General | Page 80 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 26, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Thank the Lincoln Wreckers …

“The history of the Lincoln Wreckers Athletic Association dates back to the summer of 1926, when plans were made to organize barefoot football teams to participate in a new league founded by the late educator Ernest B DeSilva.”

“At its first organizational meeting, held under a mango tree (since removed) near where the present Lincoln Park Pavilion now stands, it selected Bill Serrao, a junior high school carpentry teacher as the club’s first president.”

“Membership to the club and team was generated from the Lincoln Park area and also included the peripheral neighborhoods of Kukuau, Mauka Ponahawai and makai toward Mooheau Park.”

“Surnames of people who formed the nucleus of this young club were: Yoneda, Fukuda, Oda, Saiki, Hori, Kunieda, Hiraoka, Omonaka, Okamoto, Kuratsu, Saito, Jinbo, Yokoyama, Hayashi, Shiigi, Nakaji, Tanaka, Suzuki, Segawa, Hirai, Kawachi, Hayakawa, Kohashi. Henry, Makaio, Serrao, Penavaroff and others.”

“There were four divisions in the league; the 125-pound, the 110-pound, the 100-pound and the main 150-pound senior divisions. The latter team was coached by former Honolulu resident John Melim. In its first year of competition, the Lincoln Wreckers won three out of the four division titles, with the senior team eventually going on to win six consecutive titles.”

“The early Lincoln Wreckers organization was well-rounded in that it was involved in almost every sporting activity, and welcomed and included young children both boys and girls into their programs.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, May 11, 1986)

Fast forward from the 1926 beginning of the Lincoln Wreckers to 1949 … a new ‘fast food’ is invented, and “the boys invented the name.”

Loco Moco – “Loco means crazy. Moco has no meaning – just a made-up word to rhyme with loco.” (Nancy Inouye – who with husband Richard ran the Lincoln Grill across from the Central Fire Station in Hilo, Hawaii Tribune Herald, September 23, 1981)

As described by former ‘Wrecker’ Rudy Legaspi [former County Clerk], “[O]ne day we asked Nancy to cook us something inexpensive, but filling and nutritious.”

“It’s a simple folk dish – a big scoop of rice, a hamburger patty and an over easy fried egg – doused liberally with thick gravy.” (HTH September 23, 1981)

“Legaspi thinks George Okimoto, whose nickname was ‘Crazy,’ was the first Wrecker to ask for the dish, and, therefore, was honored with the name of the dish.”

“‘We had a band, called the Lincoln Wreckers Babes – it was a dance band. John Farias played in it [Farias is a former Director of Agriculture for the State and held other positions in the County].

While they, “smoked a lot of cigarettes” and “drank beer”, “Most Lincoln Wreckers were making good grades at Hilo High School. Despite their busy extracurricular activities. Most of them have become successful businessmen or government officials”. (HTH, September 23, 1981)

“Lincoln Grill opened six days a week. ‘when we closed, Nancy says, ‘the boys went to other places to eat. They told other places what to put into make a loco moco. That’s how it got spread around.” (HTH September 23, 1981)

“Through the years the loco moco has been accepted by most parts of the state and has become, perhaps, the second most popular folk dish, nest only to saimin in Hawaii.”

“And, loco mocos also have gone through a variety of changes. … Instead of a regular bowl, most fast-food restaurants serve loco mocos in a Styrofoam container. Instead of meat patties hand made right in the kitchen, as Nancy and Richard did, restaurants have turned to machines for efficiency and economy.”

Lincoln Grill closed its doors in 1964, “but their lowly loco moco has become one of the most popular dishes to come out of Hawaii’s melting pot.” (HTH, September 23, 1981)

November 21, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Limahuli Garden and Preserve

The National Tropical Botanical Garden (originally the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden) is the only tropical botanical garden with a charter from the United States Congress as a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation and education.

Four of NTBG’s gardens are in the Hawaiian Islands; the fifth is on the US mainland in Florida. The Hawai‘i gardens include, McBryde and Allerton Gardens in Lāwa‘i, South Shore of Kauai; Limahuli Garden and Preserve on the North Shore of Kauai and Kahuna Garden on the Hāna Coast of Maui. The Kampong is located on Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove, Florida.

Limahuli Garden and Preserve is set on the north shore of the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. The Garden is back-dropped by Makana Mountain and overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

The name “Limahuli,” which means “turning hands,” which describes the agricultural activities of early Hawaiians in the Valley. Lava-rock terraces for growing taro (lo‘i kalo) were built there 700-1,000 years ago.

These and other plants that were significant to the early inhabitants, as well as native species, make up the Garden’s collections. The property includes a plantation-era garden, as well as invasive species that were introduced by modern man. Limahuli Stream, one of the last pristine waterways left in the Islands, provides a habitat for indigenous aquatic life.

Behind the Garden is the Limahuli Preserve where conservationists and restoration biologists are working to preserve species native to this habitat.

The goal for Limahuli Garden and Preserve is the ecological and cultural restoration of Limahuli Valley, using the ahupua‘a system of resource management as a template for this work – a convergence of past and present, where native plants as well as ancient and contemporary Hawaiian culture are being actively preserved, nurtured and perpetuated.

Archaeological evidence substantiates that the Limahuli Valley on Kauai was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hawai‘i.

Over time families and communities grew, new settlements were created, and natural boundaries – which extended along streams from the mountains into the ocean – developed between villages.

Limahuli Valley was part of the ahupua`a of Hā‘ena. The name “Limahuli,” which means “turning hands,” aptly describes the agricultural activities of early Hawaiians in the Valley. Lava-rock terraces for growing taro (lo‘i kalo) were built here 700-1,000 years ago.

The arrival of Captain Cook in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778 initiated an influx of human, animal, and plant immigrants from all over the world. After the Great Mahele (land division act) in 1848, Limahuli Valley became the property of an absentee landlord.

The Valley was used to graze cattle, greatly accelerating the destruction of native plants. Subsequent reforestation of cleared lands was accomplished by introducing faster growing non-native trees, which overwhelmed the less aggressive native species.

In 1955, at the request of the Hui Ku‘ai ‘Āina O Hā‘ena, an association that had acquired the entire ahupua`a in 1875, the Fifth Circuit Court began proceedings to partition the land and create fee simple ownership of the ahupua‘a.

This process took 12 years to complete, during which time Hawai‘i became a state and the new government designated the ahupua‘a of Hā‘ena as a new State Conservation District.

At the end of the partition process in 1967, Limahuli Valley was assigned to Juliet Rice Wichman, a member of the Hui who had long recognized the need to preserve and protect Limahuli. She immediately removed the cattle and began developing a garden.

Land was cleared, gravel roads were installed, and restoration work to the taro terraces started. In 1976, she gifted the lower part of the Valley, now known as Limahuli Garden, to the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and upon her death left the nearly 1,000 remaining acres to one of her grandsons, Chipper Wichman.

After receiving formal training in tropical horticulture, both at NTBG and the University of Hawai‘i, Wichman continued his grandmother’s legacy by adding plantings in the Garden portion and conducting a botanical survey of the area known today as Limahuli Preserve. Subsequently, in 1994, Wichman gave his acreage to the NTBG as well, forming Limahuli Garden and Preserve.

The area’s unique resources prompted Wichman to seek new zoning regulations from the State. A master plan was developed, followed by the preparation of an environmental assessment.

New legislation resulted in the creation of the Limahuli Valley Special Subzone. Implementation of the master plan began. Tours had been offered on a minimal basis to NTBG members; in 1995, a full-fledged public tour program was initiated and the construction of visitor facilities followed.

In 1997, the American Horticultural Society awarded Limahuli Garden its “Best Natural Botanical Garden” designation for demonstrating “best sound environmental practices of water, soil, and rare native plant conservation in an overall garden design.”

The goal for Limahuli Garden and Preserve is the ecological and cultural restoration of Limahuli Valley, using the ahupua`a system of resource management as a template for this work. The result is that past and present converge in this lovely valley, where native plants as well as ancient and contemporary Hawaiian culture are being actively preserved, nurtured, and perpetuated.

Limahuli Preserve (acquired in 1994)
Limahuli Preserve is located on the northern coast of Kauai in a lush tropical valley that contains an almost pristine Hawaiian stream with a waterfall that plummets nearly 800 feet into the lower valley. This isolated area is surrounded on three sides by precipitous ridges 2,000 feet high.

Within this spectacular setting are three separate ecological zones and many ancient Hawaiian archaeological sites. Botanical surveys have indicated that although much of the lower valley has been modified in the past, it remains an invaluable resource for native plant and animal species.

The unique topography in Limahuli Valley has resulted in two distinct management areas. These are: 1) The Upper Preserve, which is a “hanging” upper valley that extends to an elevation of over 3,000 feet at its highest point near the Alaka’i Swamp, and 2) the Lower Preserve, which is the part of the valley that is located below the waterfall.

Lower Limahuli Preserve
The Lower Limahuli Preserve contains approximately 600 acres of land. It is not open to the public and access is rugged and only by foot.

The unspoiled Limahuli Stream has never been highly degraded by human impact, although the ancient Hawaiians did use its waters to irrigate their lo`i kalo (taro patches), which were located throughout the Lower Preserve as well as on the plain in front of the valley. Today, the stream has a full complement of native fauna, including fish and crustaceans that are found only in Hawai‘i.

Over the past 100 years the Lower Preserve has seen a major decline in the population of native plants, primarily due to the introduction of feral cattle in the late 1800s. The consequence has been not only the loss of native species, but also the establishment of many alien species of plants that are aggressive and able to out compete most of the native plant species.

In an effort to restore this unique area to a more natural state, the Limahuli Garden staff began an aggressive plant-community restoration program. Efforts have been directed at three important plant communities – the mesic lowland forest, wet forest, and riparian plant communities.

The results of these innovative restoration projects have garnered national recognition, demonstrated the importance of restoration projects in Hawai‘i, and proven our ability to turn the tide of retreating plant communities. They serve as models for newer projects.

Upper Limahuli Preserve
The Upper Limahuli Preserve encompasses approximately 400 acres of land above Limahuli Falls and extends from about 1,600 feet at the top of the falls to 3,330 feet at the summit of Hono O Napali. At upper elevations, the vegetation is characteristic of montane rain forest, while at lower elevations it is characteristic of lowland rain forest.

The Upper Preserve is remote, requiring the use of a helicopter to gain access. Historically, this area has suffered from different environmental pressures than those exerted on the Lower Preserve.

Surveys have indicated that it was never intensely cultivated or modified by the ancient Hawaiians and it was isolated from the impacts of the cattle that did so much damage in the Lower Preserve. As a result, the Upper Preserve was still considered to be a pristine ecosystem with very few non-native species until the early 1980s.

In 1982, and again in 1992, this unspoiled area was severely damaged by two powerful hurricanes. These devastating storms not only denuded the vegetation, but also spread aerial-borne alien weed seeds through much of the area. In the past 20 years the area has also been subject to increased pressure from expanding populations of feral pigs.

Since 1992, staff has increased management activities in this remote area in an effort to mitigate the decline of this once pristine ecosystem. Restoration and management programs today are focusing on control of the worst of the invasive plant species and control of the feral pigs. Given time and adequate resources we hope to begin returning this area to its original condition.

November 18, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The lighthouse is reached, no drop! the outer buoy, no stop!

This is a story about Joseph Lawrence Van Tassell. But before we get to Van Tassell, let’s look at a predecessor and his attempts at the first successful aeronautical event in Hawaiʻi. At the time, the technology was hot air balloons.

Emil L Melville had advertised a balloon show where he would hang from a trapeze in his 86-foot balloon. For Melville, third time was the charm.

The headline on the first attempt tells the story, “An Immense Audience – No Ascension.” It goes on to note, “The crowd continued to surge into the (Kapiʻolani) Park until about the time set for the ascension when there were from 3,000 to 4,000 persons within the enclosure and perhaps 2,000 more in the surrounding grounds.”

“Promptly at the advertised hour 2 o’clock (March 2, 1889) Prof Melville arose from a nap with which he was refreshing himself in a room near the grand stand and dressed himself in a gay suit of tights.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 5, 1889)

“What the process is actually remains a professional secret … the canvas in a few moments began to flutter and fill then bulge out into something like rotund shape. … Matters were in this struggling stage at 5:45 o’clock … a wreath of smoke curling up from the upper slope of the cloth … Another burst … Many of the helpers ran off panic-stricken … The next scene was a grand and speedy dispersion (of the crowd.”) (Hawaiian Gazette, March 5, 1889)

A week later, the paper noted, “’There could not have been a better day,’ (March 11, 1889) was the universal remark, suggested by the very slight stir in the air and such motion as there was being off the sea. The balloon filled up beautifully – was in fact every moment looking more like an article of that name until it had about three fourths of its capacity-charged with concentrated caloric and smoke.”

“The furnace roars once and again and next thing the aeronaut thunders out ‘All let go!’ … and away the monster creeps laterally … off she goes and then up, only the spectators in the inner rings observing the gallant Professor Melville dragging headforemost to the trapeze – he had no time to fasten on the parachute.”

“Up through the wicked spikes of the young algeroba (kiawe) thicket the aeronaut was dragged … Now the balloon is fast sinking with the man’s weight. It disappears behind the bush and almost immediately soars majestically aloft but there is no man dangling from the trapeze.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 12, 1889)

Finally, on April 6, 1889, “ … Prof Emil Melville with the assistance of sailors from HBMS Cormorant was inflating his balloon, the one used in the two previous attempts to fly skyward. About half-past 2 o’clock … the balloon was up. Sure enough there it was sailing gracefully over the town at an elevation of two or three thousand feet.”

“… a little steady gazing was rewarded by the vision of a streak of red the aeronauts athletic costume … going through movements on the bar which made the balloon sag and sway at intervals.”

“At a point nearly over Palace Square the balloon was noticed to be descending which caused the rush of hundreds to the water front to see the finish of the aerial voyage. … The aeronaut let go when near the surface of the water dropping in about four or five feet depth on the reef inside the breakers off Kakaʻako. His balloon in a few seconds took the water having careened on its side under a gust of wind.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 9, 1889)

Joseph Lawrence Van Tassell was another balloonist who came to Hawaiʻi.

Some credit him with the first flight in the islands, but it is clear from the above, that Melville made it on his third try (although unceremoniously with a dunking in the water.)

Like Melville, Van Tassell staged a flight from Kapiʻolani Park, collecting admission fees from spectators. On November 2, 1889, “The attendance at Kapiʻolani Park … was not so large as it ought to have been. About five hundred persons were in the enclosure, but there was a much larger number outside. Many people witnessed the ascension from the top of Punchbowl and other commanding positions”.

“… It progressed so rapidly and in such a thorough manner that at four o’clock ‘let go’ was heard and the balloon ascended gracefully into the air. (At the appropriate time,) “the aeronaut partly opened the parachute and a few seconds later parted from the balloon, coming down in a very graceful manner”. (Daily Bulletin, November 4, 1889)

What’s it like? “We go up in a balloon which holds 75,000 cubic feet of gas and lifts 2,800 pounds. … The parachute is fastened to the side of the balloon with a rope. … Underneath the parachute is an ordinary trapeze. When we get ready to jump, we swing out of the balloon throwing one leg out of the trapeze under the parachute.”

“Then we cut it loose at the same instant pulling a cord that collapses the balloon. We fall the first two hundred feet with terrible rapidity and then comes the most dangerous part of the jump, next to landing, for in falling the two hundred feet the parachute opens and it brings up with a jerk that almost hurls you off the bar.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 26, 1889)

Then, a fateful event.

Van Tassell promised a special show to honor King Kalākaua on his 53rd birthday; he had no trouble selling tickets. He promised to ascend from the crater Punchbowl then parachute to a landing in the palace grounds. (hawaii-gov)

“The inflation commenced about 2 o’clock and the big bag was quickly filled. … At 2:19 pm the aeronaut declared himself ready and with a pleasant wave of the hand to a few friends he straddled the iron bar of the parachute and grasping the ropes gave the order ‘let go’ and started on his ride”.

“The point of starting was so well sheltered from the brisk trade wind that was blowing that the balloon had an excellent opportunity to rise upward which it did to a height estimated at between five and six thousand feet. “

“The balloon now caught the force of the trade wind and commenced to set slowly towards the south-west, passing over the Palace at which point it had been arranged by the aeronaut he would cut loose and begin his descent.”

“Slowly the balloon passed to a wind directly over the corner of Richard and King streets where it was discernable, now at 2:22 o’clock after being up three minutes, that Professor Joe had at last cut loose.”

“The parachute however instead of coming, as was hoped, directly earthwards seemed on the contrary to have been caught by the trade wind and lifted upward, and also drifted rapidly towards the sea.”

“And now commenced a race between the balloon and parachute to seaward, the parachute with its living freight for the first few minutes appearing to be equal in height with the balloon.”

“The lighthouse is reached, no drop! the outer buoy, no stop! On goes the parachute, on goes the balloon. Now appears the danger, there is no provision for assistance, the parachute is now two miles from shore and still receding. At last he drops …”

“From 3 o’clock until 5:30 search, diligent and careful was made, the sail-boats cruising in different courses, Minister Thurston in the “Hawaii” going well in shore and the tug making circles that covered all probable points.”

“No trace of man or parachute could be found ….” (The balloon was later recovered,) “Prof. Joseph Lawrence Van Tassell had made his last leap, had jumped into eternity and had added his name to the list of those daring spirits of his profession who had joined the great majority.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 19, 1889)

On November 18, 1889, Van Tassell became Hawaiʻi’s first air fatality. The image shows an advertisement for the November 2, 1889 ascent and jump from a balloon.

November 17, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Getting Around in Kona … in the Old Days

“While in the old days, you walked to school and you walked home. There wasn’t any time for anything else. … Nobody got a ride to school unless they lived five miles away from the school.” (Sherwood Greenwell, Social History of Kona)

“[We’d] go down swimming … Straight down [from up mauka to Kainaliu beach] of we used to walk down to Keauhou Beach. That’s five of six miles. Yeah, we used to walk.” (William Ishida, Social History of Kona)

“I grew up with my aunts and uncles living in a big house with my grandparents and my parents. We walked to school, and we would chit-chatter. In the morning, we never played on the roadside because we had to get to school on time.”

“But coming home after school from Japanese[-language] school, it was different. We’d look around the roadside for thimbleberries, rose apple or mountain apple, or guavas. We didn’t encounter too much animosity growing up together with other nationalities.”

“Hōlualoa was a real multicultural community. We lived among many different races, and we did many things together in the neighborhood.”

“I grew up doing things with my aunties and uncles. It was more family togetherness. We didn’t have anything like television; we couldn’t afford to buy things. We picked seeds on the roadside, and we’d save them to do some craft things.”

“As a teenager, going to movies at the Hōlualoa Theater was a treat. I never went alone; always as a group. We enjoyed visiting our neighbors to sing songs and exchange stories.”

“My childhood days was very simple. It wasn’t like, oh we have to go someplace to have fun. It was a joy to visit my girlfriends’ home and do some embroidery or stitchery; picking guavas and mountain apples from the fields.”

“We would just go in the coffee field and we’d play with simple things, like getting a guava branch for sticks, or whatever. … It was a little community and we all knew the families in Hōlualoa. We knew everyone and we trusted everyone”.

“Coffee season, we’d never go anywhere. From early in the morning we’d go out to pick coffee; it was like we had to do it. We never say, ‘Oh, we don’t want to pick coffee.’ We’d get up and it’s our responsibility, it’s part of our life.”

“We’d pick every day; there’s no Sundays. If it rained, there were other chores, like bagging all the coffee underneath the hoshidana [large coffee sun-drying platforms with retractable roofs] to take it to American Factors.”

“When we were done with our coffee picking, we’d help families in Kainaliu. I remember going to my relative, the Takeguchis, near Konawaena School. The whole crew, my brothers and even my grandmother, we’d all go and help pick their coffee.”

“I remember asking my grandma, ‘How did you come from Hilo to Kona?’ And she said she and my grandfather walked from Hilo. I said, ‘You mean you walked all the way?’”

“She said they walked to Honu‘apo. You know, Ka‘ū? There’s a landing, Honu‘apo. And I said, ‘Oh, what did you do for sleeping and for food?’ She said they just walked, and during the evening before it gets real dark, they see a dim light here and there.”

“They’d go up, and many of the Hawaiians were very nice. They gave them a place for them to rest on the porch, and I guess they gave them whatever food. They made it to Honu‘apo, rode the boat, and landed at Nāpō‘opo‘o.” (Alfreida Kimura Fujita, Kona Heritage Stores)

“I think on my father’s side, the grandparents, after they finished their contract with the Plantation [in East Hawaii], then they were free, so they came to Kona.”

“But I think – on my mother’s side – I think they took off before their contract was over. My mother was the eldest – she had five brothers. And the one below her, they had to walk all the way [to Kona].”

They walked “From Hilo [to Honu‘apo]. … [T]they had a boat going in and out those days. So, they rode on the boat at Honu‘apo and then came to Kona. … Probably they slept over one night or two nights. Especially when you have a family, you know, it’s hard.“

“[W]e used to make our own fun. Go down the beach, we used to walk all the way. No more cars like today. And everything was nature in the raw. We go down there, and coming home it’s hot.”

“We all walked to school. Like, from Kainaliu till Konawaena – it was up where First Hawaiian Bank is now [next to the Kealakekua Public Library]. That used to be the old Konawaena School.”

“But that’s nothing. There were some people living farther away. They had to walk all the way. And the road was not much of a road, either, you know. Not paved road at all. All gravel road, and rough.” (Norman K. Okamura, Kona Heritage Stores)

“[F]ortunately, my father had two sisters who were schoolteachers, and they didn’t have a car. So every morning my father had to take them to school. So we used to ride in the car and go to school, same way. So we were real fortunate that my father had a taxi business and we were able to hang on and go to school. Didn’t have to walk.” (Susumu Oshima, Kona Heritage Stores)

“Well, I was really fortunate because the place we live is centralized. They call it central Kona, because all my friends, they all surrounded me. All my classmates and all that we always stood by each other for fun.”

“In fact, in my gang we had about fifteen to twenty of us and in the morning before we go to school, we always got together at the store.”

“We talk story, play cards, and we used to walk to school every day. And I remember because I love my sports, and the way we had to entertain ourselves is those days, we didn’t have any basketball. Tennis ball was available, … in the garage we made a basket out of a Crisco can. And we used to play basketball in that area.”

“And since it was war days when I was about twelve, thirteen, there was no field to play in. The [Māmalahoa] Highway was next to my store, so we played football in the highway because we could see the cars coming. Half an hour later or so (laughs), we own the field. Our field was a road.” (Sukeji Yamagata, Kona Heritage Stores)

“Of course, those days didn’t have many cars so you could take up the whole road to walk.” (Alfreida Kimura Fujita, Kona Heritage Stores)

“[My father would make] me watch the store. Well, I was old enough to watch. And he goes down, early in the morning, walk – there’s a trail from the church here.”

“And there’s a trail going all the way down. When I grew up, I wanted – I was so curious how to get there. Two girls and I, we took that trail.”

“I said, “Gee, and here my father went all the way to get food.” The walking down is okay but coming home with that basket of fish. . . . [it would take] about half an hour [to walk the trail].” (Madeline Fujihara Leslie, Kona Heritage Stores)

“[L]ots of the Japanese people had donkeys, and so did some Hawaiians, they would come shop, and put [the groceries] on, tie ’em up, so the donkey would pack those things home for them.”

“After they buy their groceries, they put ’em in a bag and then have two bags with some kind of thing around. And then it would balance, and the donkey go back home, up the hill.”

“That was their transportation like. They buy canned goods, like corned beef, cracker, those needed items, they buy. And people live way up, about a mile up the hill. And only by trail, no cars. So they would bring their donkey.”

“And I’ve seen them put two bags across. Then the donkey would go home with an even weight. Yeah, all had donkeys. I used to ride them, too.” (Madeline Fujihara Leslie, Kona Heritage Stores)

“And we used to go fishing right down here; we walked down. … Yeah, we walked down, because no cars those days. Went down fishing. … And later on when the war stopped, they had surplus jeeps, then we started buying those jeeps. Then we didn’t have to walk anymore.” (Sukeji Yamagata, Kona Heritage Stores)

November 10, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Pineapple Day

“Pineapple growers in Hawaii during 1914 and 1915 are said to have sold their fruit at an average loss. Those producing this variety of fruit, and particularly those on the island of Maui, have not yet learned what price they will be offered by the canners this year, although there are indications that it will be better than during the past two years.”

“According to a grower in the Haiku district, island of Maui, there is evidence that the pack will not show the increase this year that it has in the past.”

“Many small growers on Oahu have been compelled to dispose of their holdings by practical inability to sell their fruit at all, and a considerable acreage has been allowed, for this reason, to grow up in weeds.”

“On Maui the crop will be short, both for the reason that the independent growers have not been planting heavily, on account of uncertainty as to price, and that the plantings suffered severely from incessant rains. The quality of the season’s pack also may be below the normal.”

“In order to stimulate planting the canning companies are advancing money to homesteaders and others. This has not been reported for several years. It is done on Oahu, and on Maui the Haiku Fruit & Packing Co. is also helping to finance small growers.”

“A homesteader in the Kuiaha tract has undertaken to plant 50 acres, and has been allowed an advance of $100 per acre for the property. Everything to interest planting has been done. However, the output for the Maui pack for the next two or three years is estimated to be smaller than in the past.”

“The price paid the growers on Maui last season was $11.25 per ton for first-class fruit, which low rate accounts for the indifference of growers in relation to extending their acreage. The new price will be announced in May.”

“The price of canned fruit has advanced some during the year and this may benefit the growers. The total pineapple pack for all the islands in 1915 was 2,175,000 cases.”

“The large pineapple canneries, such as the Hawaiian Pineapple Co., Thomas Pineapple Co., Libby, McNeil & Libby, Haiku Fruit & Packing Co., and others which have large acreages of their own, independent of individual growers, had a large pineapple tonnage at their direct command throughout the year.”

“The Hawaiian Pineapple Packers’ Association, of Honolulu, entered into two extensive advertising campaigns in 1915. One was a grocery-window display of Hawaiian-canned pineapples in practically every State on the American mainland …”

“… while “Hawaiian Pineapple Day” … called for the preparation of special Hawaiian pineapple menus in American hotels from the Atlantic to the Pacific.” (Commerce Reports)

“[T]he growers in Hawaii realized that they were not helping themselves by trying to promote individual brands. Instead, they decided to focus on promoting the Hawaiian pineapple over other foreign suppliers to increase America’s awareness of the product and through that, demand.” (Calabretta)

It had an inauspicious start … they proposed November 23, 1915 as ‘Hawaiian Pineapple Day,’ but mainland wholesalers said that was too close to Thanksgiving and retailers didn’t want to give up display space.

“Turkeys, cranberries, roast suckling pigs with apples in their mouths, and other Thanksgiving dainties will fill the windows of the mainland grocers Thanksgiving week, and Pineapple Day would be bound to suffer in the comparison.”

“The advice of the wholesale grocers, however, once given, was controlling. After comparatively little consideration, the joint committee decided that it could not afford to go counter to the judgment of its most valued aids, and took action accordingly.”

So, Hawaiian Pineapple Day was changed and celebrated November 10, 1915. “On that day the Hawaiian Pineapple will be elevated to royal honors and proclaimed the King of Fruits.”

“We will place on the tables of the President of the United States, the Governors of States and Mayors large mainland cities, delicious bowls of sliced pineapples.”

“We believe that no menu, on Wednesday, November 10, 1915, will be complete unless its array of includes many dishes composed of the juicy Hawaiian pineapple. Last year practically every large hotel and cafe in the United States, and every railroad dining car and steamship dining saloon headed their menus ‘Hawaiian Pineapple Day,’ in red letters.”

“Grocers windows from Boston to San Francisco presented Hawaiian pineapples to the gaze of the passing public. We ask you to join with us in this celebration, by jotting down the date now, and thus help us show the world that the ‘Paradise of the Pacific’ has a new industry designed to satisfy mankind’s ‘sweet tooth.’” (California Grocers Advocate)

‘Hawaiian Pineapple Day’ was at the Panama Pacific Exposition, held in San Francisco in November 1915, complete with Hawaiian leis for visitors with a pineapple hangtag naming the time and place.

The exposition was widely advertised. Canned pineapple was placed before President Wilson and the State Governors on that day, and hotels and cafes throughout the United States featured Hawaiian pineapple. (Canning Trade)

In San Francisco the day was observed in an impressive manner, the event culminating in a celebration on the grounds of the Panama-Pacific Exposition that the San Francisco Chronicle believed was by far the most impressive of the events designed to promote a food product.”

An immense crowd was attracted and 5,000 cans of pineapples were given away to visitors at the Palace of Horticulture. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The association was so helpful, we take it for granted in ads today. Similar to how California was portrayed as a wealthy, luxurious paradise, Dole capitalized on Hawaii’s tropical flair and mystery tenfold.

Hawaii was incredibly exotic and fantastic to mainland Americans who had only read of such a place in books. Pineapples represented “the flavor of aloha” as stated on Dole’s website. (Calabretta)

The statistical results of the [Hawaiian Pineapple Day] campaign have been compiled by the Hawaii Promotion Committee and the Hawaiian Pineapple Packers’ Association, indicating that it was satisfactory.” (American Food Journal)]

The association not only helped increase sales, but also let Hawaiian growers command a higher price, even today. Many pineapples are grown and sold cheaper in Taiwan, but America’s trust has already been placed in the Dole Corporation and its Hawaiian fruits. (Calabretta)