And now for something completely different, a couple of photos that my mother took in the 1950s.
The top photo was dated August 1956, and shows the lineup of hotels along Waikiki Beach, principally the Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider.
The bottom photo shows what was then the Kaier Hawaiian Village and the Kaiser Lagoon in February 1957, a far cry from the high density resort that fills the area today.
In 1961, the resort was sold and became the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
My dad typed up his recollection of meeting Henry Kaiser in around 1955, which I posted here more than a decade agod (“Meeting Mr. Kaiser”).
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Great pics Ian. Can I use one of them for my Aloha Friday post?
Sure.
Very nice! It reminds me that a friend of mine did a “video”* in 1946 of scenes on most of the islands.
I think Royal Hawaiian, a poi maker…lots of different moving pictures including long-board surfing. Problem is it has no sound! “Best laid plans… .”
I put it on dvd. Got to check through some boxes! Thanks for the reminder.
*he used some kind of motion picture camera, this is the guy who did the Academy Award winning “The Sea Around Us”.
Note how wide the beach is in the picture. Its taken on Kuhio beach in front of the eastern “pond”. You could do a comparison pic.
Miles and miles of sand. Waikiki was fun, nice back then. Lucky we grew up then.
Mahalo for sharing Ian – amazing photos – what a different day that was for everyone….
Waiting for a wave back then, I recall grousing about the on-shore buildings blocking the views of the mountain valleys. Didn’t imagine what was to come.
That wide sand was brought in. Before the Kuhio Beach wall the sea water was right next to the sidewaky, like front the Natatorium.
Thanks Ian! We used to spend hours frolicking in the waves. Sometimes we’d walk the length of the beach, tricky around some parts where it goes almost into the ocean. You could wade way far out too.
Remember swimming lessons at the Natatorium?
Oh, those swimming lessons at the Natatorium. How I hated it when we were herded up to the high diving board to risk our lives jumping into the water, or so it seemed to me. I lacked the “adventure” gene, and instead inherited the “warning, they’re all crazy” gene!