Flag Day - The 49 Star Flag Story (1959)

There won’t be too many people left in a few more decades who will remember the last time we added a star; or two; to our flag. So, I try to drag this story out as often as I can.

Today is Flag Day, which always prompts me to recall a day toward the end of kindergarten when my teacher, Mrs. Gerber, unveiled a new flag in our classroom. We had been saluting the 48 star flag, even though Alaska had entered the Union as the 49th state on January 3rd, 1959. Here it was June and we still had the old 48 star flag hanging at the front of the classroom in Public School 197 in Brooklyn.

With all appropriate drama, Mrs. Gerber unrolled the new 50 star flag as she carefully explained that yet another state, Hawaii, would be joining the Union in August. This would be just before we returned to school. Since the City did not have the funds to replace the flags twice in one year, they had opted to wait until the next state was added to make that change. We were getting a preview of the 50 star flag that would become our new National Symbol in August.

It wasn't until a few years later, while collecting stamps, that I actually saw a 49 star flag. The placement of the stars on the field of blue is somewhat of an art. It must be done in uniform rows to look right. The current 50 star flag relies on a pattern of two rows; 5 stars and 4 stars respectively, repeated 5 times and then the last row of 5 to make 50 stars. Very symmetrical.

The 49 star flag, which is seldom seen, has the same alternating pattern, only with 4 stars and 3 stars. The pattern, repeated 7 times, yields the 49 stars that represented the States in the Union at the time. The first row is 4 stars and by necessity, the last row is only 3 stars.

Flag Day was actually celebrated in the schools back then. Times have changed but history remains the same. So for those who have never seen it, here is the 49 star flag that reigned for a scant 8 months back in 1959.

Tokens

They're tiny and seemingly meaningless- but in their day these little babies were the gateway to the rest of the world beyond my own neighborhood. They have always held a fascination for me. The first time I saw one was on my father’s dresser with his change. I remember that I didn't need one until I was over 6. I still recall the slogan- "Little enough to ride for free- little enough to ride your knee."

As a coin collector I used to shun these little guys- but I always made sure to save one or two whenever the NYC tokens were changed. I have given them away, one by one, over the years, to friends and my kids. My wife even has one of the older little ones as a necklace. In 1967 I went by "D" train into Manhattan and shopped at Macy's on 34th Street for Christmas using one of these same tokens.

The best part of holding one of these in your hands is the unknown, untold story that each could tell. Look at the Honolulu token for instance. I see a sailor on liberty in pre-World War II Hawaii. The trolley probably took him from the docks to the bar district or maybe he even had a girlfriend. Where was this token on the morning of December 7th, 1941? Oh, how I wish these guys could talk!

The Baltimore and the South Carolina tokens are from the days of segregation and were once held in the hands of white, blue collar workers as well as the African American passengers, who, after handing over the fare had to "move to the rear of the bus." How odd that they could share the tokens but not the seats...

The Miami token recalls a time when people from New York went down to Florida for the winter. While there they used the streetcars and rode alongside the Cuban maids and hotel workers. I have a picture of my mother's family in Miami in the 1940's and can't help wonder if my mom; or even my great granddad Max; used one of these on the way to Neiman Marcus to shop. Maybe even this one!

The delicate designs, the flourishes at the edges and the delightful cutouts in the centers give these tokens all the grace of real coins. They are hallmarks to the past.

You can find these little beauties in almost any coin shop- usually in a box marked "Special" and selling for less than a buck. I like to turn them over in my hand and read the inscriptions and spin stories in my head about them, where they were and who used them. Not bad for less than a buck.

Flag Day and the 49 Star Flag - 1959

I remember the day as clearly as if it were yesterday. We were getting a new flag in my Kindergarten class- but there was a twist to it. Alaska was being admitted as a state, to be closely followed in a year, by Hawaii. There had been 48 stars on the flag since about 1912, and now there was set to be 2 changes to the flag in one year’s time. Although the school authorities were very much concerned with the fiscal aspects of the changes, I was more enthralled with the idea that I was living through an historical event.

The schools I went to were the Public Schools in Brooklyn, New York. In my case I was at PS 197 on Kings Highway and East 22^nd Street, when these events occurred. Our teacher, a young boy’s dream named Mrs. Gerber; she wore seamed stockings; explained that buying two flags in one year for each classroom would be too costly for the City to bear. Instead, they were jumping ahead to the following year when Hawaii would be admitted, making 50 states, and 50 stars, on the flag. Seriously, I was a bit miffed at the decision, even at the age of five. Let me explain.

My favorite TV show at the time was “Yukon King”, which starred Preston Foster, who played a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman, and his dog, who pulled his sled. So, I was very excited to hear that we were getting a piece of the action in that part of the country! Hawaii, on the other hand, was just a very faraway place where pineapples came from, for which I had no use. I could not, at the age of five, see the strategic advantage of having Hawaii as a state, thus extending our borders. The events at Pearl Harbor were just a vague concept to me at the time. I knew that something had happened there, but wasn't quite sure what.

Alaska, on the other hand, held an immediate connection for me. It was, as I said earlier, my favorite TV show at the time. So, this is my earliest memory of our flag. I do vaguely recall learning the Pledge of Allegiance, but that was more of an assignment than a personal connection. The flag is human to me; when it flaps in the breeze I am happy. Some may call that imperialistic, or empirical. I just know that I grew up feeling pretty secure under that banner. Though the past few administrations; both Democratic and Republican; have been disappointing to say the least, the flag has remained as a symbol of what we once were, and can be again. 

By the way, if you were looking for some sort of lesson in the above story, sorry to disappoint you. It's just a story about one of my earliest memories of the flag.

"What a Wonderful World" - Two Versions

I'm just taking it easy for a day or so. But I ran across this gem on You Tube. I was going to post something more about the universal appeal of music, and the perceived threat that it poses to organized governments. Really, I have it all laid out in my head, but am too lazy to do it today.

But basically, you take a song like "What Wonderful World", which has been done by so many artists over the years, and explore the general societal circumstances under which is was written, and the different cultures, in which it turns up. And you begin to see the universality of music.

Louis Armstrong recorded the song first. It was recorded in New York City, where Mr. Armstrong lived, in 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War. The song itself was written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss that same year. George Douglas is also sometimes listed as a co-writer. It didn't get a lot of mainstream airplay at the time, though it did "chart".

The song was about just what the title said - "What Wonderful World" it could be. Not a great record for the radio to be playing while the listeners were viewing the daily "Body Count" of the war on the evening news. The song was recorded on August 16, 1967,and went to number one in Europe. It did moderately well among the jazz set of the time in America, but didn't really hit it's stride until it was featured in the film "Good Morning Vietnam".

The composers, Bob Thiele and George David Weiss were both long known in the jazz circle as writers and producers. Bob Thiele was with Impulse Records, and had worked with many of the legends of his time, including John Coltrane, Charlie Mingus, and Charlie Haden.

David Weiss, was strictly a songwriter, having penned some great songs in his time. If he had only written Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love", that song alone would've cemented his place in music history forever.

George Douglas is somewhat of a mystery, so I have nothing to say about him.

Then ukelele atrist Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, known simply as IZ, took it to a whole new level when he re-recorded the song as a medley with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in Hawaii on the album "Ka 'Ano'i" in 1993. I have posted that video here before, it is truly a moving portrait of a very unusual artist. In a way, he has made that song his own epitah, as it was recorded shortly before he passed away in 1997.

Watch the video through to the end. It really is a stunning piece of work. By coupling "What a Wonderful World" with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" he has completed the circle of thought. His message is that, although it "could" be a wonderful world down here, there is someplace waiting where that dream has already been achieved. In short, there is always hope.

And I think that's why music is such a threat to certain groups. Whether you believe that or not, it's still a very comforting thought. The scenes after 2 minutes and 40 seconds are of IZ's funeral, in the blue waters of his beloved Hawaii.

There will always be people who can't stand hope. It makes them feel threatened. Sometimes they have used music for propaganda, but it doesn't work for long. Real hope is hard to fake. So, this one's for them!

Happy Flag Day and the 49 Star Flag

Back in 1959, when I was in Kindergarten, Alaska had just been admitted to the Union, bringing the total number of stars on the flag to 49. Notice the pattern of the alternating rows of stars. Four and three, repeated seven times, for a total of 49 stars. It wouldn't last long though, and so most Americans have never seen a 49 star flag.

In 1959, when this flag was released on July 4th, Hawaii was already on it's way to becoming the 50th State within a year's time. This posed quite a burden on the Public Schools in New York City, where I lived at the time. Imagine replacing every flag, in every classroom, in every school! Now imagine the enormous expense involved in such an endeavor.

The solution was easy, the school system simply waited out the summer months and the 50 star flag did not make it's appearance in my school until the following year, when Hawaii was admitted into the Union.

So many people are unaware of this unusual flag, and today is Flag Day, so I thought it would be colorful, and informative, to display it here. Happy Flag Day!

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Like books, one You Tube leads to another and this is where I wound up - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole was a legendary ukelele player from Hawaii. I first became aware of him in 2005, about 8 years after his death. He suffered from morbid obesity his entire life. But his time was not wasted. He regaled his fellow islanders with a beautiful voice and more than an ample knowledge of the ukelele, an instrument native to the islands.

His beautiful, and somewhat prophetic blending of two beautiful songs, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "What A Wonderful World" has been re-recorded by many artists since his death in 1997, but none has even come close to matching the beauty of Mr. Kamakawiwo'ole and his rendition of this medley.

There is a higher quality version on You Tube, but it has an annoying 10 second ad which I would rather spare you. At the end of this video, which was compiled after Mr. Kamakawiwo'ole passed away, his fellow islanders can be seen taking his ashes out in an outrigger canoe, and scattering them in the beloved blue waters of his home.

Israel, or "Iz", as he was known, was more than an entertainer, he was a force for change, as seen in this video link from a concert in which he implores the youth of the islands to return to the values of their native culture, and to give up the gangs and drugs in order to embrace the land. Notice the oxygen tubes at his nose; even while performing, with his chronic illness, his voice could not be silenced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdTj4sJ1CNA

"Charlie Chan" by Yunte Huang

Until I ran across this book in the Library I thought that Charlie Chan was merely a fictional character in old movies and novels. Boy, was I wrong. Charlie Chan, that most honorable of Detectives, is based on the real life of Detective Chang Apana of the Honolulu Police Department.

The author, Yunte Huang, begins the book with a short, but fascinating history of the Hawaiian Islands. Horses were first introduced there, along with beef cattle, in the early 1800's. Are you wondering how this fits in with Charlie Chan? So was I.

Chang Apana was born in Hawaii in either 1869 or 1871, the record is sketchy on that. His given name was Ah Pung. At the age of three his family, which had emigrated from China a few years earlier, decided to move back home. The move to Canton opened Chang's eyes to a different world from that to which he was accustomed. At three years old he was expected to contribute something to the household, even picking up sticks for firewood was a helpful chore. Canton was a squalid village in the 1870's, with not much opportunity for advancement. It wasn't long before the family was broke and Chang's parents sent him and an Uncle back to Hawaii as laborers. Chang was 9 years old at the time.

Arriving in Honolulu was not the romantic affair depicted in the movies. Rather than a Lei, upon arrival young Chang is given a metal tag to wear which identifies the plantation he belongs to. He is basically a serf, a part of the Chinese "coolie" labor system which was in practice then.

Hawaii had a large cattle industry by this time, as well as sugarcane fields. Young Chang would come to know them both well. But his expertise began to show itself when dealing with cattle, and he bacame one of Hawaii's best known "paniolos", or cowboys. His experience with a whip would later earn him a reputation as a fierce "no-nonsense" law officer.

But his big break into the "white" world came via Helen Wilder, the daughter of a wealthy American businessman. Ms. Wilder longed to establish a Hawaiian branch of the Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The initial effort failed, but Ms. Wilder was determined to make it work, so in 1898 she was able to re-establish the effort as The Humane Society. Her first choice for an officer was Chang, who had been working for her father and had demonstrated his ability to work with animals, as well as care for them. He was a very busy man. Along the waterfront alone, there were hundreds of cases per month of people not feeding their horses, or beating them until they dropped. Chang fashioned his own whip and began to issue fines, as well as beatings, to those who did not think he was serious.

The author, Mr. Huang, takes every opportunity in this book to tie the history of the island in with the story of Chang and his rise to top Detective. For instance, he explores the complex nature of being Chinese in an American "possession" like Hawaii. He explains the meaning of the Chinese queue, or "pigtail." In China the queue was mandatory, cutting it off would get you beheaded. Many Chinese, even after leaving China, could not bring themselves to cut their queues off. Chang had no such reservations. This cultural dilemma also extended itself to the actions of Chang as an Officer with the Humane Society. As a Chinese, Chang would have believed in re-incarnation. This means that whenever he saw an animal being mistreated he looked upon it as someone torturing the soul of someone who had done some evil in life, thus being relegated to the body of a lesser being after death. As a stableman and cowboy, he would have had great affection for the animals he saw being mistreated on a daily basis.

In 1898 Hawaii was annexed as a territory of the United States. The new Police Force was set up by a man named Arthur Morgan Brown, who was the son of a sea captain. Mr. Brown, like Chang, was born in Honolulu. And they were both friends with Ms. Helen Wilder. And so Chang became one of the first policeman in Honolulu after the annexation by the United States.

By 1904 Changs reputation as a tough, but fair and honest cop, was cemented in the islands history. He once rounded up 40 of Hawaii's most notorious gangsters and gamblers in a single sweep. He disguised himself as a street person and gained entrance to the gambling hall. He then produced his fearsome whip, cracked it loudly once, and marched all 40 of the gangsters to the jail. Not one of the criminals dared to go for their weapons, as Changs skill with a whip was beyond legendary.

Earl Derr Biggers was an author in search of a new novel when he arrived in Hawaii in 1920. He was a very successful author of fiction, as well as a contibutor of short stories to the Saturday Evening post and Ladies Home Journal. His arrival in Honolulu coincided with the opium epidemic that was sweeping the island at the time. Mr. Biggers was fascinated with the daily paper and the stories of the opium dens and police corruption. He was already writing a novel about it all, "The House Without a Key", in his head, when he met Chang Apana. This would become the first novel he wrote in which the fictional Charlie Chan appears, although the first Charlie Chan book would not make it's appearance until 1926 with the release of "The Chinese Parrot."

Taken by the polyglot nature of Chang and his philosphies, the author began to write a sketch of a fictional Detective, who embodied all of the things he saw in Chang. A mixture of wisdom, cunning and daring, this character was the mirror image of the real life Chang. By 1926 "The Chinese Parrot" was released, beginning a run of 6 books featuring the fictional Charlie Chan. In the 1930's these books became the basis for all of the Charlie Chan films to come later.

This book is broad in it's scope, combining both the history and the legends, to illustrate the creative process that gave birth to one of literature's most endurable fictional characters. Somehow, the author has managed to present all of this information in a wholly readable fashion. Chang Apana passed away in Honolulu in 1933. In writing this book the author draws on the famous Detectives interviews from 1932, as well as newspaper articles of the time, to capture the essence of this legendary man.

But no account of either the fictional Charlie Chan, or the real life Chang Apana, would be complete without quoting from one of his many philosophical observations. "Truth like football - receive many kicks before reaching goal."

Flag Day 1959 - 49 Stars - The Forgotten Flag

June 14, 2009: Today is flag day, which always prompts me to recall a day toward the end of kindergarten when my teacher, Mrs. Gerber, unveiled a new flag in our classroom. We had been saluting the 48 star flag, even though Alaska had entered the Union as the 49th state on January 3rd, 1959. Here it was June and we still had the old 48 star flag hanging at the front of the classroom in Public School 197 in Brooklyn.

With all appropriate drama, Mrs. Gerber unrolled the new 50 star flag as she carefully explained that yet another state, Hawaii, would be joining the Union in August. This would be just before we returned to school. Since the City did not have the funds to replace the flags twice in one year, they had opted to wait until the next state was added to make that change. We were getting a preview of the 50 star flag that would become our new National Symbol in August.

It wasn't until many years later, while collecting stamps, that I actually saw a 49 star flag. The placement of the stars on the field of blue is somewhat of an art. It must be done in uniform rows to look right. The current 50 star flag relies on a pattern of two rows; 5 stars and 4 stars respectively, repeated 5 times and then the last row of 5 to make 50 stars. Very symmetrical.

The 49 star flag, which is seldom seen, has the same alternating pattern, only with 4 stars and 3 stars. The pattern, repeated 7 times, yields the 49 stars that represented the States in the Union at the time. The first row is 4 stars and by necessity, the last row is only 3 stars.

Flag Day was actually celebrated in the schools back then. Times have changed but history remains the same. So for those who have never seen it, here is the 49 star flag that reigned for a scant 8 months back in 1959.