Cotton | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

“The pleasant village of Kailua is situated on the west side of Hawaii. It is the residence of the Governor of the Island. It is celebrated in Hawaiian history, as having been the residence for several years of Kamehameha I, and at this place he died, on the 8th of May, 1819, at the age of 66 years.”

“Here was first announced by Royal authority, that the old tabu system was at an end. It was in the quiet waters of this bay, that the brig Thaddeus anchored, April 4th, 1820, which brought the first Missionaries to the shores of Hawaii.”

“The natural features of the lofty mountain of Hualālai, and the rugged and rocky coast remain the same; but changes have been gradually going forward in the habits of the people and the appearance of the village.”

“There stands the village church with its tapering spire, almost a lac-simile of some that anciently stood in the centre of the common in many a New England village.”

“During the summer of 1844, we landed at Kailua to commence a tour of Hawaii. It was on the morning of the 1st of July, and we were kindly invited to take up our brief sojourn at the house of the Rev, Mr. Thurston who with his wife and children had been our voyaging companions on board the Clementine, from Honolulu.”

“The day of our landing happened to be the first Monday of the month, which has been so sacredly consecrated by American Missionaries and the churches of the United States, as a day of prayer for the blessing of God upon the Missionary enterprise.”

“It was pleasant to enjoy one of these sacred seasons, on the spot, so replete with incidents calculated to inspire the friend and lover of the cause with thanksgiving and gratitude. As might naturally be supposed, we had a ‘thousand’ inquiries to make of our venerable Missionary best, who bad been here watching the successive phases and changes of events for the last quarter of a century.”

“From our Journal for July 2d, we copy the following: ‘This morning it was proposed that we visit the village. Our steps were first directed to Governor Adams’ ‘factory,’ a long, and low, thatched building, now occupied as a native dwelling and store house.”

“Here the Governor undertook the manufacture of cotton cloth, and actually succeeded so far as to make several hundred yards.” (The Friend, April 15, 1845)

“Governor Kuakini indeed went so far as to manufacture a very stout kind of cloth in Kailua, Hawaii. It was proposed by the Rev. Mr. Armstrong that prizes in money and of sums which would make them worth contending for should be offered on a graduated scale for say, the three best specimens that may be exposed at the exhibition of this year.”

“It was asserted that this cotton raising is a business which will fall in with the habits of the people, and for which they have always evinced an inclination.” (Polynesian, June 11, 1859)

The cloth making experiment begun at Wailuku was continued; spinning and knitting were undertaken at one or two other stations; cotton growing was taken up by the church members at several places as a means of raising funds for new school and church buildings and to aid the missionary cause in general.

At Haiku, Maui, an American farmer commenced a small plantation, having 55 acres planted in 1838. Governor Kuakini of Hawaii. one of the most business-like of the chiefs, visited Miss Brown’s class at Wailuku in 1835 and conceived the idea of having the industry established on his island.

In 1837 the governor was reported by one of the merchants to have planted an immense cotton field at Waimea, Hawaii. In the same year he erected a stone building at Kailua, thirty by seventy feet, to be used as a factory. A foreigner in his employ made a wheel, from which as a sample the natives made about twenty others.

Wheel heads and cards were imported from the United States. Three poorly trained native women served as the first instructors for some twenty or thirty operatives, girls and women from twelve to forty years of age.

In a comparatively short time they acquired a fair proficiency in the work; by the middle of 1838 a large quantity of yarn bad been spun. Two looms were next procured and a foreigner familiar with their operation.

Members of the United States exploring squadron visited the factory in 1840, and the commander of the expedition wrote that the foreigner just mentioned ‘was engaged for several months in the establishment, during which time he had under his instruction four young men, with whom he wove several pieces of brown stripes and plaids, plain and twined cotton cloth.’

‘After this time, the natives were able to prepare and weave independently of his aid. Becoming dissatisfied, however, all left the work, together with the foreigner; but after some time they were induced to return to their work. This small establishment has ever since been kept up entirely by the natives.’ (Kuykendall)

Kuakini’s “scheme failed probably from the fact that the Governor found it cheaper to buy coarse cottons than to make them.” (The Friend, April 15, 1845)

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‘John Adams’ Kuakini, royal governor or the island of Hawai’i, circa 1823

“The town (Kailua-Kona) wore an interesting appearance, and at a distance looked much like a flourishing fishing village at home.” (The Polynesian, July 28, 1840)

“A short distance … is the cotton factory which has attracted so much curiosity. It is a thatched building, containing two native looms, and some dozen spinning jennies. The cotton grows luxuriantly in the stony, dry soil of Kailua.” (The Polynesian, July 28, 1840)

“Cotton may yet be king in the Hawaiian Islands and all the world may come to the Territory for its best supply of the staple. For nowhere else in the world … is better cotton grown that is raised in Hawaiʻi.”

“Moreover, cotton growing is adapted to the small farmer. The man who has only one acre can do as well in proportion as the man who has an island barony.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 21, 1909)

“(A)bout 150-acres of cotton were grown experimentally in the Territory. Small areas were planted on all of the four principal islands.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 12, 1909)

There was a time when there was an effort to expand cotton and replace the growing sugar industry with cotton.

“People will want cotton just as long as they will want cane sugar, and perhaps longer. … If the planters of Hawaiʻi could suddenly change their sugar interest into fields of growing cotton with gins and other necessary machinery … they might be better off.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 13, 1904)

“Cotton is one of the abandoned industries of Hawaiʻi. In 1836 it was planted at Hana, Maui, and in parts of Hawaiʻi. In 1837, Governor Kuakini erected a stone cotton factory at Kailua and some very durable fabrics were produced by the simple machinery of that period.”

“During the civil war … when the seaports of the southern states were blockaded and cotton was made a very costly staple, the Hawaiian growers exported hundreds of bales to Boston.”

“It was not long after this, however, when sugar asserted almost complete sway over the planting interests and fields of cotton became only a memory.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 13, 1904)

Maʻo, Hawaiʻi cotton, is actually native to the islands; it’s a member of the hibiscus family. Genetic studies indicate that the Hawaiian cotton is a close relative of the Mexican species.

The name maʻo comes from the Hawaiian word ʻōmaʻo for green and shares the same name as the native Hawaiian thrush, ʻōmaʻo which has a greenish cast to its feathers.

Maʻo’s ancestors may have come to the islands from Central America as seeds on the wind, on the wings or droppings of birds or on the waves as floating debris. (hawaii-edu)

Once they arrived, they developed several genetic differences but the close relationship to other cottons has made Hawaiian cotton very important in the industry.

Although closely related to commercial cotton, the fibers of maʻo have not been used to produce cotton on a large scale. (usbg)

Maʻo is genetically resistant to some diseases and pests of commercial cotton and through careful breeding programs has offered its resistance to the worldwide cotton crop. (hawaii-edu)

The early Hawaiians used the flower petals to make a yellow dye; the leaves were used for a light green (ʻōmaʻomaʻo) or a rich red-brown dye.

Isabella Abbott noted that “any green kapa deserves close scrutiny, too, for the green obtained from maʻo leaves is fleeting, fading within a few days. The Bishop Museum collection contains no kapa that has retained its green coloration, but a few pieces may once have been green, judging by their overall design.” (hawaii-edu)

Although it lasted for about a century, cotton never became an important trade Hawaiʻi item. (HTH)

The image shows cotton in Kunia on Oʻahu. (Hawaiian Gazette, November 12, 1909) In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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