By Bob Sigall If you're looking for interesting stories of Hawaii companies outside of Hono­lulu, Hilo is a good place to start.
By Bob Sigall After dinner, many of us turn on the television. Cable TV today carries more than 200 channels, but when I was young, in the 1950s, there were just four channels and all were in black and white.
Hawaii's oldest and largest supermarket chain had humble beginnings, 64 years ago this Sunday. It was founded by Maurice J. Sullivan, who left his native Ireland in 1927 for New York with $7 in his pocket.
By Bob Sigall
Special to the Star-Advertiser Honolulu once had a sign that was more photographed than Diamond Head, according to Kodak officials, who counted them one week. Some say it was the most photographed sign in the world.
By Bob Sigall In 1955, Henry Kaiser bought the 8-acre John Ena estate in Waikiki. He then added a 6-acre parcel that was formerly the site of the Old Waikiki hotel, built around 1900 and redeveloped into the Niumalu Hotel in 1928.
The "Olympics of Hula" we know today began humbly as a way to stimulate the economy after the 1960 Hilo tsunami.
By Bob Sigall Banker George C. Knapp and Realtor Elwood L. Christensen founded KC Drive Inn in 1929.
By Bob Sigall
Special to the Star-Advertiser Chung Kun Ai, the founder of City Mill, came to Hawaii with his father in 1879. The 14-year-old went to Iolani College for two years — the only formal education he would receive.
By Bob Sigall
Special to the Star-Advertiser Once the biggest of the Big Five, Liberty House was started by German sea captain Heinrich Hackfeld in 1849. Hackfeld first came to Hawaii with a ship's hold full of silk clothing, crockery, dry goods, hardware, pens, pencils, window glass and other household items. His wife, Marie, her 16-year-old brother, J.C. Pflue­ger, and a nephew, B.F. Ehlers, arrived with him.
By Bob Sigall Bank of Hawaii could be the largest company in Hawaii founded by a competitor's disgruntled customers.
By Bob Sigall A century has come and gone since the Moana opened its doors on March 11, 1901, 111 years ago this week. The Moana was the first luxury hotel in Waikiki.
By Bob Sigall At 123 years, Wo Fat was Hawaii’s oldest restaurant when it closed in 2005. Wo Fat was opened in 1882 by Wat Ging. Ted Wong, the owner from 1973-1978, said he was told the name Wo Fat means “peace, prosperity and harmony.”
By Bob Sigall Small stature is not necessarily a disadvantage. Okinawan immigrant Zempan Arakawa found an opportunity in it. Arakawa grew up in Onaha village, Okinawa, the second son in the family. "The first son had to remain and take care of the family," said his youngest son, Goro.
By Bob Sigall What did Imelda Marcos think about Frank De Lima's impression of her? Hawaii's greatest, most outrageous comedian isn't afraid to go out on a limb for a laugh. He's been known to do Mufi Hannemann, standing on a stool with a bad wig. Tina Turner? Fair game. Elvis? Why not?
Which TV newsman was almost hired when James MacArthur decided to retire from "Hawaii Five-0"?
Most "Hawaii Five-0" fans know that MacArthur decided not to return for a 12th season of the groundbreaking crime series set in Hawaii.
By Bob Sigall The year 1927 was a historic one for Hono­lulu. Several important buildings opened that year, including the Hawaiian Electric building, Bank of Hawaii (at King and Bishop streets), the YWCA on Richards Street, the Academy of Arts and St. Francis Hospital in Nuuanu.
By Bob Sigall Before Don Ho there was Alfred Apaka, the Golden Voice of Hawaii. During the 1950s Apaka was Hawaii’s most famous entertainer, and his show was a must-see for all visitors.
By Bob Sigall Bob Sevey anchored the KGMB News from 1966 until he retired in 1986. Before that he was with KULA and KHVH, which later became KITV. When astronauts first landed on the moon in 1969, 91 percent of viewers were tuned to his KGMB broadcast.
By Bob Sigall For more than 40 years, Waikiki was home to one of the oddest-shaped buildings in the state, the geodesic dome at the Hawaiian Village hotel. Set slightly off the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Kalia Road, the Kaiser dome was the first of its kind in the world.
By Bob Sigall In 2012 you can make a deposit at Bank of Hawaii, buy bread from Love's Bakery or a bicycle at Eki Cyclery. You can shop at C.S. Wo or City Mill. One hundred years ago, in 1912, you could have made a deposit at Bank of Hawaii, bought bread from Love's Bakery or a bicycle at Eki Cyclery. You could have shopped at C.S. Wo or City Mill.
By Bob Sigall If you lived in Hawaii in the 1960s and 1970s, you probably dined many times at the Tahitian Lanai. It was an exotic outdoor restaurant and bar with tropical drinks and tiki-torch ambience.
By Bob Sigall Francis Albert Sinatra was born 96 years ago this month, on Dec. 12, 1915. His neighbor across the street in Hoboken, N.J., was Matteo Giordano, who became Sinatra's personal chef before opening Matteo's Restaurant in Los Angeles in 1963.
By Bob Sigall 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.
By Bob Sigall A Hawaii TV show was the most successful, longest-running weekly local prime-time show in the country. It dominated the airwaves for two decades and won multiple Emmy awards. What was it? Here's one more hint: It began as a disco program.
By Bob Sigall Which site in Nuuanu did Joni Mitchell write about in her hit song "Big Yellow Taxi"? "They paved paradise, put up a parking lot. With a pink hotel ..." -- a description of the Royal Hawaiian.
By Bob Sigall In the 1860s, Hansen's disease -- then known as leprosy -- was rampant in the Hawaiian islands. When Father Damien de Veuster heard that there was no religious leader at the colony on Molokai for those with the disease, he volunteered, and in 1873 started his mission.
By Bob Sigall New York has the Statue of Liberty. Paris has the Eiffel Tower. For 60 years, Honolulu had the Dole Pineapple. Lit at night and visible from as far away as Waikiki Beach and two miles out to sea, the Dole Pineapple water tower quickly became a Honolulu landmark.
By Bob Sigall With 20,000 APEC delegates in Hawaii this week, I thought I'd focus my column on some little-known but amazing things that people from Hawaii have accomplished.
By Bob Sigall It was built to last 15 years when it opened in 1926, but we played ball there for half a century. Honolulu Stadium at King and Isenberg streets opened on Nov. 11, 1926, 85 years ago next week.
By Bob Sigall In 1931 three men met in New York. Their focus was China, but their actions would forever change Hawaii. The three were aviator Charles Lindbergh, Pan American World Airways President Juan Trippe and engineer Andre Priester.
By Bob Sigall One of Hawaii's greatest entrepreneurs turned 97 this week. Born Alexander Brodie in Kekaha, Kauai, in 1914, Lex and his family moved to Honolulu when he was 11.
By Bob Sigall The Polynesian Cultural Center opened 48 years ago this week on Oct. 12, 1963, but its roots go even deeper, to the hukilau in Laie, and a singing group in Waikiki called the Polynesian Panorama.
By Bob Sigall The Halekulani opened 94 years ago this week in Waikiki on the site of the former Hau Tree Hotel. Haleiwa Hotel proprietors Juliet and Clifford Kimball purchased the hotel and its five acres of prime oceanfront property in 1917 and renamed it the Halekulani Hotel.
By Bob Sigall When "Hawaii Five-0" went on the air 43 years ago this week, on Sept. 26, 1968, locals were concerned that a crime show might portray Hawaii negatively. Somehow, however, the 300 million people who watched the show in 80 countries did not see Hawaii as crime-ridden.
By Bob Sigall There are hundreds of mainland companies that have opened in Hawaii and found locals receptive to their products and services. The number of local companies that have expanded beyond Hawaii is not as large. This is one of those stories.
By Bob Sigall The state’s busiest golf course, and one of the most heavily played in the world, the Ala Wai Golf Course had the most humble of beginnings. While most golf courses are planned from scratch, the Ala Wai began as a single hole in 1923. And that hole was a simple salmon can placed in the ground at the Territorial Fairgrounds.
By Bob Sigall It took almost 20 years for the idea of a large stadium to replace Honolulu Stadium to come to fruition. Mayor Neal S. Blaisdell first proposed it in 1958. The Fire Department said the old “Termite Palace” was a firetrap. Sporting and other events had been held at the old Honolulu Stadium on King Street since it opened in 1926, but it was thought that a growing city needed a bigger stadium.
By Bob Sigall The curtain of the Hawaii Theatre today has a large picture of Diamond Head, and below it in large letters is the word "HAWAII.
By Bob Sigall Naval Commander John Rodgers was the first to attempt a nonstop flight from California to Hawaii 86 years ago this week.
Did a difficult sea voyage give Hawaii its first bank and largest private estate? During the 1840s and 1850s, Honolulu was a major port for supplies to whalers. Without a bank in town, traders turned to general merchandise stores, but they were not really adequate.
By Bob Sigall Saturday marks the 52nd anniversary of Ala Moana Center's grand opening. It was the beginning of a revolution in Honolulu's shopping scene.
In the early 1950s, KGMB-TV's "Pan American World News" was the only TV newscast in Hawaii. Wayne Collins was the first news anchor.