Christine, of the
Daily Postcard, inspired me to post these two old slides from 1954. I believe the one of the Royal Hawaiian was one my dad purchased, but I can't be sure. I know he took the one of Diamond Head.
This is the Hawaii I remember. Few crowds, few hotels, and incredibly beautiful skies not blocked out by egotistical monster hotels. And one thing many of you might not be aware of is that down below Diamond Head, at the point, was the Henry J. Kaiser estate. They were very very fond of pink. The house was pink. She dyed her poodles pink. And the fleet of Willy jeeps that roamed the island with their pink and white striped roofs were pink. Pink was very big in Hawaii.
In 1954 my family was passing back through Hawaii from our year long stay on Midway Island. We would return to Hawaii in 1959. Still the most magical time of my life. I can close my eyes and be back there in an instant.
Posts
Hawaii still has some beautiful unspoiled areas, but the Honolulu traffic congestion is enough to break your heart. The lost opportunities to make the place bicycle and pedestrian friendly are also very sad.
ReplyDeleteI used to live there, but I really didn't start properly exploring the islands until I moved away and went back on visits. There's still a lot to love.
P.S. I'll link back to your post, so people can see these too.
I had The Hawaiian Cookbook once. every recipe included tinned pineapple. I've regarded Hawaii with a combination of awe and horror ever since.
ReplyDeleteDid it say "Dole" on it? If so they were just pushing product. Yes, we at a lot of pineapple out there. Used to drive out to the fields where a little stand was set up. They'd go out behind the shed, pick a fresh one, chop it up, and hand it to you on a paper plate. Was pure heaven. I haven't tasted a good pineapple since I left there. The ones in stores are foul.
ReplyDeleteThose are gorgeous photos. Something about old color film is really magical, and now it's gone forever. Somewhere I have a photo of my folks in Hawaii - they were walking down the street, my mom in an orange mumu and my dad in a white guyavera style shirt, some photog took their picture for a few bucks - they are laughing and very young. I'll have to find that. :-) Thanks for the good memory.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea. Perhaps you could even organize an exhibition with your photos. This should be of interest for many people who love photography. Your collection is very precious.
ReplyDeleteI've hoped for years to find a book that captures that time in Hawaii. Just before statehood and the first few years after. Never found one. Some of the books are downright insulting because of the poor production. I've even looked to see if UofH ever did anything, but nope.
ReplyDelete