General | Page 129 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 22, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Moseying Along

Throughout the years of late-prehistory, AD 1400s – 1700s, and through much of the 1800s, the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi. Canoes were used for interisland and inter-village coastal travel.

Most permanent villages initially were near the ocean and at sheltered beaches, which provided access to good fishing grounds, as well as facilitating convenient canoe travel.

Although the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi, extensive cross-country trail networks enabled gathering of food and water and harvesting of materials for shelter, clothing, medicine, religious observances and other necessities for survival.

These trails were usually narrow, following the topography of the land. Sometimes, over ‘a‘ā lava, they were paved with water-worn stones.

Back then, land travel was only foot traffic, over little more than trails and pathways.

June 21, 1803 marked an important day in the history of Hawaiʻi land transportation and other uses when the Lelia Byrd, an American ship under Captain William Shaler (with commercial officer Richard Cleveland,) arrived at Kealakekua Bay with two mares and a stallion on board.

Before departing to give these gifts to Kamehameha (who was not on the island to accept them,) the captain left one of the mares with John Young (a trusted advisor of the King, who begged for one of the animals.)

Shaler and Cleveland then departed for Lāhainā, Maui to give the mare and stallion to King Kamehameha I.

Hawaiʻi had a new means of transportation (as well as a work-animal to help control the growing cattle population (gifts from Captain Vancouver in 1793.))

Until the mid-1800s, overland travel was predominantly by foot and followed the traditional trails.

In 1838, a major street improvement project was started. Honolulu was to be a planned town. Kinaʻu (Kuhina Nui Kaʻahumanu II) published the following proclamation: “I shall widen the streets in our city and break up some new places to make five streets on the length of the land, and six streets on the breadth of the land… Because of the lack of streets some people were almost killed by horseback riders …”

By the 1840s, the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing, and many traditional trails – the ala loa and mauka-makai trails within ahupua‘a – were modified by removing the smooth stepping stones that caused the animals to slip.

A few remnants of the early uses of horses to get around can be seen. Circular indentations in curbs adjoining streets show the location of hitching rings used to tether horses outside businesses.

Typically, the evidence is iron stubs that fastened the rings to the curb. In Hilo, some curb rings can still be seen; along the curb of Kamehameha Avenue are two-inch rings spaced at intervals.

There is also evidence on Alakea Street, between King and Merchant, in Honolulu, fronting the Wolter Building (site of the former Occidental Hotel.)

Today, Hawaiʻi remains strong in the ranching tradition. Remnant hitching posts can be found outside of some businesses and homes. Rodeo grounds can be seen on most of the islands.

In 1868, horse-drawn carts operated by the Pioneer Omnibus Line went into operation in Honolulu, beginning the first public transit service in the Hawaiian Islands.

Honolulu resident HP Baldwin is credited with having the first automobile back in October 1899 (it was steam-powered.) The first gasoline-powered automobile arrived in the Islands in 1900.

In November of 1900, an electric trolley (tram line) was put into operation in Honolulu, and then in 1902, a tram line was built to connect Waikīkī and downtown Honolulu. The electric trolley replaced the horse-mule-driven tram cars.

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Horse tethering ring-Hilo town along the curb of Kamehameha Avenue

Horse_tethering-marking-King_and_Alakea-Wolter_Building

Mamalahoa_Trail_as_horse_trail-1900s-(HMCS-NPS)

Waipio

Buggies on Mt. Tantalus, Honolulu, 1900s.

Records of the Fire Dept show horses were used as early as April 1886. On Aug 15, 1891 a new steam engine arrived for Engine Co 1. The members of the company received the horses from merchants and tranined them for connection to the engine. Horses were not

Horse_drawn_tramcars,in_front_of_Aliiolani_Hale-Honolulu-1901

Horse_Drawn_Trolley_and_Horse_Drawn_Carriage_Passing_on_Street-1900

Fashion_Stables_at_Corner_of_Hotel_and_Fort_Streets-1880

Honolulu and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 03-Map-1906-Occidental_Hotel

February 19, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Number, Please

“Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.” Soon after that fateful day of March 10, 1876, with the message from Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant Thomas A. Watson, the telephone grew in popularity.

In July of 1877, the Bell Telephone Company was formed and by the end of 1877 there were three-thousand telephones in service.

Some suggest ʻIolani Palace had telephones before the White House. However, the White House had a phone in 1879 (President Rutherford B. Hayes telephone number was “1”.) “By the fall of 1881 telephone instruments and electric bells were in place in the Palace.” (The Pacific Commercial, September 24, 1881)

“The first telephone ever used in Honolulu belonged to King Kalākaua. Having been presented to him by the American Bell Telephone Company.” (Daily Bulletin, December 4, 1894)

The earliest telephone in Hawaiʻi followed the first commercial telegraph, and like the earlier device stemmed from the efforts of Charles H. Dickey on Maui.

In early-1878, Maui’s Charles H. Dickey installed Hawaiʻi’s first two telephones between his home and his store. The phones were rented from a Mainland firm and ran on wet cell batteries.

Years later, Dickey wrote: “In 1878 I received a letter from my brother, JJ Dickey, superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph at Omaha, describing the new invention. … Before the year was out … I sent for instruments and converted my telegraph line into a telephone line.” (Schmitt, HJH)

In a letter to the Hawaiian Gazette, CH Dickey noted, “Sir, the greatest discovery of the age is the Bell Telephone. By its use, persons many miles apart can converse with ease. Every sound is distinctly transmitted.”

“The tones of the voice, musical notes, articulation, in fact any and every sound that can be made is reproduced instantaneously in a miniature form, by all the telephones on the wire.” (CH Dickey, Hawaiian Gazette, March 13, 1878)

“I have made arrangements to have a few sent me, to be used by the Hawaiian Telephone Company, and hope soon to be prepared to furnish telephones to all who wish them in the Islands, as agent for the manufacturers. …”

“A number of instruments can be attached to the same wire, although but one person can talk at a time, as is usual in polite conversation.” (CH Dickey, Hawaiian Gazette, March 13, 1878)

“Let a good line be put up, beginning at the upper end of Nuuanu, running down the Valley, connecting with the residences and business houses; then out on King street, connecting with the Palace and Government Building; then up through the residences to Punahou, and ending say at Waikiki.” (CH Dickey, Hawaiian Gazette, March 13, 1878)

Shortly after this, the newspaper commented, “it is plain that this new invention is destined to come into general use at no distant date.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 30, 1878)

On April 11, 1878, Dickey submitted his application for a caveat (a kind of provisional patent), asserting his “intention to introduce into the Hawaiian Islands the Invention known as The Bell Telephone,” but the Privy Council apparently failed to act on his request.

Less than two weeks later, on April 24, 1878, a letter was sent to the Advertiser from Wailuku stating that “the East Maui Telegraph Company are about to introduce that new wonder of the age, the telephone.”

The Maui telephone system was apparently put into operation in May or June, 1878; a letter from Makawao, dated June 27, 1878, and printed in the Advertiser, boasted that “the telegraph and telephone are old here, ‘everybody has ’em’ ” and went on to tell how “comes the word by telephone that Mr. Spencer (E. Maui Plantation) has met with an accident.” (Schmitt, HJH)

In 1878, S. G. Wilder, Minister of the Interior, had a line installed between his government office and his lumber yard, and other private lines quickly followed. Organized service in Honolulu began during the late fall of 1880, and on December 30 the Hawaiian Bell Telephone Company was incorporated.

On December 23, 1880, a charter was granted to the Hawaiian Bell Telephone Company (Bell had nothing to do with the company; the name “Bell” was added to honor Alexander Graham Bell.)

There were 119 subscribers by the end of 1881; the next year there were 179. (On August 16, 1883, a competitive group was granted a charter, it was called the Mutual Telephone Company. Competition brought the rates down.)

The 1880-1881 directory, published in 1880, noted that the Hawaiian Telegraph Company “was established in 1877, and was the pioneer line of the Kingdom, and is up to the present time the only public line.”

“It was originally worked with what are known as Morse Sounders, but, the business of the line not being sufficient to pay for experienced operators, telephones have been substituted.” (Schmitt, HJH)

The first calls were operator assisted – the first operators were men.

They knew each subscriber by voice and did more than just connect calls – they made appointments, conveyed messages and even announced the current attraction at the Opera House. Throwing a master switch, they could inform all subscribers on matters of general concern, with a “Now hear this!”

On November 2, 1931, the Mutual Telephone Company inaugurated interisland radio telephone service. Mutual introduced radio telephone service with the Mainland a few weeks later. (Schmitt, HJH)

Annoyed by the growing numbers of free-loaders who used merchants’ phones for their private calls, the company (with the approval of the Public Utilities Commission) forbade free calls from stores and other public places, and in 1935 installed the first pay phones in Honolulu. (Schmitt, HJH)

Shortly after the turn of the century, women replaced men as telephone operators. On August 28, 1910, Honolulu telephones were converted to dial operation, but the last manual phones in Hawaiʻi (at Kamuela and Kapoho) were not phased out until 1957.

That same year (1957,) the first submarine telephone cable laid between Hawaiʻi and the mainland United States (actually two cables, (one transmitting in each direction.)) This provided the first direct dialing between Hawaiʻi and the mainland. It was replaced in 1989 with more advanced Fiber Optic cable technology.

Direct Distance Dialing was made available for calls from Oahu to the Neighbor Islands and Mainland beginning at 12:01 a.m., January 16, 1972. This permitted callers to bypass long-distance operators and reduce charges appreciably.

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Male-Telephone_Operators-(SagaOfSandwichIslands)

Alexander Graham Bell at the opening of the long-distance line from New York to Chicago-(LOC)-1892

Dickey-advertisement-Hawaiian_Gazette-06-19-1878

Historic company document-A stock certificate from 1892

Hawaiian_Bell-advertisement-Hawaiian_Gazette-03-05-1881

Kalakaua, King of Hawaii, 1836-1891, in his library in Iolani Palace-telephone_on_wall-(HSA)-PP-96-15-007

February 10, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Western Wear

The origin of the name for kapa (bark-cloth) is simply ka = the, and pa = beaten, or the beaten thing. It was made with akia, wauke, palaholo, mamaki.

Its earliest and most important use is for clothing; malo: a strip of cloth nine inches wide and nine feet long for the man, and pa‘u for the woman: a strip a little wider and somewhat longer.

In pre-contact Hawai‘i, men wore a ‘maro’ (malo,) “pieces of cloth tied about the loins, and hanging a considerable way down.

The only difference in (women’s) dress, the pā‘ū, was their having a piece of cloth about the body, reaching from near the middle to half-way down the thighs, instead of the maro worn by the other sex.” (Cook’s Journal)

The pā‘ū was wrapped several times around the waist and extended from beneath the woman’s bust (for royalty) or the waistline (for commoners) to the knee (it looked kind of like a hula skirt.)

Following ‘Contact,’ Western Wear Caught On

At daybreak, on November 24, 1816, the ship Rurick faced the coast of Hawai‘i. Captain von Kotzebue had previously been advised of a strong anti-Russian feeling ‘in the air’, as a result of the awkwardly aggressive maneuvers of the Russian (Georg Anton Schäffer) against Kamehameha’s political primacy. (Charlot)

Louis Choris, the official artist on the Rurick, “asked Tammeamea permission to do his portrait; this project seemed to please him very much, but he asked me to leave him alone an instant, so he could dress.”

“Imagine my surprise on seeing this monarch display himself in the costume of a sailor; he wore blue trousers, a red waistcoat, a clean white shirt and a necktie of yellow silk. I begged him to change his dress; he refused absolutely and insisted on being painted as he was.” (Charlot)

From Hawaii, the Rurick went to Oahu for provisioning and repairs, anchoring at Honolulu. An event of its stay was the visit aboard of Kamehameha’s vice-regent for the island, Kalanimoku, and his retinue. (Charlot)

“They immediately recognized Tammeamea’s portrait, and when it became known that we had Tammeamea on paper, we daily received a crowd of visitors who wished to see him.” (Otto von Kotzebue)

Kamehameha obviously preferred western dress, whereas Choris wished to present him in the traditional kapa attire; however, knowing that the western world would be the audience for the artist’s depiction, Kamehameha presented himself as a civilized ruler in western wear. (Mission Houses)

Chiefs in Western Wear – Chiefesses Also Wanted Western Women’s Wear

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries left Boston for the Hawaiian Islands. After approximately 160-days at sea, they sighted the Island of Hawai‘i on March 30, 1820 and made their way to Kawaihae that day,

“On the 31st of March, a considerable number of the natives came off to our vessel, from the shores of Kohala, to dispose of their little articles of barter, and to look at the strangers.”

“On the 1st of April, as we were abreast of Kawaihae, Kalanimōku and his wives, and Kalākua (subsequently Hoapiliwahine) and her sister Nāmāhāna (sometimes Opi‘ia), two of the widows of the late king, came oft to us with their loquacious attendants, in their double canoe.”

“As they were welcomed on board, the felicitous native compliment, aloha (good-will, peace, affection), with shaking hands, passed between them, and each member of the mission family, Captain Blanchard and others.”

“Kalanimōku was distinguished from almost the whole nation, by being decently clad. His dress, put on for the occasion, consisted of a white dimity roundabout, a black silk vest, yellow Nankeen pants, shoes, and white cotton hose, plaid cravat, and fur hat.”

The next day, “Kalākua, a widow of Kamehameha, having little sympathy with the Evangelical prophet, and shrewdly aiming to see what the white women could do for her temporal benefit, asked them to make a gown for her in fashion like their own.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Kalākua brought a web of white cambric to have a dress made for herself in the fashion of our ladies, and was very particular in her wish to have it finished while sailing along the western side of the island, before reaching the king.”

“Monday morning April 3d (1820,) the first sewing circle was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in the Hawaiian realm. Kalākua was directress. She requested all the seven white ladies to take seats with them on mats, on the deck of the Thaddeus.”

“The dress was made in the fashion of 1819. The length of the skirt accorded with Brigham Young’s rule to his Mormon damsels, – have it come down to the tops of the shoes. But in the queen’s case, where the shoes were wanting, the bare feet cropped out very prominently.” (Lucy Thurston)

Long Necks

“White men had lived and moved among them for a score of years. In our company were the first white women that ever stepped on these shores.” (Lucy Thurston)

“White women were, as might have been expected, objects of great curiosity to the chattering natives, who thronged around them, as they walked along, to gaze at their costume …”

“… their white hands and faces, running before them and peering under their projecting bonnets, laughing, shouting, trotting around with bare feet, heads and limbs, men, women and children, and singing out occasionally, ‘A-i-oe-oe’ a phrase signifying long, protruding neck.”

“This term they doubtless applied from the appearance occasioned by the large, projecting fore-parts of the bonnets, in the fashion of 1819, so widely different from that of Hawaiian females, whose heads were usually bare, but occasionally ornamented with a simple chaplet of natural flowers, or small feathers.” (Hiram Bingham)

“It was thus the natives described the ladies: ‘They are white and have hats with a spout. Their faces are round and far in. Their necks are long. They look well.’ They were called ‘Long Necks.’ The company of long necks included the whole fraternity.” (Lucy Thurston)

Holokū and Mu‘umu‘u

The missionary wives modified their New England-style dresses to adapt to the hot, humid environment. They replaced the high waistline of Western fashion with a yoke. The end result was a basic design (referred to as a “Mother Hubbard”) which was simply a full, straight skirt attached to a yoke with a high neck and tight sleeves.

The diaries of missionary women report that Hawaiian women who had been Christianized adopted the holokū as daily dress by 1822 and it became standard dress of all Hawaiian women as early as 1838.

“All the women wore the native dress, the sack or holokū, many of which were black, blue, green, or bright rose color, some were bright yellow, a few were pure white, and others were a mixture of orange and scarlet.” (Isabella Bird 1894)

“At first the holokū, which is only a full, yoke nightgown, is not attractive, but I admire it heartily now, and the sagacity of those who devised it. It conceals awkwardness, and befits grace of movement; it is fit for the climate, is equally adapted for walking and riding, and has that general appropriateness which is desirable in costume.” (Isabella Bird, 1894)

The holokū was worn with a loose-fitting undergarment, the mu‘umu‘u (meaning cut-off, shortened.) Eventually, the mu‘umu‘u came to be worn as an outer garment, as well. The muʻumuʻu in the early days was a dress for home wear. It was made full and unfitted with high or low neck and long or short sleeves

It is the more comfortable muʻumuʻu that has challenged the present day designers to create many variations for home, street and party wear. Although it originated in Hawaii in the 1820s as a loose gown without a waistline or train and was worn for everyday wear, the holokū today is a long formal gown with a train.

For formal events, and other celebrations related to Hawaiian culture and ethnicity, the holokū is the quintessential Hawaiian gown. While both holokū and mu‘umu‘u continue to be very important in Hawaii, it is the mu‘umu‘u that is regarded by most of the world as Hawaiian dress and the holokū that is practically unknown outside of Hawai’i.

This is only a summary;Click HERE for more on Western Wear.

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‘King_Kamehameha_I_in_a_Red_Vest’_c._1820-400

Kalanimoku_by_Alphonse_Pellion

Hoapiliwahine_by_C._C._Armstrong-400

Barthélémy_Lauvergne_-_’Princess_Kinau’,_watercolor_and_ink_wash_over_graphite,_1836

Kapa Holoku-MissionHouses

1820s Bonnett

February 8, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cyclomere

The lead line, “Bicycle racing in Honolulu has come to stay,” in the February 8, 1898 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette was more wishful thinking than reality.

Charles Desky opened the track in 1897, and it closed the following year; it was located on the makai side of what we now call Kapiʻolani Boulevard, between Cooke Street and Ward Avenue.

“The Cyclomere track at Honolulu is three laps to the mile, scientifically constructed, and the surface is of decomposed coral, the finish being somewhat similar to merit.”

“Mr. Desky says that the people there are very enthusiastic over cycle racing, and at previous meets held on a poor track and with inferior accommodations for the people the attendance has been immense.” (San Francisco Call, October 14, 1897)

Races were held at night, with illumination from 23 arc lights on poles. A spectator grandstand was 150-feet long by 34-feet wide, 11 tiers of seats and 12 private boxes in front. (Krauss)

“The opening of the new cycle racing track at Honolulu next month has attracted the attention of California riders, and three of the most prominent will leave for there this afternoon on the steamer Moana, accompanied by a trick rider.” (San Francisco Call, October 14, 1897)

“The races at the islands will be conducted under special sanction from the California Associated Cycling Clubs, which was necessary before the racing board would let the men go from here.” (San Francisco Call, October 14, 1897)

“Cyclomere Bicycle Track was opened most auspiciously on Saturday. Although the elements wore an ominous aspect at times, the worst they gave was an occasional sprinkle. Between 800 and 1000 people were in the grand stand in the afternoon, and half as many more in the evening. “

“The circle of arc and incandescent electric lights surrounding the tract, reflected in Cyclomere Lake around which the track is built, made a wonderfully beautiful night scene. (Evening Bulletin, October 25, 1897)

“It had been a hope of mine from the time I started operations in Kewalo that Cyclomere could be kept as a place of resort. There is nothing finer of the kind in any country. The people to a large extent seemed to think the same,” said Charles Desky. (Hawaiian Gazette – April 8, 1898)

Desky initially looked to a hui of five to take a long-term lease on the facility and keep it going. However, a newspaper account in May, 1898 noted there would be no more racing at Cyclomere, so far as the hui of town boys was concerned.

“They are now filling the lake of the Cyclomere Park which comprises about 10 acres and when completed will be laid out in lots, and lies mauka of the Queen street car line. This tract is part of the original Kewalo purchase.”

“Mr. Desky is manager of Bruce Waring & Company, who control the real estate business on the Island. Their offices are located in the Progress block.” (Pacific Commercial, August 13, 1898)

In 1900, the pond that surrounded the racing bicycle track at Cyclomere in the Kewalo area was filled. Desky dumped the banks of the track into the lake, piled more dirt in and set out to sell lots for residences.

Desky saw that as more financially lucrative, particularly since it is became known that the Iron Works was going to that neighborhood.

However, Desky didn’t fare as well with the former Cyclomere site. Facing foreclosure, “Sensational developments have transpired in connection with one of the earliest land operations by Charles Desky in Honolulu.”

After selling 29 lots, it was learned that Desky did not pay the underlying mortgage down from the sale proceeds, saying he needed the money for other purposes. It eventually was cleared up in court.

Selling lots was nothing new for Charles Desky. In 1899 the Pacific Heights road was laid out by Mr. Wall, and sold by Hawaii’s first subdivider, a Mr. Desky. (One historian has called Desky “Hawaii’s first subdivider,” and noted that “Desky pulled several shady land transactions.”)

By 1900, Honolulu had a population of more than 39,000 and was in the midst of a development boom, creating tremendous need for more housing.

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February 6, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Baked Fresh In Hawaiʻi

“The American missionaries of 1820 appear to have been the first to bake bread in Hawaii. Flour which they had brought with them around the Horn, and that which replenished their supplies at irregular intervals, was invariably caked solid so that the barrels had to be sawed apart into blocks for distribution to various mission families.”

“The flour was then pounded into a powder and sifted to eliminate the inevitable weevils. The stone cook house which adjoins the old mission house in Honolulu still stands as a reminder of primitive cooking and baking.” (Love’s)

Then came Robert Love, a baker and a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who arrived in the Islands and his wife and family on June 19, 1851.

Less than a month later, on July 12, 1851, the Ministry of the Interior issued Robert Love a retail store license permitting him to operate a bakery and sell its products. In 1853 Robert Love purchased property on Nuʻuanu and Pauahi Streets and opened the first Love’s bakery there.

During the 1850s, the principal income of the bakers of Honolulu – including Love’s Bakery – came from re-baking ships’ bread which had become unfit for use during long voyages, and from re-provisioning ships’ stores with hard biscuits known as hardtack, pilot bread or navy bread.

A decade later, Love developed the Saloon Pilot cracker by adding shortening to the hardtack recipe. And, as the name suggests, this new delicacy could be served in the captain’s mess. It remains a crowd favorite.

Robert died July 11, 1858; sons Robert Love Jr. and James Love were the administrators of the Estate of Robert Love. The family continued to run the business, with Robert Jr, following his father’s training, taking the lead. (Robert Jr also served on the Fire Department’s Engine Company No. 2.) William died on December 12, 1878 and the remaining brothers split his share in the company.

James retired from the business and sold his interest to his brother in 1883. Robert Jr. died later that year and his wife, Fanny, took over responsibilities of the bakery and their eldest son, James Henry, was working and learning the business, occasionally under the name Fanny Love’s Bakery.

August 23, 1884, fire destroyed the bakery and by the end of the year it was “restored in handsome, substantial form … brick building.” (Daily Bulletin, February 5, 1885)

Tragedy nearly struck again in 1886. The Chinatown Fire of that year started just down the road from them on the corner of Hotel Street and Smith’s Lane. While the 1886 blaze destroyed eight blocks of Chinatown, their property was saved.

“A vacant lot between this (burning buildings) and the bakery proved a valuable neighbor to that establishment, the bakery suffering but little damage, being at work again next morning.” (Daily Bulletin, April 30, 1886) It was spared in the 1900 bubonic plague Chinatown fires, as well.

In 1900, Love’s purchased L Andrade Bakery. After the turn of the century, the operation was organized under a corporation, Robert Love Estate, Limited, and the family continued to run the business known as “Love’s Bakery.”

Since 1915, the company was known as “Love’s Biscuit and Bread Company” (which became its legal name in 1941.)

On March 19, 1924, Love’s built a new bakery in the Iwilei district, on what was known as the Oʻahu Prison property. The formal opening of the new bread-making plant was held on March 19. While the original Nuʻuanu site continued to produce all types of baked goods, the new Iwilei plant produced only bread and rolls.

When Robert Love founded his bakery in 1851, commercial yeast was unknown. In fact, the manufacture of yeast in the United States on a commercial scale did not occur until nearly twenty years later. Love’s Bakery, alert to the newest and best developments in the baking industry, was an early user of commercial yeast and in October of 1926, Fleischmann’s Yeast selected Love’s as their Honolulu representative. (Love’s)

In 1929 the decision was made to concentrate the company’s entire efforts on the wholesale business and three years later all operations were consolidated at the Iwilei plant (January 28, 1932.)

In July, 1943 the company opened a new plant at 836 Kapahulu Avenue. (This is now the site of the Kapahulu Shopping Center – anchored by Safeway.) Their 144-foot-long oven baked bread at the rate of more than 8,000-loaves an hour.

In 1968, the company was purchased by ITT Continental Baking Company. In 1981 Love’s Bakery was purchased again, this time by First Baking Co., Ltd. of Japan and the company’s name became Daiichiya-Love’s Bakery.

In 1990 the bakery moved from its Kapahulu site to its present site on Middle Street. And in 2008 ownership of the bakery returned home to Hawaiʻi when local management purchased the company from First Baking Co – the name changed back to Love’s Bakery.

Loves Bakery produces 206 varieties of bread, 70 varieties of buns and rolls, and 14 varieties of cakes; the company’s brands include Love’s and Roman Meal.

Love’s distributes about 400,000 loaves of bread each week; Bread brands include Love’s, Roman Meal and Country Hearth; Pastry brands include Little Debbies, Mrs. Freshleys, Mary Ann’s Danishes, Bon Appetit, Cloverhill Snack Cakes, Bubba’s Bagels and Bubba’s English Muffins.

Love’s sends about 36,000 pounds of bread products daily to the Neighbor Islands, which represents about 40 percent of the company’s business.

Love’s also has seven thrift store outlets throughout the islands. For more than 160 years, generations of Hawaii families have loved Love’s baked fresh in Hawaii products.

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