Honolulu Parades in 1975 Through Fascinating Photos

The Honolulu parades of the 1970s were a vibrant explosion of color and cultural pride, capturing Hawaii in a unique transitional era. During this decade, major celebrations like the King Kamehameha Day Floral Parade and the Aloha Festivals became grand spectacles that drew locals and tourists alike to the sun-drenched streets of Waikiki. These parades were famous for their stunning Pāʻū riders, women in flowing, colorful equestrian capes representing each island, and magnificent floats entirely adorned with tropical blooms like plumeria, orchids, and hibiscus.

Beyond the floral displays, the 1970s parades reflected a deep Hawaiian Renaissance, a period of renewed interest in traditional music, hula, and language. Amidst the backdrop of vintage muscle cars and the bustling, developing skyline of Honolulu, the marches featured traditional marching bands, vibrant hula halau, and the gentle sounds of steel guitars.

These fascinating photos, courtesy of Mark Susina, capture the Aloha spirit in its prime. From the vibrant floral floats to the traditional Pāʻū riders, this collection offers a stunning look at Honolulu's festive streets in 1975.

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Did You Know Agatha Christie Was a Keen Surfer?

Agatha Christie (1890–1976), the best-selling novelist of all time, creator of such characters as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, was also one of England’s first woman surfers.

When asked about surfing, Agatha replied, “Oh it was heaven! Nothing like rushing through the water at what seems to you a speed of about two hundred miles an hour. It is one of the most perfect physical pleasures I have known.”

Agatha was born in Devon in 1890, where she spent her childhood swimming in the sea off the coast around Torquay.

After World War I, Agatha and her husband Archie set off on a year-long round-the-world trip as part of a trade mission of the British Empire Expedition. Their first stop was in South Africa where they took up bellyboarding.

They continued their travels, stopping in Australia and New Zealand, and arriving in Honolulu in August 1922. Agatha and her husband learned to ride surfboards standing up at Waikiki. The boards in the 1920s were more difficult to ride than those of today. They were finless, solid wooden planks around 10 feet long weighing as much as 100 pounds.

Agatha described the first few days surfing as painful, mixed with moments of utter joy. “After ten days I began to be daring. Starting my run I would hoist myself carefully to my knees on the board, and then endeavor to stand up. Oh, the moment of complete triumph on the day that I kept my balance and came right into shore standing upright on my board!”

Agatha and Archie loved surfing so much that they extended their stay in Hawaii for three additional months so they could continue to learn and become proficient at surfing.

She is seen here at Waikiki Beach, Honolulu in 1922. She borrowed a board from a surfer named Fred. She said it meant a great deal to her because Fred was the name of her father, Frederick Alvah Miller, who died when she was ten years old.

40 Fascinating Photos of Honolulu in the Late 1950s

Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is located in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southwest coast of the island of Oʻahu, and is the westernmost and southernmost major U.S. city.

Honolulu is Hawaii’s main gateway to the world. It is also a major hub for business, finance, hospitality, and military defense in both the state and Oceania. The city is characterized by a mix of various Asian, Western, and Pacific cultures, as reflected in its diverse demography, cuisine, and traditions.

Honolulu’s favorable tropical climate, rich natural scenery, and extensive beaches make it a popular global destination for tourists. These fascinating color photos from DAvdW captured life of Honolulu in 1958.

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Vibrant Kodachrome Photos of Hawaii in the 1950s

These gorgeous Kodachrome photos of Hawaii are from the terrific collection of ElectroSpark, who has a particular fondness for original Kodachromes.

Travel back to 1950s Hawaii through these 30 stunning color pictures. For more fascinating photographs, visit ElectroSpark's brilliant Flickr site.

Honolulu Sporting Goods

Downtown Honolulu

Hawaiian Beach

Royal Hawaiian, Waikiki, Honolulu

Miss Surf Queen

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55 Fascinating Color Snaps That Capture Street Scenes of Waikiki Town, Hawaii in the 1950s

Waikīkī, also known as Waikiki Beach, is a beachfront neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oʻahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Waikiki is most famous for Waikīkī Beach, but it is just one of six beaches in the district, the others being Queen's Beach, Kuhio Beach, Gray's Beach, Fort DeRussy Beach and Kahanamoku Beach.

Waikīkī is home to public places including Kapiʻolani Park, Fort DeRussy, Kahanamoku Lagoon, Kūhiō Beach Park, and Ala Wai Harbor.

These fascinating snapshots from Kamaaina56 that captured street scenes of this beautiful town in the 1950s.

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Beautiful Color Footage of VJ Day Celebrations in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1945

This beautiful color film footage will take you back to August 14, 1945 Honolulu, when the first word hit the streets that WWII was over. Military and citizens celebrate joyfully in the streets and old Waikiki.

No commercial color movie film medium other than Kodachrome has survived deterioration for three quarters of a century. This footage, save for easily-remedied color fading and color shift, which has been color corrected using 2009 technology, is virtually unchanged after nearly 70 years.

Germany's Agfachrome movie film from the 1930s and 1940s, for example, was inferior to Kodachrome from the get-go, with present-day surviving Agfa motion picture and photographic color slide film from that era having shifted dramatically in overall color tint toward green. Even Adolf Hitler turned his back on Agfachrome, preferring instead Kodak's products to document his rule. Today's surviving Nazi-era color films were virtually all shot on Kodak's Kodachrome film.

Properly stored Kodachrome, like this footage was shot by a U.S Navy sailor, has survived amazingly well, but it is ultimately beginning to show its age. Common Kodachrome problems due to the passage of time and less-than-ideal storage conditions are often seen as a shift in overall color toward red, and the crackling of the emulsion in a spider-web-like pattern similar to that seen in the glazes on antique pottery, which dulls the overall moving image and allows mildew and emulsion loss to take hold.

Before natural conditions caused by time's passing can diminish this unique record of the euphoria of VJ Day and the wrapping-up of the military's wartime role, this footage deserves and requires the best quality digital scanning, dirt and scratch removal, and color balancing to return it as close to possible to its original 1945 state.

(© Richard Sullivan, via Kickstarter)

Rarely Seen Obama High School Senior Prom Photos Resurface From 1979

Tucked away in someone else’s shoe box of adolescent artifacts, there might be a picture of you in garish clothes and with an outdated ‘do, your arm around a high school squeeze. The President of the United States is no different. These rearely seen photos, obtained exclusively by TIME from Obama’s schoolmate Kelli Allman (née McCormack), show a 17-year-old Barack Obama on the night of his senior prom.

From left: Greg Orme, Kelli Allman, Barack Obama and Megan Hughes at Allman’s parents’ house in Honolulu. (Kelli Allman / Contact Press Images)

From left: Greg Orme, Kelli Allman, Barack Obama and Megan Hughes at Allman’s parents’ house in Honolulu. (Kelli Allman / Contact Press Images)

Sporting a white sport coat, periwinkle tie and a big curly hairdo, Obama is pictured in the 1979 shots arm in arm with his date, Megan Hughes. The happy pair appear next to another couple, friends Greg Orme and Kelli Allman.

“It was a really fun, happy time. We were all cracking up, and everyone was smiling,” said Allman, who provided the photos, of the memorable evening at the Punahou School in Honolulu. “It was pretty typical from there out as far as what happens at prom: the dinner and the dancing and the photos,” she said.

While the future President didn’t date a lot in high school, Allman said, he made for lovely company that night.

“He was very intelligent and witty. He and I really clicked. We had great vibes between us,” she said of Obama.

So did the young Obama take the wrong woman? The admiration between Allman and he appeared to be mutual.

In Allman’s yearbook at the end the year, Obama called his friend’s date “foxy.”

Left: Kelli Allman‘s OAHUAN 1979 Yearbook. Right: Obama wrote the above note in Allman’s yearbook at the end of his senior year in 1979. (Kelli Allman / Contact Press Images)

“Kelli,

It has been so nice getting to know you this year. You are extremely sweet and foxy, I don't know why Greg would want to spend any time with me at all! You really deserve better than clowns like us; you even laugh at my jokes! I hope we can keep in touch this summer, even though Greg will be gone. Call me up, and I'll buy you lunch sometimes ###-####. Anyways, good luck in everything you do, and stay happy.

Your Friend,

Love <3

Barry Obama”

25 Vivid Color Snapshots of Everyday Life in Honolulu during the 1950s

Honolulu is the largest and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The city is the main gateway to Hawaii and a major portal into the United States. It is also a major hub for international business, military defense, as well as famously being host to a diverse variety of east-west and Pacific culture, cuisine, and traditions.

Here below is a vivid color photo collection of everyday life in Honolulu during the 1950s.

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