DEAR HELOISE: I was born and raised in Honolulu but now living on the Mainland for many decades (wife and I got married and bid Aloha to the Islands in 1964).

During the summers of 1960 and 1961 while a student at the University of Hawaii, I worked for The Honolulu Advertiser, first as an office boy and then as a temporary payroll bookkeeper. One day during my second summer, I noticed this seemingly energetic haole woman scurrying along the hallway. An adjacent coworker told me that she was Heloise, who writes a column for the newspaper.

What I noticed most about Heloise was the color of her hair. But time has faded the exact color from my memory. Was it pink, or orange or green? Or all of the above at different times? Aloha!
-- George Arita, Oak View, CA

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Aloha, George! Thanks so much for sharing your memory of my mother, the original Heloise (1919-1977). She did like to spray her hair to match her outfit. When she first started this column, over fifty years ago, she colored it silver so she would like older and wiser! But as the years went on green, sapphire blue and orchid were her favorites. So, it doesn’t surprise me, because you could have seen with any of the above colors. I can remember her with purple hair!

Thanks for your letter, you made me smile. -- Heloise

FAST FACTS
Handy uses for wallpaper scraps:

• Frame sections and use as wall art in other rooms.
• Cover books to protect.
• Laminate and use as placemats.
• Line shelves and drawers with.
• Use as wrapping paper.
  

MICROWAVE AS BREAD BOX
Dear Heloise: On reading your recent remarks on discarding outworn kitchen items, my wife hastened to object by pointing to a familiar beauty still in the kitchen. A burned-out microwave oven is an excellent and handy place to use its airtight innards to hold bread, cookies, crackers, etc. Our smart "bread box" was designed to live in the kitchen. Even with idle coils, it's real cool. -- Harold Whittington living in Temple TX

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Very creative and a super recycle hint! -- Heloise

SOUND OFF
Hi Heloise: I love reading your column in the Omaha World Herald, often in one of our favorite breakfast spots. My peeve is about parents who allow their small children to use those small containers of jams and jellies found on the tables as toys and teething objects. I find it disgusting to watch food items being mouthed, used as building blocks, tossed on the floor and handled by toddlers with colds only to be replaced in the caddy when the parents' meal is done. The next unsuspecting diners are then left with condiments covered in heaven knows what. These are food items, NOT toys.
-- Peggy from Omaha, NE