You never know what you are going to find at an estate sale. I don't know about you, but I've never seen these before. I even had a hard time finding info about them on the world wide web!
Apparently they are vintage leis from the 1940's
They are crafted from the most vibrant and colorful vintage crepe paper!
Fortunately, several strands still have their paper tags attached.
This one reads:
To lend Hawaiian atmosphere
And make your visit with us gay.
We'd give you rainbows and steel guitars
Tradewinds, and palms that sway.
But rainbows are difficult to pack
And tradewinds could be, too.
So, we'll make our wish Hawaiian
Aloha nui loa, to you!
KAILUA LANIKAI
CHAPTER NO. 9 O.E.S.
This rainbow group of yellow, orange & marigold includes an unusual chenille one.
Their tags read:
LEAHI CHAPTER NO. 2. O. E. S.
HONOLULU, HAWAII
LEAHI'S FAREWELL
Will you remember when you go away
The fragrance of ginger bloom in a white lei?
Will you remember the blue of the sea
That fades into sapphires at Waikiki?
Will you remember this meeting to-day,
Your last visit before going away?
Will you? We know you will.
Before your ship sails away from these beautiful shores
We wish to bid you Farewell, until we see you once more.
&
"LEI KAPILLIALOHA"
'Tis a Hawaiian custom
To give a LEI,
To express the thoughts
Words cannot say,
A token of ALOHA
And of friendship true,
All this and more
A LEI brings to you.
And then there is this cluster of multi-colored strands, held together by a straw hat!
LORE OF THE LEI
Wear the Lei,
Luck for you!
Wish your fate,
'T will come true!
Aren't they beautiful?
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17 comments:
They ARE wonderful. Love those colors. I saw them on your sidebar and kept wondering what they were. What will you do with them?
Now, I see. They're up for grabs to some lucky person!
Dolfina, love your site. Came to visit you from mine. So sweet of you to read what I call my "aimless wonders" and "streams of consciousness". I love your finds and I'll be checking them often!
Karina
SO beautiful! bring them so we can make our visit Gay!
E and J
I'd say these should go to market with you ... whatya say?
we might have to talk before Thurs...I need a fix ...
just got home from painting...hitting the Canon hard to get some more wonderful junk up on the burbs site ...
What a gorgeous post! These are just lovely, as are the message behind them! Tracey xx
ugh! just wrote the longest comment and accidently erased it! As I was saying, These are JUST GORGEOUS! A chenille one, that's so awesome! I love the 40's....they way they made poems out of everything, things were just more simpler back then. I can totally imagine the group of yellow ones on a black eyelet Dior dress with a flared skirt and pointy sling-back shoes. Very carrie bradshaw!!
Terri, I did not realize these had the tags with the poems on them, that makes them even more wonderful. I can only imagine what a fun time someone had wearing them in the 1940's The colors are amazing. kathysue
They are beautiful. I've never seen them before. So colorful
Visting you for the first time has been a joy. You have quite an eye...I've seen so many things I love. Fill that bottle up with Tuaca - it is delicious, and what a sensational bottle.
Catherine
They are beautiful and I love that saying "Rainbows are difficult to pack". Cute.
My Finnish husband would love these, he is into all Hawaian and tiki. He is in opinion that a man born under a palm tree is happier than a man born under a pine tree... At least it's much warmer now under a palm tree than in here...
Those are really neat. The attached tags make them quite special.
They are beautiful! What a great find! Have a sweet day!
What a treasure that they have poems still attached. I wouldn't be able to part with them- they are far too beautiful of a time that can only be imagined through the beautiful poetry and color still attached to these. You can smell Hawaii just reading them. Isn't there a scene in From Here to Eternity with Donna Reed- where she is leaving Hawaii on a ship back to the mainland and you can sense in that scene everything she is leaving behind. These poems capture that feeling in the same way. Very melancholic. Love it.
My mother passed this year and I have four large leis, white, light blue, dark blue and one orange. The smaller ones are an orange, purple and fauna. I also came across a dog light pink. These were given to my mom by her aunt who lived in Hawaii for a while and she mailed them to my mom. If I remember right I think my mom's aunt was there during the time when Pearl Harbor was bombed. So glad you found these and I guess 1940s would be about right, was also thinking the late 1930s too. I will have to see if I can find anything on exactly when my mom's aunt got married in Hawaii. I know her kids were born there, now since passed too. I also have printed napkins ans small perfume bottles with flowers made of s mall shells that were also made in Hawaii. I am keeping these items for now.
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