Coco Joe's
Hauula, Hawaii, United States
Coco Joe's was located in Punaluu (or Hauula according to maps), Hawaii and was a maker of lava-based and Hawaiian wood-based ("hapawood" or half-wood) resin souvenirs.
The company was started in 1960 by Donald R Gallacher (a returning WWII veteran) with a partner (Andy Huhn -- an artist, head designer, and "Vice President"). They did buy a previously existing gift shop named "Coco Joe's" for $5,000 which had multiple owners over the years and Donald was never quite sure who the original Coco Joes was. The later Coco Joe caricature was purely from the imagination of Harry Lyons, a well-known cartoonist in Hawaii.
Gallacher's very first resin design, according to him, was the Lono letter opener, made from ground up lava and polyester resin with a metal blade stuck in the end.
He later found fine lava dust deposits on the big island that made grinding it unnecessary. The size of the dust he used was 200 mesh.
In 1963, he decided to move his factory to Kaneohe and go entirely wholesale. He began distributing to large mainland chains like Penny's and Woolworth's.
A few years later, it occurred to him that he could use powdered monkey pod and koa sawdust (wood flour) to make figures that resembled solid wood when combined with resin (hapawood).
Coco Joe's continued into the 1980s before going out of business. Gallacher was honored by the U.S. Small Business administration as the Hawaii Small Businessman of the Year in 1973 at which time he had 50 employees producing 400 designs (including jewelry and children's books, ashtrays, statues, plaques, and more). At its height, the company was generating over $1 million a year in gross income.
There were many artists, sculptors, and designers over the years besides Andy Huhn. One of the most long-lived designers with the company was Ray L. Murray who died in 1996 at the age of 84.
On October 10th, 1998, the last hurrah came for the company when its warehouse contents were auctioned off. Located at 401 N. Cane St., Wahiawa. This included tools, molds, desks, and all!
30 Tiki Mugs
