Saturday, August 21, 2010

Monkey Pod Treasure

Look at this beautiful hand carved Monkey Pod wood bowl made by Blair's of Hawaii. It seems Blair's was a store in Waikiki in the 1960s and these bowls were big sellers. This one is signed on the bottom; etched in the wood it says "Blair Hawaii Monkey Pod".

Where did I find this you ask? At the grand opening of a Goodwill store in Augusta, Georgia. Ed and I went to find some foam for our truck seats and while in the shopping plaza, met up with some local Sheriffs who were admiring our truck. Ed invited them in and we wound up talking with them for about thirty minutes. They told us of the grand opening of the store and off we went.

This great find now sits on our kitchen counter. One man's trash is another man's treasure.


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14 comments:

Terry said...

You really don't see a lot of Monkey Pod stuff. We were in Hawaii for 5 years when I was a kid and this is very reminiscent of some of the stuff we had. Brings back a lot of memories. If I'm not mistaken, my mom had a similar piece and there was a set of large grapes that went with it. I'm pretty sure she still has it, my mom doesn't get rid of anything.

Nicolle said...

That is gorgeous! I love it. What a find!

Anonymous said...

My folks had one just like it in the '70s.
I I found another one just like it at a thrift shop for 2 bucks, a few years ago.

Excellent quality, and very handy :)

Unknown said...

I just found one today at a thrift store!

The Daily Rant said...

JOANNE: Good for you! They're beautiful, aren't they? Enjoy!

Kurt Olney said...

I spoke with Blair before he died back in the mid 90's. These trays use to sell for 15-20 bucks 1950's money. They were all hand carved by skilled Japanese wood workers. Blair said when they ran out of wood on the Big Island, they went to the Philippines. When that ran out he went to Thailand. Sadly, the very old Monkey Pod trees are gone. Anything Monkeypod today is 25 or 30 year old wood, if that.

The Daily Rant said...

YO3A007: Pretty cool that you knew the Blair guy. Was Blair a first name or last? And was it a guy? LOL The tray is beautiful, I love it. And I'm so excited that I got it for a few bucks - less than $5. It's so smooth and timeworn. And as you can see, shiny. :) Thanks for the information. I love it even more now!

The Daily Rant said...

Oops. Guess Blair was a guy. You said "he".

Jesse Britton said...

Just picked one up at a garage sale! Fun finding this thread and learning about it! :)

Anonymous said...

Millard Blair, a master woodturning craftsman whose passion for woodworking led him to own and operate the very first Hawaiian woodworking business in the Blair family line. Founded on Oahu in 1945, Blair LTD thrived for more than 40 years. History and care for the bowl designs themselves can be found at this link http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/pdfs/cnsv-calabashes.pdf

The Daily Rant said...

ANONYMOUS: Thank you so much for this information!

Anonymous said...

I found two monkey pod bowls with pearl wrapped inside. One from Honolulu, Hawaii and Philippines at my local Goodwill. I love them! So glad to find others enjoy here too!

Unknown said...

This was fun to read as my parents bought a few of these pieces when they were stationed in Hawaii back in the late 60's & then the late 70's and they still have them. It sure does bring back lotw of memories.:)

SP5 said...

I am a long time collector of made in Hawaii motif wooden ware (Monkypod and Koa) I am developing a website about the craft and the craftsmen. The site the covers history, examples and catologues. www.waikikiwoods.com enjoy.