Economy | Page 210 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Palace Theater

Bakers Beach, in Hilo Bay between Reeds Bay and Pier 3 is named for prominent Hilo businessman Adam Baker. It’s manmade; the coral rubble and sand are spoil materials from the dredging operations that enlarged the Hilo Harbor basin. They were deposited on the shore here between 1925 and 1930.

The newly created beach fronted Baker’s three-story house; with its beautiful lawns, rock gardens and large fruit and shade trees, it was a famous landmark. Baker was the son of John Timoteo Baker, the last appointed governor of the Big Island under the Hawaiian monarchy. (Clark)

“When Adam Baker and some of the oriental moving picture managers approached the Sheriff and asked for the needed permit for Sunday shows, he turned his back to their request and answered, ‘There’s nothing doin’ …”

“And ‘nothing doin’’ it was for July 4, the first Sunday on which the law was in effect, despite the tearful pleas of the theater men, who saw many dimes and quarters going astray, amid the holiday crowd in town, because there were no movies to be seen.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 13, 1915)

That didn’t stop Baker in the theater business; with the Empire across the street and the Gaiety and others nearby, on October 26, 1925, at 6:30 pm, the New Palace opened its doors to an eager crowd, showing its first movie at 7:30, ‘Don Q: Son of Zorro,’ starring Douglas Fairbanks. Also shown were the short films ‘The Clodhopper’ and ‘Traps and Troubles.’ (Haleamau)

The New Palace Theater, part of a small family of theaters owned and operated by Adam Charles Baker (1881-1948) was built at the peak of the heyday for American movie palaces.

Baker’s New Palace was built on a scale that had never been seen outside of Honolulu. The original stadium seating arrangement on a sloped floor, predating stadium seating in modern theaters, accommodated 800 seats and allowed for unobstructed sight lines.

The building was constructed of redwood imported from the Pacific Northwest. (Valentine) Fourteen huge redwood columns supported the wooden roof trusses which span the entire width of the building.

Designed and built in the days before electronic sound amplification systems, the Palace boasts excellent natural acoustics for live musical groups and drama.

The early shows were silent films; in 1929, a 3-manual (keyboards,) 7-rank (sets of pipes) Robert-Morton pipe organ was built in Van Nuys, California, shipped and installed in the Palace Theater. Shortly after, Johnny DeMello became the house organist, accompanying the silent films and giving other performances.

The Empire was first to exhibit a talkie, ‘The Voice of the City,’ in Hilo on October 9, 1929. The New Palace’s first talkie, shown on October, 16, was ‘Mary Pickford’s Coquette’ (Pickford’s talkie debut). Management of the two theaters decided to take turns exhibiting silent and talkie movies. (Haleamau)

In 1931, The Palace Theater was sold to Consolidated Amusements, Ltd and closed shortly thereafter for renovation; Consolidated began showing first run movies. Baker continued on as the New Palace’s assistant manager, but retired on January 9, 1932, to travel.

By December 10, 1937, the Palace became not only the first theater, but the first building on the island to be fully air-conditioned when WA Ramsay Ltd., installed a Carrier system.

The Palace would close for renovation once more on April 25, 1940, after that night’s showing of ‘All Women Have Secrets’ (the movie debut of Jeanne Cagney, younger sister of James). It reopened on May 26, 1940. (Haleamau)

That year, the pipe organ (and Johnny DeMello) moved from the Palace Theater to the Hilo Theater (which opened on April 25, 1940 with 1,037 seats.) A few years later (1946,) a massive tsunami hit the Hilo Theater and damaged the organ console.

Johnny returned to Honolulu and in 1955 he was appointed house organist at the Waikiki Theatre and played there until his retirement in 1978.

The organ console was removed and sent to Honolulu for repairs. Unfortunately, in 1960, a second tsunami hit Hilo, and the Hilo Theater. The organ console was washed over the seats to the auditorium back wall where it broke apart.

Hilo Theater closed for good following the tsunami and the building was demolished in 1965. The Palace Theater survived the two tsunami. However, in 1984, Palace Theater closed and was used as Consolidated Theaters’ storage of the highly flammable film in a vault.

In 1990, the building was acquired from Consolidated and structural repairs were undertaken. For the past 10+ years, the non-profit ‘Friends of the Palace Theater’ has worked to restore and upgrade the theater building.

And, through numerous grants, business and individual donations, and a lot of hard work, the theater is open with independent films, concerts and other live performances. (Fundraising and further restoration are ongoing.) (Lots of information here is from Hilo Palace and Haleamau.)

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Johnny DeMello at the Organ in the Palace-ca 1932

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Hilo Theater – 1943

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October 25, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Timeline Tuesday … 1000 – 1780s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us from the approximately 1000 AD (when some estimate the first settlement of the Islands took place) to the rise of Kamehameha, Contact and death of Captain Cook. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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October 22, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

‘We are learning the Star Spangled Banner’

The first commercially-viable sugar plantation, Ladd and Co., was started at Kōloa on Kaua‘i in 1835. It was to change the face of Hawai‘i forever, launching an entire economy, lifestyle and practice of mono-cropping that lasted for well over a century.

Hawaiʻi had the basic natural resources needed to grow sugar: land, sun and water. Hawai‘i’s economy turned toward sugar in the decades between 1860 and 1880; these twenty years were pivotal in building the plantation system.

A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the landscape. However, a shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge. The only answer was imported labor.

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 were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

There were three big waves of workforce immigration: Chinese 1852; Japanese 1885 and Filipinos 1905; several smaller, but substantial, migrations also occurred: Portuguese 1877; Norwegians 1880; Germans 1881; Puerto Ricans 1900; Koreans 1902 and Spanish 1907.

Then, in May 1909 on Oʻahu, 5,000 Japanese plantation workers went out on strike.

The serious problems involved in the plantation labor situation continued to occupy the center of attention of those interested in the welfare of the sugar industry in Hawaiʻi. (American Sugar Industry and Beet Sugar Gazette, February 24, 1911)

An opportunity soon presented itself in the person of a Russian national, AV Perelestrous, who came to Honolulu for medical treatment and rest on Waikiki and saw a good opening for business.

He introduced himself to the secretary of the Territory of Hawaiʻi and the Territorial board of immigration as a major railway contractor in Manchuria and offered his services in delivering Russian workers to local sugar cane plantations. (Khisamutdinov)

“The efforts to obtain Russian immigration were in the final results rather disastrous both in the object sought and financially. … the board of immigration was given to understand that the Russian Government would not look with disfavor upon an attempt to recruit from that quarter.”

“(I)t was decided to introduce approximately 50-families as a trial lot, and Mr ALC (‘Jack’) Atkinson (US District Attorney) was chosen to proceed to Harbin, accompanied by Mr AW Perelestrous, who some time previous had represented himself … as a Russian contractor familiar with the conditions in Manchuria. Mr Atkinson departed August 30, 1909, accompanied by Mr Perelestrous”. (US House Committee on Immigration, 1921)

The recruiting took place in Harbin, Manchuria, on the Siberian border, the center of the Chinese Eastern Railroad, where Atkinson opened his office. That way it was easier to draw up exit papers: emigrants left through the port of Dalny, where there was no Russian customs post. (Khisamutdinov)

They returned to the Islands on October 22, 1909 “with 108 men, 67 women, and 79 children, a total of 255. These people were to all appearances, both physically and otherwise (so far as could be determined by the board,) the most desirable lot of immigrants ever introduced.” (US House Committee on Immigration, 1921)

“The Russians are a clean, sturdy, fine appearing lot of people, apparently with the willingness to work and certainly with the physical strength to do so. They are peasants, the older men and women uneducated. This was to have been expected. The children, however, are” bright, active and healthy, such as should grow up to be helpful citizens with the advantages they will have in this country.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 22, 1909)

“They accepted such employment as was offered them and so highly were they spoken of by their employers that, in November of the same year the board decided to introduce some three or four hundred additional families of the same class.” (US House Committee on Immigration, 1921)

“The liner Siberia, which arrived here yesterday from the orient, landed 212 Russian immigrants at Honolulu. There were men, women and children in the party. In Russia the men had been working long hours for a monthly wage of 5 rubles and were enchanted at the prospect of a free life on the sugar plantations. That they have no intention of returning”.

“At the request of some of the passengers, one of the ship’s officers requested the Russians to sing the Russian national hymn. The quartermaster who carried the message returned shaking his head. … (They effectively told him) ‘To hell with Russia; we are learning the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’”

“After landing at Honolulu every Russian tore up his passport and threw the scraps into the Pacific ocean.” (San Francisco Call, October 29, 1910)

Later shipments weren’t as enthusiastic. “Diphtheria broke out in quarantine. Bottled up, bored, hearing stories of real plantation life, they balked. … Most new recruits refused to sign up for jobs … Saying they’d rather starve than work on plantations, the immigrants exited quarantine April 4th, many of them following the Spaniards to California.” (Elks)

Later shipments met with similar resistance; Russians refused to accept the working and living conditions. As soon as steamers with settlers began approaching the shore, shouts were heard: “Don’t go to the plantations! Better drown in the sea than go there and work!” (Khisamutdinov)

The total number of Russians introduced into the Territory amounted to 1,799, at a total cost of $139,021.59, exclusive of the quarantine expenses here of $17,735.79. Of the number introduced, only a little more than 60 per cent accepted plantation employment. (US House Committee on Immigration, 1921)

On March 21, 1910, Russian emigrants went on strike. The authorities suggested that they should elect representatives who would tour the plantations and familiarize themselves with working and living conditions there. But they refused to do so because they no longer believed any promises.

The magazine In Foreign Parts (Russians in America and Australia) wrote this about Hawaii: “At first our workers suffered numerous hardships on the Hawaiian Islands, but gradually they began to adapt.”

“Some emigrated to America, some found jobs in accordance with their skills, some bought farms of their own on time, while the majority for the time being accepted their fate and were working.” (Khisamutdinov) Complaints were spread about the misinformation given while recruiting in Russia.

On January 12, 1912, members of the Russian staff assisting in the emigration were arrested and sent to prison. This was the end of the Russian resettlement to Hawaiʻi. (Khisamutdinov)

The image shows a front page photo showing the arrival of Russian immigrants; it is labeled ‘Hawaiʻi’s New Citizens’ from the Pacific Commercial Advertiser. (October 22, 1909)

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Russian Collection, Hamilton_Library, University of Hawaii at Manoa

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Russian Collection, Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii at Manoa

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Russian Collection, Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii_at Manoa

Russian Collection, Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii_at_Manoa

October 19, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Butterfish

For folks in Hawai‘i, butterfish is not simply a species of fish; it’s a preparation of fish. Hawaiian butterfish is miso-marinated black cod. Black cod is not really a cod; it’s a black-skinned (thus the name) sablefish (that kind of looks like cod.)

(There is an Atlantic ‘butterfish’ (wild-caught off the US from Maine to South Carolina) but it is smaller than the sablefish; in the UK, butterfish is a small eel-like fish – both of these are not what folks in Hawai‘i refer to as butterfish.)

Whoa, let’s look back …

Sablefish occur in the North Pacific, the Bering Sea and adjacent waters from Hokkaido, Japan to Baja, California, with greatest abundance in the Gulf of Alaska. Adult fish are found in depths between 1,200 to 3,000-feet. (NOAA)

Fishing methods include hook and line (and lately long-line fishing (where hundreds or thousands of baited hooks branching from a single line are used) is the predominant landing method,) pot and trawler. Sablefish are targeted through sets along the ocean bottom, the preferred sablefish habitat. (NOAA)

Early Island reference to the fish was made in Honolulu’s Saturday Press, January 5, 1884, “A new food fish called black cod has been discovered. It is caught off Queen Charlotte’s Island (British Columbia) in deep water and the supply is said to be inexhaustible.”

Later, an AP story from Seattle noted, “Black cod, formerly a neglected fish, became popular immediately upon its indorsement by the United States bureau of fisheries under the new name of sablefish, and doubled in price.” (Honolulu Star Bulletin, June 13, 1917)

For some, butterfish is simply the black cod/sablefish, prepared however. Some even warn of the escolar (walu,) another very rich fish (and often labeled as ‘butterfish’) – apparently, it is so oily it causes gastric difficulties.

But, generally, when you think of Hawaiian butterfish, many look forward to the miso-marinated black cod/sablefish.

Misoyaki (charred miso) style includes miso-marinated, then fired over a grill or pan seared. (Actually the misoyaki marinade will also work on salmon, ahi and other firm fish – even chicken or beef.)

In 1868, the first 153-Japanese immigrants arrived in Honolulu on board the 3-masted sailing ship Scioto (Saioto-go.) They brought with them miso and shoyu.

This was Meiji 1 – the first year of the Meiji period, a period of awakening, expansion, and opening to the outside world after 268 years of peaceful isolation during the Edo (Tokugawa) period.

During the 1880s, more Japanese came to work in the sugar fields; they introduced sake and soyfoods to Hawaii. (Soyinfo Center)

Soybeans originate from China. In 2853 BC, Emperor Sheng-Nung of China named five sacred plants – soybeans, rice, wheat, barley and millet.

Soybean plants were domesticated between 17th and 11th century BC in the eastern half of China, where they were cultivated into a food crop.

From about the first century to the Age of Discovery (15-16th century), soybeans were introduced into several countries such as Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal and India. (The terms so-ya, soya and soy have never existed in Japanese or Chinese.)

It started coming to Hawai‘i. In 1893, a report of Japan’s Department of Agriculture and Commerce noted Exports (Class 22) include “Soy. The total value of the latest export is 41,029 yen, and chiefly exported to Hawai‘i.”

Hawai‘i Agricultural Experiment Station, Annual Report (1908) notes, “Several varieties of soy beans have been grown for use as fodder, green manuring, and human food, particularly in the Japanese product, Miso. The yields have been very encouraging.”

“About 500 tons of soy beans are annually imported from Japan, and the demand is increasing. The beans are sold in Honolulu for $3 per 100 pounds. The market can easily be supplied by home production.”

Miso, or ‘fermented soybean paste,’ is one of East Asia’s most important soyfoods. Miso is an all-purpose high-protein seasoning, which has no counterpart among Western foods or seasonings. Made from soybeans, rice or barley, and salt, its smooth or chunky texture resembles that of soft peanut butter.

A Federal Court (Judge Dole) ruling noted, “miso is a manufactured article. It is not preserved (soy) beans, as counsel for the government contends. It is made from rice and beans, and rice is the component part of chief value.”

“Miso is a new and completed commercial article, known and recognized in the trade by a specific and distinctive name other than the names of either of the materials of which it is composed.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 7, 1910)

At some time, someone combined the miso with the fish and the Hawaiian butterfish was born. (Lots of information here is from Soyinfo Center, Scott and Hawaii Magazine.)

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October 14, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Charlie Chaplin

“You wish to write my impressions of Hilo. Very good. Here it is. I saw the volcano.” (Charlie Chaplin, Los Angeles; Volcano House Register, NPS)

“There are many charms in Hilo other than the Volcano. A maidenly diffidence forbids me suggesting the possessor of them.” (Edna Purviance, Los Angeles; Volcano House Register, NOS)

“Charlie in his honest-to-goodness self and personality today walked up the main street of Honolulu. So thousands of movie fans who have laughed themselves hoarse the antics and swagger of the jovial Charlie on the screen will have an opportunity for the next few week of occasionally bumping into that worthy the streets.”

“Charlie arrived on the Matsonia. In the Chaplin party also were Miss Eda Purviance, another well known screen star; Tom Harrington and Bob Wagner of the Saturday Evening Post staff.”

“Wagner is accompanying Charlie on his trip just for the sake of being with him and to record the personal side of the vacation.
Charlie is here primarily for rest and to see the sights of the islands.”

“His trip, at least at present, has nothing to do with the possibility of staging comic scenario the islands, though Charlie is not averse to picking up few hints that may serve him well in his business of making humanity laugh away dull care.”

“Charlie and his party were the life of the boat coming over and made things gay for the passengers, aided and abetted by R. J. Buchly of the First National bank, who as terpischore expert taught Charlie and Miss Purviance a few steps. The dancing lessons were the occasion for more merriment aboard the Matsonia.”

“Charlie visited the Young hotel this morning and called on Mr Van Loan, the movie photographer. This gave rise to the rumor that Chaplin was down here in Honolulu to take some films.”

“‘No sire!’ he replied emphatically. ‘You don’t catch me doing any work while I’m down here. I’m on vacation, and I’m going to rest.’”

“Charlie was asked what he thought of Honolulu. ‘Great,’ he exclaimed, enthusiastically: ‘I love every minute of it. I wish I could stay here longer. I’m tickled to death with the place. I was going to New York instead but, say, this has got anything I’ve seen beaten by a mile.’”

“Although the film star is minus his dinky moustache and cane, derby hat and huge shoes, he is still the same old Charlie, and could hardly get by in a crowd without being discovered. He is going to get out on a surfboard and be a regular kamaaina, he says.” (Star Bulletin, October 10, 1917)

“Charley Chaplin managed to see a good deal of Hawaii in the short week he stayed in the Islands, one reason being that while here he outfitted himself with new glasses. Pleased with his new outlook on things Hawaiian, Chaplin had his co-star Miss Purviance, also fitted with new glasses.”

“As a final result, Dr. RA Thompson has added a much prized letter of appreciation from Chaplin to the collection of other testimonials to his optician skill, letters written by former President Roosevelt, Former President Tuft, William Jennings Bryan, Elbert Hubbard, Billy Sunday and other celebrities.”

“The autographed letter from Charley Chaplin is a highly complimentary one and highly prized by its recipient. Doctor Thompson has definitely decided to make his home in Honolulu, opening an office here for the practice of his profession.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1917)

“The famous Charlie Chaplin arrived in Honolulu October 10, and while he intended to come for a rest between custard pie throwing contests, he was kept extremely busy sightseeing.”

“Photographers camped on his trail and snapped him riding the surfboards on the beach at Waikiki, eating two-fingered poi, dancing with the hula girls and even flirting with Pele, the Goddess of Fire, on the edge of the volcano at Kilauea.”

“Charlie likes Hawaii’s style and he fain would stay a while, loafing on the sun-kissed sand, eating poi with either hand; listening to the ukulele played by Waikiki Bill Bailey; eating dog in guise of pig; practicing the hula jig.”

“But he’s got to get back home and with us may no more roam – back to make a nation smile in rare Charlie Chaplin’s way.” (Logan Republican, November 15, 1917)

Charlie & Edna Purviance in Hawaii, 1917. Charlie met Edna in a cafe in San Francisco in 1914. He said later that she was ‘more than pretty, she was beautiful’. She went on to appear in 34 films with Chaplin from 1915-1923. She is my favorite of his leading ladies.

They had a certain sweetness onscreen that Charlie didn’t have with any of his other leading ladies-in my opinion anyway. Charlie & Edna cared deeply about each other long after their romantic relationship ended and Charlie kept Edna on his payroll until her death in 1958.

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