Many assume the missionaries brought Christmas to the islands, but they did not believe in it or celebrate it since it’s not mentioned in the Bible. Christmas came to Hawaii in many small steps, according to Roger Bye of Hawaiian Dredging, who wrote about it in 1951.
While the Puritans did not celebrate Christmas, the English did. An English ship, the Charlotte, happened to be exploring Waimea Bay, Kauai, on Christmas Day 1786.
Capt. George Dixon had a pig roasted. The crew made pies, and grog was mixed with coconut milk. The crew toasted friends and family at home in England, and the miles between the two island kingdoms were bridged for a moment. It was Hawaii’s first Christmas dinner.
Hawaii’s first Christmas gifts were exchanged on Dec. 25, 1819. Capt. Nathaniel Portlock noted in his log that Chief "Kiana came off a double canoe and brought me a present of some hogs and vegetables, which I received gladly, and prepared in return, and that pleased him very much."
In New England the first missionaries set sail for Hawaii aboard the Thaddeus in 1819. Christmas and Easter holidays developed after the Bible was written, and for that reason the Puritans did not observe them.
Catholics first came to Hawaii in 1826 and did celebrate Christmas. Their spirit slowly infected the missionary wives, who, by 1837, began to join the festivities. They made quiet shopping trips to town where local shopkeepers had begun stocking their shelves with Christmas toys. They talked about what they should cook and whom they should invite to the coming holiday dinner.
Prince Alexander Liholiho, who would later become Kamehameha IV, was a 9-year-old student at the Chiefs’ Children’s School in 1843. He led a revolt against studying on Christmas Day.
Schoolmaster Amos Cooke wrote that "the children thought it would be doing God’s work to devote this day to merriment. The girls baked cakes and the boys made candy, and all are making ready presents for Christmas."
Santa Claus and Hawaii’s first Christmas tree made their appearance at Washington Place in the 1850s.
Mary Dominis threw a Christmas Eve party at Washington Place. She erected Hawaii’s first Christmas tree. Bells were heard at the windows announcing Hawaii’s first Santa Claus with gifts for everyone.
By 1856 Liholiho had grown up and became King Kamehameha IV. He had witnessed the great festival of Christmas in Europe in 1849, and set aside Dec. 25, 1856, as a national day of thanksgiving.
Six years later, in 1862, he declared Dec. 25 to be Christmas. The city threw itself into the preparations. Churches throughout the land threw spectacular celebrations. In the newspapers, merchants advertised "toys in great supply and dolls of all kinds," and Christmas displays were put up in stores.
On Christmas Eve the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was illuminated with wreaths of light. Inside, the altars were beautifully decorated, and more than a thousand candles were lit. The tree at the Fort Street Church carried more than 200 small lights, and its branches were burdened with gifts for more than 70 students, with no two gifts alike. Midnight Christmas services concluded, then the gun batteries at Punchbowl Crater were fired.
The king and the bishop began their slow procession to the palace. Behind them walked a choir, and 20 torch-bearers lit the way for the members of the congregation.
Throughout the streets of Honolulu the procession marched in slow cadence, singing Christmas carols. Christmas had come to Hawaii.
Bob Sigall, author of "The Companies We Keep" books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
