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July 16, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahanamoku – Weissmuller – Crabbe

There is evidence, particularly archaeological evidence which suggests that what we deem as modern swimming has been practiced from as early as 2500 BC in Egypt and thereafter in Assyrian, Roman and Greek civilizations. Swimming was often a part of martial training in the Greek and Roman civilizations in order to help with strength and overall fitness.

During the 1st Century BCE, Gaius Maecenas a Roman diplomat and counsellor to the Roman emperor Augustus built the first known heated swimming pool.  As for swimming in Europe and the UK, it wasn’t really practiced until around the late 17th century for Europe and around 1830 in the UK. (SwimmingNature)

Swimming started its sporting journey in the mid-19th century, when the world’s first swimming organization was formed in London in 1837. Inevitably, things soon became competitive, and, in 1846, the first swimming championship was held in Australia. (Olympics-com)

The breaststroke is believed to be the oldest stroke and the first to be swum competitively. Breaststroke looked relatively similar to what we see in pools today: A wide, sweeping pull with the arms at the same time, followed by a ‘frog kick’ with both legs simultaneously. Between strokes, swimmers would glide for a few beats before their next pull.

The breaststroke is believed to be the oldest stroke and the first to be swum competitively. Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim across the English Channel – from Dover to Calais – swimming the breaststroke for 21 hours 45 minutes without stopping on August 24-25, 1875.

The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. Swimming is “one of only four disciplines to have been retained, appearing in every summer Olympics since [the first Olympic Games] – the others being athletics, artistic gymnastics and fencing.”

The first Olympics introduced some strange races into the lineup, as it was purely an experimental event to begin with. For example, the 100m free for sailors was strictly for members of the Greek Navy, and all of the races were held in open water. (Swimming World)

By the late 1890s, Australian swimmers of the British Empire began experimenting with the earliest version of the crawl stroke. Charles Daniels is credited with perfecting the modern freestyle stroke. (pbs)

This freestyle stroke was evolving painfully in the western world until Duke Kahanamoku swam out of the Hawaiian Islands with it in 1911.  His world record times no one would believe. (International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF))

Until 1912, only male swimmers were allowed to compete in the Olympics. It was not until the 1912 Stockholm Olympics that women were able to compete, and even when they were finally allowed in the water, they were only given two events in which to compete—the 100 free and 400 free relay.

“There was — and arguably still is — no greater icon in the sport of swimming than Duke Paoa Kahanamoku. He was the most successful athlete of his time and the harbinger of Hawai‘i’s Golden Age of Swimming.”  (Checkoway)

Duke Kahanamoku earned his living as a beachboy and stevedore at the Honolulu Harbor docks. Growing up on the beach in Waikiki, Duke surfed with his brothers and entertained tourists with tandem rides.

By the time that Kahanamoku burst upon the world scene in 1911 (at the age of 21,) shattering American and world records in the one hundred and fifty yard freestyle swimming races at an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) sanctioned meet in Honolulu Harbor, sport had become a tool of nationalism used by countries around the world to demonstrate modern manliness and vigor.  (Nendel)

Duke later won an Olympic gold medal in 1912 – a feat he repeated eight years later at the age of 30. In 1924, he won the silver.  Overall, he won five medals at the various Olympic Games.

For The Record:  Olympic Games: 1912 gold (100m freestyle), silver (4x200m freestyle relay); 1920 gold (100m freestyle; 4x200m freestyle relay), 4th (water polo); 1924 silver (100m freestyle); 1932 team member (water polo); World Records: freestyle.

In the 1924 Olympics, Kahanamoku raced against Johnny Weissmuller.  Barely 20 years old, Johnny Weissmuller was favored against 34-year-old Duke Kahanamoku. Both were tall, lean and strong, with large hands and feet. And both were faster than any swimmers the world had yet seen. (Smithsonian)

Just before the race began, pointing at the awards podium, Duke told Weissmuller: “Hey, the most important thing in this race is to get the American flag up there three times. Let’s do it”. (Sports Gazette) Weissmuller nodded his agreement. Weissmuller finished 2.4 seconds ahead of Kahanamoku; Kahanamoku’s younger brother Sam took the bronze medal.  (Smithsonian)

The 1932 Olympic Games were held in the middle of the Great Depression and, given the transport links of the time, in the relatively remote region of California. Consequently, participation in the Games was the lowest since 1904, with only half as many athletes taking part as had in 1928. Despite this, the standard of competition was excellent. (Olympics-com)

Clarence Linden ‘Buster’ Crabbe II, who was not a native Hawaiian but who lived in the Territory, won Olympic gold in the 400-​meter freestyle in Los Angeles in 1932, and two island brothers named Maiola and Manuela Kalili grabbed silvers at the same Games in the 4×200-​meter relay. (Checkoway)

Buster Crabbe moved to Hawaii as a 2-year-old when his father took a job as an overseer on a pineapple plantation. At Punahou he was a three-year letterman in swimming and captain of the 1927 swimming team.

While in college at USC from 1928 to 1932 he was the AAU National Indoor and Outdoor Champion, domination every freestyle event in excess of 200 yards. (Punahou)

Kahanamoku was a legend in his own right – swimmers Weissmuller and Crabbe went on to portray legends.  Johnny Weissmuller was swimming’s first superstar by winning five Olympic gold medals and set 28 world records.

After his Olympic swimming experiences, Kahanamoku played in four decades of intermittent bit-part acting in Hollywood films.  Though he was never able to escape typecasting or achieve Hollywood stardom, you can still spot him in small roles in 13 Hollywood films. (pbs)

After his swimming career, Weissmuller became a movie star. Cast as ‘Tarzan the Ape Man’, he starred in 12 films and became the actor most commonly identified with the character.  (Olympics-com)

After the Olympics, Crabbe was signed by Paramount Studios, who were looking for a rival to Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan at MGM. The first of Crabbe’s 175 movies was ‘King of the Jungle’ in which he played the role of Kasta, the Lion Man.

Although Crabbe played Tarzan only once, as the star of (B) movies he was never short of work, playing the title role in Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers films in addition to appearing in 65 westerns. (Olympics-com)

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Duke Kahanamoku, Johnny Weissmuller, Clarence 'Buster' Crabbe, Buster Crabbe, Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers

October 28, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bradley, Voorhees & Day

“At one time hoop skirt manufactories were numerous, and a large capital was engaged in the business. Since the hoop skirt went out of fashion, the factories have nearly all disappeared, and the capital has gone into other enterprises.”

“The New York Sun reports Mr Bradley, of Bradley, Voorhees & Day, as saying:

“‘It was in 1857 that hoop skirts first came into use. I remember the first article, of the kind which were imported from Europe. They were cumbrous affairs, the hoops made of bamboo, cane or rattan. Iron was considered too heavy a material.’”

“‘Steel hoops were introduced by American makers. It was a long process to get the right quality of steel. If made too hard the steel would snap, and if too soft the hoop would bend in wear and lose its shape.’”

“‘Now the steel is so well tempered that the hoop skirt retains its shape and at the same time conforms to changes of attitude in the like a woven fabric.’”

“‘The weight of a wearer skirt like that now coming into fashion is less than one-fourth of that of the old style of skirt, and the new skirt will wear four times as long as the old.’”

“‘I recollect the time when we employed 1,200 hands, and our product was 10,000 skirts a day. That was during the war, but about 1868 the hoop skirt went out of fashion and the trade died out.’”

“‘There was a transient revival in 1870, but it disappeared, and from then until now the hoop skirt trade has been a very small part of our business.’”

“‘We have always continued the manufacture to some extent, getting orders every now and then, mostly from the South and West.’” (Yorkville Enquirer, August 4, 1881)

The company then got into ‘union suits;’ reportedly they were the first. The union suit involves the combination of both a shirt and pants (drawers) in a one piece suit. The garment commonly included a drop seat. This term began to be used in the 1890s.

A spokesperson for the company was Johnny Weissmuller; in 1924, he and Duke Kahanamoku raced in the Olympics. Weissmuller beat Duke (Duke was 2nd) in the 100-meter freestyle final. (Duke’s brother Sam came in 3rd.)

After becoming one of the most famous swimmers in the world, Weissmuller translated his success into being a spokesperson for Bradley, Voorhees & Day.

In 1929, he signed a 5-year contract that paid him $500 per week. He was to tour the country giving swimming exhibitions.

Weissmuller then turned that into a long series of hit films playing first Tarzan, King of the Jungle (it was Weissmuller’s films that debuted the legendary ‘Tarzan yell.’)

At the beginning of the 1930s, Bradley, Voorhees & Day was purchased by the Atlas Underwear company located in Piqua, Ohio.

During the Great Depression they were successful in manufacturing swimsuits for men, women and children. They patented their own fabric, Sea Satin, a rayon woven satin backed with latex for stretch.

Later, in the 1940s and 50s, Bradley, Voorhees & Day, using Rayon, started to make Hawaiian Aloha Shirts; sometimes with island-related themes, sometimes not.

They also used knits of cotton, wool and Rayon, and cellophane. Their swimsuits were featured in major fashion magazines and high fashion stores. In 1951, the brand was purchased by Superior Mills.

Bradley, Voorhees & Day were first to start packaging underwear in plastic bags for the mass market. In the 1960s and 1970s, they started introducing sportops, a pocket T-shirt, and fashionable underwear made of nylon.

In 1976, Bradley, Voorhees & Day was purchased by Fruit of the Loom, which brought the brand to a worldwide market. On April 9, 2002, Berkshire Hathaway purchased Fruit of the Loom.

Over time, the products were simply known as BVD (using the first letters of founders’ names;) ‘BVDs’ became a genericized trademark in reference to any brand of underwear.

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BVD Flying Fish Shirt
BVD Flying Fish Shirt
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Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: Hoop Skirt, Drop Seat, Underwear, Hawaii, Union Suit, Duke Kahanamoku, Aloha Shirt, Johnny Weissmuller, Sam Kahanamoku, Bradley Voorhees & Day, BVD

August 24, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Memorial Park

Memorials are an important way of remembering. They are not just part of the past; they help shape attitudes in the present and thus act as a guide for the future. (Ireland)

According to statistician Robert Schmitt, of the 9,800 Hawai‘i residents who served in World War I: 102 died – 14 overseas during the war, 61 in Hawai‘i or North America or after the armistice, and 27 in unknown circumstances.

Twenty-two of the 102 recorded deaths occurred among Island residents serving with the British. Actual battle deaths of persons in the US armed forces whose preservice residence was Hawai’i numbered six: seven others were wounded.
(Ireland)

As early as March, 1918, the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors proposed the erection of a shaft of Hawaiian lava with polished sides, on which would be carved the names of all the island boys who gave up their lives in their country’s cause during the Great War.

In November, just after the signing of the armistice, a similar suggestion was made by Colonel Howard Hathaway, his idea being that a monument should be raised by public subscription and be made a feature of the civic center in Honolulu.

The suggestion was taken up by the Honolulu Ad Club, which on November 20, 1918, appointed a committee consisting of Colonel Hathaway, Ned Loomis, and WD Westervelt to make an investigation and confer with other organizations in the city on the subject. (Kuykendall, 1928)

A bill passed with practical unanimity by the legislature for the acquisition, for park and other public purposes, of the William G Irwin Waikiki beach property using Territorial bonds. It received the approval of the governor on April 29, 1919. The act provided that the name of any park created out of the property should be ‘Memorial Park.’

Governor McCarthy, at the suggestion of the American Legion, appointed A. Lester Marks, John R. Gait, and A. L. C. Atkinson as members of the Territorial War Memorial Commission (when Atkinson left the Islands 2-3 years later, JK Butler was named to the Commission.)

“This Commission shall serve without pay and shall make arrangements for and conduct an architectural competition for the design of the memorial provided for in this Act, and shall decide upon and designate the scheme of memorial to be adopted.”

“These plans shall include a swimming course at least 100 meters in length, and such other features as the Commission may designate.” (Senate Committee Report, March 3, 1921)

The competition was held under the general rules of the American Institute of Architects. Three architects, Bernard Maybeck of San Francisco, Ellis F Lawrence of Portland and WRB Willcox of Seattle, were selected to judge the competition.

“In the competitive designs for Hawai‘i’s War Memorial to be erected at Kapiʻolani Park, of the seven submitted by local and mainland architects, the award of first choice and prize went to Mr Louis P Hobart, of San Francisco.” (Thrum, 1922)

“The design was approved and highly commended by architects of national and international standing. They considered it to be most appropriate, and especially in keeping with the tropical and architectural atmosphere of Hawaii.”

“We should not at this time hesitate to establish in enduring form our tribute to the self-sacrifice, courage and patriotism of those who answered the call to service in the day of national emergency.”

“It has been a source of regret that interest in this enterprise has seemingly lagged. I trust that the construction of the first unit will be a signal for renewed enthusiasm to guarantee the completing of the whole project.” (Governor Farrington, 1927)

The construction contract was awarded to JL Cliff; an incentive to speedy completion of the project for the Hawaiian Association of the Amateur Athletic Union featuring the National Senior Men’s Outdoor Championships for 1927 and at which thirteen mainland and nine Hawaiian clubs, as well as a team from Japan, competed.

While the entire contract was not completed by the day set for the opening of the meet (August 24, 1927) it was far enough along so that the swimming pool could be used. In the evening of that day, the natatorium, constituting the first unit of Hawaii’s war memorial, was formally dedicated with a program arranged by the American Legion.

Duke Kahanamoku, Hawai‘i’s greatest swimming champion, gave a 100-meter freestyle exhibition swim (it was Duke’s 37th birthday.) The national swimming championships then started and during this and the three following evenings the best swimmers of the United States and Japan tested the quality of the swimming pool. (Kuykendall, 1928)

Tickets for the swim meet were expensive ($1.10 for reserved seating and 25-50¢ for general admission), but 6,000 spectators created a massive traffic jam in Waikiki the first night of competition.

The big draw was a race pitting the world sprint champion Johnny Weissmuller, who beat Duke Kahanamoku in the 1924 Paris Olympics, against Japan’s Katsuo “Flying Fish” Takaishi (Weissmuller won with a new world record of 58 seconds.)

The star of the evening, however, turned out to be Hawai‘i’s Clarence ‘Buster’ Crabbe who won the one-mile swim in 21 minutes 52.25 seconds. (HawaiiHistory)

Due to lack of maintenance and care, the Natatorium is effectively off limits and is in unsafe condition. A final Environmental Assessment and EIS Preparation Notice were published on July 23, 2014. The status quo will result in demolition by neglect.

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Natatorium War Memorial under construction-C&C
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Filed Under: General, Military, Place Names, Prominent People Tagged With: Kapiolani Park, Natatorium, William G Irwin, Johnny Weissmuller, Memorial Park, Nata, Clarence 'Buster' Crabbe, Katsuo 'Flying Fish' Takaishi, Hawaii, Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, Oahu, Louis P Hobart, Duke Kahanamoku

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People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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