This oral history project was completed for a media history class at Brigham Young University. Fabian Kaulukukui-Heloca is a vivacious, 55 year old, mother of 3. She grew up listening to soul music, watching the Ed Sullivan Show and Bewitched.
Fabian Kaulukukui-Heloca
Interview with Fabian Kaulukukui-Heloca
Date of Interview: November 25, 2008; Draper, Utah
Interviewer: Kainoa Kaulukukui
Transcriber: Kainoa Kaulukukui
Begin Tape 1, Side 1
Kaulukukui: This is the Fabian Kaulukukui-Heloca Oral History Project, session number one with Mrs. Kaulukukui-Heloca on November 25, 2008. We are at a family friend’s house in Draper, Utah. The interviewer is Kainoa Kaulukukui, Brigham Young University.
Kaulukukui: How old are you?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: 55
Kaulukukui: Where were you born?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: I was born in Honolulu Hawaii at Kapiolani hospital which is the foremost children’s hospital in all of Hawaii.
Kaulukukui: What is your earliest memory of media consumption?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Watching presidential debates between Nixon and Kennedy, actually, before that, I remember watching cartoons. I didn’t like watching news on TV. My parents made us watch it sometimes. I didn’t understand what was so important about it. I guess I was pretty self-centered as a kid. All I wanted to do was watch cartoons.
Kaulukukui: What kind of cartoons?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Black and white cartoons. I remember watching Mickey Mouse but I’m not completely sure that is what it was [laughs]
Kaulukukui: What was your favorite show as a kid?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Jack Benny
Kaulukukui: What was that all about?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: He was a stand-up comedian and he played the violin while telling jokes. He was funny without being crude or vulgar. I miss those kinds of shows.
Kaulukukui: Did you have any other favorites?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: I remember my very first favorite show was bewitched. I used to get in trouble for watching it. It came on after my bed time so in order for me to watch it I had to sneak out to the living room. I got caught a lot. I wasn’t very good at sneaking around when I was 9.
Kaulukukui: What was your favorite radio station when you were young?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: My favorite radio station was KPOI but that was when I was a teenager.
Kaulukukui: What kind of material did KPOI broadcast?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Well in those days, I didn’t know the difference between soul and pop. I didn’t realize until I went to the mainland that what I was listening to was soul. I loved soul. I also used to buy song books. They had all the words to the latest hits in them. I would buy them whenever I had money. It was my favorite thing to do.
Kaulukukui: What big news events do you recall?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: I think the biggest one, was when President Kennedy was assassinated. I think I was in the 5th grade. That was the first time they put the news over the PA system. It was incredibly shocking. I didn’t understand why anyone would kill a President. It was very unnerving to me as a child. That day was the first and only day that I sold newspapers. Girls weren’t supposed to sell newspapers so I dressed up in my brother’s clothes.
Kaulukukui: That’s interesting. Will you elaborate on that a little more please?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Well, my brother just wanted me to cover for him for the day. If my parents found out what I was doing they would have been very angry. They didn’t approve of girls working.
Kaulukukui: Interesting. Do you remember another event?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: I remember when we landed on the moon. I was watching TV but I remember not being very interested in it. For some reason I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation. I just didn’t care. I was actually perturbed that they put the show I was watching on hold. I don’t remember what I was watching then but I definitely remember being annoyed.
Kaulukukui: As a child how much TV did you actually watch?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Not nearly as much as I wanted to…Let me clue you. We were always told to go outside and play.
Kaulukukui: Did you ever get into tiffs with you siblings over TV programming?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Of course! I wanted to watch what I wanted to watch. I was in to getting my way. My mother was the worst though. She was addicted to soap operas. I remember hating soap operas.
Kaulukukui: Do you remember when color TV came out?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: I don’t remember exactly. I do remember that Bewitched started out in black and white and then changed to color later on. I remember watching color TV for the first time at my dad’s when I was 10. It had to have been relatively new then. My dad had just gotten back from Korea.
Kaulukukui: What was your dad doing in Korea?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: He was stationed there. My daddy was drafted into the army a few months after I was born because of the Korean war but I don’t think he ever made it to the war zone. He wasn’t sent to Korea, though, until years after the war was over. He came back to Hawaii with a new wife.
Kaulukukui: Really? So how long was he in Korea?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: He was in Korea for about 4 years.
Kaulukukui: Do you have any interesting stories involving the media?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Well when my family moved to Georgia, me, my younger brother and younger sister used to get on TV shows like American Band Stand. The shows we were on, were definitely on a smaller scale though. We used to win a lot of dancing contests. It was really fun. We were really good.
Kaulukukui-Heloca: Wait! How could I forget the Ed Sullivan Show. We all absolutely loved that show. Watching that show introduced me to Elvis and the Beatles.
Kaulukukui: How old were you then?
Kaulukukui-Heloca: It was around 5th grade so I must’ve been about 10 or so. I remember when the Beatles came on they put up their names: Paul, RIngo, George and John. I remember they used to put, “sorry ladies, he’s married” under Johns name. He wasn’t married to Yoko though. He was married to his first wife. The Ed Sullivan show was the best show on earth. That’s why I hated the Presidential elections because when they came on then the Ed Sullivan show wasn’t on. It had to be on, on either a Friday or a Saturday night because it was one of the few nights we didn’t have to be in bed by 8. The show came on at 8, we watched it and then we had to go to bed.
Kaulukukui: Well thank you so much for your time mom. It was fun going down memory lane with you.
Kaulukukui-Heloca: No problem pumpkin.
