Divided back, Real Photo Postcard, unused with writing. Circa early 1950’s.

Price:  $10.00

Real Photo Postcard in black and white, signed by Hawaii tour guide, John Arquero. He is shown wearing an example of a traditional costume worn by Hawaiian male royalty. He wrote,  “Your Guide, King Aloha John Arquero Tour, Hilo Hawaii”  and is majestically posed holding an upright spear, wearing a long cape, and the type of headgear called mahiole.

According to The British Museum website,  “Helmets, known as mahiole, were constructed of the aerial roots of the ‘ie’ie vine, woven into a basketry frame. They were perfectly fitted to an individual, and protected the most sacred part of the body, the head. All of a chief’s garments were considered tapu, having a divine or sacred power, and would not be worn by anyone else.”

The helmet and cape were traditionally covered in feathers:  red-orange from the ‘i’iwi bird, a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, and black and yellow from the oo’s and the kioea. The two latter being the common Hawaiian names for two (sadly now distinct) species, that were once previously misclassified as honeyeaters.

Sources:  The British Museum. “Hawaiian feather helmut.” Web accessed 17 Jul 2014. [http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/f/hawaiian_feathered_helmet.aspx]

Wikipedia. ʻIʻiwi. Web accessed Jul 17 2014. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBI%CA%BBiwi]

Smithsonian. “Hawaii’s Bird Family Tree Rearranged.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 December 2008. Web accessed 18 Jul 2014 [www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081211121827.htm]