Tutu's Silvery Tub

About the Book

Tutu’s Silvery Tub contains some of the author’s earliest memories of growing up in Hawai‘i’s plantation era. It pre-dates the time of the myriad labor saving devices available to the homemaker of today. Tutu’s aluminum washtub served multiple functions in her home. It was a necessary item for doing the daily laundry; gathering fruit, coconuts, and vegetables from the garden; transported the day’s catch home from the sea; and held potting soil for transplanting yard flowers and vegetables. It was also a backyard wading pool; and when empty and upended, served as a Japanese taiko drum. When Tutu passes away, her grandchildren were all in school. He silvery tub was retired to on the bathhouse wall, a fond memory of days when people were inventive and used what was available for life’s daily activities.

About the Author

Uluhani Ononui was born and raised in Hawai‘i, in a sugar plantation town on the Island of Kaua‘i. Home was a rambling house on a two-acre parcel surrounded by coconut palms and mango trees. She and her five siblings and her Mother lived with her grandparents. Her Grandmother (“Tutu”) was from Japan; her Grandfather was a Hawaiian cowboy and the local sheriff. Uluhani attended the local schools, obtained her teaching certificate in California, and her Masters Degree from the University of Hawai‘i. She was certified to teach kindergarten through twelfth grade and taught school for thirty-six years. Her stories are autobiographical and reflect her memories of Kaua’i transitioning from an agrarian society of subsistence farming, sugar and pineapple plantations, to a modern tourist Mecca, Pacific bastion of the Armed Forces of the United States of America, and mid-Pacific crossroads of international business, communications, and travel