Hilo | Page 14 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Palace Theater

Bakers Beach, in Hilo Bay between Reeds Bay and Pier 3 is named for prominent Hilo businessman Adam Baker. It’s manmade; the coral rubble and sand are spoil materials from the dredging operations that enlarged the Hilo Harbor basin. They were deposited on the shore here between 1925 and 1930.

The newly created beach fronted Baker’s three-story house; with its beautiful lawns, rock gardens and large fruit and shade trees, it was a famous landmark. Baker was the son of John Timoteo Baker, the last appointed governor of the Big Island under the Hawaiian monarchy. (Clark)

“When Adam Baker and some of the oriental moving picture managers approached the Sheriff and asked for the needed permit for Sunday shows, he turned his back to their request and answered, ‘There’s nothing doin’ …”

“And ‘nothing doin’’ it was for July 4, the first Sunday on which the law was in effect, despite the tearful pleas of the theater men, who saw many dimes and quarters going astray, amid the holiday crowd in town, because there were no movies to be seen.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 13, 1915)

That didn’t stop Baker in the theater business; with the Empire across the street and the Gaiety and others nearby, on October 26, 1925, at 6:30 pm, the New Palace opened its doors to an eager crowd, showing its first movie at 7:30, ‘Don Q: Son of Zorro,’ starring Douglas Fairbanks. Also shown were the short films ‘The Clodhopper’ and ‘Traps and Troubles.’ (Haleamau)

The New Palace Theater, part of a small family of theaters owned and operated by Adam Charles Baker (1881-1948) was built at the peak of the heyday for American movie palaces.

Baker’s New Palace was built on a scale that had never been seen outside of Honolulu. The original stadium seating arrangement on a sloped floor, predating stadium seating in modern theaters, accommodated 800 seats and allowed for unobstructed sight lines.

The building was constructed of redwood imported from the Pacific Northwest. (Valentine) Fourteen huge redwood columns supported the wooden roof trusses which span the entire width of the building.

Designed and built in the days before electronic sound amplification systems, the Palace boasts excellent natural acoustics for live musical groups and drama.

The early shows were silent films; in 1929, a 3-manual (keyboards,) 7-rank (sets of pipes) Robert-Morton pipe organ was built in Van Nuys, California, shipped and installed in the Palace Theater. Shortly after, Johnny DeMello became the house organist, accompanying the silent films and giving other performances.

The Empire was first to exhibit a talkie, ‘The Voice of the City,’ in Hilo on October 9, 1929. The New Palace’s first talkie, shown on October, 16, was ‘Mary Pickford’s Coquette’ (Pickford’s talkie debut). Management of the two theaters decided to take turns exhibiting silent and talkie movies. (Haleamau)

In 1931, The Palace Theater was sold to Consolidated Amusements, Ltd and closed shortly thereafter for renovation; Consolidated began showing first run movies. Baker continued on as the New Palace’s assistant manager, but retired on January 9, 1932, to travel.

By December 10, 1937, the Palace became not only the first theater, but the first building on the island to be fully air-conditioned when WA Ramsay Ltd., installed a Carrier system.

The Palace would close for renovation once more on April 25, 1940, after that night’s showing of ‘All Women Have Secrets’ (the movie debut of Jeanne Cagney, younger sister of James). It reopened on May 26, 1940. (Haleamau)

That year, the pipe organ (and Johnny DeMello) moved from the Palace Theater to the Hilo Theater (which opened on April 25, 1940 with 1,037 seats.) A few years later (1946,) a massive tsunami hit the Hilo Theater and damaged the organ console.

Johnny returned to Honolulu and in 1955 he was appointed house organist at the Waikiki Theatre and played there until his retirement in 1978.

The organ console was removed and sent to Honolulu for repairs. Unfortunately, in 1960, a second tsunami hit Hilo, and the Hilo Theater. The organ console was washed over the seats to the auditorium back wall where it broke apart.

Hilo Theater closed for good following the tsunami and the building was demolished in 1965. The Palace Theater survived the two tsunami. However, in 1984, Palace Theater closed and was used as Consolidated Theaters’ storage of the highly flammable film in a vault.

In 1990, the building was acquired from Consolidated and structural repairs were undertaken. For the past 10+ years, the non-profit ‘Friends of the Palace Theater’ has worked to restore and upgrade the theater building.

And, through numerous grants, business and individual donations, and a lot of hard work, the theater is open with independent films, concerts and other live performances. (Fundraising and further restoration are ongoing.) (Lots of information here is from Hilo Palace and Haleamau.)

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Johnny DeMello at the Organ in the Palace-ca 1932

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Hilo Theater – 1943

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October 14, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Charlie Chaplin

“You wish to write my impressions of Hilo. Very good. Here it is. I saw the volcano.” (Charlie Chaplin, Los Angeles; Volcano House Register, NPS)

“There are many charms in Hilo other than the Volcano. A maidenly diffidence forbids me suggesting the possessor of them.” (Edna Purviance, Los Angeles; Volcano House Register, NOS)

“Charlie in his honest-to-goodness self and personality today walked up the main street of Honolulu. So thousands of movie fans who have laughed themselves hoarse the antics and swagger of the jovial Charlie on the screen will have an opportunity for the next few week of occasionally bumping into that worthy the streets.”

“Charlie arrived on the Matsonia. In the Chaplin party also were Miss Eda Purviance, another well known screen star; Tom Harrington and Bob Wagner of the Saturday Evening Post staff.”

“Wagner is accompanying Charlie on his trip just for the sake of being with him and to record the personal side of the vacation.
Charlie is here primarily for rest and to see the sights of the islands.”

“His trip, at least at present, has nothing to do with the possibility of staging comic scenario the islands, though Charlie is not averse to picking up few hints that may serve him well in his business of making humanity laugh away dull care.”

“Charlie and his party were the life of the boat coming over and made things gay for the passengers, aided and abetted by R. J. Buchly of the First National bank, who as terpischore expert taught Charlie and Miss Purviance a few steps. The dancing lessons were the occasion for more merriment aboard the Matsonia.”

“Charlie visited the Young hotel this morning and called on Mr Van Loan, the movie photographer. This gave rise to the rumor that Chaplin was down here in Honolulu to take some films.”

“‘No sire!’ he replied emphatically. ‘You don’t catch me doing any work while I’m down here. I’m on vacation, and I’m going to rest.’”

“Charlie was asked what he thought of Honolulu. ‘Great,’ he exclaimed, enthusiastically: ‘I love every minute of it. I wish I could stay here longer. I’m tickled to death with the place. I was going to New York instead but, say, this has got anything I’ve seen beaten by a mile.’”

“Although the film star is minus his dinky moustache and cane, derby hat and huge shoes, he is still the same old Charlie, and could hardly get by in a crowd without being discovered. He is going to get out on a surfboard and be a regular kamaaina, he says.” (Star Bulletin, October 10, 1917)

“Charley Chaplin managed to see a good deal of Hawaii in the short week he stayed in the Islands, one reason being that while here he outfitted himself with new glasses. Pleased with his new outlook on things Hawaiian, Chaplin had his co-star Miss Purviance, also fitted with new glasses.”

“As a final result, Dr. RA Thompson has added a much prized letter of appreciation from Chaplin to the collection of other testimonials to his optician skill, letters written by former President Roosevelt, Former President Tuft, William Jennings Bryan, Elbert Hubbard, Billy Sunday and other celebrities.”

“The autographed letter from Charley Chaplin is a highly complimentary one and highly prized by its recipient. Doctor Thompson has definitely decided to make his home in Honolulu, opening an office here for the practice of his profession.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1917)

“The famous Charlie Chaplin arrived in Honolulu October 10, and while he intended to come for a rest between custard pie throwing contests, he was kept extremely busy sightseeing.”

“Photographers camped on his trail and snapped him riding the surfboards on the beach at Waikiki, eating two-fingered poi, dancing with the hula girls and even flirting with Pele, the Goddess of Fire, on the edge of the volcano at Kilauea.”

“Charlie likes Hawaii’s style and he fain would stay a while, loafing on the sun-kissed sand, eating poi with either hand; listening to the ukulele played by Waikiki Bill Bailey; eating dog in guise of pig; practicing the hula jig.”

“But he’s got to get back home and with us may no more roam – back to make a nation smile in rare Charlie Chaplin’s way.” (Logan Republican, November 15, 1917)

Charlie & Edna Purviance in Hawaii, 1917. Charlie met Edna in a cafe in San Francisco in 1914. He said later that she was ‘more than pretty, she was beautiful’. She went on to appear in 34 films with Chaplin from 1915-1923. She is my favorite of his leading ladies.

They had a certain sweetness onscreen that Charlie didn’t have with any of his other leading ladies-in my opinion anyway. Charlie & Edna cared deeply about each other long after their romantic relationship ended and Charlie kept Edna on his payroll until her death in 1958.

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Charlie Chaplin en route to Hawaii 1917

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Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin and Robert Wagner-1917

Charlie & Edna in Hawaii, 1917

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October 7, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Villa Franca

By the nineteenth century Italy had been divided into a number of competing states for over a thousand years. The French, Austrians and Spanish had all dominated at different periods.

At the start of the French Revolutionary Wars the Austrians controlled Lombardy and Tuscany, while branches of the Bourbon family ruled in Parma, Modena and Naples. Much of central Italy was ruled by the Pope, forming the Papal States.

After the final defeat of Napoleon the pre-war status quo was almost restored. The Bourbons returned to Naples, the House of Savoy to Piedmont-Sardinia and the Habsburgs to Lombardy. The Papal States were restored.

Italy didn’t settle down under the restored status-quo. A series of revolutions broke out across the country. Some of the fighting was between the French and Austrians (Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War.)

“The war which had broken out in Northern Italy (was) brought to a close by the peace of Villa Franca”. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 17, 1859)

Wait, this is not about Villa Franca in Italy … let’s look at Hawai‘i.

The archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine islands, situated in the Atlantic Ocean; the Azores are divided into three districts, subdivided into nineteen “conulhos” (municipalities) with 120 “freguezias” (parishes) – Villa Franca do Lamqo (is one, with 4,000 inhabitants.) (Daily Press, December 25, 1885)

“The last official census of this Kingdom acknowledged here 9,377 Portuguese; but, as the Luso Hawaiiano justly remarked some time ago, that number is far short of the actual truth…”

“… the above figures do not include the last arrival of immigrants 370 In the Dacca nor does It enumerate the number of Portuguese children born in this country, which go into the ‘foreigners, Hawaiian-born,’ nor the children of Portuguese married to Hawaiian or half-white women, which go under the heading of ‘half-castes.’”

“It is therefore no exaggeration to say that the Portuguese colony in these Islands numbers now over 10,500 souls, which makes one-eighth of the total population.”

“Thus they have become quite an important element amongst us, and as very few of them, if any, come from Portugal itself, the majority of them having come from the Azores …” (Daily Press, December 25, 1885)

As the population grew, one developer looked to market a Hilo subdivision to provide a place for them to live.

“Villa Franca is the name of the Waiākea addition to Hilo, thrown open for settlement by CS Desky of Honolulu. It will without doubt become purely a Portuguese villa and Mr Desky anticipating this has named the streets now being constructed, Lisbon, Lusitana and Funchal.” (Evening Bulletin, May 12, 1897)

“(H)e bought some land most unprepossessing in an out-of-the-way part of Hilo and cut it up into 96 lots of about 1/8 of an acre per lot and sold every lot for $100 per lot. That was a selling price of $800 per acre (at) Villa Franca …” (The Friend, October 1916)

It seems his marketing worked, early owners in Villa Franca includes Antonio, Carvalho, da Camara, da Costa, Francisco, de Gouvea, Medina, Rocha, da Silva, Souza, Soares, Santos, Serrao, Liborio, Medeiros …

It appears Desky didn’t name the streets as initially planned; the area is now just mauka of the County and State municipal buildings in Hilo, with Panaʻewa, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea as some of its streets (bounded by Hualālai, Kinoʻole, Kilauea and Wailoa River.)

One historian called Desky ‘Hawaii’s first subdivider;’ he developed a variety of residential and commercial properties all over the Islands. Villa Franca was described as “a working class neighborhood”.

“A few years ago even the most progressive citizens of the Paradise of the Pacific would state that there was ‘nothing in real estate’ in Honolulu, and every man with money was chasing after sugar stock or doubling his coin in the business which justly, if not politely, must be described as usury.”

“New blood and fresh ideas were wanted to shake up the community from the lethargy in which every body apparently had fallen.” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

“One day CS Desky arrived on the scene, and it didn’t take him very long before he had realized the wonderful opportunities which the islands offered …. Desky treated the public to surprise after surprise. …” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

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September 23, 2016 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Riverside School

The Wailuku is the longest river in Hilo (twenty-six miles.) Its course runs from the mountains to the ocean along the divide between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

Waiānuenue Avenue (rainbow (seen in) water) is named for the most famous waterfall, Ka Wailele ʻO Waiānuenue, Rainbow Falls on the Wailuku River.

For a while, other than church-related schools, if a Big Island youngster wanted to pursue his education beyond the eighth grade, he had to travel to O‘ahu. There he would board and go to school. (HHS)

Then, “One of the largest gatherings that ever attended a mass meeting in Hilo was present at Fireman’s Hall Thursday night to express to Superintendent of Public Instruction WH Babbitt their views regarding a high school site and other school matters.”

“The atmosphere of the hall was fairly charged with incipient trouble, which later broke into a storm of words and bitterness.”

“Chairman Mason called for expressions of opinion upon the subject under discussion. There was a dead silence for an interval, when LA Andrews started the ball rolling, by stating there were two things upon which there was a unanimity of sentiment in Hilo.”

“The first was the necessity for a high school in Hilo and the second the selection of the Riverside lot as the high school site. TJ Ryan offered a resolution, which passed without opposition …”

“… stating that it was the sense of the meeting that the high school should be erected on the Riverside lot.” (Hilo Tribune, December 12, 1905)

“After considering the various sites suggested, the committee practically determined on the lot on which now stands the Riverside School.”

“The present lot is not quite large enough to accommodate both the Riverside and the High Schools, which latter will be a nine-room building, and if a portion of the hospital grounds can be secured, the mauka portion of the Riverside lot will be used for High School purposes. (Hilo Tribune, June 29, 1905)

School authorities hesitated but finally agreed to start a high school at Hilo Union School in September, 1905; 25 ninth-grade students attended high school at Hilo Union School.

In 1907, the school moved to the Riverside School. It was then called Hilo Junior High School. By the time the first class graduated in 1909, only 7 of the original 25 were left.

Hilo High’s first graduating class consisted of seven students in 1909: Richard Kekoa, Amy Williams, Eliza Desha, Frank Arakawa, John Kennedy, Annie Napier and Herbert Westerbelt. (Mangiboyat)

With limitations for space, in 1911, “(t)he bandstand at Moʻoheau Park has been converted into a schoolroom by the county fathers, on account of the fact that the accommodations at the Riverside School are inadequate and the County has no funds at present with which to build an addition.” (Hawaiian Star, February 27, 1911)

“This class formerly occupied the basement of the Riverside building and it was so damp in the present weather that it was thought best to make the change.” (Hawaiian Star, February 27, 1911)

Finally in 1922, Hilo Junior High School moved up Waianuenue Avenue and renamed to the permanent and present Hilo High Campus. As years passed, the campus flourished with more buildings, students and educational experience. (Mangiboyat)

Hilo High Auditorium was built in 1928. It was donated to the school by the Alumni Association. It was designed by a former student (and part of the first graduates) of Hilo High School, Frank Arakawa.

Riverside got its school site. In the early 1920s, American-born parents called for the development of separate education for their children.

Consequently, the development of “English Standard” schools, sometimes called “Select Schools” since a level of proficiency in English language was required.

While most of the people who attended the schools were of American-born parents, anyone with the ability to speak proper English was allowed to attend. 1925 marked the beginning of segregating students by ability to speak and write English.

In 1927, a Parent-Teacher group in Hilo petitioned the legislature for funds to construct a new English Standard school which had an attendance of 169 children sharing facilities with Hilo Union School.

Just before its opening in 1929, the Hilo Tribune Herald reported: “It is a one-story frame building with Spanish type arched porches and when complete will be one of the most attractive school buildings on the island.”

By 1948, English Standard sections in various schools were replacing separate schools as the next generation of immigrant children became proficient in English. In 1955, two rooms were added to the original E-shaped structure.

In 1956, the porte cochère, or covered drive-through/passenger drop-off, was constructed. A garage driveway was also added in 1956. Riverside became the Hilo District Office for the Department of Education in 1959. (HHF)

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Riverside School (future Hilo High class of 1960) – Hagar

September 21, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Jesse Owens

“People said it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse, but what was I supposed to do? I had four gold medals, but you can’t eat four gold medals.”

Whoa, let’s look back …

James Cleveland Owens, the seventh child of Henry and Emma Alexander Owens, was born in Oakville, Alabama, on September 12, 1913 – the son of a sharecropper (a farmer who rents land) and grandson of slaves. He was a sickly child, often too frail to help his father and brothers in the fields.

‘JC,’ as he was called, was nine when the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he attended public school. When his teacher asked his name to enter in her roll book, she was told “JC,’ but she thought he said ‘Jesse.’ The name stuck and he would be known as Jesse Owens for the rest of his life.

When Owens was in the fifth grade, the athletic supervisor asked him to join the track team. From a skinny boy he developed into a strong runner, and he started to set track records in junior high school.

“Owens singled out one man, his junior-high track coach, Charles Riley, as his most admired. ‘He had the most influence on my life – everyone loved him and he loved everyone, he said. ‘He made a lot of things possible for a lot of kids.’” (Gentry)

During his high school days, he won all of the major track events, including the Ohio state championship three consecutive years. At the National Interscholastic meet in Chicago, during his senior year, he set a high school world record by running the 100 yard dash in 9.4 seconds, created a new high school world record in the 220 yard dash in 20.7 seconds and a week earlier set a new world record in the broad jump by jumping 24 feet 11 3/4 inches.

Owens’ sensational high school track career resulted in him being recruited by dozens of colleges. Owens chose the Ohio State University, even though OSU could not offer a track scholarship at the time.

He worked a number of jobs to support himself and his young wife, Ruth. He worked as a night elevator operator, a waiter, he pumped gas, worked in the library stacks, and served a stint as a page in the Ohio Statehouse, all of this in between practice and record setting on the field in intercollegiate competition. Jesse entered the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

These were the Games that Hitler planned to show the world that the Aryan people were the dominant race; Jesse Owens proved him wrong and became the first American to win four track and field gold medals at a single Olympics (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump.) (Olympics) (This was not equaled until Carl Lewis did it in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.)

Owens’ story is one of a high-profile sports star making a statement that transcended athletics, spilling over into the world of global politics. Berlin, on the verge of World War II, was bristling with Nazism, red-and-black swastikas flying everywhere.

Brown-shirted Storm Troopers goose-stepped while Adolf Hitler postured, harangued, threatened. A montage of evil was played over the chillingly familiar Nazi anthem: ‘Deutschland Uber Alles.’ (ESPN)

In Germany, the Nazis portrayed African-Americans as inferior and ridiculed the United States for relying on ‘black auxiliaries.’ One German official even complained that the Americans were letting ‘non-humans, like Owens and other Negro athletes,’ compete.

But the German people felt otherwise. Crowds of 110,000 cheered him in Berlin’s glittering Olympic Stadium and his autograph or picture was sought as he walked the streets.

“‘When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn’t ride in the front of the bus,’ Owens said. ‘I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted. I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either.’” (ESPN)

Owens said, ‘Hitler didn’t snub me – it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me a telegram.’ On the other hand, Hitler sent Owens a commemorative inscribed cabinet photograph of himself.

Jesse Owens was never invited to the White House nor were honors bestowed upon him by president Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) or his successor Harry S. Truman during their terms. (Black History)

After the games had finished, the Olympic team and Owens were all invited to compete in Sweden. He decided to capitalize on his success by returning to the United States to take up some of the more lucrative commercial offers. In spite of his fame, on his return from Berlin, Owens struggled for money.

He began to participate in stunt races against dogs, motorcycles and even horses during halftime of soccer matches and between doubleheaders of baseball games.

“People said it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse,” Owens said, “but what was I supposed to do? I had four gold medals, but you can’t eat four gold medals.”

“(S)hortly after the end of World War II, Abe Saperstein (who formed and owned the Harlem Globetrotters) decided the times were right for a Black league on the West Coast. In a March, 1946 meeting at the High Marine Social Club in Oakland, they organized the West Coast Negro Baseball Association (WCBA.)”

“The league had six franchises: the San Diego Tigers, Los Angeles White Sox, San Francisco Sea Lions, Oakland Larks, Seattle Steelheads and the Portland Roses. Owens contributed his prestige as a league vice president and took ownership of the Portland franchise.” (Oregon Stadium)

A frequent attraction at a number of the Negro baseball games during the 1946 season was a running exhibition by Jesse Owens – sometimes Owens raced the fastest ball players, but more often he was matched against a horse in a staged event before the game. (Plott) The WCBA disbanded after only two months.

In 1946, the Harlem Globetrotter basketball team came to Hawai‘i. Saperstein also brought a Negro League baseball all-star team. (Ogden Standard-Examiner, April 14, 1946) Jesse Owens came too. They performed in Honolulu and Hilo. (Vitti)

“This city (Honolulu) was recently called the one place that represents real democracy by Jesse Owens, world’s fastest track star, who was interviewed in the Honolulu stadium where he is currently giving free instructions to youth of all nationalities.”

“Owens, on tour in the Pacific, has appeared before many civic groups and talked at the University of Hawaii, where he emphasized the importance of developing intellect with athletic prowess.”

“The track star believes that the field of sports offers a good opportunity to better race relations. ‘But all too few shirk the responsibility,’ he stated.”

“Owens, who is a capable speaker, as well as a star athlete, recently won an 80-yard dash with a horse here before a crowd of 8,000.” (Afro-American, October 19, 1946)

Later, ‘the world’s fastest human,’ Jesse Owens, raced the Big Island’s fastest horse at Hilo’s Hoʻolulu Park – the horse won by a neck. (Lang)

In 1955, President Dwight D Eisenhower honored Owens by naming him an ‘Ambassador of Sports.’ In 1976, Jesse was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award bestowed upon a civilian, by Gerald R Ford.

Jesse Owens died from complications due to lung cancer on March 31, 1980 in Tucson, Arizona. Owens was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990 by President George HW Bush. (JesseOwens)

Jesse Owens racing a horse:

“The purpose of the Olympics … was to do your best. As I’d learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.” (Jesse Owens)

Track star Jesse Owens is shown on the starting line just before he raced a horse at Tropical Park on December 26, 1936. Owens ran 100 yards in 9.9 finishing 20 yards ahead of the horse who was handicapped 40 yards at the start. (AP Photo)