Economy | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 18, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bull Pen

Betty Jean O’Hara was “born in Chicago, Illinois in 1913, the year preceding the 1st World War. The early years of (her) life were happy and normal. Being the only child of a physician, (she) was given the best schooling in preparation for a career.”

“(Her) parents were Catholic, and were strict in the regimentation of (her) life. (She) was permitted however to attend parties and movies with other children (her) age.”

At about the age of 16, she met a girl and her boyfriend at a party. The girl was covered in fine jewelry and nice clothes. Young, and easily led, she “agreed to their sordid plans and went into the business of the ‘oldest profession.’” A month later, she left home and headed to San Francisco. (O’Hara)

“Jean O’Hara was a pretty girl who became a handsome woman. She was ‘black Irish,’ fair-skinned with a clear complexion which set off her dark eyes, raven hair, and even her features. She stood about 5’4” and at 120 pounds was slender by that era’s standards. Her good looks and classy bearing would serve her well.” (Bailey & Farber)

“(O’Hara) got used to the fast money.”

“(She) started working in one of the better class houses, and (she) became definitely committed to the practice of prostitution. (Her) father and mother tried every means available to frighten (her) into going home …”

“… but being headstrong, and enticed by the seemingly fabulous earnings (she) resisted their every attempt. Although (she) actually loathed the life, (her) sense of shame and sin aroused in (her) a perverse independence.” (O’Hara)

In mid-1938, O’Hara arrived in Honolulu from San Francisco.

There was an unofficial system of regulated prostitution in the Islands, with the also unofficial sanction of the military. Army military police and the Navy shore patrol helped monitor it.

All girls had to live in the houses where they worked; no white girls were allowed on the other side of River Street. The Army, Navy, and civilian police picketed any house violating the rules, and no man could enter it. According to the agreement, the civil police regulated prostitution “with full cooperation by the Army and Navy.” (Greer)

“The business of procuring girls to work in the brothels, or “factories”, before the war (WWII,) was usually handled by the same … “procurer.” He handled nothing but the transportation of the girls. … The fee for procuring a girl from the mainland rage(d) from $500 to $1,000 depending on the looks and the capability of the girl.” (O’Hara)

A detective would meet the ships coming in and the girls were taken to the ‘receiving station.’ (In O’Hara’s case, that was the Blaisdell Hotel on Fort Street.) The girls were explained the rules – in no uncertain terms, the girls were told that any violation of the rules meant banishment from the Territory.

All of the girls have a Territorial tax book and a Territorial license (they were licensed as ‘entertainers,’) which cost each $1 per year. In addition, every month the Vice Squad would collect an unofficial tax of $30 per girl from the brothels.

The girls paid Federal income taxes, as well as state taxes. “It has been said that (the) girls and Madames are the heaviest tax payers in Honolulu. … Each girl in Honolulu can average from $4,000 per month to $5,000 per month. … Taxes are collected by the Madame of the house, who also files the returns for them.” (O’Hara)

Before WWII, the girls usually started to work around 1 pm, and ended around 5 am. The ‘blackout’ during the war meant they worked from 8 am to noon.

“Very few girls made under a $100 a day, some of these double that and some of them made over $300 a day. It all depends upon the girl. She can make as much as she wants.”

“The price charged is $3.00 per date. Of this, the Madame gets one dollar. Out of the remaining two dollars, the girl must pay the Madame for her room and board and laundry.” (O’Hara)

The Madames were women from the mainland. Although prostitution was not legal, they needed permission from the local Police before operating.

When WWII broke out, and martial law was in effect, the military called the shots (1941-1943.) A “substantial number” of prostitutes were brought to Honolulu from the mainland under military priorities – a common rumor – and that under military government prostitution “flourished.” (Greer)

Most brothels required girls to see at least 100 men a day and to work at least 20 days per month.

To speed things along, O’Hara is credited with inventing the ‘bull pen’ system where a single prostitute would work three rooms in rotation (including maid service.)

In one room a man would be undressing, in a second room the prostitute would be having sex, and in the third room the man would be dressing. (The guy had three minutes to achieve release, after which she said ‘aloha’ and was off to the next room while he washed up and got dressed.) (McNeill)

After a few months’ work in a Hotel Street brothel, she had amassed a sizable bankroll. She leased a house near Waikiki Beach with a friend.

“The life of a prostitute is not an easy one, and the stringent rules of the Honolulu Police Department, headed by Chief of Police Gabrielson, left her no more freedom that a prisoner.”

O’Hara broke the rules (often) and ended up getting the regular attention of the Police, including Gabrielson. She was fined, imprisoned and beat black and blue, with two broken ribs.

O’Hara filed a $100,000 lawsuit in 1941 against the Police department for her two broken ribs and black eyes. The lawsuit was dropped, but conflicts with the Police continued.

O’Hara later married a ‘local boy’ and quit the business. She was a prostitute for 13-years, and temporarily was a Madame. She had homes in Waikiki and Pacific Heights.

After leaving the brothels, “(her) only desire (was) to live a useful family life, and help others to live and let live, as one resurrected from the sordid flesh mines of humanity.”

In 1944, she wrote a booklet, ‘My Life as a Honolulu Prostitute.’ She died in 1973. (Lots of information here is from that booklet.)

June 4, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chinatown

Captain Cook’s voyage of exploration and ‘contact’ with the Islands in 1778 opened Hawai‘i to the world – it also showed the world the possibilities of the fur trade via the North American Northwest Coast. (Quimby)

The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the US.

American and British trading ships began plying between the American Northwest and South China, stopping at various ports in the Hawaiian Islands to replenish their supplies of food and water.

“In the month of January 1788, in conjunction with several British merchants resident in India, I purchased and fitted out two vessels, named the Felice and the Iphigenia … (each) built with sufficient strength to resist the tempestuous weather so much to be apprehended in the Northern Pacific Ocean, during the winter season.”

“The crews of these ships consisted of Europeans and China-men, with a larger proportion of the former. The Chinese were, on this occasion, shipped as an experiment: – they have been generally esteemed an hardy, and industrious, as well as ingenious race of people …”

“… they live on fish and rice, and, requiring but low wages, it was a matter also of economical consideration to employ them; and during the whole of the voyage there was every reason to be satisfied with their services.-If hereafter trading posts should be established on the American coast, a colony of these men would be a very important acquisition.” (Mears, 1790)

Shortly thereafter, in 1790, the American schooner Eleanora, with Simon Metcalf as master, reached Maui from Macao using a crew of 10-Americans and 45-Chinese. (Nordyke & Lee)

Crewmen from China were employed as cooks, carpenters and artisans, and Chinese businessmen sailed as passengers to America. Some of these men disembarked in Hawai‘i and remained as new settlers.

Sandalwood was first recognized as a commercial product in Hawai‘i in 1791 by Captain Kendrick (mainland merchants brought cotton, cloth and other goods for trade with the Hawaiians for their sandalwood – who would then trade the sandalwood in China.) Additional Chinese may have left their ships during the sandalwood trading.

Near the mouth of Nuʻuanu Stream, makai of King Street, is called Kapuʻukolo, a place “where white men and such dwelt.” At a nearby coral point was “where the first custom house stood.”

“In the vicinity of the custom house at the beach was a house for the first Chinese ever seen here. There were two or three of them, and they prepared food for the captains of the ship which took sandalwood to China.” (‘I‘i, Barrere & Rockwood)

“Because the faces of these people were unusual and their speech – which is not commonly heard – strange, a great number of persons went to look at them.” (I‘i; Kai)

Robert C Wyllie noted that by 1844 some Chinese had opened shops near the waterfront: “There are three stores kept by Chinamen, viz: Samping & Co, Ahung & Co and Tyhune.” (Wyllie, The Friend August 1, 1844)

In the mid-1840s, following defeat by Britain in the first Opium War, a series of natural catastrophes occurred across China resulting in famine, peasant uprisings and rebellions; many Chinese seized the opportunity to go elsewhere. (PBS) Some came to the Islands.

The region now known as Chinatown was established during the 1840s and 1850s, in an area along Honolulu Harbor southwest of Nuʻuanu Stream. (NPS) It is reportedly the oldest Chinese quarter in the US. (SunSentinel)

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages at Island sugar plantations were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.)

The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi. (Between 1852 and 1884, the population of Chinese in Hawai‘i increased from 364 to 18,254, to become almost a quarter of the population of the Kingdom (almost 30% of them were living in Honolulu.)) (Young – Nordyke & Lee)

By the early-1860s extensive tracts of irrigated taro land were being turned over to the cultivation of rice, and at various outlying locations, large sugar plantations were emerging on the island scene. As a result, programs of Chinese immigration for the workforce were implemented.

In 1862, the first rice mill in the Hawaiian Islands was constructed in Honolulu (prior to that it was sent unhulled and uncleaned to be milled in San Francisco.) (By 1887, over 13-million pounds of rice were exported. In 1899, Hawaiʻi’s rice production had expanded so that it placed third in production of rice behind Louisiana and South Carolina.)

By 1884 the area in the vicinity of Honolulu’s Mauna Kea, Nuʻuanu, King and Beretania Streets was heavily devoted to Chinese businesses and residences. The 1886 fire burned most of “Chinatown” to the ground. The Chinese residents quickly rebuilt, but by the early-1890s, sanitary conditions and a “slum-like” environment brought about renewed fears of cholera and other diseases.

In December 1899, the first case of bubonic plague was confirmed in Chinatown, and events following identification of the case, and subsequent deaths, led to relocating hundreds of people from Chinatown to Kaka‘ako on January 5, 1900.

Schools were closed, and Chinatown, with its 7,000 inhabitants, was placed under quarantine. In hopes of containing the plague only within Honolulu, the Board of Health closed the port of Honolulu to both incoming and outgoing vessels.

On January 6, 1900, “controlled fires” began to be set at buildings where victims had resided, and additional quarantine facilities capable of housing 2,000 people were being set up in Kalihi.

As cases of the plague continued to increase, “controlled burns,” were used in larger areas in an effort to remove the threat. On January 20, 1900, the fire between Beretania, Kukui, River and Nuʻuanu Streets went wild, and the entire area, including Kaumakapili Church, was destroyed.

From there, the flames spread, and a day later, on January 21, 1900 nearly all the buildings between Kukui, Queen, River and Nuʻuanu Streets were burned to the ground. (Kepa Maly)

Because the fire displaced the residential population of Chinatown, as the area was rebuilt, the Chinese only rebuilt their businesses in the neighborhood – not their homes.

Chinatown reached its peak in the 1930s. In the days before air travel, visitors arrived in the Islands by cruise ship; it was just a block up the street was the pier where they disembarked – and they often headed straight for the shops and restaurants of Chinatown, which visitors considered an exotic treat.

Today, Chinatown Historic District is the largest area in the city that still recalls a historic sense of time and place. (NPS) (SunSentinel)

June 2, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Invasion of Waikiki

“From the Waikiki Inn to the Seaside Hotel the beach and all available space back of it was occupied by spectators. … There were hundreds of tourists hailing from the four corners of the earth and representatives of almost every race on the globe in the crowd.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 25, 1913)

This was Hawaiʻi’s first pageant, part of the 1913 Mid-Winter Carnival, commemorating the conquering of Oʻahu by Hawaiʻi’s first King.

“Plunging across sunlit billows and riding swiftly upon the crest of the reef-combed rollers of Waikiki Bay yesterday, a fleet of war canoes brought the conquering army of Kamehameha the Great to Oahu, the first scene in the first historical pageant ever staged in the territory.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 25, 1913)

“Kamehameha and his warriors were late landing. It was at first intended that the canoes bearing the brown soldiers should reach the beach between the Outrigger club grounds and the Moana hotel at o’clock, but one delay after another came up …”

“… the greatest of which was the tardy arrival of, the Pacific Mail steamer Mongolia, aboard of which were 134 passengers who had come all the way from San Francisco on purpose to witness the pageant.” (Star-Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“In all there were in the flotilla about forty canoes, big and little, and as they paddled away in the gloom of the early morning each canoe was loaded to the guards.”

Palenapa, of the Honolulu police force, portrayed Kamehameha. Seventy Kamehameha Schools boys, a large delegation from the Kamehameha Aquatic club and several other organizations took part.

“Not a phase of the old conflict had been forgotten and as many of the features that made the flotilla of Kamehameha the Great unique had been placed aboard the canoes as could be got together in the short time allowed the manager of the pageant.”

“There were the tabu sticks, carried by the Puloulou, or custodian of the sacred things, there were the feathered tufts or the kahilis, sign of royalty, there: were the pauas or bows, and the puas or arrows, the deadly little poisoned darts”. (Star Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“Probably over seven thousand people were at Waikiki to see the spectacle.”

“It is to be regretted that there were no grandstand accommodations and I am afraid that many or our visitors did not Vet a very good view of the picturesque ceremonies carried on. I hoe that if anything of the kind is attempted again, arrangements will be for more seating.” (Chillingworth, Star-Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“All credit to John H. Wise, chairman of the regatta committee, and his lieutenants for making the affair the undoubted success it was despite the manifold difficulties with which they found themselves confronted at every stage of the preparations.”

“All credit to Director (Charles) Chillingworth, who stood behind his assistants, directing the work, fitting the multiplicity of detail into beautiful, harmonious whole.”

“Immediately after the ceremony of landing most of the crowd returned to town, though a large number gathered on the beach around the army of natives and were awarded by witnessing the hula dance.” (Star Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

Carnival events in 1913 included the Landing of Kamehameha, special productions at the Opera House, Horse Races, Military Parade, Floral Parade, Hawaiian luau and other events around town. Publicity on the mainland is credited for bringing in more than 2,000 tourists for the activities.

May 31, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tax Maps

The earliest known tax records, dating from approximately six thousand years B.C., are in the form of clay tablets found in the ancient city-state of Lagash in modern day Iraq, just northwest of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

The king used a tax system called bala, which meant “rotation.” The assessors would focus on one area of the city-state, assessing and taxing one area each month, thereby breaking down the arduous task into more manageable components.

Ancient Egypt had a thriving culture that began around 5,000 B.C. and lasted thousands of years. Taxes were levied against the value of grain, cattle, oil, beer and land. (Carlson)

Hawaiʻi is geographically an archipelago. It consists of eight main islands, plus a chain of islands extending 1,100-miles to the northwest. Johnston Atoll (Kalama), Palmyra Island and Kingman Reef to the south of Hawaiʻi were part of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, but the Admission Act excluded these from the geographical boundaries of the State of Hawaiʻi. (Van Dyke)

Papahānaumokuākea (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) consists of all islands, atolls, reefs and shoals in the Hawaiian Archipelago northwest of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau.

All islands, atolls, reefs and shoals in the Hawaiian Archipelago, except for the Midway Islands, are included in the State of Hawaiʻi under the Admission Act, the State Constitution and the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes.

The origin of county government within the American context is found in the Organic Act (June 14, 1900) which created the Territory of Hawaiʻi and which gave it the authority to establish municipalities.

The Territorial Legislature made a first attempt at creation of the four counties in 1903 (Act 31;) however, in 1904, the Territorial Supreme Court voided that effort on procedural grounds. The Legislature’s second attempt in 1905, “The County Act” (Act 39,) was successful, though it required an override of a veto by the Territorial Governor. (Konishi)

The City and County of Honolulu consists of the island of Oʻahu, all other islands not included in any other county and adjacent waters thereto. (Legislative Reference Bureau) Essentially, this means the City and County of Honolulu (“Honolulu”) covers all of Oʻahu (and its surrounding islets) plus the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (except Midway.)

A mapping effort was initiated in 1917 with the appropriation Act. A Branch was created for the purpose of making maps for the use of the tax assessors.

In 1932, a comprehensive plan for a coordinated mapping system was adopted. Its project included the mapping of the entire land area of the Islands, drawing all tax maps on sheets of uniform size and the creation of a key system.

The key system provided for the accounting of all properties based on location, boundaries, area and ownership identified through its Tax Map Key. (In Hawaiʻi roads are not given Tax Map Key (TMK) designations.) (kauai-gov)

The state was divided and numbered into four tax districts (effectively each County) – First: City & County of Honolulu (Island of Oʻahu;) Second: Maui County, including Molokai, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe (Kalawao County, though a County, is not recognized as a tax Division;) Third: Hawaiʻi County; and Fourth: Kauai County, including Niʻihau, Lehua, Kaula. (Only the main Hawaiian Islands have Tax Maps.)

Each district is divided and numbered into zones (there are up to 9 zones in each district;) tax map zones are divided into sections (there are up to 9 sections in each zone – earlier mapping had the section represented by respective ahupuaʻa;) sections are divided into plats; finally, individual parcels are identified in each plat. (Soehren)

Generally, there is a pattern that the zone numbering follows relative to each Island. For instance in Hawaiʻi County, the zone numbering starts in Puna (Zone 1,) and the numbering is counter-clockwise around the perimeter of the Island (Zone 2 is South Hilo, Zone 3 is North Hilo, Zone 4 is Hāmākua, etc.)

Likewise, generally, the sections follow a numbering pattern starting with Section 1 at zone boundary nearest the prior numbered zone and section numbers sequentially increase across the zone to the next zone common boundary.

The Tax Map Key is a sequence of numbers representing the respective district – zone – section – plat and parcel (with subsequent legislation and creation of condominiums, these are followed by the assigned condominium unit number.)

While driving in rural areas, you might notice the multiple digits in hyphenated street addresses – two digits, a hyphen separator, followed by up to four digits.

The preceding 2-digits represent the zone and section (respectively) of the tax map that the property is situated in. I grew up at 44-453 Kāneʻohe Bay Drive on Oʻahu – that means the property is in zone 4, section 4 of the First District.

The property Tax Map Key is typically written as: (1) 4-4-006:014 (District 1; Zone 4; Section 4; Plat 6; Parcel 14 – if this was a condominium, the sequence would be followed by the assigned tax map unit number.)

May 30, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Matsumoto Shave Ice

It is referred to in different ways, depending on where you are from … in Hilo it’s Ice Shave; lots of folks outside the Islands call it Sno-Balls, SnoCones (or Snow Cones) or even Shaved Ice … most, here, call it Shave Ice.

Shave ice exists all over the world today and is known as Gola Gunda in Pakistan, Juski in India, Ice Kachang in Malasia & Singapore where it is served with red beans and other fruits, Raspa, Raspado, or Raspadillo in Mexico and Peru (Raspar means “scrape” in Spanish.) (Stever)

In 1956, five years after Matsumoto Grocery Store first opened their doors to the public, a family friend suggested that the store sell cones of shave ice to help make up for slow business.

Mamoru and Helen soon purchased a hand-crank shave ice machine from Japan, attached an electric motor and started making shave ice cones at a nickel a piece. (Nemoto)

Whoa … we are already getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s look back …

Born in Hawaiʻi, Mamoru Matsumoto’s family returned to Hiroshima-ken when he was a toddler, and they struggled to survive. He worked as an apprentice at a sake factory and other odd jobs, but the income was insufficient.

Through friends and relatives he met his wife, Helen Momoyo Ogi, and they were married at the Haleiwa Jodo Mission. Mamoru worked long hours while Helen became a seamstress. They dreamed of opening their own business and purchasing a home for his family in Japan and for themselves.

Mr Kazuo Tanaka gave them the opportunity to open their own grocery store, M. Matsumoto Store Inc (founded February 13, 1951) in the previous Tanaka Store in Haleiwa. (Matsumoto)

Although grateful for the spot they now call home today, they “struggled” at first and had to work “really hard” in order for the family business to stay afloat. (Nemoto)

At first, Mamoru peddled his wares on a bicycle, until he was able to afford a panel truck. He went from camp to camp, taking orders and delivering the goods, while Helen manned the store and did some sewing. (Matsumoto)

“My dad had a panel truck,” says the second-generation Matsumoto. “He used to go around the community trying to sell canned goods in the back.” (Nemoto)

In 1956, the family expanded the business to include the frozen treat that’s known as kakigori (shave ice) in its place of origin, Japan. “The Japanese immigrants moved here with ice shavers. The equipment works like a wood planer.” (Washington Post)

This was before the present big wave surfing on the North Shore. Until the 1930s, modern surfing in Hawaiʻi was focused at Waikīkī; there the waves were smaller.

Then, in 1937, Wally Froiseth and John Kelly, reportedly on a school trip witnessed the large break at Mākaha and later surfed its waves. They were later joined by George Downing and others.

Riding at an angle to the wave, rather than the straight to shore technique, on the new “hot curl” board, with narrower tails and V-hulled boards, allowed them to ride in a sharper angle than anyone else.

Mākaha became the birthplace of big wave surfing. Even before Oʻahu’s North Shore, Mākaha was ‘the’ place for surfing – especially big-wave surfing.

But North Shore surfing caught on, so did the requisite stop at Matsumoto’s for shave ice.

When son Stanley Matsumoto took over in 1976, he bumped the canned goods to make space for the growing shave ice (and Matsumoto T-shirt) enterprise, which had been garnering attention from the Japanese media and visiting celebrities from both sides of the Pacific. (Washington Post)

In the busy summer season, the shop makes 1,000 ices a day; when school’s in session, the number drops to 500. “My father would be so happy with how the store has gotten so big,” said Matsumoto, whose father died in 1994 at age 85. (Washington Post)

“If they were alive right now they would be so happy to see how the store is today,” Matsumoto says. “They would be so proud to see everyone come to the store and have a nice time.” (Nemoto)

Shave ice is a local specialty found throughout the islands, but Matsumoto’s stands out for being the oldest continuously run operation on Oahu, going back more than half a century. (Washington Post)

Kamehameha Schools redeveloped the area. In all, the 28,000-square-foot retail complex spans a 0.1-mile section of Kamehameha Highway between Mahaulu Lane and Kewalo Lane.