OZZIE KOTANI

Ozzie Kotani (left, in 2006) and I first met, back in the 70s, as members of the Hawaii Historical Bottle Collectors Club, founded in 1970. It was a relatively small group, no more than a few hundred members on all islands. At the time, things were hyperactive. It could have easily been called "hysterical" as "historical". But certainly no more dedicated group existed. I've always thought that most serious collectors are insane, since their hobby can easily take over their life. (This might make no sense, unless you are a collector of anything, or know someone who is).

I obtained many of my bottles by hustling them. Often I spent as much time on my radio show pitching for bottles to trade (or in rare instances, actually buy) as I did doing commercials and the more serious things that paid the bills.

Early on, I realized the only way to not be overwhelmed by my obsession, was to focus on a specific genre. Which is how, over the course of two decades, I accumulated the world's largest collection of Antique Hawaiian Soda Bottles. Nowadays items on the ANTIQUE ROAD SHOW might "only" be a few dozen years old. When I was a kid, the standard definition of "antique" was something at least 100 years old. That was indeed the deal with old Hawaiian bottles, which, when research became more sophisticated, were dated as far back as the 1840s.

Given how much more the dollar was worth compared with today's plummeting "buck," some of the rarest bottles became expensive items. The amber colored, multi-side Hawaiian Soda Company bottle (right) once sold for over $1000, before more were unearthed, thus lowering their value.

There are two types of bottles, the original hand-made type, known as BIMAL (blown in mold, applied lip--what a phrase!) and ABM (automatic bottling machine). Bottles were made individually until the advent of machines, which went into production in the early 1920s. I could go on. And on. And on, about the details of all this, various trivia I accumulated over the years. I'll just wrap up this bottle bit with a few more facts about Hawaiian bottles, specifically those that contained "soda pop".

The value of most anything collectible is determined by two basic factors: Rarity and condition. Assembling a collection of Hawaiian bottles was a touch and go affair back when Ozzie Kotani and I met up. Unlike stamps, coins, sports cards and other items where the quantity made is known and indexed, no one for sure knew exactly how many bottles were made for use in the islands. (None of them were made here; the various components of glass, are not endemic to Hawaii). So all the bottles, whether made to contain milk, perfume, opium (from Asia), prescription drugs and, of course, soda. were imported. Most came from North America. Anyway, as should now be obvious, for that time of my life I was totally into collecting every soda bottle made for, and used in Hawaii. A thin volume, "Hawaiian Bottles of Long Ago" by Rex Elliot, published in 1971, was the only clue to what was made. After nearly a decade, dedicate local collector, Steve Gould, published a large-format, much expanded version of the book. It is the most comprehensive information available in one place about the subject, complete with a section of color plates that picture some of the most exotic specimens.

That book, however, deals only with BIMAL bottles. Hard facts about machine bottles are difficult to pinpoint. Didn't matter to me. I collected anything made of glass, which contained local brands of soda, through 1959, the year Hawaii became a state. Ozzie Kotani, on the other hand, collected anything "old" that caught his eye. He also spent most of his time in the field, actually digging, diving and hunting for bottles and other vintage stuff. It is sort of amazing that during Ozzie's visit we spent most of the time discussing his music and the field in general.

Ozzie brought with him an instrument that has always held a fascination for me" The dobro. Think of an acoustic guitar--except that the body is not made of wood, but rather metal. Highly chrome-finished metal. Ozzie's dobro is made by National, the premier maker of the things. How he acquired it was typical (and perfect) for a person who searches through muck, mud and trash for "treasures." A few years back, two of his buddies were driving around one night and spotted something glinting in the light. They went back to have a look. In a trash can they found a magnificent National dobro. One problem, the wood section, which made up the instrument's neck, was severely ravaged by termites, who had feasted on it over the years. Still, it was something, it was old, it was musical. So Ozzie's pals brought it to his house and presented him with the thing.

A little research by Mr. Kotani revealed that the dobro was indeed rare. And yes, the factory could rebuild the wood section like new. It was worth the time and effort. It came back from the factory in pristine condition (left), down to the word "National" inset in mother-of-pearl letters at the top of its keys. I'd seen just a few these gems. Several times in the 1960s, when I frequented "coffee houses," when the term described places where pre-hippies hung out, drank apple cider, played chess and listened to true "folk music". (Jeez, that seems like another lifetime; it was uncool to applaud when a song was finished, instead one snapped one's fingers). Seems to me there might have been some low-grade cannibis smoke mixed in with the tobacco smoke--how quaint.

Whew! After all that off-topic digression, I get to the point: Ozze Kotani was here today. He played his dobro--in slack key style. Ozzie is in the elite roster of ki ho'alu players assembled by George Winston for the Dancing Cat Records "Slack Key Masters" series. It is a small and distinguished group. In the year since we began webcasting from our living room studio in Kaneohe, many of these virtuoso players have visited and played live for us: Ledward Kaapana,

George Kahamoku, Jr., Dennis Kamakahi, Cindy Combs and George Kuo. We chatted with Keola Beamer, at home on Maui, and George Winston himself, one day while he was on tour, but trapped by a snowstorm in a motel. We've been trying to get Cyril Pahinui up here, but he lives on the Big Island. It will happen. Also trying to hook up with two other sons of the immortal Gabby Pahinui: Martin and James, better known as "Bla." Sonny Chillingworth, Leonard Kwan and Ray Kane have passed on.

And yesterday, Ozzie Kotani found time in his busy schedule to spend several hours with us. His "day job" is Registrar for the State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, which is headquartered in downtown Honolulu. By law, one per cent of Hawaii's tax revenues go towards the purchase of artwork, which is displayed at public venues. No small project. Much of Ozzie's "spare" time is spent sharing: He teaches slack key guitar and lectures on the subject. So during his time here we talked about that unique style of music, how he came to know and play it himself, and, of course, how he came into possession of the dobro he brought and played. He has yet to record with the instrument. I can't wait for him to release an album of just that: Slack key dobro.

Meantime, I'll drink my share of soda pop. From ordinary, contemporary bottles, mostly all plastic by now. In 1994 I had lost interest in my collection, by the largest of its kind. All the bottles were carefully packed away--a tedious process--and costing a pretty penny to store.

So I sold them all in one lot, over 600 bottles, if I recall. Not only did I enjoy them while I served as caretaker for the relics of days passed, I traced the glass containers back to many corners of Hawaii's history unknown to me. They also fetched a "pretty penny". How much? Well, put it this way: The proceeds from the sale paid for two years of my daughter's undergrad studies at Northwestern University. Which, as you might know, goes for quite a bit more than a five-cent deposit.