-LO-ha
Let me be anal/corrective.

The word Aloha has been mispronounced much like this for decades, even/mostly by 'show biz' Hawaiians, and is properly said without an emphasis on any part other than the ending 'ha' which is expressed breathily.

Forgive me, as I'm no expert on the Hawaiian language, but do know this.

Aloha

You are correct about the pronunciation of aloha. However, On Hawaii Calls, Edwards had the crowd shout out a-LOOO-ha. I think that is what was ment above. :)

Allen

A-LOOO-ha Allen,

Yes, that is precisely what I was referencing.

My little homage to the Web maestro.

TA

I've been toying with the following title for the book.

"The original world-wide Web--Webley Edwards"

I wish I could take credit for they idea but Erika Engle of the Honolulu Star Bulletin came up with it. If it get's used she'll get the credit. :)

This is a very irregular newsletter about my current research about Webley Edwards. Some of you may have already seen some of this info, so please forgive me.

The information basically consists of a few attachments, and I hope you'll treat the info with confidentiality. Tell your friends who are interested, but please don't publish without permission. :)

The first attachment is a copy of the passenger list of the Malolo on Sept. 27, 1928 with Webley's name. It is interesting to note that Webley got married on Sept. 19, in Corvallis, OR, then three days later he boarded the Malolo in San Francisco and arrived in Honolulu alone. The family says that Louise's father allowed them to get married, if she would stay and finish college.

Web, from Corvallis, OR, was a big sports jock at Oregon State College in Corvallis. Louise, from Albany, OR, attended the University of Oregon in Eugene and was a member of the women's fraternity Kappa Alpha Theta. The sports rivalry between the two school is legendary. If anyone knows or suspects how Web and Louise met, I'd sure like to know!

The second attachment is a newspaper photo of Web making a touchdown in Honolulu. He was hired by Schuman Carriage, Inc. to come play football on the senior league "Town Team" and to sell cars. Web played in the first two games of the season stomping the opposition 76-0 and 54-0. He tells of getting injured, (look at their uniforms!) and the papers show that He didn't play in the last 4 games of the season. They were soundly defeated each game, but for one they just barely won.

I am always looking for new stories about Webley and Louise and Hawaii Calls. It is the personal stories that really make a biography. Facts and photos alone just don't cut it. Here are some human interest stories that illustrate what I'm talking about.

"When my mom graduated from high school, she spent 5 weeks on Oahu with them at their house in Kahala. They had a wonderful time. Each morning they would sit down to papaya & guava juice; which Kai, their Japanese maid would serve. Web would ask what they planned on doing for the day. Occasionally, he would drive them to Waikiki beach on his way to work. He was always generous and would give them money for lunch.

"One morning, towards the end of mom's 5 weeks in Hawaii, my great Aunt Louise told my mom that it was probably time for them to return to Seattle. The day before, my mom and her girlfriend were bleaching their hair and bleach flew onto the wallpaper. Mom tried to wipe it off and the paper came with it! Needless to say, it was time to go!"

"When mom & dad were married they honeymooned on Oahu. They went to Web's
show at the Moana Hotel and Web introduced them to the crowd."

"It's been 36 years so I don't have a lot of detail. Webley was a patient at the Rehab Hospital of the Pacific when I first met him sometime in early 1972 [after his stroke]. K.M. was his therapist at that time. K. and I went into private practice together and Webley was one of our first patients. We both treated him for a number of months til we felt he could manage well enough from his wheelchair at home. During the time I knew him, he had a wonderful sense of humor, was mentally bright, intelligent and worked hard physically to improve his mobility.

"I have a story that I share about him from time to time because it still makes me smile today. The day we opened our therapy practice Web was there with us in his wheelchair, dressed well and looking spiffy as ever. A new patient had walked in the door and I was very nervous and wanted to make a good impression, so I said hello, looked at my partner and introduced her as myself. Web looked up at me and said, "and who might you be?" Of course, that broke the ice, made us laugh and made a potentially awkward situation not awkward.

"I still am thrilled (can't think of a better word) that I had an opportunity to know him. He was always interesting to talk to, and I think we got more from him than he did from us."

"When I first arrived in the Islands, my husband worked as an engineer for KPOA, doing the news for Lucky Luck. On Saturdays, they did the broadcast from the Moana Hotel...and I was pressed into service to hold the microphone by the surf....for that lead in wonderful sound of the "beach at Waikiki" Working for the old Trade Wind Tours, I and all my co-workers sold the buffet luncheon served prior to the broadcast (which assured one of a seat in the broadcast audience). I think the luncheon was awfully expensive, something like $2.00!"

Great stuff!

I have been able this summer to spend more time doing research. But, I'll be back in school at Montana State U. in Sept. trying to finish my BS in Paleontology in my middle ages (I'm 58). I've got about 2 years to go part time.... So, the research on Webley will again go on the back burner.

Sincerely:

Allen Roy
Bozeman, MT
4065798062 Verizon cell

In my biographical research of Webley Edwards and Hawaii Calls, the influence of Hawaii Calls on the Hawaiian tourist industry is often mentioned by old time listeners of the program. To see if I could verify those claims, I collected Hawaii tourist data through 2007 from the on-line visitor statistics available from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism ( http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/HAWAII_HISTORICAL_2007.xls ). I plotted the data on the three graphs presented below along with information I gathered about the means of transportation to Hawaii over the years.

The graphs are the same data presented in 3 different vertical scales of visitors per year to Hawaii—8,000,000; 1,000,000; and 100,000. Each graph emphasizes important aspects of the data. The first shows the growth of tourist numbers to Hawaii. The second puts things in context to the population of Oahu. And the third emphasizes the early years of tourism.

Graph 1

As can be seen the means of transportation has had a vast influence over the numbers of tourists to Hawaii. Before WWII nearly all tourism was by ship. The Pan Am Clipper Ships had a negliable influence, but they signal a massive change to come. After the war, DC-4s were the primary air travel means, but even then the influence was small. However, there was a huge difference in price between ship and air travel in favor of planes. The introduction of B-377 Stratocaster planes by Pan Am in 1949 with even cheeper air fare signaled the boom on tourists to Hawaii. With the introduction of the B-707 in 1959 and the B-747 in 1969 travel by ship was doomed and the number of visitors to Hawaii soared.

Graph 2

The population of Oahu (according to US Census) has gone from about 130,000 in 1920 to about 870,000 in 2000. While this is a fairly large increase, compared to the more than 7,000,000 tourist per year it does not seem all that much. It is interesting to note that the population on Oahu during WWII in 1944 was not equaled until the mid 1970s.

Another interesting line is the average tourists per day. It runs at something like 18% of the population. However, the number of average tourists per day today has almost reached the level of the island population in 1930.

Graph 3

How much the Great Depression and WWII affected tourism can be clearly seen on graph 3. Also, the maximum number of ship passengers appears to be in about 1949. (There is no data that shows the breakdown between ship and airline numbers during this time so the decrease in ship passengers that lead to the demise of passenger ship service to Hawaii in the early 1970s is not apparent.) It is very interesting to note the passenger numbers for cruise ships to and around Hawaii beginning in about 1982. They start out with about the same passengers per year as at the height of the early passenger service and then boom off the chart. By 2007, as seen on graph 2, the number of cruise ship passengers had nearly reached the entire population of Oahu back in 1960.

Now, to the question of the influence of Hawaii Calls on tourism. It is very apparent that the numbers of visitors to Hawaii has been controlled by the means of transportation to Hawaii. However, what was it that demanded the need for better and cheaper transportation? This is not clear at all from this data. And it is apparent from other research I conducted so far that Hawaiian visitor bureaus over the years have been very aggressive in wooing tourist to Hawaii. Hawaii Calls was a part of that advertising being paid for by the tourist bureaus (funded by the government). Whether Hawaii Calls was a major player in drawing tourists to Hawaii remains to be seen. The program was very big before the rise of TV. Then, beginning about the 1960s, its popularity dwindled down to nearly nothing by the end of its run in 1975. It may be argued that the program was the major influence for tourists who remember listening to the program on radio in mid winter with minus 20 temps and a wind chill factor of another 30 degrees. But with the rise of TV and the shift in radio programming to popular and rock and role music, the relevancy of the program was lost. It may not be possible to truly measure the influence of Hawaii Calls, but to those who used to listen to it long ago, it is an irreplaceable, indelible memory.

[Correction: It should read on the graphs B-377 STRATOCRUISER. ]

[ Edited by: allenroyboy 2009-07-22 07:35 ]

Incredible research Roy!!!! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

AllenRoyBoy..PM. :)