I found a yellowed original copy of this clipping in my dad’s papers after he died in 2010.

The photo, which appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser on December 4, 1944, shows members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce preparing a flagpole they were planning to erect on the corner of King and Richards streets in downtown Honolulu. The group said they would raise a flag at the corner, which would be lowered to half-staff on the day following any traffic fatality. They also planned to post fatality statistics at the base of the pole.

My dad is kneeling on the left in this photo, closest to the camera.

There were conflicting accounts regarding the flag to the used. The caption accompanying this Honolulu Advertiser photo says the group planned to use a “black ‘death’ flag” after a fatality.

However, a Star-Bulletin story a week earlier said the flag would display the green and white colors of the National Safety Council.

It was all part of the JCC’s traffic safety education effort, which came “in response to a recent request from Chief of Police W.A. Gabrielson that all civic organizations cooperate with the traffic safety commission.”

Just click on the clipping below to see a larger version.