Visitor Aloha Society Executive Director Jessica Lani Rich has created a new TV show called — surprise! — the “Jessica Lani Rich Show.”

It debuts at 8 p.m. tonight on KWHE TV-14 and then airs every Sunday night at the same time after that.

It is an inspirational program, with Jessica interviewing people in the community who are making a difference in the lives of others. She asked me to be a guest on her debut show and talk about the Royal Hawaiian hotel, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary in Waikiki this month.

Dr. Nancy Pace will also be a guest, talking about her humanitarian medical work in underprivileged countries. The last segment is about the positive effects the Honolulu Zoo animals have on people.

I told Jessica the Royal Hawaiian hotel has some great history many of you might not know about.

First of all, it had two locations. It began downtown on the block bordered by Richards and Hotel streets in 1871. King Kamehameha V was embarrassed when Queen Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred, visited in 1869. There wasn’t a decent place for him to stay except rooms above saloons and private homes. He stayed at the Queen Emma Summer Palace in Nuuanu.

The king urged a hotel be built to accommodate visiting dignitaries. The Hawaiian Hotel opened in 1871 and was called the Royal Hawaiian Hotel soon after King Kalakaua ascended the throne in 1874.

When Kalakaua brought electricity to Iolani Palace in 1886 — four years before the White House — the generators also lit up the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

By 1917 the hotel was declining, and better hotels, such as the Moana, Waikiki Seaside and the Alexander Young had opened. The Armed Forces YMCA took over the property, and Matson bought the name.

PAINTED IN PORTUGUESE PINK

Ten years later the new Royal Hawaiian opened in Waikiki. The New York architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore chose a Spanish-Moorish style that was popular in the 1920s, partially due to the popularity of Rudolph Valentino movies. He was Italian but played an Arab sheik in several films.

Why is the Royal Hawaiian pink? Kinau Wilder, who lived nearby at Kinau Hale, said her parents — Kimo and Sarah Wilder — had spent some time in Portugal. Many of the homes there were painted pink with blue shutters.

When they returned to Honolulu in the 1920s, they repainted their home from green to salmon pink with blue-green shutters. With a bright red roof, it stood out in Waikiki.

Billy Roth, who built the Royal Hawaiian for Matson, visited and told Kimo and Sarah, “I love the new color of your house. Can I paint my hotel the same color?” They said yes.

The above anecdote comes from a Bob Krauss column in The Honolulu Advertiser in 1992. He concluded the article by pointing out that the Portuguese had contributed much more that malasadas and the ukulele to Hawaii (meaning the pink color of the Royal Hawaiian).

RECREATION FOR THE RICH

Matson’s idea was that luxury ships would bring guests to stay in luxury hotels. The third component was luxury recreational facilities. That was the Waialae Golf Course, now part of the Waialae Country Club, also celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.

The grand opening was held Feb. 1, 1927, with 1,111 people attending at $10 per person (about $150 today). Walter and Louise Dillingham had a party of 78. Prohibition was in effect, so patrons had to keep their bottles of booze hidden under the tables.

The high point of the evening was a pageant organized by Princess Abigail Kawananakoa. Fifteen outrigger canoes carrying a man representing King Kamehameha and fierce oarsmen paddled onto the beach. He was met by a queen and five beautiful princesses, representing each major island.

“Kamehameha” then sat on a throne and enjoyed an hour of chant, music and dance. The newspaper called the pageant “colorful and semi-barbaric.”

A CELEBRITY HOT SPOT

Before World War II the dining and entertainment area of the Royal was called the Persian Room. All the waiters wore turbans. After the war the Persian Room was remodeled and became the Monarch Room.

When the hotel opened, it was not unusual for visitors to spend months there. Many brought their own cars aboard the ship — there were no rental agencies back then — and servants, who lived in special (i.e., tiny) quarters.

Guests would be feted at a lawn party when they arrived on a Boat Day while the servants unpacked their belongings.

Actors Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Mary Pickford were frequent visitors. They wrote a 10-part series on the highlights of their around-the-world trip, declaring that “of all the places we visited, Honolulu is the most beautiful and alluring.”

Actress Shirley Temple came to Hawaii in 1935 and stayed with her family at the Royal. Temple was just 7 years old and posed for photos with Hawaii’s beachboys. Children came up to her on the beach and invited her to play.

A WARTIME RESPITE FOR SAILORS

Tourism practically ceased in 1942, and the Navy leased the Royal Hawaiian for sailors to use for rest and relaxation. More than 200,000 spent 10 days of R&R there.

The Navy erected a baseball diamond on the front lawn and turned the beauty parlor into a dispensary.

Before turning the hotel over to the Navy, however, the hotel managers hid something. What was it?

The hotel cemented the opening to its famous wine cellar to make it look like part of a walkway. When the war was over, hotel staff hurried to see whether the Navy had found the secret cache of fine wine, along with the hotel’s china and silverware. In four years the Navy never discovered it.

Bill Sewell, who had been chief purser on Matson’s White Ships in the 1950s, recalls the Royal as a stunningly beautiful oasis in the middle of a gigantic garden.

“The times I stayed at the Royal,” Sewell told me, “it was quiet, well protected, and one had the feeling of being in the middle of a well-kept jungle. The grounds stretched to Kalakaua Avenue and to Lewers Street. The low-rise, unobtrusive Outrigger Canoe Club was next door. There was also a parking lot and a few stores between it and the Moana Hotel.”

Last week the Royal Hawaiian had its 90th anniversary. A dinner, “Journey Through the Decades,” to benefit ALS Hawaii will be held at 6 p.m. March 3 in the Monarch Room. Tickets are $350, up just slightly from the $10 grand-opening celebration of 1927.

Bob Sigall, author of “The Companies We Keep” series of books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Contact him via email at sigall@yahoo.com.