
| History In 1794, Francisco Marin -- a Spaniard -- became the first Hispanic resident of Hawaii. Francisco Marin planted the first pineapple in the kingdom of Hawaii on January 2, 1813. |
HONOLULU, Hawaii --When you walk in the Tin Can Mailman shop, located on Nuuanu Avenue in Chinatown, you are sure to be transported back in time. The walls and shelves double as collages of 1950s, 60s, and Hawaiiana art and antiques. The store is so cozy you feel you “can sit down and have a cup of coffee,” as a shopper looking for tusks put it. He did not find the tusks there, but he was gladly directed to where he might.
from lamps and glassware, and the paradisiacal beach scenes in books and ephemera contribute to the pleasant atmosphere, but the friendly attention of owner Raul Sanchez really makes you feel welcome. He and his partner Christopher Oswalt operated the business on Kauai for 7 years. And after being in Honolulu only three months, the store was voted the “Best Antique Shop in Honolulu” by Honolulu Magazine.
glass frames and punk hair-do, is not your average guy in the street. But expressing his uniqueness and individuality as a person is something he embraces, though he acknowledges that it was difficult expressing those characteristics as a Latino growing up in the California 80s’ scene.
family to East Los Angeles when he was 8eightyears old. As a teenager, he found it difficult to fit in. He said: “I was a weird kid surrounded by gangs.” According to his peers, he wasn’t “good enough” for having been born south of the border.
listening to Spanish music and lacking pride in his Mexican heritage. And he did not look forward to visiting his grandmother’s ranch in Mexico where one of the few things for him to do was to face his fear for snakes, as they sometimes curled on the burners of the stove.
he was “not the only (Latino) out there” with an affinity for all things punk. He also discovered Frida Kahlo’s paintings. He did research on Kahlo and found her passion for Mexican folklore contagious. He was instantly filled with admiration toward the Mexican artist’s “suffering and the way she expressed herself in her paintings.” “I think she was the first female artist to sell a painting for more than a million dollars,” he said proudly. Before he realized it, his kitchen had become a memorial of Kahlo with pictures and paintings his family and friends would give him. Sanchez now considers himself a fan of Mexican art, literature, history and culture, which he describes as colorful. “Who else would think of celebrating the dead?” he said referring to the “Day of the Dead,” a reverent and often humorous celebration of the inevitability of death, the brevity of life, and our longevity in memories. “I just don’t think there is much to fear about death.” A self-proclaimed amateur photographer, Sanchez has started a couple of projects. One of them is to publish a book of photographs of Hawaii’s abandoned cemeteries. The other one took a little bit more determination. As an adult, Sanchez lost his reluctance to visit Mexico, and set off to document his hometown with a camera. “Nothing has changed,” he said. But his perspective has. “It was humbling to realize how poor some people are and still everyone is… happy. It reinforced the idea to treat people the same; that they are not any different. It was an awakening moment,” said Sanchez. As for the future of Tin Can Mailman, the only certain thing is that it will keep delivering a glimpse to the past and meeting the demand of many nostalgic customers.“People have a fond memory of something and they want to have it,” said Sanchez. “And at that point,” interrupted a customer, “no price matters.” |
| Hawaii Hispanic Community Statistics: |
| Latino-owned business voted “Best Antique Shop in Honolulu” |
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