HULA MOONS by DON BLANDING ~SURF FISH PARTY 1930s Hawaii~Maui HB 1938 Art Prose

Description

HULA
MOONS
Written and Illustrated by
DON BLANDING
Published by
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
NEW YORK
MCMXXXVIII
Copyright 1930
This is an Seventh printing January, 1938
Hardbound, in good- condition, 303 pages, which includes two FRONTISPIECES, a DEDICATION, PREFACE, CONTENTS, a List of ILLUSTRATIONS  and a GLOSSARY OF HAWAIIAN WORDS, measures approximately 6 ¾” x 9 ¼”.
Boards are covered in blue cloth with silver printing on the spine and a graphic design blind stamped on the front cover.  The are surfaces are moderately soiled and blemshed with some loosening of the fabric over the spine.  Edgewear is moderate but no worn through areas, no board exposure, creasing to the ends of the spine but no significant tears, no fabric loss or fraying.  The book has been fitted with a Protective Dust Jacket of 5 ml Mylar, an archivally stable substance to better protect it in the future.
The interior is clean and firmly bound with no loose or mis-aligned pages. The front paste down and fly page present a two-page graphic in sepia toning.  The hinges appear to have been reglued and are secure.  The contents reveal age toning and possible moisture exposure to the upper free corner of the first few pages but no foxing  The pages are of heavy weight stock with an uncut vertical edge.  A previous owner listed a number of names (personal contacts?)  on the verso side of the fly page.  There are no other previous owner names marks, no creases or tears.
HULA MOONS includes 12 double-page woodcuts and additional partials that display Hawaii in classic Blanding fashion. This particular edition being one of the more deluxe printings, includes front end page graphics, plus the Color Frontispiece “Hawaii Nei” by Earl Challenger and Don Blanding.  This piece, one often reproduced for framing, is beautifully colored and in perfect condition.
The “Blue Lagoon” Photograph by Max Long of Honolulu is also included in this copy.  These were eliminated in the more economic printings of Hula Moons.
"Another South Seas book?”
Hula Moons is Mr. Blanding’s answer to the question,
“
Is the glamour gone from Hawaii?”
It is written primarily in prose, with a few verses and many graphic pictures by w
hich Mr. Blanding presents the glamour of Hawaii as no one had before.
(Excerpts from Chapter  “Waikiki”.
"
Parties are usually progressive
affairs.  After exhausting the amusement resources of one bungalow, the entire group will move on, invited or uninvited, to another house; there they join forces, and the movement grows until it becomes a neighborhood affair.  Someone remembers that there’s a party underway in someone’s mountain house on Tantalus.  Everyone piles into cars that speed up the cool heights for hours of dancing.  The next trek is to the beach at Kailua, on the other side of the Island for a moonlight or sunrise swim.  And so on, and so on.”
”There is one time when the beach boys really justify the phrase ‘bronze gods.’  On the surf boards, riding the windswift waves.  A dozen of them will paddle lazily out, lying on the long koa-wood boards, a third of a mile toward the horizon, where the smoking breakers roll shoreward.”
“They are an impressive sight from the shore.  The boards are lost from sight in the white foam.  They seem to be Mercurys speeding with winged feet over the water or mad horselions of Neptune.  Sometimes two riders guide their boards close together and, nimble as acrobats, step from one board to another, changing mounts.  A few of the boys are able to ride double, one seated on the other’s shoulders.”
Imagine the ticket lines at Matson’s steamship counters growing longer as a result of Mr. Blanding’s Polynesian testimonials.  As much an unforgettable book today as it was 80 or 90 years ago,  HULA MOONS  is a must for every Hawaiiana or Blanding collection.
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E Komo Mai
(Welcome)
Mandarin Books Hawaii
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