Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sailor’s Home and Seamen’s Institute

It opened September 11, 1856, “That little affair at the Sailor’s Home came off on Thursday, and if the house is ever again so full of merry laughter and innocent enthusiasts, it may congratulate itself upon being the scene of a second triumph. … We have not yet heard what the receipts were. If ever an institution was introduced to public notice under happy patronage it is the Sailor’s Home. Long may it flourish.”

The nearby Seamen’s Bethel Chapel was built by the American Seamen’s Friend Society of New York, in 1833, the materials having been shipped from New London, Ct, for Honolulu via Cape Horn. It was the first edifice for the public worship of English-speaking people, erected in Polynesia. It was open to both seamen and foreign residents. The Honolulu Sailor’s Home provided mariners with room and board at a reasonable price. In this building were the offices of “Hawaiian Board and Bible Society;” office of the Friend; the “Bible and Tract Depository,” and YMCA Reading Room.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Polar Bears

Semi-professional football thrived on the islands for years, as early as the early-1920s and continued into the 1930s and 40s. Hawai‘i’s semi-pro football team was called the ‘Honolulu Polar Bears.’ (They were also and later known as the Hawaiian Vacation Team and, ultimately, the Honolulu Bears.) Doyle Nave, “star passer (and Rose Bowl star) on the Southern California grid squad the last two years (went to Honolulu) to coach and play on the Honolulu Polar Bears, a professional grid squad.” (LA Times, September 25, 1940)

Another notable Bear was future baseball star Jackie Robinson, who had played two years at UCLA where he became the only athlete in school history to letter in four sports (football, baseball, basketball, and track.) Finding that mainland pro teams had no place for African-American players, Robinson responded positively to Brickner’s offer of $100 per game. Robinson left for Hawaiʻi on September 11, 1941, he was guaranteed “full round-trip transportation, all expenses for two months and a job in a defense industry in return for six scheduled games with other Honolulu teams.” However, an injured ankle hampered his performance, and the Bears won only two games. On December 5, 1941, Jackie sailed for California.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

First Descriptions of the Islands and the People

“On the 19th (of January, 1778,) at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. … At this time, we were in some doubt whether or not the land before us was inhabited; but this doubt was soon cleared up, by seeing some canoes coming off from the shore, toward the ships”.

“The inhabitants are of a middling stature, firmly made, with some exceptions, neither remarkable for a beautiful shape, nor for striking features, which rather express an openness and good-nature, than a keen, intelligent disposition.” “The habitations of the natives were thinly scattered about … Judging from what we saw growing, and from what was brought to market, there can be no doubt that the greatest part of their vegetable food consists of sweet potatoes, taro, and plantains; and that bread-fruit and yams are rather to be esteemed rarities.”

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John Thomas Waterhouse

John Thomas Waterhouse “was born in Berkshire, England, in 1816, and went to school at Wood House Grove boarding school in 1825. The school was a Methodist preacher’s son’s school. I attended that until I was 13 years of age.” He became a businessman. Waterhouse “was in business in Hobert Town, Tasmania, for ten years, owning a large number of vessels, and I was a very active man in business there (but) had very poor health and was recommended to go to Honolulu” (1851).

He started a general merchandise store (JT Waterhouse and Company) and brought the lokelani (rose) pattern china. He also bought real estate. “In Hawai‘i he found opportunities and made the most of them. … He is one of the heaviest tax-payers in Honolulu; has investments in California and New York and owns much property at Cedar Rapids, la. He practically created that town.”) He died at his home in Nuʻuanu on January 8, 1895.

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Early Stages to the Overthrow – Challenges with Kalākaua

Some suggest the overthrow of the Hawai‘i constitutional monarchy was neither unexpected nor sudden. Dissatisfaction with the rule of Kalākaua (and, later, Lili‘uokalani) led to the ‘Bayonet Constitution,’ then, the overthrow. Mounting dissatisfaction with government policies and private acts of officials led to the formation of the Hawaiian League, a group of Honolulu businessmen.

Folks generally cite the efforts to form the Polynesian Confederacy, the opium license bribery case and the extravagance (and growing debt) as issues of concern about Kalākaua’s rule. This led to the ‘Bayonet Constitution’ (signed July 6, 1887) that greatly curtailed the monarch’s power; it placed executive power in the hands of a cabinet whose members could no longer be dismissed by the monarch but only by the legislature; it provided for election of the House of Nobles, formerly appointed by the monarch.