Each year, I write about key companies and nonprofits that pass important milestones in the year. In February I wrote Part 1. Here’s Part 2.
100 years ago — 1921
Natsunoya Tea House began 100 years ago. It was founded by Shuuji Fujiwara in Alewa Heights as Shinchoro Tea House. Fujiwara had to build the road and put in his own telephone poles, said his grandson Lawrence Fujiwara.
Japanese teahouses in Hawaii grew from neighborhood bathhouses that served more beer and sake than tea. Decades later they were the place to take visiting friends for great Japanese meals.
Most had private dining rooms that could serve four to over 400. Today Natsunoya is the only one of about 30 teahouses that remains.
“Dignitaries of all sorts have visited Natsunoya,” Fujiwara said. “John Wayne shot a scene from one of his movies there. Actors and singers from Japan regularly come. Konishiki and many of the sumotori ate us out of teahouse and home. The Pittsburgh Steelers came after they had won the Super Bowl. Local politicians, military leaders and many others have all been here.”
100 years ago — 1921
The Hawaii Education Association celebrates its centennial this year.
It was the first Hawaii organization to advocate on behalf of professional educators for better pay and school conditions. Since its formation in 1921, it has represented teachers and administrators working at public schools and universities until modern collective- bargaining policies were shaped in the 1960s.
At the 1968 Hawaii Constitutional Convention, HEA was among the organizations that led the movement to make collective bargaining a constitutional right. Subsequently, HEA supported and played a key role in the establishment of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly and the Hawaii Government Employees Association Unit 6.
Through the years, HEA has advocated for educational reform, for lower teacher-student ratios in the classrooms and more resources for prekindergarten and adult education instruction.
In 1949 HEA succeeded in lobbying the Territorial Legislature to eliminate the controversial English Standard schools — public schools where only those deemed proficient in proper English could attend.
The policy of separating schools into two tiers was based on students’ ability to speak English. HEA leaders believed that even if unintended, this policy amounted to segregation based largely along racial lines.
1926 — 95 years ago
The Olivet Baptist Church traces its roots to July 1, 1926, when Joseph and Mary Tyssowski and 18 other worshippers bought a property on the corner of Artesian and Young streets in McCully for $8,500.
In 1941 the Mission Church formally aligned itself with the Southern Baptist Convention and became the Olivet Baptist Church. Olivet refers to the Mount of Olives in Israel.
As the “Mother Church,” Olivet started 10 other Southern Baptist churches spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Today Olivet Baptist Church is the oldest and largest Southern Baptist church in Hawaii.
1936 — 85 years ago
Farrington High School is celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2021. It opened Sept. 1, 1936, to relieve the crowded McKinley High School. When it opened, the only public high school to its west was Leilehua.
Farrington had four proposed locations: the original Kamehameha boys school site, where Farrington is today. The second was the old Kamehameha girls school location, now public housing makai of King Street.
The third was the previous site of the Insane Asylum, on the corner of Lanakila Avenue and School Street, before it moved to Kaneohe. Today it’s the Lanakila Health Center.
The fourth was a swampy area in Palama, between Dillingham Boulevard and King Street, before the Kapalama Canal drained it.
The first principal, Thomas B. Vance, wanted a minimum of 30 acres. Ten were for classrooms, offices and an auditorium. Ten would be used as athletic facilities, and 10 were for a school farm. Vance hoped to develop a tropical fruit orchard not only for instructional purposes, but also to supply fruit trees to the neighborhood.
1941 — 80 years ago
Roberts Hawaii is celebrating it 80th anniversary in 2021. It was founded in 1941 in Hanapepe, Kauai, by Robert Iwamoto Sr. as a one-man taxi company.
It got a major boost when it transported Elvis Presley and some cast and crew of the movie “Blue Hawaii” in 1961.
Iwamoto attended a dog race in Tijuana, Mexico, where the greyhound dogs chased a mechanical rabbit and never caught it. Greyhound was his competitor, so he chose the rabbit as his logo.
When Greyhound left Hawaii, Roberts added a rabbit waving goodbye on the back of the bus, a dig at his former rival.
It employs 1,400 on four islands and owns 900 vehicles. It is also the parent company for the Magic of Polynesia Show, Hawaiian Monarch Hotel, Roberts Hawaii School Bus and various Hawaii shuttle services.
1946 — 75 years ago
Kapiolani Community College began in 1946 on the lower part of McKinley High School. It took its name from the relatively new Kapiolani Boulevard, where it was once located at Pensacola Street.
It was called the Kapiolani Technical School, and food service was its specialty. Shiro Matsuo was an instructor there before launching his saimin enterprise.
In the 1970s it began moving into larger facilities at the former Fort Ruger behind Diamond Head.
1956 — 65 years ago
Tori Richard is 65 this year. Mortimer Feldman moved to Hawaii from Chicago to retire in 1953, but retirement didn’t suit him. He founded his new endeavor in 1956 and named it after a son, Richard, and the daughter of his soon-to-be wife, Victoria.
1956 — 65 years ago
When the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell was proposed in the mid-1950s, it was called the Kapiolani Park Bandshell or Waikiki Bandshell.
A contest to name this open-air auditorium came up with several names, including Pupu o Waikiki, Rainbow Shell, Rainbow Theatre, Melting Pot of Music, Snail of Waikiki, People’s Aloha Theatre, Aurora Waikitorium and Heavenly Spot.
The name “Waikiki Shell” was chosen before it opened on Sept. 8, 1956. On that day the parks board didn’t have enough money to put in seats. Everyone had to sit on the grass.
It was renamed the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell in 2018 for the longtime Hawaii promoter who put on many concerts there.
1971 — 50 years ago
The 31-story Sheraton Waikiki Hotel opened 50 years ago. It was billed as the world’s largest resort convention hotel. Wimberly, Whisenand, Allison, Tong and Goo were its architects.
How big is it, the newspapers asked? Here were some statistics: If all the linen from 1,900 rooms, 1,200 uniforms and five restaurants was laid end to end, it would stretch over 20 miles.
The hotel has over five miles of corridors, and was equipped with over 1 million square feet of carpet. A 1-foot-square continuous line would stretch from Honolulu to the Big Island — over 200 miles!
Over 1,700 Admiral color TVs were purchased for the hotel at a cost of $1 million.
The interesting fact for me is that Sheraton had another location in mind. It negotiated with the Queen Emma Foundation to take over the former Outrigger Canoe Club property but reached an impasse.
Hotel magnate Roy Kelley scooped it up at the last minute and built the Outrigger Waikiki there. Sheraton had to settle for its second choice.
There are many other important organizations celebrating anniversaries this year, and I’ll write more of their stories in the next few months. If you know of one, let me know.
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The Rearview Mirror Insider is Bob Sigall’s now twice-weekly free email newsletter that gives readers behind-the-scenes background, stories that wouldn’t fit in the column, and lots of interesting details. Join and be an Insider at RearviewMirrorInsider.com. Mahalo!
