The Bobblehead Hula Girl Dashboard

The hula girl — with her flower crown and grass skirt — has symbolized Hawaiian hospitality since cruise ships first docked in Honolulu in the 1920s. Today, exoticized images of these traditional dancers headline on travel websites and tiki-themed bars, but their history is one of marginalization, commercialization, near erasure, and revival. This is the story of how a sacred Hawaiian dance and music ritual shifted from religious practice to tourist attraction to a kitsch emblem of Hawaii.

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The bobblehead hula girl: A kitsch memento from a long-gone era

In a sexy pink and gold bikini, the bobblehead hula doll sits atop a car dashboard, her arms resting over the steering wheel. Her eyes are closed, and she squints her forehead with her right hand. In her left, she holds a small ukulele. The picture was taken in Kauai, on the island of Hawaii.

While hula dancers may be a popular souvenir from a trip to Hawaii, the dancing bobblehead is not always welcomed by locals. The kawaii, or “cute” dolls are often considered touristy and gaudy, and many residents of Hawaii consider them a nuisance and an embarrassment.

However, in the last couple of decades, the hula has experienced a resurgence among locals. A resurgence that started with King David Kalakaua, who hosted his lavish coronation celebration at the newly built Iolani Palace, filled the two-week event with once-forbidden Hawaiian traditions—hula performances, music, and a luau. Unfortunately, the resurgence was short lived, as Kalakaua’s successor Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown by American businessmen and the U.S. annexed Hawai’i in 1898.

Today, a new generation of hula dancers is reclaiming the art form for themselves. Known as the keiki, or children’s hula, the hula is being taught to schoolchildren and reclaimed by community groups for a broader audience. There is even a movement to preserve and protect the sacred space where hula is performed.