How Statehood Changed Hawaii’s Economy

3 minute read

Mainland Americans have been making their mark on Hawaii — in ways both welcome and unwelcome — since the early 1800s, when Protestant missionaries first landed there and, per TIME, “devised a Hawaiian alphabet, soon printed a speller… promoted monogamy, [and] introduced the spare, hardy architecture of New England whaling ports.”

While the U.S. annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1898 under somewhat shady circumstances — and over the objections of many Hawaiians — by the 1950s most Hawaiians were in favor of being admitted as a state. When the state reached that milestone, on this day, Aug. 21, in 1959, just seven months after Alaska had joined the Union, Hawaii underwent immediate and radical change, largely in the form of unprecedented economic growth.

The cluster of islands that comprise America’s 50th state are some of the world’s most isolated: 2,390 mi. from the West Coast and 4,000 from Japan. But with statehood came a proliferation of commercial flights that connected Hawaii to the mainland and brought a massive influx of tourists.

Three days after Hawaii was admitted to the Union, Pan American became the first airline to provide jet service to the newest state, according to the Los Angeles Times. This convenience changed the face of Hawaiian tourism entirely. “The islands, which had been the playground of well-heeled visitors, most of whom traveled by ship, began welcoming middle-class travelers,” the LA Times notes.

As TIME reported in 1966, the years after statehood became a “jet rush,” in which the number of passengers arriving annually at Honolulu’s airport more than doubled — many of them vacationers who snapped up $100 tickets for the five-hour flight from Los Angeles or San Francisco. TIME observed:

No fewer than 18 airlines are begging the [Civil Aeronautics Board] to let them put new flights on the Honolulu route. Already, tourists spend $300 million a year, making tourism Hawaii’s largest civilian source of income, larger than the pineapple and sugar businesses combined. To accommodate them, some $350 million worth of hotel construction has gone up in the past five years. The boom has also created new jobs to absorb the unemployment created by automation on the plantations.

This jet-fueled increase in tourism was not Hawaii’s only area of growth. The state also saw a rapid expansion in light industry — companies producing “everything from muumuus to mirrors,” per TIME — and diversification in agriculture. The flurry of commercial activity led to a corresponding boom in development: In 1964, construction spending was up nearly 20 percent from the previous year, and included a $27 million high-rise on Waikiki Beach that was then the world’s largest single-unit apartment building, according to TIME.

Additional projects included a $14 million business complex in downtown Honolulu as well as freeway expansions and new planned communities. Other signs that 1964 was a banner year for the Hawaiian economy, by TIME’s account: “Four new mattress factories have been opened, and Schlitz is about to build a 100,000-barrels-a-year brewery near Pearl Harbor.”

Read more from 1959, here in TIME’s archives: Hawaii: The Big Change

Hawaii Melting Pot, 1945

Mary Lou Parker, 4, plays with Letty Mai Pang, 5, a Chinese, in the playground of a polyracial Honolulu school.
Caption from LIFE. Mary Lou Parker, 4, plays with Letty Mai Pang, 5, a Chinese [schoolmate], in the playground of a polyracial Honolulu school. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Young girl dancing in hula skirt.
A young girl dances in a hula skirt.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Fishing net hanging out to dry in front of fisherman's house with young child underneath.
A fishing net hangs out to dry in front of a fisherman's house, while a young child sits underneath.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Plantation worker coming home and washing off his boots.
A plantation worker comes home and washes off his boots after a day's work.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Old Japanese man walking toward his house.
An elderly Japanese man walks toward his house.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Children with American flag hanging out on a front porch.
Children with an American flag hang out on a front porch.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Japanese boys jumping from sea wall while playing as soldiers in American army.
Japanese boys jump from a sea wall while playing soldiers in the American army.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Fisherman by the sea.
A fisherman sits near fishing nets by the sea.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
At dawn Hawaiians put out to sea to pull in their fish nets. By law, their boat flies the American flag at bow.
Caption from LIFE. At dawn Hawaiians put out to sea to pull in their fish nets. By law, their boat flies the American flag at bow.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
An elderly man in Hawaii.
An elderly man sits in the sun in Hawaii.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A fisherman with a spear.
A fisherman with a spear prepares to make a catch.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Clemon Apeahi is Hawaiian. Rated as shiftless husbands, many Hawaiian men remain bachelors.
Caption from LIFE. Clemon Apeahi is Hawaiian. Rated as shiftless husbands, many Hawaiian men remain bachelors.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Farmers in Hawaii.
A portrait of two farmers in Hawaii.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A worker on the Dole plantation in Hawaii.
A worker on the Dole plantation carries an armload of pineapples.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A worker on the Dole plantation in Hawaii.
A worker on the Dole plantation gathers ripe pineapples.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Plant sprayers at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii.
Plant sprayers at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii pose for a portrait.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
University of Hawaii girls who are chosen by the student body to serve as Princesses and Queen in annual May Day ceremony held at the University.
Eight University of Hawaii students are chosen by the student body to serve as Princesses and Queen in the annual May Day ceremony held at the University.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Caucasian-Hawaiian (Portuguese, Irish, Hawaiian) is Barbara Sylva, 20, Hawaii senator's daughter.
Caption from LIFE. Caucasian-Hawaiian (Portuguese, Irish, Hawaiian) is Barbara Sylva, 20, Hawaii senator's daughter.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Girls dressed in hula skirts dancing inside.
Women dressed in hula skirts dance onstage.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Asiatic-Caucasian (Korean, Spanish, Engish) is Lava Pak, 23, and Army translator, named for an eruption.
Caption from LIFE. Asiatic-Caucasian (Korean, Spanish, Engish) is Lava Pak, 23, an Army translator, named for an eruption.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Two Hawaiian girls walking along the shore.
Two Hawaiian girls walk together along the shore.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Waikiki tomboys, under a banyon on beach are (from left) Marion Woolsley, 14, Chinese-Hawaiian-English; Patricia Cameron, 16, Portuguese-Scotch-Irish; Beatrice Clarke, 16, Hawaiian-Chinese-German. Canoes are stored under roots.
Caption from LIFE. Waikiki tomboys, under a banyon on beach are (from left) Marion Woolsley, 14, Chinese-Hawaiian-English; Patricia Cameron, 16, Portuguese-Scotch-Irish; Beatrice Clarke, 16, Hawaiian-Chinese-German. Canoes are stored under roots.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A couple in Hawaii.
A couple in Hawaii poses for a portrait against a fake landscape backdrop.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
People dancing at Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii.
A man and woman dance together at the Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
People dancing at Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii.
Several pairs dance at the Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Indiana Quaker, Sam Lindley, married a Chinese Quaker and has two fair haired girls, Renie and Renda. He raises goats and works as librarian at the University of Hawaii. He studies Chinese, wants to visit China.
Caption from LIFE. Indiana Quaker, Sam Lindley, married a Chinese Quaker and has two fair haired girls, Renie and Renda. He raises goats and works as librarian at the University of Hawaii. He studies Chinese, wants to visit China.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Chinese family includes elder Youngs, 78 and 71, and son, John, a painter. Chinese brought few wives from China because their bound feet were rated useless on plantations. Exclusion Act, which was repealed in 1943, shut out Chinese in 1900.
Caption from LIFE. Chinese family includes elder Youngs, 78 and 71, and son, John, a painter. Chinese brought few wives from China because their bound feet were rated useless on plantations. Exclusion Act, which was repealed in 1943, shut out Chinese in 1900.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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