1920 - Waikiki, Hawaii

It's the second day of our cruise to Hawaii, and today we're going to spend some more time on Waikiki Beach. You can see Diamond Head, the extinct volcano, in the background and the outrigger canoes in the foreground.

The water is warm and the sand is white. Although there are lots of high-rise hotels and condo buildings in Waikiki now,  back then much of the land surrounding Waikiki Beach was still a marshy area devoted to fish and duck ponds and taro patches.

However, the Honolulu Aquarium was already open in 1904, so we'll head over there and look at some of the fish and deep-sea animals they have on display.

It's now called the Waikiki Aquarium, but it still has high-quality displays. It's right along the beach near the Honolulu Zoo, both great places to stop, especially if you are traveling with kids.

Here is some early footage of  surfers at Waikiki Beach. it's interesting, but not high-action:
 

Cruising to Hawaii - 1920

As early as 1908, passengers could travel by ship from the west coast of the United States to Hawaii. In the 20s and 30s, the few accommodations that were available on the islands offered elegant accommodations. Outside the splendor of the hotels, Hawaii also offered an unspoiled tropical paradise.

Over the next few days I will post some old photos from an unknown person's cruise to Hawaii. I am estimating that it is about 1920, because one of the photos includes a 1917 Cadillac touring car.
Here we are arriving at the Honolulu Harbor.

Actually, we're probably really departing, since it says Aloha Oe - Honolulu on the bottom.  Aloha Oe (or Farewell to Thee) is Queen Lili'uokalani's most famous song, which she wrote in 1877. In any case, let's pretend we are arriving, since this is where we would have arrived on a 1920 cruise to Hawaii.

There's a lot of scaffolding on the building there to the left, the one surrounded by all the people who are either greeting us or seeing us off.  That was probably the early beginnings of the Aloha Tower and its surrounding buildings. The Aloha Tower was completed in 1926.  it would have made a great addition to this photo if it had been completed. Here's what the Aloha Tower looks like today (sort of):

Well, this is actually a cocktail glass.  The little bendy straw goes in the top. If you went to the Tower Grill at the Aloha Tower a few years ago, you could look out over the water, watch the huge cruise ships coming in, and enjoy a cocktail served in this replica of the tower.  I don't know where you'd get one now though, because the Tower Grill closed in 2007.  Anyway, back to our cruise agenda...

On our first day In Hawaii on this 1920 cruise, we head straight to the famous Moana Hotel, which opened in 1901 on Waikiki Beach. The Moana Hotel was owned by Matson Lines, which also owns the ship that brought us here. We would start out by learning how to paddle in an outrigger canoe with a native instructor. Cecil refuses to join us, and insists on remaining fully dressed with suit jacket, bow tie, and hat, watching us from the pier. He is happy to join us for cocktails afterward though, as we are soothed by Hawaiian music and hula dancing.

I don't often include video clips, but I really think these are phenomenal. The first one talks about cruise travel to Hawaii during that golden age (a little later than our time frame.)



And here's a very charming clip from a movie (Airborne Sergeant) with Gracie Allen and Eleanor Powell, enjoying a cruise to Honolulu.  It's also from a number of years later, but I'm guessing it has all the flavor of the earlier cruises to Hawaii.

Tomorrow we'll explore more of Waikiki.

Lahaina, Maui - Hawaii

As I mentioned, I'm in Hawaii this week. If you would like  a postcard from Hawaii (a new one or a reproduction of an old one), let me know and I'll send you one. The offer's only good until November 7, 1910 though. You can email me your mailing address here.  Karin, you'll get one in any case; wish you were here!

Here are three postcards from Lahaina on the island of Maui. The first one is perhaps a little earlier than the second, based on the cars, but both were produced by the same company at about the same time, both showing the Pioneer Hotel.

You can still stay at the hotel, which is now called the Lahaina Inn.
And here is an aerial view of Lahaina. There is quite a bit of additional development now, but in many ways it's not that different.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order as above: