Surfing and World War II

The art of surfing and the art of war have long paralleled each other. In popular culture, specifically in film the two mediums have intersected to create very significant and iconic images, think Jack in Big Wednesday, Lance Johnson and Col. Kilgore in Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Though both films take place in the 1960's against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the parallel can be traced back much further.

On November 20th 1943, the combined amphibious forces of the US Navy and the 2nd Marine Division, launched an assault on the Gilbert Island's coming ashore on the Atoll of Tarawa. Aerial reconnaissance showed the atoll surrounded by submerged reefs which the LVT'S, tracked 'Alligator' vehicles would negotiate to deliver the Marines to the beach. The tides and depths however remained a mystery as the First wave of troops passed over relatively successfully. By the time the second wave was ready the tides had dropped significantly forcing the Marines to abandon their landing craft in chest deep water a thousand yards from shore leaving them vulnerable to the elements of the sea and exposed to the heavy machine gun fire of the Japanese defenders. The resulting confusion was a disaster, hundreds were drowned others withered under a hail of bullets, the first wave already on the beach deprived of re-enforcements held on tenaciously. Miraculously and through the sacrifice of thousands of lives the Marines over a 76 hour period were able to secure the atoll and the Gilbert chain that bought them that much closer to Tokyo.

After this experience, Admiral Kelley Turner, Commander of the 5th Amphibious Force conceived the idea of an advance recon unit that could map the approach to the beaches and clear a path for the advancing Marines. He directed that 30 officers and 150 enlisted men be moved to Waimanalo ATB (on the “big island” of Hawaii) to form the beginnings of a reconnaissance and demolition group aptly called UDT, Underwater Demolition Team.

Author Craig Stecyk in his introduction for Don James's photo book, 'Surfing San Onofre to Point Dume', describes the surf population at the time of Admiral Turner's decision as being several hundred individuals spread along the shores of the United States. With WWII and the draft terminating this idyllic eden they were immersed in they began to steel themselves for the conflict ahead. Having experience  around water and the open ocean, local Californian surfers like Pete Peterson and Bob Butt as well as Hawaiian waterman John Kelly, gave up their wave riding, body surfing and lobster diving to become part of the nucleus of these underwater demolition teams, forerunners of the modern elite Navy Seals, their peace time skills being case-hardened by the rigors of Combat, swimming into hostile beaches along the chain of Micronesia leading to the home islands of the rising sun.

In the summer of 1945, Fran Heath, famous Hawaiian Hot Curl rider and John Kelly served aboard the U.S.S. Calcedony and were assigned to escort and patrol duties. They bought along their boards and surfed many virgin pacific reefs such as Palmyra, the Christmas and Canton Islands and Midway, Midway being the best with a long right hand slide on the eastern side of the Island. Later in the year they were assigned to UDT duty where their swimming and diving skills were in great demand. Fran recalls, "We considered using surfboards for reconnaissance missions. That was Kelly's idea. But, boards are too easily spotted from low-flying aircraft and there's no protection if you're spotted, so that idea was scrapped." 

The idea was tested however according to Navy records and this was supported recently by the San Diego Union Tribune in an article titled 'Marines role in surfing history highlighted'. 
The US Navy perfected the Naval Combat Demolition surfboard during the summer of 1945. Its first mission was to be the reconnaissance off the coast of Japan in preparation for the invasion of the Japanese homeland by units of the United States military. These Warboards were hollow wooden surfboards built of a thin layer of redwood over a wooden frame. They were about 14 feet long and weighed about 60 pounds. They were camouflaged so as to be almost invisible in the night-dark water. Built into these boards, between the frames, was a depth sounder. Each board was to be equipped with a two-way radio that was used to relay the depth sounder's readings to the mother ship.
By late summer 1945, the surfboard  teams were ready to paddle to war. However, the atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima on August 6th and on Nagasaki three days later pre-empted the need of the Warboards and they were never used operationally.

To these early pioneers and heroes of Surfing and Underwater Warfare, the Papa salutes you and is proud to present this photo grouping dedicated to the Warrior in Surf Trunks.

" We surf in freedom for those that can't ", Papa Nui 2014.

Atolls and the Aleutians.

Another idyllic morning on the Atoll. A warm soft breeze off the Pacific gently caresses the palm fronds and the tropical sun with its early dappled light sits low in its trajectory.
Behind the lagoon on the leeward side of the island where the PT boats are moored, stands the base laundry.
The Papa is in urgent conversation with Boats Mulcahey. In the background under a tree, Papa's side kick Moloko, is napping.
" Aww c'mon Boats, I need those t-shirts", the Papa pleads.
" Yeah yeah you're always needing something aren't you Papa, last week it was an ice machine and a dynamotor and the week before that an electric iron and a hot water heater, now you want more t-shirts! Geez, you damn near cleaned me out last time Papa, The Admiral even sent his shore patrol down here to see if they could recover his civvies!"
The Papa rubbed his stubbled chin and replied, " Well Boats you know how it gets, supply, demand, its the economics of free trade".
Boats spat, " You might call it free trade, but I call it black market. Papa you're just a huckster!"
" Now now Boats no need for name calling here", the Papa replied, " I'm just doing my bit. I've got an order to get up to our boys on the front and the Supply ships leave tonight.", he said.
" A dry goods salesman Papa, a damn mountebank! ahhh to hell with it alright alright!
But 30 is all you get! I can't spare anymore, as it is I best start thinking of an excuse for those two sub crews that put in the other day, boy when they find out their laundrys been appropriated, seesh! Go on take them now and git, and don't come back soon!"
"Thanks Boats," the Papa said genuinely as he hurriedly filled his kit to overflowing with the white T-shirts.

Back to Papa's quonset supply shack and the screenprinting whirls into action. An exclusive release. A new print. A celebration of our boys in the North. A gift from the Papa!

30 reclaimed t-shirts, all bearing the wear and tear of campaigns past, stained by distant battles forgotten on the road to victory.
Water based ink, hand printed hand washed and individually measured. Each shirt completely unique, no two holes the same.

Send $45 to the Papa now. PayPal rocket_ace47@hotmail.com
Measure your favourite tee across the chest and email the Papa, he will get Moloko to select a corresponding size from the Boats Mulcahey collection for you. International airmail to all destinations is absolutely FREE, none of that ebay fixed postage shit here folks!

Papa Nui, a product, a state of mind. Come live in Papa's world, it's pretty cool here, you'll like it!

Inspired! Mason Dyer Surfboards win the Papa Nui award for excellence.

The Papa has to love the boys down at Mason Dyer, Southern California. Their product line draws a wonderful linage back to WWII. Men after my own heart says the Papa. Check out the website dyerbrand.com, American made nostalgia at its best!

M.Nii tailor vs Birdwell Beach Britches.

There's a marketing concept that suggests that customers buy the 'why' you do something rather than the 'what'. If you accept this premise then you will understand that a product story becomes all important, sell your 'why' and then you're half way to success.
 For the past year or so I've been following the M.Nii surf wear brand, whose story is absolutely second to none.

Peter Lawford one of the period celebrities known to wear M.Nii

  
   ("Makaha in the 1950s, was a surfer’s Eden. Situated on the west side of Oahu, the sun shined brightly, the prevailing winds were offshore, and the ocean shimmered in vibrant sapphire blue.
   Down the road, at a mom-and-pop tailor shop called M.Nii, some of the first surf trunks were about to take flight. It was a natural progression: first, local waveriders brought their “baggies” to M.Nii’s for repairs. Recognizing the need for durability and comfort, M.Nii built simple twill trunks made specifically for surfing. 
   With feedback from some of the best surfers of that era, he added stripes, wax pockets, patches. They earned a nickname: the “Makaha Drowner.”
  They were not just a pair of surf trunks; they were a memento, a badge of honor. The faded back-side spoke of six-hour marathon sessions in ten- foot waves. Those beads of sandy wax stuck in the eyelets smelled of coconuts. That stain on the cuff? Pork laulau. The more weathered and beaten your M.Nii’s, the more wholeheartedly you understood ‘Aloha.’)".

  Often however the 'why' doesn't always correlate to the 'what' and we are easily caught out and so with my nostrils imagining the smell of tropical trade winds mixed with pig roasting on a spit, I bought into the brand. An online order conveniently done, 'Makaha Drowners', black size 34", $150.00 plus an equally ridiculous postage charge and presto a few weeks later my trunks arrived. Excitedly I try them on, pulling them up fastening the lace waist and stepping in front of the mirror, as I move the trunks fall off my hips and down to my knees, ahh jesus too big!  I take them off check the size, 34" yes okay they should be right but they aren't. I visit their website and check the sizing chart page, 34" waist is a 34" waist and are designed to sit lower on the hips, okay so no big deal there, almost all mens bottoms these days fit low so I'm not surprised at all, still these do not fit anywhere on my body. I get the tape measure out and soon all is revealed, the 34" suddenly becomes 36". No mention of an oversized fit anywhere in the size chart I can find, and so I must assume the sizing is just    out of whack. So this is the point where I start getting the shits and ponder the question why can't companies just tell you what the actual size is? These shorts being vintage inspired are meant to be worn fitted and close so why is the waist oversized? 

 The M.Nii Makaha Drowner simple cotton twill no fuss construction $150 a pair.

 

Vintage styled rear pocket high on the hip so your not sitting on your wax.

  Still however that pork laulau lingers on, the palms are swaying and my hand reaches back into my wallet again for my credit card. There's so much history in this brand, I want, I need to be a part of it, the brand is talking to me, its calling me, its dialled into my sense of history, my sense of brand soul. Size 34" all wrong so I've got to be a 32", never been a 32" before but what the hell, go down a size and this will be fine. 'Makaha Drowners', khaki size 32", click, done. The weeks past, my imagination is running, khaki vintage style trunks, yes! In my mind I've an image of National Geographic magazine November 1943, A line of Naval swimming Instructors are standing along the edge of a pool in California observing aviation cadets undergoing water training, khaki trunks, blue cotton zip jackets, navy blue aviators caps, the reference doesn't go unnoticed its locked into my head for the pending summer season.
  The mail man arrives, package in hand, my new trunks! Again the ritual pulling of paper and cutting of carton, revealing my purchase. Here we go. I strip down and slide on my 'Drowners', they in turn slide right off! What! I can believe it, not again. The magical 32 inchers are yet another hoax sent to torment me. They don't friggin' fit and now I'm really really not happy. Out comes the tape measure again and these ones measure almost 35" in the waist, this lack of consistency is killing me, not only has the laulau dissipated but I feel like I've gone under in that Californian pool with the instructors looking on. 

 M.Nii khaki Drowners undergo a transformation. To make them wearable cost me another $45 in alterations I had the waist taken in and the length taken up. The existing length on the Drowners is an awkward one so the adjustment made all the difference in balance. The USN Jacksonville Florida patch is my ode to the National Geographic Magazine November 1943.

  All illusions are now gone and I begin to see the thing for what it really is, a great marketing campaign with a fantastic story masking a mediocre product. I dig a little deeper and take my blinkers off, these are a cotton twill short, not a bad quality either with a decent thread count. The construction? Yeah its alright, nothing special really though and certainly not a $150 worth of product that I can see, then I realised what I had just thought, and I had my answer, nothing special really! What had I thought was special? The story! The story encompasses everything a surfer could want and the people that reportedly wore them was everyone you wished you could have been, but at the end of the day there was nothing to the product other than the very clever vision of an ad company. M.Nii had closed decades and decades ago and if it wasn't for a couple of savy Californians who thought to revision the brand M.Nii would have passed into eternity along with many of the surfing legends that wore them. There was no continuity to the brand outside of that moment in history when everything seemed to revolve around the conquest of water mountains at Makaha and for me it took the best part of $400 in product, postage and alterations to realise this fact and to come to terms with the reality of this product falling short of all claims. 
  Sometimes we need an awakening, an opportunity to critique. Too often we accept new brands or new products within our sphere of interest and immediately jump into support them because we feel a need to validate others that are apparently in tune with ourselves. But the truth is not everything is good and some things are just damn disappointing and often there are those that will spin a great yarn so that they can tap into an energy and try to capitalise on it. I've learnt from experience, often quite expensive lessons as this post will attest but on the other hand I can also tell you there is great stuff out there right under our noses. I really had no need to look for surf trunks anywhere else but with Birdwell Beach Britches.

 My collection of Birdwell's, 9 pairs, the backbone of my surf kit. I just thought the M.Nii's would be a nice addition, but upon reflection.......

Perhaps its just that yearning for something new that leads you astray? Upon reflection I could have whatever I wanted through the Birdwell custom service, their talent for building surf trunks and my ability to imagine it is all I ever really needed in the first place.

 Custom Birdies for the Papa, three difference camo patterns for the Battalion.

 Did I really need any other brand? I think not, Birdwell's amphibious and airborne.

 Three pairs of frogspot camo Birdwells, three different fades. The oldest are about 6 summers old and have graced a thousand waves or more.

Of all the companies out there in the surf industry, Birdwell has been consistently servicing the beach community since 1961 and is now in its 4th generation of being family operated and that's a story that isn't made up. They have only recently redone their online webpage which previously was so antiquated that one had to conclude that they were just too busy in their workshop making great shorts that they couldn't be bothered with dealing with the new technology. I forgive them for that absolutely! Despite all the frustrations at times in the ordering process and some on the stupid online reviews I read from dopes who have no understanding of the brand, I will stand up anywhere and honestly say that Birdwell Beach Britches have never let me down, not in quality nor in performance. 
  Birdwell is something that you can't just make up, it doesn't flow off the end of a copy writers pen, nor does it need a press release to tell you its great, happening or the latest, it just is, and at the end of the day that is all that really matters, that is the story of Birdwell, 50 years of just getting on with the job, making great surf trunks.

Digging Dinah Shore.

The old man sketched this one up in 1943 when he was up in the islands laying the foundations of the Papa Nui enigma.
It was published ten years later in the 'Signals', the story of the Australian Corps of Signals.

Sendai Brown for Winter Workers.

The Papa is putting together winter looks using his newly bought Lofgren workwear as a base. The core elements here are the Natural seeded selvedge chambray shirt which has a beautiful weight and fine texture.

Heavy brown duck bakers pants from John add authenticity when teamed up with Papa's custom belt from Warp and Woof. The Navajo stamped buckle was cast from an original out of a 30's Montgomery Ward Catalog and the Papa had Carnelian stones added. These duck pants will age beautifully when worn and washed down.

The Brown Duck cap was made for the Papa by Warren Schummer of Vintage Workwear and features a shoe string lace up back. Set against old Redwings this is an awesome combo.

Lofgren internal labelling.

 Redwing vintage label.

John Lofgren's Speedway Shop in Sendai Japan is one of the few establishments in the Far East that ships abroad hassel free. If you've ever had to deal with Japanese retailers you'd appreciate this point no end! Contact Speedway, talk to John and tell him the Papa sent you. www.speedway-shop.com/

Aloha from the Papa.

The last post.

For those of you who don't know, I'm 'Chip', the Papa's number one back up man and I'm here to give you all one last chance to buy a genuine authentic Papa Nui Combat Beach Battalion Hat, just like the one I'm wearing now. I say last chance because Papa has only 57, 58 and 59 left in stock and after these have gone its sayanora baby and onto other projects. So don't go waiting around till that northern sun begins to shine and beat down on your brow, act now and pick up one of the frog skin beauties while you can, cause when its too late brother then its too late, dig?
$50 Australian all inclusive, airmail to anywhere on the globe, Paypal the Papa: rocket_ace47@hotmail.com

Papa's rationale of absence.

When I first began blogging nearly 4 years ago I felt there was so much to say and to talk about. There was my observations, my experiences, my hopes dreams and aspirations and of course my unique point of view on things. Somewhere in the last six months however my enthusiasm waned and I've been conscious ever since to try and make the effort to find my rhythm again. This hasn't been easy because I felt that there was so much noise and traffic out there in the bloggersphere, Tumbler and Instagram that the things I most wanted to say were being drowned out. However with the encouragement of my friends my readers and my followers on Facebook I'm feeling the time might be right to participate again. In saying this my blog is not for the popularist, nor is it meant to be, if anything its an expression of self. Its the world as viewed through the Papa's eyes, sometimes fragile, sometimes fiercely opinionated but all the same it's my view through and through. You wont find any reposting of fashion media hype here, if I like something I'll tell you why, I'll have an opinion and I'll plant my style banner firmly in the sand. The Papa is back!

Papa Nui Enterprises Inc.

Papa Nui Enterprises, purveyors of cold beer, grass skirts, polynesian pop and Pacific rim souvenirs, plate lunches, stocks and bonds, marriages and divorces, liquor, tattoos, surf surplus and supply, hats, caps and t-shirts, munitions, cat food, WWII collectibles, hula supplies, aloha curios and live bait.

Papa Nui Frog Spot.

Stamp testing on brown beachside out frog spot camo. Courtesy of Maloko's product development department, Taratupa Island, Some where in the South Pacific.

A seat on the PAPA's truck or a life of anonymity?

Now hear this! This is your Papa speaking.
Men of the Beach Battalion, your mission is to spread out wide and seek new members to join our elite team of sartorial watermen. Let it be known that this is the final roll call for the frog spot issue design and that $45 plus $5 postage will buy you a seat on my truck. Be swift and enrol now or be forever a part of someone else's army. The choice is yours.

Papa x Birdwell Beach Britches.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel as the Papa can attest and as  much as I would love to develop my own surf trunks I have to admit there is nothing on the market quite like Birdwell Beach Britches. Since 1962 Birdwells of Santa Ana have been making bullet proof surf trunks that are legendary. In this day and age its so easy to make unsubstantiated claims about quality and the big three of the surfing industry are often the worst offenders, serving up the latest and greatest in a hope to win over the uninformed and to schmooze shareholders focused on dividends, but Birdwells? Birdwells just make great shorts, pure and simple. The Papa's has owned 9 pairs and every pair has lived up to expectation before being passed on or sold off to finance a new pair.

Taking advantage of the custom make service, the Papa has pulled out all the stops this time around to create a truly unique pair of trunks for this summers surfing season using the last of Birdwells WWII USMC frogskin camo nylon. Custom options include 60's inspired football lace front and double rear pockets and in the true nautical tradition of the US Navy, matched silk liberty cuffs on the internal waistband that evoke the mystic power of the Sirens and enlist the fortuitous blessings of Neptunus Rex allowing the Papa to wear the mantle of the Seaweed Caesar.

Over time Birdwells take on a patina second only to vintage denim, the constant assault by salt water, sun and wax bleaching out the print and encrusting the thread lines. Shown below are my old pair which are 6 years old, battered and beautiful showing all the signs of a mutual love and hard wear. The Papa now looks forward to his new pair and a new era on the beach, the adopting of a new favourite and the riding of  new swells, the future is bright indeed!