HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Oswalt-Sanchez owns Tin Can Mailman, tucked into Honolulu’s Chinatown along Nuʻuanu Avenue—a shop where history doesn’t sit behind glass.

“Generations progress, and they age out; people don’t realize how special some of this older stuff is,” says Christopher Owalt-Sanchez. “It’s all little, tiny pieces that if we don’t talk about and we don’t share, it’s going to be forgotten.”

It’s stacked, shelved, and cataloged in the form of everyday artifacts: vintage canned food labels, old travel brochures, restaurant menus, and movie lobby cards that once helped sell an evening at the theater.

Inside, you’ll find lobby cards advertising films shot in Hawaiʻi or centered on island life—bright, nostalgic snapshots from a time when going to the movies was an event.

“This is back when movie theaters only had one screen, and the lobby was like a very posh, sort of, like a nicer hotel lobby,” Owalt-Sanchez explains. “So, they would utilize every little bit of space. So, these would have been in the lobby, and they would have been advertised—a movie that could have only played one night or a movie that was coming.”

The shop also holds travel brochures from United Airlines and Aloha Airlines, along with menus from restaurants that helped define eras of Waikīkī dining—but are now long gone. Names like Ciro’s, Lau Yee Chai, and Tops live on in print, offering a glimpse into what people ordered, what it cost, and what “a night out” looked like decades ago.

“You know, you go to a lot of places now, new places that are opening up—the menus are digital. You scan a QR code,” he says. “Here, we’ve actually got the menu. You can see what people were eating. You can see how much it costs and think, that’s really interesting—that you can get, you know, a double bourbon for 25 cents.”

And it’s not just paper ephemeral. Tin Can Mailman is also home to collectibles and curiosities that blur the line between souvenir and story—objects that spark memories for some and discoveries for others.

A Shop With a Story of Its Own

Even Tin Can Mailman’s name comes with history—and the business has traveled nearly as much as the items it sells.

“Well, the Tin Can Mailman originally opened in the 1970s in a town called Arcata, California. It was originally a bookstore,” Owalt-Sanchez says. After a divorce, the original owners split: “The lady kept her Tin Can Mailman in Arcata, and the man took his Tin Can Mailman to Kauaʻi, opening in the mid-1980s.”

Over the years, the store moved through roughly five locations on Kauaʻi. The owner sold it in 2003, died in 2005, and the shop eventually made its way to Oʻahu—relocating to Chinatown in November 2009. The Arcata store, Owalt-Sanchez adds, still exists today, but the two are no longer connected.

So why “Tin Can Mailman”?

“He named it after an island in Tonga, where they would take the mail and weld it shut in big tin biscuit cans or cookie cans,” he explains. “And the men would swim out to the passing ships and deliver the mail and get the new mail and then bring it back to the island. And those were the tin can mailmen.”

The practice dates back more than a century, he says—first as a necessity, later as a novelty, even evolving into what was known as “tin can canoe mail.”

Keeping the Details From Disappearing

Owalt-Sanchez says Tin Can Mailman has sourced items from all over the world.

“Tin Can Mailman has bought things as far away as Argentina and as close as across the street,” he says.

But for him, the point isn’t simply collecting—it’s connecting. He sees each label, menu, card, and brochure as a fragment of lived experience, especially as older generations fade and their everyday stories go with them.

“I like to tell you about what the industry was like in the 40s, what was selling in the 40s, what people were sending home,” he says. “Because that generation is, you know, slowly disappearing. And if we don’t talk about it, it’s just gone. That’s all, little pieces of love and little pieces of light that are just float away into the wind.”

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – If you’ve booked a flight lately, you know that air fares between the Hawaiian islands have been skyrocketing. That’s affecting everyone from visitors to families — and even high school and college teams in a state where air travel is a fact of life.

One Oahu family has two boys — Elijah Ickes plays baseball for the University of Hawaii at Manoa, while is brother, Tui, plays for the U.H.-Hilo Vulcans.

Tui will have his senior night in Hilo this weekend, and two family members are flying there.

“So we’re trying to figure out which way we’re going to go, because I think we’re going to go Southwest there and Hawaiian back because of the time difference. But it’s like 150 each way,” said family member Jesus Hoomalu.

That’s about a $600 expense. And those are the cheap seats.

Have regular interisland air fares been that high?

“Never before,” said Jerry Agrusa, a professor at the U.H. School of Travel Industry Management. “What we’re having is a shortage of both flights and then the fuel surcharge is just being carried over to all the passengers. And then they both have raised the prices on the luggage as well.”

Since the Iran War began, air fares on domestic flights have surged 18%, and international flights have risen by over $100 a ticket because of jet fuel prices that have doubled to over $220 a barrel. That’s much higher than gasoline prices because jet fuel requires more production and most of it comes through the Middle East.

The sky-high fares could ground some interisland travelers this summer.

“I think the biggest challenge is going to be that 25 percent in the summers that are taking staycations that are going outer island, the kamaaina, are not going to do as much,” said Agrusa.

It’s also tough for teams heading to the first-ever high school state surfing championships this weekend on Maui. Waialua High School surf coach Spencer Suitt has been looking at flights from Honolulu to Kahului.

“There’s a ticket, 7:25 flight tomorrow, and then a return flight on Saturday — 638 dollars,” he said as he look at the prices on his computer screen.

Suitt said his athletes booked their flights early, but families who want to go could take a big financial hit.

“By the time the plane tickets come through, the rent-a-car, the hotel, the food — I don’t know if you’re leaving your car at the airport, too. That’s another thirty dollars a day,” said Suitt.

“Hopefully this war will end and the price of oil will drop, and then the airlines won’t be charging as much money,” said Agrusa.

However, experts said the price will take longer to drop than it did to jump.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – For Waikiki regular Ken Burig, the years-long closure of the bathroom at his favorite spot, feet away from iconic Prince Kuhio statue, has been especially troublesome.

“It’s very disappointing, cause it’s been like that for a long time and it’s very inconvenient for myself because I’m handicapped,” Burig, who gets around using an electric chair, said.

For the past four years, the city has blamed the bathroom’s closure on vandals who flushed clothes down the toilets, as well as mechanical and electric issues with a pump, requiring more than $40,000 for repairs.

The two nearest public restrooms are about a quarter mile away in both directions along Kalakaua Ave, an estimate five minute walk to reach either.

Visitor Ayah Muhsen agreed with Burig that the lack of a loo in the heavily-visited stretch of beach is “very inconvenient.”

Nicole Ancheta, another beach regular, added, “Dozens of people have put in complaints over the past year, since last August, September, not just me.”

Ancheta is adamant about getting the restroom reopened, reaching out to the city herself.

“Still waiting, they don’t have answers. I went to the board meeting in February. I get a note in February that it’ll be open in March, and it’s still closed, and still no answers. I emailed them last week,” Ancheta said.

A city spokesperson sent HNN the following response it provided to Ancheta:

“The maintenance contractor (Alakai) for the ʻŌhua Avenue comfort station at Kūhiō Beach Park is scheduled to work on the bathrooms this Friday, February 27, 2026 and we hope to have the bathrooms reopened soon. We further hope that these repairs last, and the bathroom can be utilized by you, your ‘ohana, and the public for longer than just a few days.

I know you are familiar with the problematic history of this particular bathroom building, but I did want to provide some context so we can all be on the same page. This bathroom is below ground,, so it requires its own tank, grinder, and two pumps to direct the sewage to the municipal lines. The extended closures have indeed been numerous, lengthy, and can certainly give the impression of continuous closure; making this facility one of our most challenging bathrooms we oversee. That’s primarily because the closures have resulted from vandalism of people flushing clothing down the toilets or mechanical/electric issues with the bathroom’s pump. Repairs to the pump and electric issues have experienced delays because the parts are under warranty, and we have been working to have them replaced or repaired under that warranty, saving taxpayer dollars.

We are determining our next course of action with this problematic facility, as we have already spent over $40,000 in repairs to this one bathroom coming on four years. Realistically,Head side a larger Capital Improvement Project will likely be needed if these current repairs don’t last.

Fortunately, there are public bathroom facilities within decent proximity to this one; near HPD’s Waikīkī Substation (0.3 miles away) and on the Diamond Head side of Kapahulu Avenue (0.2 miles away) just past the beach volleyball courts. I understand it can be difficult to walk that distance when you have kids or kupuna to take into account, but there are other nearby options.”

The spokesperson also pointed out that because there is no public parking for the stretch of beach, some walking is involved to get there as well.

One of the closest parking areas is on Kapahulu Ave, which is near a public comfort station.

We are still waiting for updates from the city.

However, another city spokesperson explained that the city is also a victim of the vandalism to the facility, not just those who need to use it.

Money and resources meant for normal maintenance that are not budgeted for improvements, the official added, get derailed to fix damages, impacting repairs in other places.

But two months ago, Hilton Grand Vacations donated $1 million to improve the area, which the Waikiki Business Improvement District hopes will help deter vandals.

“We really believe if things look nice, if you clean up dead grass, if you get rid of graffiti, if you repair that broken window, then crime will reduce, and things will get better,”

You can report vandalism to city facilities here.