Description
Paipo Surfboard with Hawaiian Crest made circa 1920. This board was the precursor to the belly board. Commonly referred to as a "hotel board" these boards were loaned by the hotels to their guests for personal use and for lessons with the Waikiki Beach Boys. The moderate size of these boards allowed for easy play in the water and made it easy for the tourists to purchase a board and transport it back to the mainland. This board offers a wonderful decorative essence from the era while taking up less space then the traditional longboard or paddleboard.
This board shows its age and use. The emblem displays the Hawaiian crest and the words UA MAU KE EA O KA AINA I KA PONO, roughly translated as "The Life Of The Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness."
The General Veneer Company in South Gate (a suburb of Los Angeles) California manufactured the boards with the cut-out handles for the Royal Hawaiian and Moana Hotels. A few guests brought them back to the mainland as a lifetime memory of their trip to the then very distant shores of Hawaii, very few have survived in this condition.
