Archived publications provide us with an incredible window to the past, detailing the history of Hawai`i and the rest of the world. These are the events, in words and pictures, which have shaped our lives.
Here is a glimpse of what life was like early in the 20th century. Look carefully, perhaps you may see a bit of yourself through this window.
Over the past 100 years, styles have changed... technologies have changed... but, this has remained the same: Hawai`i merchants have always catered to the consumer needs of a growing community. Hawai`i residents at the turn of the century were offered more choices, more distractions, and more ways to part with their hard-earned dollars. Here is a small, hopefully entertaining, sampling of what was "out there" in 1901 for anyone who had the time and money. Advertising at the Turn of the Century
In the early months of this year the people of Hawai`i had graver thoughts on their minds than Y2K and its associated celebrations and potential consternations. The "Black Death," or Bubonic Plague, had struck Honolulu. Its presence clouded the opening months of 1900 and was on every thinking person's mind with good reason as the disease had decimated a third of the world's population during the fourteenth century. In Honolulu, the plague was controlled, but over the course of four months it claimed 61 lives and led to the almost complete destruction of Chinatown. The Chinatown Fire of 1900
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