Tourism inches
into Paradise

Pineapple, sugar and the
military were running the show

By Richard Borreca
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii in 1920 was a possession, not a place. The sugar planters and pineapple growers ran it with impunity and prospered - although strong, new cultural identities were emerging. The U.S. military, too, was feverishly building a presence in the Pacific island territory.

Seventy years ago, there were hotels in Waikiki and downtown, but no tourist industry; Hawaii was a paradise for the rich to visit.

For the Army, however, Honolulu, with its key asset in Pearl Harbor, was the most important parcel in the North Pacific.

In his book "Guardians of Empire," military historian and former local resident Brian Linn said U.S. military officers were woven into the fabric of Hawaii's high society.

"Polo became a distinct subculture," he wrote. "Officers received an extra $10 a month subsistence for each horse, but nothing for their wives until after five years of service."

Across the ocean, Japan was building warships, growing stronger and flexing its military muscle. Japan's seizure of Manchuria and invasion of China in 1937 made it clear that the island nation was planning to dominate the Pacific. In Washington, D.C., the U.S. military responded by starting a buildup of forces in Hawaii.

In the early 1920s, about 17,000 servicemen were stationed in Hawaii. At the start of 1940, there were 30,000, which mushroomed to 48,000 by September 1940.

The Army was there to protect Pearl Harbor from invasion. By setting Schofield Barracks in the middle of Oahu, it could repel troops storming ashore from any direction. In time, the island became a bastion, with Fort Ruger, Fort DeRussy and Fort Shafter providing a shield of iron.

The Army Air Corps was busy with Wheeler Field and Hickam Field, while the Marines were first at Pearl Harbor and then built barracks in Kaneohe. By 1941, the military was the single largest economic force in Hawaii, according to the late Tom Hitch, an economist and historian.

Unlike military bases on the mainland or in the Philippines, where military life was separated from civilians, Hawaii and the military grew up together.

Commanders, worried that months of inactivity would dull the troops, ordered full-scale competitions. Regiments were ordered to field teams for boxing, football, baseball, track and basketball.

Star-Bulletin file photo
Inter-Island Airways' new amphibious plane arrives
in Honolulu in 1935, furthering aviation capabilities
here and opening Hawaii up to the rest of the world.

---

"Schofield Barracks was widely known as the biggest 'jockstrap post' in the Army," Linn said.

With the military came a period when prostitution was legal.

In 1932, Honolulu had a dozen Army-approved and -inspected brothels like the New Senator and Ritz, where a soldier paid $3 to have sex with a white prostitute. In other spots, he would pay $2 for the services of a local girl.

While the military grew, the sugar plantations enjoyed their most powerful period, according to Hitch.

In addition to land domination, overriding economic power was achieved because a plantation worker's job, house, food and medical care were all decided by a few plantation owners and bosses.

Further, the "Big Five" enjoyed interlocking directorates - executives who served on or had close ties to each other's company boards.

BUT little did the sugar planters realize that after two-thirds of a century of control, the plantation era was rapidly ending. James Wang, University of Hawaii professor of political science, explained that as Japanese plantation workers bore children with American citizenship, the paternalistic control of the plantations would ebb.

"By 1932, children of Japanese immigrants, the nisei, had become a political force," he said.

"The percentage of registered voters of Japanese ancestry during the period moved from 2.5 percent in 1920, to 25 percent in 1936."

He added: "I think 1936 was the turning point. Japanese became citizens and they could dare to vote."

The biggest change -- moving Hawaii into the public consciousness of America and the rest of the world -- was starting to happen.

People, not yet classified as tourists, were coming to Hawaii, mostly from the U.S. East Coast, according to Chuck Gee, dean of the University of Hawaii's School of Travel Industry Management.

"They would come by steamship, which seemed to make it a luxury trip," he said. "They came with maids and servants and intended to stay for one to three months."

Even on this, there was a symmetry that fit with Hawaii's monopoly tradition: The steamship lines owned the hotels and booked the new visitors into their own properties.

Those who didn't stay in the new hotels of the day -- such as the Royal Hawaiian, Moana or Halekulani -- stayed with rich society friends in mansions along the beach in Waikiki, Gee explained.

"There were few golf courses, it wasn't the craze it is now," he said.

"So people just relaxed, some surfed or went sailing ."

About this Series The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is counting down to year 2000 with this special series. Each month through December, we'll chronicle important eras in Hawaii's history, featuring a timeline of that particular period. Next month's installment: September 13. Series Archive Project Editor: Lucy Young-Oda Chief Photographer: Dean Sensui