We're fortunate to dig up fantastic historic material. Paul Garson backed up Robin's shots with the following text. Here is Robin's caption: THE FELLOW WHO SENT THESE TO ME RECEIVED THEM FROM AN OLD SHIPMATE ON THE USS QUAPAW ATF-11O. INTERESTING AS HE'S NEVER SEEN THEM ANYWHERE ELSE. I THINK THEY'RE SPECTACULAR. PEARL HARBOR December 7th, 1941.
Hawaii is the tiny tip of a volcano that’s been spilling its guts upwards for eons, the lava slowly piling up to eventually form the chain of islands swimming in isolation far out in vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Our 50th state, as of August 21, 1959, is literally thousands of miles from the continental U.S. And it also happens to have the distinction of being the only U.S. state that’s increasing in size thanks to volcanic action still adding to the real estate.
While Hawaii was getting used to being a part of the U.S., 1959 got busy with a lot of B words, for example singer Buddy Holiday was topping the charts while sadly the “Big Bopper” and Richie “La Bomba” Valens went the other way in a plane crash that left music fans of all categories stunned.
In 1959 Harleys deluxe Duo Glides were the unequaled champions of the road, the FL’s and FLH’s lauded as the most luxurious and most popular road machines in America. “One ride and you’ll decide it’s a Harley-Davidson for you” read the ’59 factory ad.
It was late in the year, November to be exact, when a small announcement first appeared though mostly unnoticed, one that would shake up the motorcycle world like no other, although nobody knew it at the time or much read the small ad that showed up in Floyd Clymer’s CYCLE magazine. The ads mentioned the availability of a 50cc moped-like bike from Japan, the Honda Cub. It also spotlighted the 250cc and 300cc Dream good for 84 mph and 91 mph respectively.
Proclaimed “the most dependable motorcycle,” the Honda’s featured electric start. Just push a button and you could trundle away on a cute little, smooth running… motorcycle… a machine the Nicest People could cuddle up with in their garage and even let their daughter’s ride. It was from some company named after some guy named Honda. The first machines were literally sold off a truck at a street corner of Los Angeles. (As of 2006, 50,000,000 Honda cubs have been sold. You could call that a successful “invasion.”)
At the end of what is called “The Fabulous Fifties” bikers were enjoying the benefits of Velcro, Metrecal and the first Sony transistor TV sets.
But hold on, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, if we’re looking to link up with the times represented by the 1930-40s archival images of Pearl Harbor seen here. People weren’t so much into watching their weight and Scotch tape was still holding things together while radios had tubes. And so did the bike tires of the day. Harleys and Indians and some Brit bikes in the hands of the local citizens and U.S. military were rumbling along Hawaii’s roads and lanes.
Pressing the Bikernet rewind button, we can imagine ourselves back into the semi-halcyon days of the 1930s and on into the turmoil that ultimately engulfed Hawaii, and particularly Pearl Harbor with the outbreak of the Second World War. First let’s take the Bikernet Time Machine back a century or so from our present blink in the geological eye, then move on up to statehood in 1959.
Back at the turn of the century, the U.S. apparently felt that the Hawaiian islands was a profitable place to control thanks to pineapples and its ability to serve as a naval base. On July 7, 1898, ironically just a few days after we celebrated our own Independence Day, Congress enacted the Newlands Resolution, the piece of paper, much to the chagrin of the native Hawaiians, that served to annex Hawaii to the United States. Apparently surfing was not banned. A good thing since it was already popular in 1798 when observed by Europeans explorers who witnessed islanders enjoying the sport. However, no motorcycles were observed at this time. But it took over a year for Congress to wrangle the state laws since some U.S. legislators were worried Hawaii would become a state, something they felt unacceptable because the indigenous people were “not European” and apparently inferior by their standards. Oddly enough years later, a lot of native Hawaiians were not exactly keen on becoming a U.S. state.
However, Hawaii satisfied the U.S. sweet teeth via sugar cane and the aforementioned pineapple. Some 36,000 agricultural workers labored on the giant plantations, oddly enough not native Hawaiians but “imported” Chinese and Japanese nationals. However, if you were one of the 2,000 skilled European laborers you got better pay and housing. This is circa 1900.
Not that it wasn’t on the map before early Sunday morning December 7, 1941 aka “The day that will live in infamy,” Hawaii and Peal Harbor were already recognized as paradise when tourism geared up in the 1930s. It had, like we said, lots of pineapples, and it had the hula. Images of pretty girls in grass skirts were appearing in the imagination of a lot of mainland American guys who had to spend Sundays mowing the grass. Hawaii was far away but you could get there by steamship. It was attainable. You could even go see the most famous hula dancer of the day. Her name was Avon and she was known as “the face of Hawaii” in the 1930s.” She even inspired a still popular song, “Lovely Hula Hands.” Her full name was Pualani Mossman Avon, her first name meaning “flower of heaven.” She also starred in the first color movie of the time, “Song of the Islands.”
By the mid-1930s war clouds had gathered over the East. Japan had invaded China and taken over Manchuria and was hungry for the natural resources it needed, particularly the oil and rubber of Southeast Asia. Seeing the U.S. as a potential threat to its plans of expansion, it struck a pre-emptive blow aka the infamous sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. After the smoke had somewhat cleared, Governor Poindexter declared martial law. With President Roosevelt’s approval the military took complete control of the islands, including civilian law and the courts. While over 117,000 people of Japanese descent (including 70,000 native born U.S. citizens) were locked up in mainland internment camps during the war, in Hawaii, the Japanese weren’t locked up, in truth because they were needed to work on the plantations.
While the attack on Pearl Harbor went off without a hitch, the U.S. forces caught with its defenses down, its goal to destroy the U.S. as a naval power failed as most of the aircraft carriers were out to sea and not in port. This would come back to haunt, and ultimately help destroy the aggression of Imperial Japan. Pearl Harbor would go on to serve as the center for that counter-attack that would re-write the history of the region. You could relate it the process by which a pearl grows from a bit of irritant inside a pearl oyster, the gritty spirit of the U.S. represented by the response of its citizens after the attack on Pearl Harbor to meet the challenge and in so doing evolve into the world’s #1 Super Power.
Hawaii’s First Bike Club The first bike club was started in Hawaii, circa 1950 by three brothers, Kimo, Allan and Robert Kalua and a group of fellow bikers who called themselves The Sons of Hawaii Motorcycle Club. More info at www.sonsofhawaii.org.
Saga of the Hawaiian Shirt As Bandit has been known to own more Hawaiian shirts than Imelda Marcus had motorcycle boots, we pass this on for our reader’s wardrobe education.
In Hawaii they’re called the Aloha shirt. While the style of shirt had apparently been popular for quite a spell, it was in the 1930s that a Mr. Ellery Chun, owner of a Honolulu dry goods store, began selling the tropical print shirts. The original source may have sprung from the bright and colorful cloth of Japanese kimonos worn by immigrants to the islands as well as to the Philippines Barong Tagalog (an untucked shirt) and even silk from China as well as Hawaiian traditional block pattern designs all of which were melded into the U.S. style collared shirt.
Mr. Chun and other clothing retailers began using designs with palm trees, Hula Girls, and pineapples imprinted on cloth imported from the U.S., Japan, China, and Tahiti. Local surfers and beach people latched onto the shirts and they grew in popularity. In 1936 Mr. Chun, trademarked the term “Aloha Shirt.” Movie stars and celebrities of the era picked up on the fashion trend that really skyrocketed in 1959 when Hawaii became the 50th star on the flag. And by all accounts, even Bandit, the Hawaiian shirt is still a rising star.
More Information on the Attack from Chris T. in Hawaii:
On Sunday, December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii. By planning his attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo, hoped to catch the entire fleet in port. As luck would have it, the Aircraft Carriers and one of the Battleships were not in port. (The USS Enterprise was returning from Wake Island , where it had just delivered some aircraft. (The USS Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga and USS Colorado were undergoing repairs in the United States.)
In spite of the latest intelligence reports about the missing aircraft carriers (his most important targets), Admiral Nagumo decided to continue the attack with his force of six carriers and 423 aircraft. At a range of 230 miles north of Oahu, he launched the first wave of a two-wave attack. Beginning at 0600 hours his first wave consisted of 183 fighters and torpedo bombers which struck at the fleet in Pearl Harbor and the airfields in Hickam, Kaneohe and Ewa. The second strike, launched at 0715 hours, consisted of 167 aircraft, which again struck at the same targets.
At 0753 hours the first wave consisting of 40 Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” torpedo bombers, 51 Aichi D3A1 “Val” dive bombers, 50 high altitude bombers and 43 Zeros struck airfields and Pearl Harbor. Within the next hour, the second wave arrived and continued the attack.
When it was over, the U.S. losses were:
Casualties
USA: 218 KIA, 364 WIA.
USN: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA.
USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA.
Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA.
TOTAL: 2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA.
Battleships
USS Arizona (BB-39) – total loss when a bomb hit her magazine.
USS Oklahoma (BB-37) – Total loss when she capsized and sunk in the harbor.
USS California (BB-44) – Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS West Virginia (BB-48) – Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS Nevada – (BB-36) Beached to prevent sinking. Later repaired.
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) – Light damage.
USS Maryland (BB-46) – Light damage.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) Light damage.
USS Utah (AG-16) – (former battleship used as a target) – Sunk.
Cruisers
USS New Orleans (CA-32) – Light Damage.
USS San Francisco (CA38) – Light Damage.
USS Detroit (CL-8) – Light Damage.
USS Raleigh (CL-7) – Heavily damaged but repaired.
USS Helena (CL-50) – Light Damage.
USS Honolulu (CL-48) – Light Damage.
Destroyers
USS Downes (DD-375) – Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Cassin – (DD-372) Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Shaw (DD-373) – Very heavy damage.
USS Helm (DD-388) – Light Damage.
Minelayer
USS Ogala (CM-4) – Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Seaplane Tender
USS Curtiss (AV-4) – Severely damaged but later repaired.
Repair Ship
USS Vestal (AR-4) – Severely damaged but later repaired.
Harbor Tug
USS Sotoyomo (YT-9) – Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Aircraft
188 Aircraft destroyed (92 USN and 92 U.S. Army Air Corps.)
