Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Some Hawaiʻi Aviation History

Bud Mars was the first man to fly an airplane in Hawaiʻi, on December 31, 1910.  Piloting a Curtiss B-18 biplane, he flew to 500-feet over Moanalua Polo Field, Oʻahu.  He repeated the flight the next day to the thrill of thousands of spectators.

The first aircraft accident in the Islands was on the Big Island, dating back to June 10, 1911 when Clarence H Walker came to Hilo for an exhibition flight in his Curtiss Biplane.  There were no airports on the island, so Hoʻolulu Park was selected for the runway.

Walker was able to get a few feet off the ground in his trial flight. Later Walker attempted to fly over the city.  The engine began missing and he lost altitude.  He crashed minutes later into a lauhala tree as he attempted to land, destroying the plane but surviving the crash.

On August 31, 1925, John Rodgers (Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor from 1923 to 1925) and his crew left San Francisco to attempt the first flight across the Pacific Ocean from the Mainland US to Hawaiʻi.  The seaplane was forced to land in the ocean after running out of fuel, about 365 miles from Oʻahu.

After three days of waiting to be picked up, the crew crafted sails from the wings of the plane and sailed toward Hawaiʻi.  On the tenth day, they spotted Kauaʻi.  Ten miles off shore they met a submarine which towed them safely to shore.

Lieutenant Lester J Maitland (pilot) and Lieutenant Albert F Hegenberger (navigator) were selected to fulfill the Army’s dreams to successfully cross the Pacific Ocean to Hawai‘i.  Shortly after 7 am on June 28, 1927, the Army pair shook hands with their crews and climbed into positions in the airplane.  25-hours and 49-minutes later the three-engine plane touched down at Wheeler.

That year, Hawaiʻi’s first airport was established in Honolulu and dedicated to Rodgers. When Inter-Island Airways (now Hawaiian Air) began the first commercial passenger flights between islands in 1929, their hangar was one of two on the airport.

“Honolulu has seen the evolution of transportation from the Chinese junk and the Yankee clipper in ye olden days to the palatial liner, the fast freighter – and now the airplane. The dedication of the John Rodgers airport near Honolulu is a significant milestone in Honolulu’s transportation history.”

“The event virtually signalizes the inauguration of commercial aviation in Hawaiʻi. At least, it makes possible the innovation and symbol of twentieth century progress.  In years to come it is destined to become a center in this new era.”

“It is the pioneer of the many big commercial stations that will ultimately be located in Hawaiʻi. And because of that fact, it will find its rightful place in history—not only of Hawaiʻi—but of the American nation as well. That aviation will enter the commercial life of Hawaiʻi, there is no doubt. Definite steps to that end are already being taken. The John Rodgers airport is one of these steps.” (Editorial, Honolulu Advertiser, March 22, 1927)

Immediately after the Pearl Harbor Attack (December 7, 1941) all airports were taken over by the US armed forces. Some of these airfields were considered vulnerable to attack and unusable, and the others were placed under strict control of either the Army or Navy (the US Air Force didn’t start until after the war when it was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947.)

All civilian aircraft in Hawaiʻi were grounded. Within a few days, Hawaiian Air was approved by the Military Governor to make emergency flights under military direction, carrying engineers, medicines, munitions, etc to the neighbor islands.

During the early days of the War, Hawaiian’s Sikorsky planes were converted to cargo planes, carrying critical medical supplies and equipment to the other islands and bringing back cargo of fresh vegetables and beef. Thus began the first US air-freight service.

The military began to construct airfields for its own use, for seaplane and land plane operations, across the Islands.  Following the war, many of these facilities were returned/turned over to the Territory for commercial and general aviation.

On December 13, 1955 Honolulu International Airport became the first civilian airport in the nation to get a preview of commercial jet aircraft operation when the British DeHavilland Comet III jet-liner arrived on a good will flight around the world.

1959 brought another welcomed change.  Scheduled service with the Boeing 707 started in June 1959 by Qantas Airlines; flying time from California to Hawaiʻi was cut by nearly a half, from 9 hours by propeller to less than 5 hours by jet.

Pan American Airways followed in September and United Airlines jet service arrived at Honolulu in January 1962. In October 1962, all airline operations moved from the Honolulu terminal building built by the Navy during World War II on Lagoon Drive to new passenger terminal buildings on the North Ramp of the airport.

Planning for the Reef Runway at Honolulu International Airport began in 1967; its primary purpose was to mitigate noise during aircraft takeoffs.

Work began on phase 1 the Reef Runway on May 7, 1973 (dredge, fill and protection structure;) it was completed in August 1976.  Subsequent phases included paving, taxiways, etc; the Reef Runway was completed and dedicated for use on October 14, 1977.  It was later, May 1989, chosen as one of several emergency landing sites NASA’s space shuttle program.  (Information in this summary is from hawaii-gov.)

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As the biplane with its gigantic winds swept over the grass field and rose into the air there was a general whoop of exultation and spontaneous applause from spectators.
Biplane flown by Clarence H Walker-1911
Curtis B-18 biplane made of spruce, ash, bamboo, steal tubing and silk; piloted by J. C. Bud Mars. Took 9 seconds to get airborne and climbed to 500 ft before landing safely.
Honolulu Airport, 1947, with Keehi Lagoon Seadrome at top
Honolulu Airport, 1947. Seadrome is at top of photo
JC Bud Mars’ biplane was christened Skylark after its maiden flight.
John_Redgers_Airport 1928
October 1928 West Section
John_Rodgers_Airport-1928
Rodgers and the PN-9 No. 1 taxis in San Pablo Bay near San Francisco on August 31, 1925
Navy PN-9 No. 1, resting in Nawiliwili’s waters, Kauai, after first attempted flight from the mainland to Hawaii (1925)
JohnRodgersAndPN-9Crew
Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland, pilot, and Lieutenant Albert F. Hegenberger-srriving in Hawaii-1927
US Army Fokker C-2 Bird of Paradise at Wheeler Field after completing first mainland to Hawaii flight June 29, 1927.
Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland, pilot, and Lieutenant Albert F. Hegenberger_congratulations-1927
Naval Air Station Honolulu (John Rodgers Airport), April 1945
Pan American Airways China Clipper, 1947
Pan American China Clipper at Keehi Seadrome, Honolulu Airport, 1946
Reef_Runway
Reef_Runway_Under_Construction 1970s
Reef_Runway_Under_Construction-1970s
Reef_Runway-Completed

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pratt, The Land Man

“[T]hey gave Ainahau to the city and the city wouldn’t take it, which would have been one of the glamorous tourist sites. [In a letter to Governor Lucius E. Pinkham, dated January 30, 1914, J, M. McChesney, Chairman of the Committee on Parks Civic Federation, states:

“A Resolution introduced in the last [Seventh] legislature [1913] to accept this munificent gift [Ainahau] was defeated by a majority of two; the general belief being that many of the legislators were influenced by the fact that if accepted by the [Territorial] government the heirs would be deprived of the property …”

“… and others voted against it on account of the cost of maintenance and still others on account of the conditions imposed [in A. S. Cleghorn’s will] that the grounds be closed nights.”  (Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

Then it was reported, ‘Āinahau has been sold “to James W Pratt and other interests and will immediately be cut up into building lots.” The price for the 11 2/3 acres was $60,000. The new owners plan to subdivide the property into forty lots and develop it into “an exclusive residence section. . . .”

“Only the trees necessary to make the roads are to be cut down, which will leave all the rare plants, flowers and trees, with which the grounds abound, for the new owners to dispose of as they see fit.”

The lots will be priced at $3,500 up. For the past three years the house and land have been leased by Mrs. E. H. Lewis and used as a hotel and she is “to continue with the hotel without interference.” (Star Bulletin, Jan 19, 1917; Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

So, who is Pratt? … “James William Pratt [was] familiarily known to Honolulans as ‘Pratt the Land Man.’” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

“It is best to consult some one who knows the land and the climate before selecting a building site in Honolulu, or on the islands at large. The land office can put you right, or there is Pratt, the land man …”

“Mr. Jas. W. Pratt was for many years Land Commissioner, and he can tell you just where it is best to build.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, January 1912)

 Pratt was “Son of Horace C and Susan M McCue Pratt. [He was born December 9, 1861 in Greenbush, NY.] James W Pratt moved from New York to California in 1874, when he was a boy of 13. He attended public schools in Rotterdam, New York and Oakland California.”

“In 1878 he was employed at Oakland by the Western Union Telegraph Company, remaining there until 1881, when he joined the California Electric Works at San Francisco, staying with that concern until 1884, when he came to Honolulu as superintendent of the Mutual Telephone Company, holding the position for nine years.”

“In 1893, following the overthrow of the monarchy, James W Pratt became prominently identified with the military department of the Provisional Government.”

“Two years later he became assistant superintendent of the Honolulu water works, and from 1901 to 1903 he was assessor and collector of tazes for Oahu.”

“For six years, from 1903 to 1909, he held the office of commissioner of public lands, after which he went into business for himself in real estate. …”

“One of the last projects of  ‘Pratt the Land Man’ in Honolulu was the cutting up of the Ainahau tract for sale of lots, but his health was such that he left the work for others to take up.”  (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

Pratt married Ellen M. Torbert in Honolulu. December 2, 1895; they had three children, Susan Adelaide, James William, Jr, and Linton Torbert. (Siddall)

With respect to Ainahau, “on May 1, 1919, Percy M Pond, Honolulu real estate man, advertised 46 lots for sale, mostly at $1,400 to $2,200, representing a price of about 32 cents a square foot.” (Star Bulletin, June 2, 1956)

Pratt died December 6, 1919 in Berkley, CA, of heart disease. “Mr Pratt left the Islands for the mainland about 18 months ago hoping to benefit his health.” (PCA, Dec 8, 1919)

“[The house at Ainahau burned to the ground on August 2, 1921 while it was occupied by W. F. Aldrich, a motion picture producer, and his wife Peggy. The fire was said to have originated from an automatic gas heater next to Aldrich’s darkroom, which had been the old kitchen.]”

“[An account of the fire in the Honolulu Advertiser on August 1, 1921 states that the banyan tree saved the bungalows on the grounds, one owned by Samuel Parker and another occupied by Mr. McElroy being the only ones scorched. The article also mentions that the house had been used as a hotel at one time.]” (Thomas Alexander Kaulaahi Cleghorn oral history)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cattle in Kalalau

“In the Nāpali District, the ahupua‘a of Kalalau, Pohakuao, Honopu, Hanakapiai and one-half of Hanakoa were granted to the Government Land inventory (Buke Mahele, 1848).”

“Portions of the lands that fell into the government inventory, were subsequently sold as Royal Patent Grants to individuals who applied for them. The grantees were generally long-time kama‘āina residents of the lands they sought.”

“As a result of the sale of lands from the government inventory, forty-five grants were sold to thirty-seven applicants for lands in the ahupua‘a of Hanalei and Wai‘oli, Halele‘a District; the division being forty-one parcels in Wai‘oli and four parcels in Hanalei.”

An archaeological Survey report states “during the second half of the 19th century, Kalalau Valley residents were a cooperative, community that had a ‘reciprocal, basically subsistence, fishing, farming orientation’ and traded with people in Hanalei, Waimea, and Ni‘ihau, for items such as coffee, matches, kerosene, and soap.”

“[R]esidents of Kalalau, like other residents of ancient Hawai‘i, moved seasonally from the shoreline to the mountains within their ahupua‘a.”

“The survey further reports that most of its residents left by the early 1900s and the valley was finally abandoned by human residents in 1919, except for visits by hunters, fishermen, and scientists.” (Intermediate Court of Appeals)

“Thirty grants were sold in the Nāpali District to twenty-seven applicants; the lands being situated in Kalalau and Honopu.” (Kumu Pono)  “At one time the [Robinson] family controlled another 4,500 [acres] on the north shore, including Kalalau Valley.” (Island Breath)

“The Robinsons are a family originally from Scotland having large landholdings in Hā‘ena and considerable acreage of the west side of Kauai. The family purchased the entire island of Ni‘ihau in the mid-1800s. In Halele‘a, they ran cattle in Hā‘ena, Wainiha, Lumaha‘i, and Waipā, as well as in several valleys in the Nā Pali district.” (Carlos in Pacific Worlds)

“Robinson owned their land, so they were paniolo out there, they were working for Robinson. So, when you talked about all the cattle days and so forth and paniolo, they were all working for Robinson.” (Makaala in Pacific Worlds)

“For many years, before selling it to the State, Selwyn [Robinson, former manager of Niihau Ranch from 1917 to 1922 – he then managed Makaweli Ranch on Kauai for the next fifty years] owned Kalalau Valley on the Napali Coast, and ran cattle there.” (Paniolo Hall of Fame)

“A small branch of the [Makaweli] ranch is maintained on the Napali or northwest coast of Kauai where the Kalalau valley is used for pasturage”.  “The Robinsons were grazing cattle in Kalalau, and would drive them along the trail between Hā‘ena and Kalalau.” (Maly)

“The Makaweli Ranch is controlled by the [Robinsons]. The land was originally purchased mostly from Hawaiian Chiefs and the Monarchy, although it also occupies some leased lands in the Waimea, Mokihana and Hanapepe sections.”  (CTAHR, 1929)

“They raised pipi [cattle]. They would come with the whale boat from Ni‘ihau to Kalalau. … I think [they got there] by ship that they dragged them all the way, by the whale boat.” (Val Ako to Kepa Maly)

“Each summer [Selwyn] took the cowboys from Makaweli to camp in [Kalalau] valley and they would bring out the cattle along the narrow trail to Haena. In the early days, he also used to hunt wild cattle in the high mountains of Kauai.” (Paniolo Hall of Fame)

“They would walk along, the pipi would go out along a trail and graze in Kalalau … And then bring them out the same way … Until after a while, then they got those surplus landing crafts.” (Stanley Ho affirmations to Kepa Maly)

“[M]y dad used to always tell us, when had people in [Kalalau], ‘You take in what you get and you get Kalalau horses.’ So if you like send out something, you put ‘em on the Ha‘ena horse.”

“But if you went in, you gotta send something out, these people gotta send something out, they just put ‘em on the other horse, Ha‘ena horse, and let ‘em go, and he work his way out.”

“And then the same thing you do: when you come home, you like send something, you take Kalalau horse, just put on, he go back home.” (Sampson in Pacific Worlds)

In 1974, the Division of State Parks acquired Kalalau Valley and established the valley as a wilderness park. (Intermediate Court of Appeals)

Here’s a view along a tight spot along the trail (about mile 7) … Crawler’s Ledge (where cattle once trod):

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

United Nations

States first established international organizations to cooperate on specific matters. The International Telecommunication Union was founded in 1865 and the Universal Postal Union was established in 1874.

In 1899, the International Peace Conference was held in The Hague to elaborate instruments for settling crises peacefully, preventing wars and codifying rules of warfare. It adopted the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and established the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which began work in 1902.

The League of Nations, conceived during the first World War and established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles, was established “to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security.” (The League of Nations ceased its activities after failing to prevent the Second World War.)

On January 1, 1942, representatives of 26-Allied nations fighting against the Axis Powers met in Washington, DC to pledge their support for the Atlantic Charter by signing the “Declaration by United Nations”. This document contained the first official use of the term “United Nations”, which was suggested by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  (UN)

The United Nations officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, when the Charter was ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom and United States) and the majority of other signatories.

The United Nations was founded by 51 countries as an international organization committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. (UN)

The UN needed a home.

At the height of world capital search in late-1945, the United Nations and newspaper accounts typically reported that between thirty and fifty suggestions for the headquarters site had been received.

The range and scope of proposals indicated the previously unexplored public fascination with the prospect of creating a “capital of the world” and offered a source base for investigating the evolving relationship between local, regional and national identity, and global consciousness.  (Capital of the World)

Hawaiʻi got caught up in this, as well.

At the July 4, 1945 meeting of the National Governor’s Association, Hawaiʻi Governor Ingram M Stainback was successful in amending the group’s motion “we respectfully invite and urge all of you to use your good offices to locate the headquarters and capitol site of the United Nations organization at some place within the continental United States of America.”

Stainback noted, “I think Hawaiʻi would be a good place to locate the headquarters and suggest the word ‘continental’ be removed.”  (His amendment passed unanimously.)  (NGA)

Folks in Hawaiʻi then got to work and Governor Stainback initiated a campaign to attract the UN to Honolulu.  In contrast to other contenders, who stressed their proximity to world capitals, the Hawaiians stressed the advantages of being “far enough removed from any of the potentially explosive situations of the world.”  (Capital of the World)

“A resolution adopted by the Hawaiian Senate emphasized that Hawaiʻi is especially appropriate for UNO headquarters because it is the home of Pearl Harbor, whose treacherous bombing brought the United States into the war and gave the world a symbol of unity of action.”  (Herald Harper, November 23, 1945)

“The decision to propose Hawaiʻi as the permanent site of the United Nations Capitol was made relatively late, after other cities (nearly 250-across the US) had prepared elaborate campaigns to ‘sell’ themselves.  However, a highly effective presentation was prepared and shipped to London by Hawaiʻi’s committee”.  (Dye)

“A huge book presenting Hawaiʻi’s invitation, the most comprehensive yet presented, signed by IM Stainback, Governor of the Territory, and Hawaiʻi’s leading businessmen and industrialists, has been received in London for consideration by the UNO’s preparatory commission.” (Herald Harper, November 23, 1945)

“The huge volume was sent with an attractive cover with a tapa cloth and flower lei design and a decorative map emphasizing Hawaiʻi’s central location in the Pacific.  It was mounted on a wooden standard for ease in reading.  The word ‘Hawaiʻi’ was spelled out on the cover in letters hard-carved of wood.”  (Dye).

The site of the Hawaiʻi proposal? … Waimanalo.

However, the dream of the UN moving its sweet home to Nalo Town was short-lived.

A site committee of the United Nations Preparatory Commission voted after two hours of bitter debate to locate the permanent headquarters of UNO in the Eastern US. (United Press, December 22, 1945)

In the end, they picked New York.  A last-minute offer of $8.5-million by John D Rockefeller, Jr, for the purchase of the present site was accepted by a large majority of the General Assembly on December 14, 1946. New York City completed the site parcel by additional gifts of property.  (UN)

The cornerstone was laid on October 24, 1949; the United Nations headquarters in New York is made up of four main buildings: the Secretariat, the General Assembly, Conference Area (including Council Chambers) and the Library.

The tallest of the group, consists of 39 stories above ground and three stories underground. The exterior facings of the 550-foot tall Secretariat Building are made exclusively of aluminum, glass and marble.  (UN)

This was not the first lost-opportunity for international awareness.  In early-visioning for the home of the UN, President Franklin D Roosevelt “thought that the Secretariat of the organization might be established at Geneva, but that neither the Council nor the Assembly meetings should be held there.”

“He believed that the Assembly should meet in a different city each year, and that the Council should have perhaps two regular meeting places, one being in the Azores in the middle of the Atlantic and the other on an island in the Hawaiian group in the middle of the Pacific.”

“He felt that locating the Council in the Azores or the Hawaiian Islands would bring the benefit of detachment from the world. Being at heart a naval man, he liked the perspective obtained from surveying the world from an island out at sea.”

“(Roosevelt) had been eager, in the later thirties, to promote a meeting of the heads of nations on a battleship or on such an island as Niʻihau.”

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pineapple In Hawai‘i

Christopher Columbus brought pineapple, native of South America, back to Europe as one of the exotic prizes of the New World.  (‘Pineapple’ was given its English name because of its resemblance to a pine cone.)
 
Pineapple (“halakahiki,” or foreign hala,) long seen as Hawaiʻi’s signature fruit, was introduced to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in 1813 by Don Francisco de Paula Marin, a Spanish adviser to King Kamehameha I.
 
Credit for the commercial production of pineapples goes to the John Kidwell, an English Captain who started with planting 4-5 acres in Mānoa.
 
Although sugar dominated the Hawaiian economy, there was also great demand at the time for fresh Hawaiian pineapples in San Francisco.
 
After Kidwell’s initial planting, others soon realized the potential of growing pineapples in Hawaii and consequently, started their own pineapple plantations.
 
Here is some brief background information on four of Hawai‘i’s larger pineapple producers, Dole, Libby, Del Monte and Maui Land & Pineapple.
 
Ultimately, as part of an economic survival plan, pineapple producers ended up in cooperative marketing programs and marketed the idea of Hawaiian products, as in “Don’t ask for pineapples alone.  Insist on Hawaiian Pineapple!”
 
Dole Pineapple Plantation (Hawaiian Pineapple Company)
James Dole, an American industrialist, also famously called the Pineapple King, purchased 60 acres of land in the central plains of Oahu Island and started the Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1901.
 
In the year 1907, Dole started successful ad campaigns that introduced whole of America to canned pineapples from Hawaii.
 
In 1911, at the direction of Dole, Henry Ginaca invented a machine that could automatically peel and core pineapples (instead of the usual hand cutting,) making canned pineapple much easier to produce.
 
The demand for canned pineapples grew exponentially in the US and in 1922, a revolutionary period in the history of Hawaiian pineapple; Dole bought most of the island of Lāna‘i and established a vast 200,000-acre pineapple plantation to meet the growing demands.
 
Lanai throughout the entire 20th century produced more than 75% of world’s total pineapple.  More land on the island of Maui was purchased by Dole.
 
In 1991, the Dole Cannery closed.  Today, Dole Food Company, headquartered on the continent, is a well-established name in the field of growing and packaging food products such as pineapples, bananas, strawberries, grapes and many others.
 
The Dole Plantation tourist attraction, established in 1950 as a small fruit stand but greatly expanded in 1989  serves as a living museum and historical archive of Dole and pineapple in Hawai‘i.
 
Libby, McNeil & Libby (Libby’s)
Libby’s, one of the world’s leading producers of canned foods, was created in 1868 when Archibald McNeill and brothers Arthur and Charles Libby began selling beef packed in brine.
 
In the early 1900s it established a pineapple canning subsidiary in Hawaiʻi and began to advertise its canned produce using the ‘Libby’s’ brand name.
 
By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land in Kāne‘ohe and built the first large-scale cannery at Kahalu‘u.  This sizable cannery, together with the surrounding old style plantation-type housing units, became known as “Libbyville.”
 
The Kāne‘ohe facility ultimately failed; some suggest it was because Libby built it on and destroyed the Kukuiokane Heiau in Luluku.
 
In 1912 Libby, McNeill and Libby bought half of the stock of Hawaiian Cannery Co.  By the 1930s, more that 12 million cases of pineapple were being produced in Hawaii every year; Libby accounted for 23 percent.
 
Del Monte Plantation
Del Monte another major food producing and packaging company of America started its pineapple plantation with the purchase of the Hawaiian Preservation Company in 1917.  The company progressed and increased its plantation areas during 1940s.
 
In 1997, the company introduced its MD-2 variety, popularly known as Gold Extra Sweet pineapple, to the market.  The variety, though produced in Costa Rica, was the result of extensive research done by the now dissolved Pineapple Research Institute, in Hawaii. In 2008, Del Monte stopped its pineapple plantation operations in Hawaii.
 
Maui Land & Pineapple Company
The family of Dwight Baldwin, a missionary physician, created the evolving land and agricultural company.  It first started as Haiku Fruit & Packing Company in 1903 and Keahua Ranch Company in 1909, then Baldwin Packers in 1912.
 
In 1932, it was renamed Maui Pineapple Company, which later merged with Baldwin Packers in 1962.  In 1969, Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (ML&P) was created and went public.
 
In 2005, the company introduced its now famous “Maui Gold” variety, which is naturally sweet and has low acid content.  Maui Gold pineapple is presently grown across 1,350 acres on the slopes of Haleakala.
 
Maui Land & Pineapple Company is now a landholding company with approximately 22,000-acres on the island of Maui on which it operates the Kapalua Resort community.
 
In 2009, the remnants of the 100-year old pineapple operation were transferred to Maui Gold Pineapple Company (created by former Maui Pineapple Company employees who were committed to saving the 100-year tradition of pineapple on Maui.)
 
While the scale of pineapple farming has dwindled, the celebration of pineapple lives on through Lāna‘i’s Pineapple Festival.  Starting in 1992, the event, formerly known as the “Pineapple Jam,” honors the island’s pineapple history.  (June 30, 2012 will be the 20th annual Pineapple Festival)
 
The image is the iconic Dole Cannery pineapple 100,000-gallon water tank. Built in 1928, it was a Honolulu landmark and reminder of pineapple’s role in Hawaiian agriculture until it was demolished in 1993. (images via: A Pineapple Heart and Burl Burlingame, Honolulu Star-Bulletin)