Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

For the Birds

“The spread of civilization and the utilization of wild lands, added to the destruction of animals for food, adornment, clothing, and sport, threaten the very existence of many species of native birds and mammals.”

“The necessity of regulating the killing of game was perceived early in our colonial history, and even the need of caring for our insectivorous birds found recognition about 1850.”

“Only in comparatively recent years, however, has the importance been recognized of protecting the large class of birds which, although they do not destroy insects or other creatures inimical to agricultural interests, are nevertheless worthy of preservation because of their beauty, grace, and harmlessness.”

“If such birds add nothing to our material wealth, they beautify the world and greatly increase the joy of living.”

“Though by no means the first to recognize the importance of protecting its wild life, the United States has taken a leading place among the nations of the world in this respect”

“One of the most efficient of the conservation measures adopted by the Government is the setting apart here and there of islands and sterile tracts of land, worthless for other purposes, upon which our native wild birds and mammals may live and perpetuate their kind for the pleasure and profit of our own and future generations.” (Yearbook of the US Dept of Agriculture, 1911)

“The National bird reservations under the care of the Department of Agriculture already number 51 and play a very important part in the preservation of our wild game and birds.”

“One of the most unique and interesting of these is the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation in the mid-Pacific, which, at certain seasons of the year, harbors millions of sea fowls that repair thither to establish rookeries and rear their young.”

“The following is the executive order setting apart this refuge:”

Executive Order No. 1019. It is hereby ordered that the following islets and reefs, namely: Cure Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Lysianski or Pell Island, Laysan Island, Mary Reef, Dowsetts Reef, Gardiner Island, Two Brothers Reef, French Frigate Shoal, Necker Island, Frost Shoal and Bird Island …”

“… situated in the Pacific Ocean at and near the extreme western extension of the Hawaiian Archipelago between latitudes 23° and 29° north, and longitudes 160° and 180° west from Greenwich, and located within the area segregated by the broken lines …”

“… are hereby reserved and set apart, subject to valid existing rights, for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.”

“It is unlawful for any person to hunt, trap, capture, wilfully disturb, or kill any bird of any kind whatever, or take the eggs of such birds within the limits of this reservation except under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of Agriculture.”

“Warning is expressly given to all persons not to commit any of the acts herein enumerated and which are prohibited by law. This reservation to be known as the Hawaiian Islands Reservation.”  Signed by Teddy Roosevelt, February 3, 1909.

The names have changed, a bit, but the place remains the same.

“This refuge consists of a dozen or more islands, reefs, and shoals that stretch westward from the archipelago proper for a distance of upwards of 1,500 miles toward Japan. The average distance between them is something like 100 miles.”

“Some of them, like Necker, Bird Island, and French Frigate Shoal, are masses of volcanic rock thrust up out of the ocean and so steep and rugged as generally to be inaccessible to anything without wings.”

“Others are little more than diminutive sand spits, snatched from the grasp of ocean by the aid of coral animals. Still others are larger, and a few, like Laysan, being covered with sandy soil, are clothed with a more or less flourishing growth of shrubs, vines, and grasses.”  (Yearbook of the US Dept of Agriculture, 1911)

“As the islands are part of our National possessions and have been set apart as a bird reserve, the care and the protection of their avian inhabitants would seem clearly to devolve upon the Federal Government. It is true that their remoteness and inaccessibility render it difficult to guard them properly.”

“An effort, however, will be made to secure from Congress sufficient funds to provide for the services of a warden for Laysan and for an assistant. It is hoped also to secure a small power boat of adequate size to enable trips to be made between Laysan and the other islands and Honolulu.”

“These measures, if supplemented by an occasional visit from one of the Government cutters during the height of the breeding season, will insure the continued safety of the nesting colonies. From a variety of causes sea birds are being reduced in numbers almost everywhere, chiefly as the result of plumage hunting and of the growing scarcity of breeding sites.”

“Hence these island bird colonies, one of the wonders of the world, will become of increasing importance with each succeeding year. They should be regarded as a National heritage, and the birds be adequately protected, not only for the sake of our own citizens, but for those of other countries whose people go down to the sea in ships.”

“Otherwise these birds will suffer the fate that overtook those on Marcus Island, also one of our possessions, where, as reported by Bryan, in six years a colony of albatrosses almost as large as that of Laysan was reduced to less than a score of birds through the unchecked activities of feather hunters.” (Yearbook of the US Dept of Agriculture, 1911)

Unlike all other islands and atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Kure Atoll is the only land area owned by the state of Hawaiʻi – all of the other Northwestern Islands are owned by the US government.

While I was at DLNR, we created Refuge rules that established “a marine refuge in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for the long-term conservation and protection of the unique coral reef ecosystems and the related marine resources and species, to ensure their conservation and natural character for present and future generations.“ 

This started a process where several others followed with similar protective measures.  The BLNR unanimously adopted the State’s Refuge rules, President George W Bush declared it a Marine National Monument and UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site. 

To me, this action reflects the responsibility we share to provide future generations a chance to see what it looks like in a place in the world where you don’t take something.

One of the issues about the rules, and in protecting the place, relates to access.  Due to the sensitivity of the area, permits are limited – so, rather than taking the people to the place, there are tools now in place to bring the place to the people.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Daguerreotype

Prior to photography, portraits were painted. A first connection to Hawai‘i in this was through the son of Jedidiah Morse (Jedidiah was an abolitionist New England preacher who some consider “the father of American geography” – he compiled and published the first American geography book).

His son Samuel showed enough artistic promise for Jedidiah to send Samuel abroad to study painting after he graduated from Yale University in 1810.

Painting provided Samuel with pocket money to help pay his term bills at Yale. He became one of the small handful of important American painters in his generation, and many famous depictions of notable Americans are his work.

The portrait of Noah Webster at the front of many Webster dictionaries is his, as are the most familiar portraits of Benjamin Silliman, Eli Whitney, and General Lafayette.  (Fisher)

Prior to the departure of the first missionaries to Hawai‘i, a portrait of each of the company had been painted by Samuel Morse; engravings from these paintings of the four native “helpers” were later published as fund-raisers for the Sandwich Islands Mission and thereby offer a glimpse of the “Owhyhean Youths” on the eve of their Grand Experiment.  (Bell)

The portrait of Noah Webster at the front of many Webster dictionaries is his, as are the most familiar portraits of Benjamin Silliman, Eli Whitney, and General Lafayette.  (Fisher)

Morse showed great promise as a painter, but he offered Americans grand paintings with historical themes, when all his paying patrons really wanted were portraits of themselves.  Eventually Morse accepted many portrait commissions, but even they did not bring the steady income he needed to support himself and his family.

Oh, one more thing about Samuel Morse, while he did not invent the telegraph, he made key improvements to its design, and his work would transform communications worldwide. First invented in 1774, the telegraph was a bulky and impractical machine that was designed to transmit over twenty-six electrical wires. Morse reduced that unwieldy bundle of wires into a single one.

Along with the single-wire telegraph, Morse developed his “Morse” code. He would refine it to employ a short signal (the dot) and a long one (the dash) in combinations to spell out messages.

Morse the artist also became known as “the Father of American photography.” He was one of the first in the US to experiment with a camera, and he trained many of the nation’s earliest photographers.  (Fisher)

While doing art and developing code, Morse was also deeply involved in trying to make a go of his newfound vocation as a daguerreotypist. Morse enthusiastically embraced this new technology and became one of the first to practice photography in America.  (LOC)

Daguerreotype was the first successful form of photography; it was named for Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of France, who invented the technique in collaboration with Nicéphore Niépce in the 1830s.

Daguerre and Niépce found that if a copper plate coated with silver iodide was exposed to light in a camera, then fumed with mercury vapour and fixed (made permanent) by a solution of common salt, a permanent image would be formed. (Britannica)

The daguerreian era in Hawai’i began in the summer of 1845 when Theophilus Metcalf, an engineer and French scholar living in Honolulu, advertised that he was prepared to ‘take likenesses by the daguerreotype’.

The first surviving portraits, however, were made in January 1847, when an artist who called himself Senor Lebleu arrived from Peru and set up a studio.

Daguerreians continued to arrive and practice their art until approximately 1860. During this period there were almost a dozen artists working in the islands, for periods varying from one month to several years.

The most prolific Hawai‘i daguerreian whose work can be fairly well documented was Hugo Stangenwald (1829–99). He operated a studio in Honolulu from 1853 to 1858.

Dr. Hugo Stangenwald, the “student revolutionist, Austrian émigré, able practicing physician, and recognized early-day daguerreotype artist,” left Austria in March 1845. After living in California, he arrived in Honolulu in 1853. He married the former Mary Dimond in 1854. (HABS)

He opened a shop in late-1854 in a one-story frame structure on the site of the present Stangenwald building. His advertisement was well-known: “To send to them that precious boon, And have your picture taken soon, And quick their weeping eyes they’ll wipe To smile upon your daguerreotype.” (HABS)

His competitor for a year and a half (from 1855 to 1856) was Benajah Jay Antrim. Antrim left a memoir that, in a somewhat rambling and self-promoting fashion, recorded his success in the art in the Hawaiian Islands. (Davis & Forbes)

Before heading West, Antrim was a professional maker of mathematical instruments in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In the 1830s he apprenticed under Edmund Draper. (Complete Surveyor)

Antrim was one of the forty men of the Camargo Company who went to California via Mexico on January 1849, after the successful termination of the War with Mexico.  From 1852 to 1854 Antrim was noted in Sierra County, California.

From 1855 to 1856 he operated in Honolulu, Hawaii.  He operated under his own name, B. Jay Antrim, as well as Role Lane Gallery (based on its location on Rose Lane) and Excelsior Gallery.  (Polynesian, Nov 17, 1855)

He ran an advertisement noting, “Prices Reduced at the Excelsior Gallery, located on Rose Lane, east side of King-street opposite the Bethel Church. Thankful for past favors, the undersigned takes this method of soliciting for a limited time, the patronage of the citizens and visitors of Honolulu …”

“… assuring them that strict application has been made to every new feature of the Art, calculated to finish first class Portraits, Miniatures, and Views for all who may desire them, by the latest and most satisfactory mode of operating in the United States.”

“Gallery open from 8 AM to 4 PM.  Cloudy weather no detriment.  Call and examine the specimens of Rose Lane Gallery.  B Jay Antrim” (Polynesian, Dec 22, 1855)

Then Antrim announced a change in his business, “To the Citizens of Honolulu. This is to inform the citizens Honolulu, that Mr. Benson, will continue the Daguerrean Art on Rose Lane, after April 14th, 1856.  We would return our sincere thanks to our patrons, and recommend Mr. B, as worthy of their patronage.  B. Jay Antrim” (Polynesian, April 5 & 12, 1856)

Antrim went back to California and set up shop there; he advertised, “Three Pictures for $3.00! B. Jay Antrim & Co would respectfully intimate to the residents of North San Juan and vicinity their intention of closing their Photographic operations in this town in a short time.”

“Hence all persons who may be desirous of securing a cheap and elegant picture for transmission to their friends in the Atlantic States, will see the necessity of an early visit to their Gallery, adjoining the Sierra Nevada Hotel. They have just completed the necessary arrangements for taking the new style of Canvas Pictures!”

“These Pictures possess a soft and elegant tone, and can be mailed with little additional postage. North San Juan, Oct. 1.” (Hydraulic Press, Oct 16, 1858)

The newspaper reported, “Mr. Antrim, the Ambrotypist, is now prepared to take portraits on canvas, having so far perfected his invention that he is willing to make it public. These pictures have an exquisite softness of color, a fine, clear relief, and are protected from the injurious effects of moisture by a trans parent varnish of the artist’s own invention.”

“They can be rolled up as easily as velvet, and forwarded in letters a great distance without detriment. They can be taken as large as life – this is no fiction – and are as free from any blinding lustre as ordinary engravings.”

“Mr. Antrim is a man of great ingenuity. He has devoted much time and money to the perfection of this new style of sun-portraits, and offers them at such a low price that it is an object to every person to patronize him. His invention is destined to be talked about and to become popular.”  (Hydraulic Press, Oct 2, 1958)

(Ambrotype images are taken upon fine plate glass, over which is placed a corresponding glass,—the two being cemented together, so that the picture is just as permanent as the glass on which it is taken.  They are far superior, in many respects, to the best Daguerreotypes.) (Pioneer American Photographers)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Great Ocean

The Pacific is a big ocean: it covers more than one-third of the earth’s surface and more area than all of its land. It stretches more than 10,000 miles from Panama to the Philippines and almost as far from the Bering Sea to Antarctica.

The Pacific is the mother of oceans, the setting of romantic and moonlit isles, the hunting ground of explorers, buccaneers, and traders, the battleground where an empire bent upon world conquest was vanquished by a nation determined to preserve its cherished freedoms, and the home of the Polynesians, a hardy breed of people whose beginnings are obscure and full of conjecture.

Three distinct regions – Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia – make up the Pacific world.

Largest among these regions is Polynesia; the designation Polynesia is derived from the Greek nesos, an island, and poli, many.

Polynesia forms an almost perfect equilateral triangle with Easter Island at the apex, Hawaii at the left corner of the base line, and New Zealand at the right. The distance between each point of the triangle is between four and five thousand miles.

The islands of the Pacific number into the thousands and range from shoals and atolls to mighty land masses. They are commonly identified as continental or oceanic islands, depending on the geological story they tell.

Continental islands are geologically parts of the continental platforms, for their rock types and structures are similar to those of the continental land masses; oceanic islands, generally the product of volcanism, are far removed from the continents and differ in geological structure with the continental land masses.

Stretching from northwest to southeast for a distance of 1,500 miles across the Pacific lie the Hawaiian Islands, where Nature blended a forerunner to paradise.

The archipelago was built by sustained and prodigious volcanic activity that probably began some sixty million years ago through a series of fissures in the ocean floor.

The islands represent the tops of an enormous submarine mountain range. Wind, rain, surf, and other agents have eroded some of the islands into small remnants that project only a few feet above the surface of the ocean.

The Hawaiian Archipelago consists of islands, reefs, shoals, atolls, and pinnacles varying in size from 4,030 square miles to a few acres.

Largest in the group is the Island of Hawaii, which boasts two of the world’s most consistently active volcanoes, the highest insular mountain, and the largest single mountain mass. Smallest of the lot is Gardner Pinnacle, a stack of volcanic rock of three acres.

The timeless buildup of the islands continues, and if one could have a glimpse into the future he would probably see new islands thrusting their tops above the ocean to the southeast.

Plant spores and seeds borne by currents, winds, and migratory birds eventually found their way to these once barren islands and mantled them with a carpet of vegetation.

The native birds were probably blown in by strong winds; the Hawaiian bat and seal, the only native mammals, probably came in under their own power; and the pig, dog, and other animals and plants were introduced by the first settlers. The coconut may have been brought by the early voyagers or it may have been carried by ocean currents.

Into these isolated and far-flung islands came the hardy Polynesians, who had ventured into the unknown fastnesses of the vast Pacific in search of a homeland.

Their conquest of the Great Ocean and its far reaches is one of the most remarkable achievements in the pageant of life, but little is known about it.

In Hawaii, the Polynesians found an extravaganza of color – a land at once gentle and harsh, a land of freshness, primitive and untouched, of deep canyons and lofty mountains and fertile valleys and abundant forests. Nature had given generously of her best in creating such a masterpiece.

The uplands provided logs for their canoes and stone for their primitive tools; in the waters surrounding the islands they found an abundance of food, in the valleys, rich and productive lands for their agriculture.

And on the summit of a volcano they found Halemaumau – the abode of their goddess Pele.

Of it some made a shrine, a place of pilgrimage and prayer. While the homage paid to Pele was inspired essentially by fear, it was nonetheless worship, and they immortalized her in song and dance and in legend and tradition.

Hundreds of years later, a wise government set aside a part of her land as a national park, to be preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of all people for all time.  (All here is copied from Hawaii Nature Notes, Hawaii National Park, November 1953)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻIliahi

Sandalwood (ʻiliahi) has been highly prized and in great demand through the ages; its use for incense is part of the ritual of Buddhism.  Chinese used the fragrant heart wood for incense, medicinal purposes, for architectural details and carved objects.
 
Sandalwood was first recognized as a commercial product in Hawai‘i in 1791 by Captain Kendrick of the Lady Washington, when he instructed sailors to collect cargo of sandalwood.  From that point on, it became a source of wealth in the islands, until it’s supply was ultimately exhausted.
 
Trade in Hawaiian sandalwood began as early as the 1790s; by 1805 it had become an important export item.
 
Waimea Bay became the sandalwood capital during the 1800s. Huge cargo ships would anchor offshore to load sandalwood.
 
Sandalwood trade was a turning point in Hawai‘i, especially related to its economic structure.  It moved Hawai‘i from a self-sufficient economy to a commercial economy.  This started a series of other economic and export activities across the islands.
 
In 1809, two brothers, the American ship captains Jonathan Winship of the “Albatross” and Nathan Winship of the “O’Cain,” started on a voyage that established the sandalwood trade.
 
After trading for furs on the coast of Oregon, they sailed in October, 1811, for Honolulu, where they and Captain William Heath Davis of the “Isabella” took on cargoes of sandalwood.
 
The ships sailed to Canton, where the fragrant wood was sold at a large profit. Returning to Honolulu, the three captains persuaded King Kamehameha I to grant them a monopoly of the sandalwood and cotton trade for 10 years. However, after the first trip, Kamehameha cancelled the arrangement. (St John)
 
In 1811, an agreement between Boston ship captains and Kamehameha I established a monopoly on sandalwood exports, with Kamehameha receiving 25% of the profits.  As trade and shipping brought Hawaiʻi into contact with a wider world, it also enabled the acquisition of Western goods, including arms and ammunition. 
 
Kamehameha used Western cannons and guns to great advantage in his unification of the Islands and also acquired Western-style ships, buying the brig Columbia for a price of two ship loads of sandalwood in 1817.
 
Between about 1810 and 1820, the major item of Hawaiian trade was sandalwood.  Kamehameha I rigidly maintained control of the trade until his death in 1819, at which time his son, Liholiho, took over control.
 
When Kamehameha I died, although Liholiho (his son and successor) should have inherited all of Kamehameha’s lands, the chiefs also wanted the revenue from the sandalwood.
 
Chiefs persuaded the king to give them an in on the royal sandalwood monopoly; trade continued at an accelerated rate, following Kamehameha’s death. 
 
In America, the Panic of 1819 (the first financial crisis in the United States) made it difficult for traders to obtain sandalwood for the China trade.
 
However, because the Hawaiian chiefs had become enamored of items of foreign manufacture, the islands provided an open market for goods like rum, clothing, cloth, furnishings and a host of other things.
 
Foreign traders shipped these goods to the islands, exchanging them for sandalwood, which continued to be in demand in China.
 
It was Hawaii’s first source of revenue and major debt.  Credit secured by payment in sandalwood saddled the Hawaiian Chiefs and the Islands’ struggling economy.
 
In 1826, the kingdom of Hawaiʻi enacted its first written law – a sandalwood tax.  Every man was ordered to deliver to the government 66 pounds of sandalwood, or pay four Spanish dollars, by September 1, 1827.
 
Every woman older than 13 was obligated to make a 12-by-6-foot kapa cloth.  The taxes were collected to reduce the staggering debt.
 
The common people were displaced from their agricultural and fishing duties and all labor was diverted to harvesting sandalwood.  This period saw two major famines as ʻiliahi was over-harvested to the point of commercial extinction in Hawaiʻi forests. 
 
Unfortunately, the harvesting of the trees was not sustainably managed (they cut whatever they could, they didn’t replant) and over-harvesting of ‘iliahi took place.
 
By 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed.  Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from India and other areas in the Pacific drove down the price in China and made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable.
 
Once reported as growing on landscape scales, today, there are only remnant patches of ‘iliahi.  Several are trying to bring sandalwood back.
 
 

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Merry or Merrie?

Today, we typically reference King David Kalakaua as the ‘Merrie Monarch;’ and most also say it was his nickname used by those outside of Hawai‘i.  Most suggest it was inspired by the king’s love of music, parties and fine food and drinks.  Yet, it is not clear why we spell ‘Merry’ that way.

It is probably coincidental, but about the same time Kalakaua was ruling in the Islands, there were numerous articles written about King Charles II, who had been ruling about 200-years earlier in England.  Charles was also referred to as the “Merry Monarch of England,” or simply, the “Merry Monarch.”

Charles II (born May 29, 1630, London—died February 6, 1685, London) was king of Great Britain and Ireland (1660–85).  He was restored to the throne after years of exile during the Puritan Commonwealth.

The years of his reign are known in English history as the Restoration period. His political adaptability and his knowledge of men enabled him to steer his country through the convolutions of the struggle between Anglicans, Catholics, and Dissenters that marked much of his reign. (Britannica)

“Charles Stuart the 2nd of England who lived an “eventful life” with “wild orgies” in “his depraved and dissolute court” was referred to in England as the “merry monarch.” (It was sometimes spelled ‘merrie monarch.’)

He was described as “a man of great and varied talents, a heartless libertine, sunk in vice and debauchery, and soddened with lust”.  (The Chelmsford Chronicle (Chelmsford Essex, England, January 13, 1860)

It is not clear if Charles II was referred to as the Merry Monarch during his reign; Hawai‘i’s King Kalakaua was also referred to as a Merry Monarch.  However, the first reference of such appears to be in news accounts of his death. (He died January 20, 1891.)

Several, primarily Mid-Western, newspapers on the continent ran identical stories with the heading that stated “He Was a Merry Monarch” The lead line of the story was “King David of Hawaii is dead.”  (January 29, 1891)

Later, the Honolulu Advertiser, in writing about the King in an October 23, 1901 article, noted, “when the merry monarch came to the throne a new nobility was created”.

In reference to Kalakaua, though, we call him ‘Merrie’, as noted above and below, it was not always so.

Early newspaper references to a Kalakaua nickname were all, effectively, using ‘Merry.’

In 1903, the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (PCA) referenced, “King Kalakaua, the merry monarch.”  The next year, he was again referred to as ‘the merry monarch.’

Later, in 1904, the PCA reported on the christening of the infant son of Prince and Princess Kawananakoa where the paper stated, “the name of the ‘Merry Monarch of Hawaii’ was revived, for the young Prince will bear the name of David Kalakaua II.”

Later, the Honolulu Advertiser referred to Kalakaua as the “Merry Monarch of the Paradise of the Pacific.”  Kuykendall’s 3rd and final volume, describing the “Kalakaua Dynasty,” says that it “covers the colorful reign of King Kalakaua, the Merry Monarch.”

Even the festival that bears the nickname is not clear, nor consistent, with the spelling …

The first hula festival (held in 1964) that bore Kalakaua’s nickname was called the ‘Merry Monarch Festival’.  In anticipation of the event, the Hawaii Tribune Herald referred to “the first Merry Monarch Festival to be held in Hilo next April.”

Newspaper reports note that, “A purpose of the Merry Monarch Festival, a special project of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, is to develop an attraction that will draw visitors here during tourism’s slack period of the year.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, March 31, 1964)

A later Hawaii Tribune Herald story (September 29, 1963) noted, “A Merry Monarch Festival designed to bring back for a brief period the colorful years if King Kalakaua will be held in Hilo next April, it was announced today by George Naope, promotor of activities for the County.”

In announcing that the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce had agreed to sponsor the “Merry Monarch Festival,” chairman Gene Wilhelm said, “the Merry Monarch Festival, named for Hawaii’s King Kalakaua, who reigned from 1874 to 1891, is planned for an annual event during the first week following Easter.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, January 10, 1964)

in the early years, in addition to an annual parade and hula, there were a variety of other programs associated with the festival.

Men competed in a Kalakaua look-alike contest; quarter- and semi-finals of a sideburns-mustache contest at Mooheau Park.  (If he was married, the festival gave a gift certificate to “The Most Understanding Wife” (Hawaii Tribune Herald)

A couple of athletic competitions also took place. Single riders and relay teams competed in the Merry Monarch Festival Bicycle Pete Beamer Derby and rode bicycles from the Kamehameha Statue in Kohala, headed through Waimea, along the Hamakua Coast and ended up at Kalakaua Park in Hilo.  The winner of the 85-mile race received a trophy and $25.

Reminiscent of the old days of Hawai‘i when relays of the swiftest runners carried fresh fish to the chiefs, the festival had a 4-mile relay race through Hilo (starting and finishing at Mo‘oheau Park).  The relay runners used mullet as ‘batons.’

Another of the early festival activities was a Treasure Hunt.  Hunters were to dig up a buried box containing a Kalakaua medallion, redeemable for a cash prize, that was buried in a secret location.

“Samuel Clemens Moke, King Kalakaua’s emissary who pays daily visits to the Tribune Herald” provided cryptic clues on the treasure’s location.  These were published in the Hawai‘i Tribune Herald.

In reporting on its 50th anniversary, The Hawaii Tribune Herald noted that, “Andres Baclig, the county bandmaster in 1964, composed a number called the ‘Merry Monarch Festival March.’”

“The song, which was received with much acclaim, was presented at the Mooheau Bandstand on April 2, 1964, and it was a spirited number, featuring ‘lots of trombones and baritones.’”

In a report on planning for the 5th annual festival in the Honolulu Advertiser (December 24, 1967), it was reported that, “The largest planning committee ever set up for a Hilo Merry Monarch Festival is at work on the fifth annual festival”.

The ‘Merry’ name was used at least until 1969.

However, the 1977 program for the festival was a bit ambidextrous. The program was titled ‘Merrie Monarch Festival,’ but text on its initial pages, noted, “Hilo’s Merry Monarch Festival is named for Kalakaua who was Hawaii’s Merry Monarch.”

In 1971, the first competitive Merrie Monarch contest took place at the Hilo Civic Auditorium.  In 1979 the festival moved to the Edith Kanaka‘ole Tennis Stadium, where it has been held ever since.

In the late-1970s, newspaper reporting noted that performing at Hulihee Palace was the ‘Merry Monarchs Hawaiian Glee Club,’ “the foremost all male Hawaiian language singing group in the Islands (December 12, 1977).  A similar concert to celebrate the birthday of “Hawaii’s Merry Monarch, Kalakaua” was held that year at the Waikiki Shell.

Today, the King and Festival are referred to as the ‘Merrie Monarch.’  It is not clear when and why the nickname or the festival name changed from ‘Merry’ to ‘Merrie’.  However, the festival remains the premier hula competition.

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