Yesterday’s links to recently discovered and digitized films of Hawaii from sometime in the mid-20th century spawned quite a discussion.
The YouTube titles date them to a 1940 visit to Hawaii.
But several questions were raised. I started with the parking meters, seen along the streets of downtown Hilo. Were there really parking meters installed in 1940? We now they were there 20 years later from the iconic photo from the 1960 Hilo tsunami showing a row of meters bent over to the ground. And what about the cars? Are they consistent with a 1940 date?
One comment suggested the films combine scenes from different years.
Take a look, watch for clues, and share your opinion.
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The cars and fashion seem good ways to date the clips. A friend online said that the wingtips of an airplane seen in one the films also suggested a 1950s recording date rather than 1940.
Rick has just posted an Oahu film, this one showing the perspective of someone leaving San Francisco and arriving in Honolulu harbor on a ship:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5bKdFBHYE&feature=plcp
And towards the end of the Oahu film is a segment dated 1951.
At 1:05, we are looking down Haili Street toward Hilo Bay. Some of the cars on the right side of the street appear to be 1949 or early 1950s models. I think that I see a Mercury and several Chevrolets from those years. At 1:09 I see an early 1950s Ford pick-up.
Most of the buildings in downtown Hilo shown in the video are still in use!
What I see in the beginning of the Big Island film leads me to think up to 1941, but no later, the plane is a Sikorsky S-43, used by Hawaiian before the war. It looks to me like it says Inter-Island Airways on the side of the plane, the name that Hawaiian used up-until late 1941.
There is always the possibility that there is mixed footage here from a couple visits to the islands.
I am holding out for pre-1946 tsuami since much of Shinmaci and Suisan appears intact.
Yes, the Shinmaci looks undamaged but the Suisan looks too new. I would say that what is shown in the picture is a rebuild.
As mentioned, this may be mixed footage. But as I said in a comment to the previous post, the Laupahoehoe footage in the Kona side clip is definately post 1946. The teachers cottages near the end of the point are gone, destroyed in the 1946 tsunami. The elementary school also appears to be gone, moved to higher ground in 1952.
Another tidbit. The USS Lurline shown at the beginning of the Oahu clip was commandeered by the military in December 1941. It was not returned to passenger service until April 1948 after an extensive refit. That would date the Oahu clip to late 40s or more likely early 50s.
Personal note. My mother, two sisters and I made the voyage from Oahu to the west coast in July 1948. Bad move. All of us were seasick the whole way, existing on ginger ale and soda crackers.
Regarding the Hilo video:
Great video, but it is definitely not all from 1940. The green Ford F-Series pickup truck at 1:09 is a 1951 model (it has a grill that wasn’t introduced until 1951 and the side emblem was changed in 1952).
The clip from 0:52 to 1:04 looks like it could be pre-’46 tsunami, but then at 1:05 we’re looking down Haili Street from the Keawe intersection and across Kamehameha we a naked tsunami-swept green field (and a few early ’50s sedans parked on the right).