Popular Hawai`i

Popular Hawai`i
Bold illustrations depicting the Islands as an exotic and romantic destination for the visitor were successful promotional pieces.
Menu covers
19
1800
1876
1893
1898
1930
Waikîkî
`ukulele
Selling Hawai`i to the world.
,
Hawai i's most important industry of the 19 th century, tourism, had roots in the late 1800s.
Foreign businesses had found that the Islands provided good investment opportunities.
Favorable agreements with the Hawaiian government, and the significant reciprocity
,
treaty of 1876 between Hawai i and the United States resulted in an economic boom , new
trade treaties, and an influx of entrepreneurs, new residents and prominent visitors.
The overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893 was followed by the annexation of
Islands in 1898 . This shift in political control supported continued investment and
growth of industry. Those in power recognized the commercial benefit to be derived from
“visitors, sightseers, and health-and-recreation seekers,” and set about to make the
Islands an attractive and romantic visitor haven.
By the 1930s, tourism had engulfed the Hawaiian Islands. Luxury hotels, bright “aloha”
clothing , charming souvenirs, and catchy ` ukulele music played by beach boys on
Waikîkî Beach these things “sold” Hawai`i to the many tourists who sought a romantic
island adventure.
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Leolani Blaisdell ( )
,
Lily Padeken Wai ( )
Hula dancers Lily Padeken Wai (right) and Leolani Blaisdell (left), at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Waikîkî, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Holoku- style mu`umu`u
H231
L672cm (
)
Holoku- style mu`umu`u
H200
L750cm (
)
1940
Holoku- gowns became popular by the1940s, and are still featured in celebrations such as weddings.
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Kalakaua
,
Hawaiian hula dancers from King Kalakaua's
court, Hawai i; Pauahi in center
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`Ukulele
L59
W19cm
Made by Leonardo Nunes
1916
1879
braginha
This ÿukulele, copyrighted in 1916, was made by a descendant of
one of the three earliest ÿukulele makers in Hawai'i. The ÿukulele
was based on a Portuguese instrument called the braginha
brought to the Islands in 1879. ÿUkulele literally means “leaping
flea” and
one can imaging the musician's fingers hopping
from fret to fret as music was created.
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,
,
Hawaiian woman with ukulele, Hawai i.
Cyanotype
,
Hawaiian woman wearing lei, Hawai i.
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- guitar
Coconut kîka,
L83.5
W29.7cm
1930
1932
By the 1930s, Hawaiian music and instruments were popular
worldwide. Coconut musical instruments were developed to
be souvenir items for tourists visiting the Islands. This is one
of three prototypes introduced in 1932; coconut ukuleles and
,
violins were also modeled then.
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