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July 12, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Swim Wear

Although sea bathing was fashionable in the 18th century, it was considered proper to keep the skin white and untouched by the sun. Ladies were protected by face-shading bonnets, shawls and gloves (for some, weights were sewn into the hem of their bathing gowns to prevent the garment from floating up and showing their legs.) (Victoriana)

In the mid-19th century bathing dresses covered most of the female figure. The ”turkish” pants (bloomers) and “paletot” dresses are made from a heavy flannel fabric which would surely weigh down the swimmer. (Victoriana)

At ocean resorts where the water was very shallow near the beach, people undressed in ‘bathing machines’ (little houses on wheels, which were drawn out into deep water by horses and hauled back to the shore when the bath was finished.)

The bathing machine allowed a modest Victorian woman to spend the day at the beach in complete privacy. After the horse would haul the cabana into the ocean, the 19th century woman would change from her layers of petticoats and dress into another layer of swimwear.

In the late-1800s and early-1900s, bathing suits were typically accessorized with long black stockings, lace-up bathing slippers, and fancy caps. Beach shoes were made of soles of twisted straw or felt with embroidered serge or crash tops and laces.

During the early 1900s, people flocked to oceanside beaches for popular seaside activities as swimming, surf bathing, and diving. The only activity for women in the ocean involved jumping through the waves while holding onto a rope attached to an off-shore buoy.

Women typically dressed in black, knee-length, puffed-sleeve wool dresses, often featuring a sailor collar, and worn over bloomers trimmed with ribbons and bows. The bathing suit was accessorized with long black stockings, lace-up bathing slippers, and fancy caps. (Victoriana)

In 1905 a lady’s bathing suit was made of ten yards of material; in 1945 it is made from one. Between these times a social revolution had taken place. (Life)

But the next year changed everything.

In 1946, two French designers, Jacques Heim and Louis Reard, developed competing prototypes of new female swimwear. Heim called his the “atom” and advertised it as “the world’s smallest bathing suit.

On July 5, 1946, French engineer Louis Réard designed a garment ‘smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit.’ Four days earlier, the U.S. military had conducted nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. (Time)

Réard hoped that his invention would be as explosive as that test and so called his new creation the ‘bikini.’ But at first none of the Parisian models would dare to wear his design. (Time)

Micheline Bernardini, a nude dancer, was the first woman ever to wear a bikini, during a July 11, 1946, showing for the press at the fashionable Piscine Molitor in Paris. The bikini was so small it could fit into a matchbox. (Time)

Bikinis were banned from worldwide beauty pageants after the first Miss World Contest in London in 1951. As the tasteful one-piece continued to reign supreme, the bikini was later also banned in Belgium, Italy, Spain and Australia, and it was even declared sinful by the Vatican. (Time)

Sports Illustrated, Time’s sister publication published its first ever swimsuit issue in 1964. Apparently, editor Andre Laguerre could not find compelling sporting events to write about.

Fashion reporter Jule Campbell to help fill some space, including the cover, with a model. She found Babette March, and the rest is history.

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

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1918: From left: Miss Bernice Young, Miss Frances Burtner, Miss Josephine Brixell and Mrs. E.K. Pritchard pose for photo published on the July 21, 1918 Los Angeles Times society page.
1918: From left: Miss Bernice Young, Miss Frances Burtner, Miss Josephine Brixell and Mrs. E.K. Pritchard pose for photo published on the July 21, 1918 Los Angeles Times society page.
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Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii . Sea Bathing, Bikini, Swim Wear

July 7, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Pan Am

The first scheduled airline in America started in January, 1914; Tony Jannus hauled one passenger 22 miles from Tampa to St. Petersburg, Florida. Losing money, the venture was discontinued after three months.

In 1925, Scadtka Air Lines was set up in Colombia by a World War I German military aviator. SAL planned to fly to Panama, Central America, Cuba and the US, transporting passengers and mail.

Under the leadership of Juan T Trippe, Pan American Airways was formed on October 28, 1927, Inc and began scheduled mail service between Key West and Havana. Passenger service started on January 16, 1928.

There were few aviation facilities in Latin America, only three weather stations and no aeronautical radio. A radio genius, Hugo Leuteritz joined the company in 1928, and Charles Lindbergh became the company’s Technical Director in 1929. That year, the company had four contracts, 44 multi-engine planes.

An expansion of major proportions began. Within 2-years Pan Am routes extended from Miami to Brazil and Buenos Aires, and from both Miami and Brownsville, Texas, via Central America to Panama.

Then attention was directed to the Orient. They chose a flying boat to safely and comfortably carry crew, passengers, mail and cargo, from California to the Orient and back again, over water on a regularly scheduled basis.

In October, 1931, Pan Am introduced the Sikorsky S-40 (four-engined flying boats,) the first American Clipper. Many new routes were opened by Lindbergh himself, and by then Leuteritz had completed a system-wide radio network, and equipped all aircraft with two-way radio.

Trippe put Hawaiʻi on the aviation map when he chose to use the Islands as a springboard to reach the Orient – stepping stone islands along the route upon which to light for servicing, passengers and rest. The route was fixed as San Francisco to Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, Guam, the Philippines, and then to China.

On January 1, 1935, Trippe sent his technical staff from the east coast to San Francisco to set up a Pacific base of operations. Two months later, an expedition team set up operations and flew the route from California to China

Less than eight months, Postmaster General James A. Farley and Trippe watched the China Clipper take off on the first airmail flight, by way of Hawaiʻi and the other islands, on to its Manila destination. (Farley called it “the greatest and most significant achievement in the marvelous, fascinating development of air transportation.”

Then on April 17, 1935, the Pioneer Clipper landed in Hawaiian waters, just 17-hours and 44-minutes from its Alameda, California, starting point. The next day it headed to the Philippines and the Orient.

On October 21, 1936, Pan American initiated regular six-day weekly passenger service between San Francisco and Manila via Honolulu.

In 1940 the world’s first pressurized airliner, Boeing 307 Stratoliner brought new, fast service to Latin America, augmented by new Douglas DC-3As throughout Latin America, Alaska, and China.

At the time of Pearl Harbor, Pan American operated on 88,500-route miles, serving 52 countries and had 8,750 employees, with 162 aircraft, 192 radio/weather stations and 300 airports. (During the WWII, Pan Am operated many services for the military and other branches of the government.)

In the postwar era, expansion resumed.

Pan Am re-opened its Pacific and Atlantic routes; and on June 17, 1947, Pan Am opened a new Round-the-World schedule, followed by the new ‘Jet Era’ in October 1958. The 747, a new ‘wide-body,’ started in 1970.

The 1970s soon brought major increases in fuel prices. Deregulation brought increased competition. At the same time, Pan American made a bid to link the United States and Japan via Alaska, by passing Hawaii in a “modernization of the Pacific air structure.”

In rapid succession, Pan American’s 50th anniversary on November 22, 1985 of their first flight across the Pacific was followed by the announcement of the sale of their routes west of the Islands to United Airlines and then the sudden closing of all operations in Hawaiʻi on April 26, 1986.

The tragedy of Lockerbie (the Scottish town where Pan Am flight 103 crashed following a terrorist bomb attack on December 21, 1988) was Pan Am’s deathblow. Pan Am was forced to declare bankruptcy on January 8, 1991 and ceased operations on December 4, 1991. (Lots of information here from hawaii-gov, Pan Am and Banning)

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Pan American, Pan Am

July 6, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

From Ocean to Plate

“Hawaii’s longline fishery traces its roots back to 1917 when Japanese immigrants introduced ‘flagline’ fishing to Hawaii. Flaglining involved a long mainline made of sections of tarred rope set horizontally in the water, with multiple leaders and baited hooks, suspended by multiple floats with flags; hence the name ‘flagline’.”

Eventually, “the flagline vessels converted to modern monofilament mainline, line setters and large hydraulically powered reels. The fishery became known as ‘longline.’” (HawaiiSeafood)

The Hawaii longline fleet is comprised of about 150 vessels that target pelagic fish; they may go about 1,000 nautical miles from Honolulu to fish.

Pelagic is derived from Ancient Greek πέλαγος (pélagos) ‘open sea’; it refers to the open, free waters away from the shore, where marine life can swim freely in any direction unhindered by topographical constraints.

The longliners are typically targeting the pelagic bigeye and yellowfin tuna (ahi) (with deep sets – ie hooks are set deeper in the water) and swordfish/marlin (shallow-set).

“Primarily due to catch from Hawaiʻi pelagic fisheries, Honolulu consistently ranked in the top 12 US ports for revenue from 2010 to 2019, ranking 9th in 2019. It is the center of the Hawaiʻi commercial fishing and seafood industry.” (NOAA)

“The pelagic fishery is the largest of Hawaiʻi commercial fisheries. From 2008 to 2019, pelagic species accounted for approximately 84% of the total value and 66% of the total volume of the Hawaiʻi seafood market.” (NOAA)

“‘The commercial fishing industry is the largest food producer in the state,’ says [Frank] Goto [of United Fishing Agency]. ‘We’re really 80%-90% of the local production of food in the state, so if we’re talking about food security, we’re the most important industry. Fresh fish is not only a cultural staple here,’ he adds, ‘it’s also an economic necessity.’” (Mossman)

“Hawaiʻi contributed between 30% and 47% of national tuna landings and accounted for 49% to 63% of national tuna revenue. Hawaiʻi produced between 86% and 95% of national bigeye tuna landings and revenue from 2008 to 2019, respectively.”

“Hawaiʻi contributed between 38% and 67% of national yellowfin tuna landings over the study period and accounted for 38% to 76% of national yellowfin tuna revenue. Hawaiʻi also provided between 22% and 48% of the nation’s swordfish landings and between 20% and 41% of the national swordfish revenue from 2008 to 2019.”

“Hawaiʻi residents consume two to three times more seafood per capita than the continental U.S. population, mostly as fresh and frozen finfish.” (NOAA)

“Our results show that Hawaiʻi exports a low share of its pelagic landings, indicating that the primary market is domestic. The majority of pelagic landings seem to be consumed locally, while the relatively lower unit prices of imports and higher unit prices of exports reveal that Hawaiʻi is able to maximize its potential earnings from pelagic landings to further support its economy.” (NOAA)

“In other parts of the world, fishermen sell their fish to wholesalers who generally dictate prices. The United Fishing Agency came up with a better way that allows the independent fishermen to sell their catch at a fair price …”

“… and, in turn, enables auction buyers representing the wholesale, retail and restaurant sectors to get the freshest fish. Open competitive bidding rewards higher quality fish with higher prices.” (HawaiiSeafood)

“Wholesalers and retailers bid against each other at these auctions. Often street truck-peddlers will form a hui to buy one 150-200-pound fish which they split later.” (SB, Dec 11, 1954)

“‘The commercial fishing industry is the largest food producer in the state,’ says Goto, who also serves as assistant vice president of United Fishing Agency, the entity that runs the auction and is celebrating its 70th year in business.”

“The majority of fish are sold individually. This competition continues until all the fish are sold. Up to 100,000 pounds of fish can be auctioned in a day. Buyers are invoiced for their purchases by United Fishing Agency and fishermen are paid that day for their fish.” (HawaiiSeafood)

About 80% of the Hawai‘i Longline fleet’s fish are sold locally, 18% is sold on the continent and about 2% is exported. (Hawai‘i Longline Assn)

When I was at DLNR, I had the opportunity to experience the fish auction firsthand.  A couple owners of several longline boats wanted me to have a firsthand experience. It was memorable.  What happened next was unexpected, but it helped illustrate the diversity of local fish marketing and distribution.

We left the auction and went to a non-descript multi-story building in lower Kalihi. They wanted me to see how some of the auctioned fish make it onto plates in restaurants on the continent.

We entered to see a phonebank of folks on phones. As the auction was taking place, this company’s buyer representative messaged to this phone crew details of what he bought.  These folks were calling their restaurants customers they deal with on the continent to let them know what was available.

The restaurants customized their orders (by fish kind and weight the needed).  In another room in the building some of the day’s auction purchases had already arrived and workers were cutting and packaging the custom orders.  Then, they were air shipped out.

When dinner time came, customers at the mainland restaurant, oblivious to the timing, coordination and logistics of making it happen, ordered the ‘fresh catch’ and it was prepared and plated.  (It is an interesting process that allows folks to experience the fresh fish of the Islands.)

Speaking of pelagic fisheries, I was honored when President Bush appointed me to serve as one of the five US Commissioners to represent the US interests on the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), an international fisheries Commission that seeks to manage highly migratory fish stocks (tuna, billfish, marlin …) in the western and central Pacific.

I was also honored to serve as a member of Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council (WESPAC) – initially, representing the State of Hawai‘i, then, a term as an at-large member on the Council. WESPAC, one of eight US Regional Councils, is charged to manage fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ – generally 3- to 200-miles offshore) of US interests.

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Filed Under: Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Fish Auction, Longline Fishing

June 29, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

The Perfect Nut

If you have every watched the game being played, your first thought (question) is if there really are any rules associated with it.

The first publicly recorded Australian Football match took place between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar on the rolling paddocks next to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1858.

Each team selected its own umpire. Scotch College chose Dr John Macadam, Melbourne Grammar School Tom Wills. What qualifications Macadam had for the post, we don’t know. After three playing days, the game ended in a draw with each team kicking one goal. (University of Melbourne)

No, that is the basis of this story.

How about? … John Macadam, the man who on March 3, 1862 delivered the first-ever lecture at the Melbourne University Medical School and who went on to become Professor of Theoretical and Practical Chemistry at Melbourne University in 1865.

No, that’s not it either.

However, it’s the same John Macadam in each story … as well as the story that follows.

Given the variety above, it shouldn’t surprise you that John Macadam is the namesake for the macadamia nut. (Although, allegedly, Macadam had not seen a macadamia nut tree, or even tasted the macadamia nut.)

In 1857, German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller gave the genus of this plant the scientific name Macadamia – named after von Mueller’s friend Dr John Macadam, a noted scientist and secretary to the Philosophical Institute of Australia.

John Macadam, scientist, medical doctor, philosopher and politician, was born in May 1827 at Northbank, near Glasgow, Scotland. (His name has often been misspelled with a capital “A” as in “Adam.”)

Although in ill health by March 1865, he went to New Zealand to give expert testimony as an analytical chemist in a murder trial involving the use of poison. Along the way, he fractured his ribs in rough weather.

Subsequently, he developed pleurisy (inflammation of the moist, double-layered membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the rib cage) and died at sea on September 2, 1865 (at the age of 38.) (CTAHR)

Let’s look back.

For at least 40,000 years, Aborigines have lived in macadamia heartland. As hunters and gatherers, they had an intimate understanding of their environment. The wild macadamias usually grew in dense rainforests, with competition from other trees and absence of light resulting in their producing few nuts.

However, trees growing at the edge of the rainforest or where the Aborigines had encouraged them by burning around each tree generally produced annual crops. Macadamia nuts were a treasured food but a very minor part of the Aboriginal diet due to their rarity. (McConachie)

In 1828, Alan Cunningham (explorer and botanist) was the first Western person to record the macadamia. Other names for Macadamia Nuts are Bush nut, Queensland nut, Queen of nuts, Macadamia, Bauple nut, Boombera, Jindilli and Gyndl.

Macadamia seeds were first imported into Hawaiʻi in 1882 by William Purvis; he planted them in Kapulena on the Hāmākua Coast. (Purvis is also notable for importing the mongoose – to rid his Hāmākua sugar plantation of rats.)

A second introduction into Hawaii was made in 1892 by Robert and Edward Jordan who planted the trees at the former’s home in Nuʻuanu on Wyllie Street in Honolulu. This introduction became the source of the principal commercial varieties cultivated in Hawaiʻi. (Storey)

The Macadamia Nut is Australia’s only native plant to have become an international food. Although an Australian native, the macadamia nut industry was started in Hawaiʻi (Australian farmers did not take advantage of the tree until 1950.)

In 1922, Ernest Sheldon Van Tassel organized the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Company to produce and process macadamia nuts. Two orchards were established by this company: one (‘Nutridge’) on the Tantalus slopes overlooking Honolulu at an elevation of about 900 feet, and the other at Keauhou at about 1,800 feet elevation on the Island of Hawaiʻi. By 1934, there were about 25-acres planted on Tantalus and about 100-acres at Keauhou. (CTAHR)

Commercial processing of macadamia nuts began in 1934 at Van Tassel’s new factory in Kaka‘ako. The nuts were shelled, roasted, salted, bottled and marketed there as “Van’s Macadamia Nuts.” (Schmitt)

In order to stimulate interest in macadamia culture, beginning January 1, 1927, a Territorial law exempted properties in the Territory, used solely for the culture or production of macadamia nuts, from taxation for a period of 5 years.

Macadamia nut candies became commercially available a few years later. Two well-known confectioners, Ellen Dye Candies and the Alexander Young Hotel candy shop, began making and selling chocolate-covered macadamia nuts in the middle or late 1930s. Another early maker was Hawaiian Candies & Nuts Ltd., established in 1939 and originators of the Menehune Mac brand. (Schmitt)

The first major attempt at large-scale commercialization of macadamia nuts was made in 1948 by Castle & Cooke, Ltd., in their venture at Keaʻau on the island of Hawaiʻi. Later, another of the former ‘Big 5’ companies, C Brewer and Company Ltd, bought out C&C and changed the name to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. (Hershey’s later bought the Mauna Loa brand.)

Then, in 1962, MacFarms of established one of the world’s largest single macadamia nut orchards with approximately 3,900-acres on the South Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

Today, about 570 growers farm 17,000 acres of macadamia trees, producing 40 million pounds of in-shell nuts, valued at over $30 million. Additionally, nuts are imported from South Africa and Australia, who currently lead the world market, with Hawai‘i at #3. (hawnnut)

The harvesting season for macadamia nuts runs from August through January. During Hawai’i’s cooling autumn months, mature macadamia nuts safely protected by sturdy shells and husks drop to the ground, and farmers hand-gather or mechanically harvest.

Under favorable conditions, a ten-year old tree can produce up to 150 pounds of in-husk nuts. De-husking is the first step needed. Next, a drying process decreases nut moisture from about 25 percent to 1.5 percent. Equipment that can exert 300 pounds of pressure cracks the shells. The raw kernels that emerge are now ready for grading, roasting, final drying and processing. (olsontrust)

Macadamias are a high energy food and contain no cholesterol. The natural oils in macadamias contain 78 per cent monounsaturated fats, the highest of any oil, including olive oil.

Macadamias are also a good source of protein, calcium, potassium and dietary fiber and are very low in sodium. The protein component of nuts is low in lysine and high in argentine. (BaupleMuseum)  Horticulturalist Luther Burbank is credited with calling macadamias the ‘perfect nut.’ (NY Times)

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Filed Under: Economy, General Tagged With: Hamakua, Macadamia Nuts, John Macadam, Ernest Sheldon Van Tassel, Hawaii

June 25, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

New Month

“The busiest time of the month for the [plantation] stores was ‘new month’ time.” (Stores and Storekeepers of Paia & Puunene, Maui, UH Manoa, Ethnic Studies Program)

“[Y]ou get the goods ahead of the following month. You pay one month later.” (Kenichi Itakura, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“Generally starting between the twentieth and twenty-sixth of each month (exact dates varied with each store), a customer was allowed to charge goods from that date and was not required to pay for his purchase until the payday after next.”

“If, for example, new month began on June 25, and a customer charged something on June 24, he would have to pay for that purchase on the next payday – July 1.”

“However, if he waited until June 25 to charge that purchase, his payment was not due until August 1. Because of this advantage, customers generally waited for new month to begin and bought items such as rice and feed in large quantities.”

“The store became busier than usual during this time, and order takers and delivery boys needed extra help from other store employees.”  (Stores and Storekeepers of Paia & Puunene, Maui, UH Manoa, Ethnic Studies Program)

[An average family of, say, four people. How much goods would they buy in new month time?] “Oh, well, those years, you know, money value was low. They used to buy, let’s say, thirty, forty dollars. Thirty, forty dollars, you know how much grocery you have? One month supply, almost.”

“In the meantime, maybe, they run short of certain things, and then they’ll buy little by little. You go over that, you have to pay anyway. So, sometimes, they – you know, come balance for so many months.”  (Kenichi Itakura, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“[I worked for] For MA Company [Maui Agricultural Company] … they had boys that go out and take orders. Oh, they had – I think I would say – good, about four of them. Some Japanese, and some other boys.”

“We went into the camps … around the twentieth of each month. We went to this individual names, and they gave us what they called a ‘new month order.’ And [for] that merchandise, we brought those bills in.” (John Perreira, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“One guy takes orders. That’s all he does – take orders. New month time. After [new month time is over], he works inside. Put up orders. You know, whatever job it is. In addition to that, with some of the truck drivers and the boys that put up the orders, they had to unload the freight.”

“Freight all came from Kahului inside box cars. These cars were, oh gosh, they were good size. Locomotive go right into the building. No way of [the merchandise] getting wet. And they unload all that merchandise and stack ‘em. We carried quite a number of merchandise.”  (John Perreira, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“They start, maybe, around the twentieth of the month.  That, they don’t bill you till the following month, see? So, they [the stores] get new month order. That’s when everybody buy because they don’t have to pay (until the following) payday.”

“You had big order. Yeah, big order. Maybe two trip you have to make. Of course, if you have ten bag rice on your pickup truck, that’ s all you can put. Ten bag plus the groceries, see? So, you have to come back and make another trip.”

“And Filipinos used to eat plenty of rice, so new month, that’s when you sell your biggest quantity of rice.  (Masakazu Shimoda, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“Twentieth, then you don’t pay that payday, but the following payday. So, they all wait. (Chuckles) Nowadays, they don’t have that system. More cash and carry. But those days, new month, they all wait. Even the wholesaler used to do that. Same way. So, I used to help deliver.”

“When he goes to take order, well, [for example], he go to your house. ‘Nishimoto’ he put down on the bill – house number, what camp. And then, he start taking the order. On the bill, you have ‘Alabama Camp, house thirteen’.  You go deliver over there.”  (Masakazu Shimoda, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“[For sales/deliveries other than New Month days,] we still have that – the sales is not big like that once a month [i.e., new month] one. That, gradually, they going buy everyday things or some other stuff. So, they just go and take order every day.”

“They go, maybe, this camp today. They alternate. Next, maybe, two day, they go different camp. So, maybe, they might have about four guys go out, take order. So, every day, it’s a different camp. They bringing order in, but. They make [i.e., gather] their own order, but I have to be ready with that big stuff.”

“Oranges, like that, come out from that crate, eh? Because plenty. Some of them rotten. (KI lowers voice.) They say, “Well, get ’em all, wash ’em all, and put in the counters,” see?  They used to fill up from there. We had to take care all that.”

“You know, potatoes come from Mainland – from Oregon or someplace. California side, too. Some used to get that eyes sticking out already. They would get too old, eh? We used to take off that, and then you can pile ’em up, put in the box, and put with the [other] potatoes.”

“The guy who take order. When they make [i.e., gather] their own order, see? So, lot of job.” (Kenichi Itakura, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“Because after new month, [they] only [go out] every day, little by little. New month is 50 percent of their sales already. The rest of the days is just going out [and making] contact, [getting for the customers] few things what they missed [during] new month.

That old style. New month is a big thing.”

“I think, every store had the big sale. All the Japanese stores was doing the same system. New month sale. One would give twenty, next give twenty. If he give nineteen, then we come down nineteen, too [i.e., extending new month privileges beginning on the nineteenth of the month instead of the twentieth].”

“Of course, your big customer, maybe he used to buy fifty dollars worth. He say, ‘Give me new month.’ Naturally, you got to give new month, one day early but. (Masakazu Shimoda, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“[I]f it’s your good customer – the one that buy big one. You don’t want to lose him, so you going to give. If not, he goes to a competitor, and he tell ’em, ‘Hey, give me new month.’”

“Sundays, don’t deliver. But when it came to new month, … he get so much order, we have to make the order [i.e., gather the merchandise] in the evening so he can start delivering early in the morning. If not, he cannot take order next day. Only delivery, yeah? Oh, he used to bring the big order in. New month. You take, maybe, get twenty Filipinos ordering twenty bag rice, that’s two trip already.” (Masakazu Shimoda, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

“[New month could be] One, two days ahead. Especially your good customers. Yeah. [the plantation get mad if you did that.] You not supposed to. But then, the customers don’t say, too. … you have to give, on the sly.” (Masakazu Shimoda, Store and Storekeepers Oral History)

In 1980, the UH Manoa Ethnic Studies program conducted a number of oral histories from people who grew up and worked in the Paia-Pu‘unene area of Maui.  Those histories and the information concluded from them provide insight into the plantation store system.  All here is from that project report.

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Economy, General, Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Puunene, Plantation, Plantation Store, New Month

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