News from over the back fence is piling up fast. Byron Yasui touched a nerve when he told me he couldn't remember the name of the fellow with a cleft lip who sold peanuts at the old Honolulu Stadium. Ruth G. Hegele from Makawao, Maui, certainly remembers.

She wrote: "Any high school student from the '60s and '70s could tell you that this was the famous 'Tiger' who was the most popular vendor of that era. He could hurl peanuts across whole sections with awesome accuracy and if the caller didn't get his hands up in cupped position, he would be hit whack on the chest with one of Tiger's bombs.

"Then Tiger would mosey over for payment and make change from a supply of coins he kept in his outsized ears. Perhaps the story is apocryphal but I am told that a legislator was so appalled that he introduced a bill ... calling for a ban on keeping money and making change from one's ears."

SHAKA AS IN SHOCKER

Chip Ellis, who was producer-director at KGMB-TV in the 1960s, called in with one more shaka sign story. Chip directed Lippy Espinda's TV show and he says: "I don't remember if Lippy created the shaka sign but I do remember him telling me that 'shaka' was pidgin for 'shocker.' As in 'Eh, brah, dis one shaka car.' Lippy was truly an amazing showman — street-smart, a natural salesman and a great guy."

AVOCADO ADVOCATE

Jim Maeda out Kapahulu way has an avocado tree in his backyard. He's compiling the ways that people eat avocados — with sugar, with shoyu, with salsa and with ketchup. One woman mashes up avocado with sugar, puts it in little cups and freezes it for dessert. Another woman puts avocado over rice in a casserole.

Kalama is in Oregon?

Annette Kaohelaulii on the Windward side tells us that there's a town in Oregon named Kalama — after John Kalama, who was descended from Kamehameha III and Queen Kalama. John Kalama moved to the Pacific Northwest about 1830 and settled at the mouth of the Kalama River, named after him.

POPULAR PAPAYAS

Tunesmith Jack de Mello, now living in Las Vegas, said the column about the Waikiki gang and Vi Salve brought back memories. She was in the Coconut Willie revue at Waikiki Lau Yee Chai that de Mello produced in 1948. The cast included Paul Wilcox (father of TV newscaster Leslie Wilcox) and columnist Eddie Sherman (then a standup comic).

Vi Salve was a smash on "Babalu," a Latin hit of the day, and her version of "If You Don't Like My Papayas, Don't Shake My Tree."

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.