Kauai | Page 8 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 10, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamakahelei

Captain James Cook’s crew first sighted the Hawaiian Islands in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778. His two ships, the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, were kept at bay by the weather until the next day when they approached Kauai’s southeast coast.

Cook sailed along the coast searching for a suitable anchorage. His two ships remained offshore, but a few Hawaiians were allowed to come on board on the morning of January 20, before Cook continued on in search of a safe harbor. On the afternoon of January 20, 1778, Cook anchored his ships near the mouth of the Waimea River on Kauai’s southwestern shore.

At the time of Cook’s arrival, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Of the four, Kamakahelei was the only woman.

Kamakahelei was the “queen of Kauai and Niʻihau, and her husband was a younger brother to Kahekili, while she was related to the royal family of Hawaiʻi. Thus, it will be seen, the reigning families of the several islands of the group were all related to each other, as well by marriage as by blood. So had it been for many generations. But their wars with each other were none the less vindictive because of their kinship, or attended with less of barbarity in their hours of triumph.” (Kalākaua)

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.” (Kalākaua)”

The occupation of the Hana district of Maui by the kings of Hawaii had been the cause of many stubborn conflicts between the chivalry of the two islands, and when Captain Cook first landed on Hawaii he found the king of that island absent on another warlike expedition to Maui, intent upon avenging his defeat of two years before, when his famous brigade of eight hundred nobles was hewn in pieces.” (Kalākaua)

“The native historians all say that on the night that Cook’s ships anchored at Waimea, a grand council was held at the house of Kamakahelei, the highest chiefess on the island, and the actual hereditary sovereign of that part of Kauai, when some proposed to seize the ships by force and run them ashore for the sake of the plunder that would be obtained …”

“… while others of a more pacific or more timid mind proposed to propitiate the newcomers – whom, or rather whose captain, they in some confused manner connected with the old and distorted legend of Lono – with presents and with the charms of their women.” (Fornander)

“The latter advice was acted on, and hogs, vegetables, kapa, and women were sent on board, and among the latter was Kamakahelei’s own daughter, Lelemahaalani; and during the last generation of Hawaiians it was openly said, and never contradicted, that that night Lelemahoalani slept with Lono (Cook.)” (Fornander)

Surgeon Ellis, who was part of Cook’s crew, stated in 1779 that Kamakahelei “was short and lusty, about 40 years of age, and very plain with respect to person.” That would make Kamakahelei’s birth around 1739.

Kamakahelei was the only daughter of High Chief Kaumeheiwa (the son of High Chief Lonoikahaupu and High Chiefess Kamuokaumeheiwa) and his wife, High Chief Kaʻapuwai (possibly the daughter of Peleioholani, 22nd Alii ʻAimoku of Oahu and 21st Alii ʻAimoku of Kauai.)

Kamakahelei succeeded Peleioholani as the Aliʻi of Kauai.

Kamakahelei was believed to possess a secret, most powerful and sacred prayer, greatly feared throughout Hawai‘i, called the “Aneekapuahi,” which could cause an enemy’s immediate incineration – it was feared throughout the Islands.

Kamakahelei’s first husband was Kaneoneo (Peleʻioholani’s grandson.) With Kaneoneo, Kamakahelei had two daughters, one of whom, Kapuaʻamohu, became one of the wives of Kaumualiʻi and grandmother of Queen Kapiʻolani.

Her husband’s father, Kūmahana, was desposed by the ʻEwa chiefs who replaced him with Kahahana, who would become the last king of Oʻahu. Kaneoneo died during the rebellion on Oʻahu against Kahekili about 1785-6.

At the time of Cook’s visit, Kamakahelei had another husband, the celebrated Kāʻeokūlani ((Kāʻeo) younger brother of Kahekili, Mōʻi of Maui.)

With Kāʻeokūlani, Kamakahelei had a son Kaumualiʻi. Kaumualiʻi was born at Holoholokū Heiau in Wailua. (Like its counterpart Kūkaniloko heiau in Wahiawa, Oʻahu, these royal birthing sites maintained the antiquity and purity of the chiefly lineages on O‘ahu and Kauai. It is said that chiefs from Hawai‘i Island and Maui often sought greater prestige by marrying those with these strong ancestral lineages.)

Her second husband, Kāʻeokūlani, died on Oʻahu in 1794, but the time of her own death has not been remembered, but it probably occurred shortly after that of Kāʻeo. (Fornander)

At his mother’s death, Kaumualiʻi became the sovereign of Kauai, and, though young in years, appears from all descriptions to have been a prince of remarkable talents and a most amiable temper. (Fornander)

In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, at Pākākā on Oʻahu, negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha I took place and Kaumualiʻi yielded to Kamehameha. The agreement marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the islands.

December 29, 2021 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Transit of Venus

Interest in the heavens goes back far into the ancient fabric of Polynesian culture. Many of the early Polynesian gods derived from or dwelt in the heavens, and many of the legendary exploits took place among the heavenly bodies.

Early Polynesians, who trusted their navigational instincts and skills to the nighttime stars above, currents, winds and waves, sailed thousands of miles over open ocean across the Pacific to Hawai‘i.

They had names for their star guides: Ka Maka – the point of the fishhook in the constellation Scorpius; Makali‘i – the Little Eyes within the Pleiades; Hoku‘ula – The Red Star in the constellation Taurus; and Hokupa‘a – the North Star (fixed star,) as well as others.

After the Polynesians came, in 1778, the Europeans, under the command of Captain James Cook, arrived. He brought with him spyglasses, clocks, sextants, charts, foreign ideas and techniques – new tools of navigation.

A new awareness of the skies was reborn under the scientific patronage of King David Kalākaua, (Kalākaua reigned over the Kingdom of Hawai‘i from 1874 to 1891.)

Kalākaua had a great interest in science and he saw it as a way to foster Hawai‘i’s prestige, internationally.

The opportunity to demonstrate this interest and support for astronomy was made available with the astronomical phenomenon called the “Transit of Venus,” which was visible in Hawai‘i in 1874.

The King allowed the British Royal Society’s expedition a suitable piece of open land for their viewing area; it was not far from Honolulu’s waterfront in a district called Apua (mauka of today’s Waterfront Plaza.)

They built a wooden fence enclosure and soon a well-equipped nineteenth-century astronomical observatory took shape, including a transit instrument, a photoheliograph, a number of telescopes and several temporary structures including wooden observatories.

Subsequently, auxiliary stations – though not so elaborate as the main station in Honolulu – were established in two other island locations: one at Kailua-Kona and the other at Waimea, Kauai.

In addition, Hawai‘i was not the only site to observe the transit; under the British program, observations were also made in Egypt, Island of Rodriquez, Kerguelen Island and New Zealand. (Other countries also conducted Transit observations.)

On Dec. 8, 1874, the transit was observed by the British scientists; however, the observation at Kailua-Kona was marred by clouds. But the Honolulu and Waimea sites were considered perfect throughout the event, which lasted a little over half a day.

After the Transit of Venus observations, Kalākaua showed continued interest in astronomy, and in a letter to Captain RS Floyd on November 22, 1880, he expressed a desire to see an observatory established in Hawai‘i. He later visited Lick Observatory in San Jose.

It was not long after this that a telescope was purchased from England in 1883 and set up at Punahou School.

In 1884, the five-inch refractor was installed in a dome constructed above Pauahi Hall on the school’s campus (the first permanent telescope in Hawai‘i.)

In 1956, this telescope was installed in Punahou’s newly completed MacNeil Observatory and Science Center. (Unfortunately, it is not known where that telescope is today.

Why was the Transit of Venus important?

Although Copernicus had, by the 16th century, put the known planets in their correct order, their absolute distances remained unknown. Astronomers still needed a celestial yardstick of “Astronomical Units” with which to measure distances among the planets and to link the planets to the stars beyond.

The mission of the British expedition was to observe a rare transit of Venus across the Sun for the purpose of better determining the value of the Astronomical Unit – that is, the Earth-to-Sun distance – and from it, the absolute scale of the solar system.

The orbits of Mercury and Venus lie inside Earth’s orbit, so they are the only planets which can pass between Earth and Sun to produce a transit (a transit is the passage of a planet across the Sun’s bright disk.) Transits are very rare astronomical events; in the case of Venus, there are on average two transits every one and a quarter centuries.

Ironically, on December 8, 1874 the big day, the king was absent, being in Washington to promote Hawaiian interests in a new trade agreement with the United States.

When American astronomer Simon Newcomb combined the 18th century data with those from the 1874/1882 Venus transits, he derived an Earth-sun distance of 149.59 +/- 0.31 million kilometers (about 93-million miles), very close to the results found with modern space technology in the 20th century.

Observation_Huts_in_Honolulu-(copyright-RoyalObservatoryGreenwich)-1874

Testing_in_advance_of_the_Transit-Honolulu-(copyright-RoyalObservatoryGreenwich)-1874

George-Forbes-leader_of_Transit_of_Venus-Honolulu-University-of-Strathclyde-1874

Leader_of_Transit_of_Venus-Honolulu-at_telescope-1874

Transit of Venus-Honolulu-(IfA-Hawaii-edu)

Transit of Venus-Honolulu-Honolulu-Apua-Map-1874

Transit of Venus-Waimea-Kauai-Map-1874

Kauai-Transit_of_Venus_Monument-1874-(thegardenisland-com)

Transit of Venus Plaque-Hulihee_Palace

Transit of Venus Survey Marker-Hulihee_Palace-(KonaSkies)

Transit of Venus-Location-at-Hulihee_Palace-(KonaSkies)

November 2, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fifteen Days in the Islands

In January, 1778, Captain Cook was travelling from Christmas Island (“As we kept our Christmas here, I called this discovery Christmas Island” (Cook,)) heading across the north Pacific to the Oregon coast of North America, he wasn’t looking for Hawai‘i.

“On the 2d of January, at day-break, we weighed anchor (at Christmas Island,) and resumed our course to the north; having fine weather, and a gentle breeze at east, and east-south-east …”

“We continued to see birds every day … sometimes in greater numbers than others; and between the latitude of 10° and 11% we saw several turtle.”

“All these are looked upon us signs of the vicinity of land.”

“However, we discovered none till day-break, in the morning of the 18th, when an island made its appearance, bearing northeast by east (O‘ahu;) and, soon after, we saw more land bearing north (Kauai,) and entirely detached from the former. Both had the appearance of being high land.”

“On the 19th, at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. This being directly to windward, which prevented our getting near it, I stood for the other, which we could reach; and not long after discovered a third island (Ni‘ihau) in the direction of west north-west, as far distant as land could be seen.”

“We had now a fine breeze at east by north; and I steered for the east end of the second island ; which at noon extended from north, half east, to west northwest, a quarter west, the nearest part being about two leagues distant.”

“At this time, we were in some doubt whether or no the land before us was inhabited; but this doubt was soon cleared up, by seeing some canoes coming off from the shore, toward the ships.”

“I immediately brought-to, to give them time to join us.” … Contact.

“They had from three to six men each; and, on their approach, we were agreeably surprised to find, that they spoke the language of Otaheite, and of the other islands we had lately visited. It required but very little address, to get them to come alongside ; but no intreaties could prevail upon any of them to come on board.”

“I tied some brass medals to a rope, and gave them to those in one of the canoes, who, in return, tied some small mackerel to the rope as an equivalent.”

“This was repeated; and some small nails, or bits of iron, which they valued more than any other article, were given them. For these they exchanged more fish, and a sweet potatoe; a sure sign that they had some notion of bartering; or, at least, of returning one present for another.”

“Seeing no signs of an anchoring place at this eastern extreme of the island, I bore away to leeward, and ranged along the south east side, at the distance of half a league from the shore.”

“As soon as we made sail, the canoes left us; but others came off, as we proceeded along the coast, bringing with them roasting pigs, and some very fine potatoes, which they exchanged, as the others had done, for whatever was offered to them.”

“Several small pigs were purchased for a sixpenny nail; so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty; and just at the time when the turtle, which we had so fortunately procured at Christmas Island, were nearly expended.”

For the next 15-days, Cook and his crew effectively took the time to barter for provisions – water and food.

“The very instant I leaped on shore, the collected body of the natives all fell flat upon their faces, and remained in that very humble posture, till, by expressive signs, I prevailed upon them to rise.”

“They then brought a great many small pigs, which they presented to me, with plantain-trees, using much the same ceremonies that we had seen practised, on such occasions, at the Society and other islands …”

“… and a long prayer being spoken by a single person, in which others of the assembly sometimes joined. I expressed my acceptance of their proffered friendship, by giving them, in return, such presents as I had brought with me from the ship for that purpose.”

“As soon as we landed, a trade was set on foot for hogs and potatoes, which the people of the island gave us in exchange for nails and pieces of iron, formed into something like chisels.”

“We met with no obstruction in watering; on the contrary, the natives assisted our men in rolling the casks to and from the pool; and readily performed whatever we ‘required.”

Cook was concerned about his men infecting the Hawaiian women with venereal disease, “(The women) would as readily have favoured us with their company on board as the men; but I wished to prevent all connection, which might, too probably, convey an irreparable injury to themselves, and through their means, to the whole nation.”

“Another necessary precaution was taken, by strictly enjoining, that no person, known to be capable of propagating the infection, should be sent upon duty out of the ships … I had been equally attentive to the same object, when I first visited the Friendly Islands; yet I afterward found, with real concern, that I had not succeeded.”

“(A)bout seven o’clock in the evening the anchor of the Resolution started, and she drove off the bank. As we had a whole cable out, it was some time before the anchor was at the bows; and then we had the launch to hoist up alongside, before we could make sail.”

“By this unlucky accident, we found ourselves, at daybreak next morning, three leagues to the leeward of our last station; and foreseeing that it would require more time to recover it than I chose to spend, I made the signal for the Discovery to weigh and join us.”

“This was done about noon; and we immediately stood away to the northward, in prosecution of our voyage.”

“Thus, after spending more time about these islands than was necessary to have answered all our purposes, we were obliged to leave them before we had completed our water and got from them such a quantity of refreshments as their inhabitants were both able and willing to have supplied us with.”

“But, as it was, our ship procured from them provisions, sufficient for three weeks at least; and Captain Clerke, more fortunate than us, got of their vegetable productions, a supply that lasted his people upward of two months.” The Discovery and Resolution left Hawai‘i on February 2, 1778.

An Inland View of Atooi-Webber

October 23, 2021 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hanapēpē Massacre

In Hawaiʻi, shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge. Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

Of the large level of plantation worker immigration, the Chinese were the first (1850,) followed by the Japanese (1885.) After the turn of the century, the plantations started bringing in Filipinos. Over the years in successive waves of immigration, the Sugar Planters (HSPA_)brought to Hawaiʻi 46,000-Chinese, 180,000-Japanese, 126,000-Filipinos, as well as Portuguese, Puerto Ricans and other ethnic groups.

Upon arrival in Hawaiʻi, Filipino contract laborers were assigned to the HSPA-affiliated plantations throughout the territory. Their lives would now come under the dictates of the plantation bosses. They had no choice as to which plantation or island they would be assigned. Men from the same families, the same towns or provinces were often broken up and separated. (Alegado)

Between 1906 and 1930, the HSPA brought in approximately 126,000-Filipinos to Hawaiʻi, dramatically altering the territory’s ethnic demographics. Comprising only 19-percent of the plantation workforce in 1917, the Filipinos jumped to 70-percent by 1930, replacing the Japanese, who had dwindled to 19-percent as the 1930s approached. (Aquino)

The end of World War I was a time of crisis for labor in general – the economy had to accommodate two-million soldiers seeking civilian jobs – and, the US Supreme Court issued rulings which were unfavorable to labor. Never-the-less, “There seems to be some sort of strike in every city, town and hamlet in the country.” (Poindexter, Advertiser, October 28, 1919; Alcantara)

In Hawaiʻi, the Japanese abandoned unionism altogether with the failure of the 1920 strike; Filipinos, led by Pablo Manlapit, continued to organize and also form the Higher Wages Movement.

The Movement petitioned the Sugar Planters in 1923 for a $2-a-day, 40-hour work week and an end to abuses. Then, in April 1924, Filipino plantation workers went on strike. Rather than a unified Filipino effort, it turned into a Visayan versus Ilocano conflict (the plantations brought Ilocanos in as strike breakers.) (Alegado)

The strike of 1924 occurred over a period of approximately five months from April through September. It consisted of loosely coordinated strike actions on Oʻahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island under the general direction of the Executive Committee of the Higher Wages Movement involving a few thousand strikers at 23 of Hawai‘i’s 45 plantations, with just four of Kaua‘i’s 11 plantations represented: McBryde, Makaweli, Makee and Līhuʻe. (Kerkvliet)

On September 8, 1924, two Ilocano Filipinos, Marcelo Lusiano and Alipio Ramel (each about 18-years old from the Makaweli plantation,) rode into Hanapēpē on their bicycles to buy a pair of $4 shoes. (Hill)

Filipino laborers earned approximately $20 to $25 a month, and would spend about one-fourth of their wages on food and an additional $2 to wash their clothes. They sent much of the remaining money to relatives in the Philippines.

On their way back to the plantation, Lusiano and Ramel passed the strike headquarters, where they were apparently attacked by Visayan strikers and held inside the schoolhouse against their will. When friends of the young men realized they were missing, they reported them to the Kauai sheriffs. (Hill)

“(T)he men were kidnaped by strikers and held prisoner at a Japanese school house at Hanapēpē. They said they were attacked by strikers and intimidated into declaring that they would join the strikers.” (Honolulu Times, September 12, 1924)

The next day, strikers and police clashed at a strike camp in Hanapēpē. About 40-armed police had gone to pick up the two Ilocanos at the strike camp, believing them to be prisoners of the strikers. (hawaii-edu)

The two men were released and were leaving the school grounds with Deputy Sheriff William Crowell when some strikers began following and taunting them, waving their cane knives in the air threateningly. The sharpshooters fired upon the strikers when they saw the men try to attack Crowell. (Hill)

“The policemen drew out their revolvers and I heard one saying that they should be quiet otherwise they would be pacified with their revolvers to which strikers answered that they should go ahead.”

“Later on we heard a shot quite far from us. I cannot ascertain whose shot it was, if it came from the police side or the striker’s side, but I was sure it was quite far from us behind.” (Lusiano; Honolulu Times, September 12 ,1924)

In the end, 16 strikers were shot dead; four sheriffs suffered casualties as a result of stab wounds and 25 were reported wounded. (Hill)

“When I heard the shooting, I began to run … I didn’t even have a knife. I had nothing to defend myself with. There were others who had guns, but they only had two bullets. They were courageous, they were acting tough … They’re the ones who died. I’m a coward. Those who ran away, they didn’t die.” (Bakiano; hawaii-edu)

The incident has been referred to the Hanapēpē Massacre; it was the bloodiest incident in the history of labor in Hawaiʻi. (Alegado)

Most of the strikers were arrested; seventy-six were indicted on riot charges, 60 received 4-year sentences. Some returned to work afterward; some were deported back to the Philippines. Nobody was charged with murder. (Hill, Alegado)

Manlapit was convicted of conspiracy and received a two- to 10-year sentence at O‘ahu Prison, but was paroled in 1927 on the condition he leave the Islands. He moved to California, but returned to Hawai‘i in 1933 and returned to the Philippines in 1934. (Soboleski)

In 2006, a plaque was placed in the Hanapēpē Town Park to commemorate the Hanapepe Massacre of 1924.

April 4, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Surf versus Palms

A couple pioneers in neighbor island hospitality stand out in Hawaiʻi’s early fledgling visitor industry. At the time, emphasis and facilities were focused in Waikīkī. However, two locally-grown chains saw the opportunities and put their attention on the neighbor Islands.

Attention to the neighbor islands was not their only similarity. Each started as locally-owned and family-run. They grew to provide more than just a place to sleep and eat – their operations included tours and travel. Sadly, they are both gone.

The first, Inter-Island Resorts under the Child family, grew into a number of “Surf Resorts” on the neighbor islands; the other, Island Holidays, under the Guslanders, had several neighbor island “Palms Resorts.”

Here’s some background on each, as well as the connection that existed between them.

Walter Dudley Child, Sr. came to Hawaiʻi in the early-1920s; he first worked in the agriculture industry with the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters Association (HSPA.) After a decade, he left HSPA and entered the hotel industry, purchasing the Blaisdell Hotel in downtown Honolulu; he later bought the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo.

In the early-1950s, Child became a director of Inter-Island Resorts, Ltd and later acquired the controlling interest in the company.

The fortunes of the company rose along with the growth in the visitor industry, and Inter-Island Resorts began to grow into a chain, starting with the Naniloa, the Kona Inn and the Kauaʻi Inn (at Kalapakī Beach.) In those early days of Hawaiʻi tourism, Inter-Island Resorts became a pioneer in selling accommodations on the neighbor islands. (hawaii-edu)

When Walter Sr. suffered a debilitating stroke in 1955, Dudley Child succeeded his father as president. Dudley’s first big move came on July 1, 1960 with the opening of the Kauaʻi Surf on beachfront property on Kalapakī Beach. Child at the time called the Surf a “whole new philosophy in Neighbor Island hotels.”

This led to the Islands-wide “Surf Resorts” joining the Kona Inn under the Inter-Island banner. (The company later opened the Kona Surf (Keauhou) in 1960 and the Maui Surf (Kāʻanapali Beach in 1971.) In 1971, the company formed the “Islander Inns,” in a 3-way partnership of Inter-Island Resorts, Continental Airlines and Finance Factors.)

Dudley Child and Inter-Island Resorts understood and responded to the changing nature of the growing visitor industry. The company acquired/formed Trade-Wind Tours, Gray Line Tours and Island U-Drive, and developed close alliances with other major travel companies, providing a full range of travel services for Hawai‘i visitors. (hawaii-edu)

One of the significant contributions of Dudley Child and Inter-Island Resorts was the development of full service beach properties on the Neighbor Islands in the 1960s and 70s, which stimulated statewide tourism.

Inter-Island Resorts eventually sold its properties to other operators, but the vision of its founding family was instrumental in the development of Hawai‘i tourism. (hawaii-edu)

Lyle Lowell “Gus” Guslander, started in the hotel business as a bellhop and cook. After studying hotel operations at Cornell University, Guslander was in management at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, eventually working his way up to become assistant manager.

In 1947, Guslander came to Hawaiʻi and worked at the Niumalu Hotel for Walter Child, Sr. Both were characterized with short fuses and it didn’t take long for a disagreement to come between the two and Child “canned” him. Guslander moved to the Moana Hotel as assistant manager.

Then Guslander set out on his own; he initially leased, then purchased the 24-room Coco Palms Lodge on Kauaʻi – and later expanded it to nearly 400-rooms, naming it, simply, Coco Palms. He hired Grace Buscher to run it; he later married her.

Grace Guslander and Coco Palms are synonymous. She was an innovator – Hawaiians traditionally used torches as a light source when walking or fishing at night. But it wasn’t until the 1950s and Guslander that it became common to stick torches in the ground and pioneered the torch-lighting ceremony, which hotels throughout the islands eventually copied. (AP, Seattle Times, September 12, 2012)

Grace Guslander was later recognized for her accomplishments (she won a worldwide title of Hotel Manager of the Year in 1965 and in 1979 was the first woman to win the Man of the Year award at the International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant show in New York.)

Movies and television shows were filmed at the Coco Palms – Elvis Presley filmed the finale of his film “Blue Hawaiʻi” there in 1961, immortalizing its lush coconut groves and picturesque lagoons.

They also had closer ties with that industry – “Film stars John Wayne, Fed McMurray and Red Skelton have bought into a hotel company which operates three hotels in the outer Hawaiian Islands …”

“… the three own 18 percent of the Lyle Guslander Island Holiday Hotels Co. Hotels owned by the company are the Kona Palms, Maui Palms and Coco Palms.” (Independent Press-Telegram, July 24, 1955)

As the Coco Palms became successful, Gus expanded his operations eventually acquiring hotels on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaiʻi under the Island Holidays chain, with several of the hotels under the “Palms” brand.

Guslander also recognized, with his growing hotel operations, the need to expand in service and formed Island Holidays Tours. He had help from Myrtle Chun Lee.

In 1969, Guslander sold his operations to Amfac Inc and stayed on as an Amfac vice president until his retirement in 1978. In 1992, Hurricane Iniki severely damaged Coco Palms Hotel, several attempts have been made to repair and revive it. Gus died in 1984 at the age of 69, and Grace died in 2000 at 76.

In the 1950s and 60s, these two chains pioneered neighbor island hotel development – and for a while, competed head-to-head. Later, the mega-multi-national chains – Sheraton, Hilton, etc – entered the Hawaiʻi market.

A few other island hotel chains were/are also part of the Hawaiʻi hotel experience, i.e. Outrigger, Aston and others – (many were more Waikīkī focused) but I’ll save those for other stories.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger