Malolo | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 27, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

First Interisland Air Passengers

“Until 1929, people traveled between the Hawaiian Islands by steamboat, schooner, or outrigger canoe. But seas could be rough and the trip took days.” (Michelle Liu)

Throughout the years of late-prehistory, AD 1400s – 1700s, and through much of the 1800s, the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi. Canoes were used for interisland and inter-village coastal travel.

Most permanent villages initially were near the ocean and at sheltered beaches, which provided access to good fishing grounds, as well as facilitating convenient canoe travel.

As long-distance voyaging declined, the need shifted from voyaging canoes to large canoes for chiefly visits and warfare within the Hawaiian Islands, resulting in changes in canoe design.

Then, competitors Wilder Steamship Co (1872) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co (1883) ran different steam ship routes, rather than engage in head-to-head competition.

Inter-Island operated the Kauai and Oʻahu ports plus some on Hawaiʻi. Wilder took Molokai, Lānai and Maui plus Hawaiʻi ports not served by Inter-Island. Both companies stopped at Lāhainā, Māʻalaea Bay and Makena on Maui’s leeward coast. (HawaiianStamps)

Mahukona, Kawaihae and Hilo were the Big Island’s major ports; Inter-Island served Kona ports, Kaʻū ports and the Hāmākua ports of Kukuihaele, Honokaʻa and Kūkaʻiau. Wilder served Hilo and the Hāmākua stops at Paʻauhau, Paʻauilo and Laupāhoehoe.

Then, on April 27, 1927, “Mr and Mrs WE Eklund of Hilo are returning home from Maui this morning via airplane. They are passengers on the first commercial airplane trip to be made between the two islands, their pilot being Martin M Jensen.” (Star Bulletin, April 27, 1927)

Jensen was in the Islands as a result of the Dole Derby. In April 1927, the Hawaiian Pineapple Co began a national advertising campaign, independent of the Association of Hawaiian Pineapple Canners.

The advertisements were centered on the brand name “Dole,” which was stamped in bas-relief on the top of every can of pineapple produced by the company. The advertising was designed to enable consumers to identify the Hawaiian Pineapple Co’s products from other company’s products, no matter what label the can carried.

The advertising campaign was launched in a spectacular way. At the time, Charles Lindbergh successfully completed his solo flight across the Atlantic, leaving New York and landing at Le Bourget Field, near Paris, on May 21 at 10:21 pm. Thousands of cheering people had gathered to meet him. He had flown more than 3,600 miles in 33 ½ hours.

On May 25, 1927 James D. Dole offered $25,000 to the first flyer to cross from the North American continent to Honolulu, Hawai‘i, in a nonstop flight (second place would receive $10,000.)

Four airplanes were in the race, winging across the Pacific: Aloha, Golden Eagle, Miss Doran and Woolaroc … later, only two landed in Hawai‘i. (Woolaroc was the first finisher that landed August 17, 1927 at Wheeler Field after a flight of 26 hours, 17 minutes and 33 seconds.)

Honolulu’s Martin Jensen in the Aloha, with Paul Schluter as navigator finished second. The Aloha was previously christened with a bottle of Waikiki water, complete with Hawaiian singers and hula dancers.

Miss Ruby Smith, an Oakland beauty queen, broke the bottle amidst Hawaiian strains and dances. Jensen was particularly proud of the painted Hawaiian flower lei which draped comfortably around the plane’s nose.

Unfortunately, the other two contestants were lost, Dole put up a $10,000 reward for anyone finding each of the missing planes. A huge search party was set up, soon swelling to 42 ships and planes. The search was to no avail.

In Honolulu, the following day, the Star Bulletin carried James Dole’s statement: “Hawaii is on the lips of the world today, in the minds of countless millions of people.”

“Aviation during this year 1927 has definitely brought our own Hawaiian territory closer than ever before into the consciousness of the whole American people. Time and distance between Hawaii and the Pacific Coast are magically shortened.”

“I feel that this has great practical as well as sentimental value to the people of Hawaii. Business and commerce, social and civic relations, national and international contacts, are the better served, the more greatly inspired and stimulated.”

“Mrs Walter Eklund, now of Kona, was to become the first woman in Hawaii to make an inter-island trip by commercial plane. Mr Eklund in May, 1927 persuaded Jensen to give him and his wife a ride in Jensen’s plane from Wailuku, Maui to Hilo.”

“Eklund, manager of the then Von Hamm-Young Motor Co, and his wife crossed the Channel in Jensen’s one-engine Lewis plane, the ‘Malolo.’ They landed on Wainaku baseball field (Ho‘olulu Park) without difficulty.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Nov 3, 1965)

Mr and Mrs Ralph Wilson of Wailuku (he was Von Hamm-Young manager on Maui) took the return flight back to Maui. “‘Mr. Jensen made one little flight to warm up his plane. Again we crawled in, baggage and Mary Louise. Out hopped directly over the ocean leaving out of sight almost instantly the few who had gathered down to see us take off wondering.’”

“‘Mary Louise looked down at the water, misgivingly, ‘Mother are we, going to fall in the water’ l assured her that the man was holding the plane up, so she cuddled down into my arms and went to sleep.’” (Wilson, HTH May 15, 1927)

“Inter-Island commercial flying, with passenger and mail service, is not far distant. This is the declaration of all who follow the signs of the future, for the prospects for such progress are excellent at this time. An appropriation of $25,000 has been made for the field at Waiakea, and when this is in shape, the last link in inter-island aviation will have been made.” (HTH, May 15, 927)

In 1928, Stanley C Kennedy, a Silver Star Navy pilot, convinced the board of directors of Inter-Island Steam Navigation of the importance of air service to the Territory and formed Inter-Island Airways.

Young Kennedy had visions of flying for many years. But it was not until the Great War that Stanley Kennedy was to pilot an airplane. Dissatisfied with a Washington desk job, the naval officer talked his way into flight training in Pensacola, Florida. In short order, Ensign Kennedy sported wings as Naval Aviator No. 302. (hawaii-gov)

On November 11, 1929, Inter-Island Airways, Ltd introduced the first scheduled air service in Hawaiʻi with a fleet of two 8-passenger Sikorsky S-38 amphibian airplanes. The first flight from Honolulu to Hilo with stops on Molokai and Maui took three hours, 15 minutes. (It was later renamed Hawaiian Airlines.) (hawaii-gov)

October 19, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Exchanging Malo

“In the course of my several voyages, I never before met with the natives of any place so much astonished, as these people were, upon entering a ship. Their eyes were continually flying from object to object …”

“The inhabitants are of a middling stature, firmly made, with some exceptions, neither remarkable for a beautiful shape, nor for striking features, which rather express an openness and good-nature, than a keen, intelligent disposition.”

“They seem to be blest with a frank, cheerful disposition; … They seem to live very sociably in their intercourse with one another; and … they were exceedingly friendly to us.” “(T)hey spoke the language of Otaheite, and of the other islands we had lately visited.”

Men wore a ‘maro’ (malo,) “pieces of cloth tied about the loins, and hanging a considerable way down.” “The only difference in (women’s) dress, was their having a piece of cloth about the body, reaching from near the middle to half-way down the thighs, instead of the maro worn by the other sex.” (Journals of Captain Cook)

Hawaiian bark cloth was originally called kapa which literally translates to “the beaten thing.” Kapa was used for clothing, bed covers, items of trade and gift items, indicators of wealth and status and objects of ceremonial or religious events. (Romanchak)

Clothing consisted of three main items of apparel: the pāʻū or skirt for the women, the malo or loincloth for men and the Kihei or shawl for members of both sexes. (Romanchak) Its earliest and most important use is for clothing; malo: a strip of cloth nine inches wide and nine feet long for the man. (Brigham)

Most kapa was made from the inner bark of the wauke plant (paper mulberry) because it made soft, white kapa. The bark is stripped, soaked, and then compressed into sheets with special patterned wooden beaters and finally dyed and decorated.

To make kapa, Hawaiian women used wooden mallets to pound the strips of bark together to form sheets of various sizes, textures, and thicknesses. (Arthur)

“In 1810 Kaumualii was persuaded to visit Kamehameha on Oahu to consider the political position of Kauai which alone remained to complete his conquest of the Group.”

“It required no little courage on the part of the young king in view of the fate of Keōua who returned to the gods on the altar of Kamehameha’s new temple at Kawaihae, but the interview proved a pleasant one so far as Kamehameha was concerned …”

“… and Kauai and its adjoining islands were ceded to the Conqueror and Kaumualii was reinstated as Moi for life with the understanding that he should make Liholiho (Kamehameha II) his heir.” (Brigham)

“When Kamehameha desired Kauai (you must understand that there was no war waged when Kamehameha obtained the island, because of the fact that he and its king were relatives), he (Kaumuali‘i) sent a messenger to Kamehameha to tell him,”

“‘When the black cloud [kapa] covers (meaning his death), Kauai is yours.’ Kamehameha desired that they two should confer. They met in the year [1810] on Oahu.” (Palekaluhi; Brigham)

“The canoe that had been boarded by Kamehameha was seen in the midst of the fleet marked by the pūlo‘ulo‘u sticks which denoted kapu. When Kaumuali‘i’s and Kamehameha’s canoes met, Kamehameha immediately left his canoe and boarded that of Kaumuali‘i.”

“Kaumuali‘i greeted Kamehameha … At the same time, Kaumuali‘i said these good words to Kamehameha: ‘Perhaps this sea journey of yours, Pai‘ea, is one to take land. The sharp-spurred cock has come (Ua hele kā ho‘i ka moa a kukū kākala).”

“Kamehameha replied with a smile on his face: “I am on a journey to seek an ali‘i, O ali‘i. It is a journey to seek friendship. Our meeting is friendly, and friendship is the important thing.” Because of this kind reply by Kamehameha, Kaumuali‘i said to him:”

“‘This journey of yours is well, O ali‘i. Here in your presence are the ali‘i of Kauai, and all of Kauai is here. There is no other ali‘i that we know of, only you O Kamehameha, therefore here I am before you. Kauai is yours from the upland to the sea.’”

“‘All the places of Kauai and the big men and the little men [the chiefs and the commoners] are all yours. This is my request to you: you are the ali‘i and we and the Kauai chiefs shall dwell under you as your people. Your voice is the one we shall obey.’”

“When Kamehameha heard Kaumuali‘i’s words, tears welled up in his eyes as he gazed at him and he replied affectionately: ‘Astonishing! Your heart is pure, O chief. E! Excellent is Kauai.”

“‘You have given the land from the horizon to the horizon with all its boundaries connected together and yourself as well. You have taken this responsibility upon yourself, O Kaumuali‘i. How excellent is the giving of this land, O good chief of Kauai.’” (Desha)

Kamehameha “took his mahiole, Koki, from a basket and placed it upon the head of Kaumualii. Kamehameha removed his royal malo and so too did Kaumualii remove his malo, and they exchanged them with each other.” (Na‘i Aupuni, 9/14/1906)

“It was at that time that Kamehameha gave to Kaumualii the Malo, Mahiole and Ahu‘ula. Then Kaumuali‘i called the Malo ‘Kanikawi’. Kaumual‘ii finally died and these things were kept by his retainers (Kahu) until the reign of Kalakaua who searched for them and finally obtained possession of them from Kaumualii’s retainers.” (Palekaluhi; Brigham)

“It is a reasonable explanation … to suppose that the ‘Malo’ was given by Kamehameha to Kaumualii as a pledge of the treaty by which Kaumualii surrendered the sovereignty of Kauai to Kamehameha”. (Judd; Brigham)

“When those ali‘i finished the ‘awa drinking in the midst of the wide ocean, they finished their discussion, and Kaumuali‘i prepared to return to Kauai, followed by the persons whom Kamehameha had ordered to follow the good-hearted ali‘i ‘ai moku of Kauai, “Excellent in the Calm.” Kamehameha and his ali‘i returned to the island of Kākuhihewa.” (Desha)

Some suggest that the ‘Malo’ Kaumuali‘i gave was “a closely woven net of olonā 4.5 inches wide and 11 feet and 10 inches long, is covered on both sides by red iiwi feathers … to this on both edges is attached by frequent cords a lei of oo feathers increasing the width of the cordon to six inches.”

“The chief end which is to hang in front is thickened and weighted by the insertion of three rows of human teeth … the rows being separated by the insertion of the little bundles of fish teeth …. All the teeth are included from incisor to molar and drilled and firmly attached to the net …”

“A band of yellow oo crosses the cordon 17 inches from the end, with teeth set in the feathers, 4 on one side of the cordon, 10 on the other; a second similar band comes 33 inches from the end and this has 10 teeth on one side and 13 smaller ones on the other. (Brigham)

Brigham notes that “The term malo is certainly misleading [with respect to the Kaumuali‘i ‘malo’]: it is the Hawaiian (and Polynesian) name for the article in question, but in English it would properly from its use be called a cordon.” (Brigham)

He also notes that the Kaumuali‘i ‘malo’ was used in the making of the King Kamehameha statue. (Note that it was depicted correctly as a cordon/sash, however, it was not put on correctly – a portion goes over the shoulder outside of the ahu‘ula (cape.))

“If you look closely, the final arrangement is impossible without two sashes: a long one from malo front over the shoulder and down to the ground, and a short, separate belt.” (Later noted by Charlot.)

December 21, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Millionaires Cruise

Matson Navigation Company’s long association with Hawaiʻi began in 1882, when Captain William Matson sailed his three-masted schooner Emma Claudina from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii, carrying 300 tons of food, plantation supplies and general merchandise.

That voyage launched a company that has been involved in such diversified interests as oil exploration, hotels and tourism, military service during two world wars and even briefly, the airline business. Matson’s primary interest throughout, however, has been carrying freight between the Pacific Coast and Hawaii. (Matson)

They started carrying people, too; via ship was the only way to get to/from the Islands. With increasing passenger traffic to Hawaii, Matson built a world-class luxury liner, the S.S. Malolo, in 1927.

At the time, the Malolo was the fastest ship in the Pacific, cruising at 22 knots. Its success led to the construction of the luxury liners Mariposa, Monterey and Lurline between 1930 and 1932. Matson’s famed “white ships” were instrumental in the development of tourism in Hawaii. (Matson)

Then, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce had an idea for a goodwill mission. “This good-will mission Around the Pacific is one of the most ambitious enterprises ever fostered by the Chamber of Commerce and has become of national, if not international, import.”

“It will be a good will mission in a literal sense because in its wide scope it embodies many purposes which will make it a tangible expression of good will from San Francisco and the nation, of which it is an important part, toward the other nations which fringe the wide stretches of the Pacific”. (Neale; San Francisco Business, April 10, 1929)

“The goodwill mission making the three months voyage on the Malolo will comprise component groups of business and professional men representing every line of constructive, commercial, industrial, social, professional and civic activity in San Francisco.”

“Briefly, the voyage will take three months. It will be made on the Malolo, known as the “Queen of the Matson fleet.” The itinerary includes stops at Yokohama, Tokyo, Nikko, Kobe, Kyoto, Peking, Shanghai, Hongkong, Manila, Saigon, Bangkok, Singapore, Batavia (Jakarta,) Soerabaya (Indonesia,) Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Suva, Pago Pago, Hilo and Honolulu.” (Neale; San Francisco Business, April 10, 1929)

“All of this was focused under the leadership of Mr. Charles C Moore. … He is a man, in San Francisco, of international mind and contact; he is a man of wide experience and vision; he is a man of dynamic energy; he is a man of tremendous idealism, practical idealism …”

“… he is a man who felt that he could discharge a duty here around the Pacific, having met the peoples of the world at the time of the great exposition, having had contacts with them all during these years.”

“We started out with the idea that we would get all of these people from San Francisco. We failed, fortunately. We thought we would get them all from California. We failed. The trip was on too grand a scale. The scope and character and cost of that trip was almost a million dollars – $900,000 to be exact – and so we appealed to the United States Chamber of Commerce.”

“We wanted it to be strictly a business trip. We secured representatives from twenty-six states and two territories. Practically every man aboard that boat was a business man, or interested in business problems.”

“The ladies on board the boat were either of the families, or they were business women, or women that sympathized most deeply and furnished a splendid background to the idealism of this particular trip.” (Neale; San Francisco Business, January 8, 1930)

On September 21, 1929, the SS Malolo sailed from San Francisco on the first leg of its Pacific cruise. Some 325 passengers were all acknowledged millionaires, specially selected by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Matson Navigation Company, owners of the SS Malolo. (McPhail)

This was to be the most luxurious cruise ever offered, aboard the world’s newest luxury liner. Because of the affluent passengers, the ‘Around Pacific Cruise’ was also dubbed the ‘Millionaires Cruise.’

They all started that way, but economic conditions changed into the cruise. The Great War had been won, stocks were soaring, speedy new cars and fancy electric products were all the rage, prohibition was ignored, and clothing and hairstyles were wild and loose and sexy.

Just 38 days later, on Black Tuesday – October 29, 1929 – the American stock market crashed and their lives were forever changed. (McPhail)

On Wall Street investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. Many went from fat cats to paupers. (Grace)

In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression (1929-39,) the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time.

The cruise continued across the Pacific, then to Hilo, Honolulu and home. “The Around The Pacific Good-Will Cruise was completed upon the return of the SS Malolo on December 21st (1929). This cruise is one of the outstanding achievements of the Chamber, and has established San Francisco’s leadership in Pacific trade.” (San Francisco Business)

“To sum up our trip briefly, I would like to say that in this trip we had a great vision of America’s place in the Pacific. The problems of all of these countries are our problems. If they are not solved it is going to wreck us as well as them.”

“The interests of the United States are bound up inextricably in this entire Pacific area. Our economic future is bound up there. The United States will realize more and more that the great future of this country is in the Pacific …”

“… and to properly meet the problems of the Pacific area, and of these Pacific countries, is a matter of vital interest to us and we must apply, in every possible way, all of the resources which we have to this end.” (Neale; San Francisco Business, January 8, 1930)

There was another outcome of the cruise. Typically ships were used as transportation to a destination, where passengers would disembark and stay at luxury hotels at their destination.

The Malolo was so luxurious that it was a destination in and of itself. It established a trend of cruising, where passengers could see far off places, and remain on board in luxury (in many cases those destinations did not have adequate land-based accommodations and would otherwise be bypassed.)

In the last 10-years, demand for cruising has increased 68%. Today (2016 estimates,) over 24-million passengers cruised the seven seas on nearly 450-ships, generating nearly $120-billion in total economic impact. (Cruise Lines International Association)

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