Authorship

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Hawai`i Circa 1945

I know little about the history of the images I present here.


They appear to be images taken by a tourist to Hawai`i before the chain of islands officially became a state. 


Of course, it isn't the actual set of photographs that tells the story in this instance. 


This set of images along with a bunch of others were in my grandparent's collection. However, it is highly unlikely they would have spent time at a luau during stops in Hawai`i on their way to Japan. I believe these photos were from a trusted family friend, Bill, a former soldier of the 442nd. 


What brings me to this conclusion? Of the images not presented in this set, one has an inscription stating Italy 1945. Another has a hand written note stating simply "Mussolini's palace 1945." Also, pocket size images of pretty women would be a personal treasure for the deprived soldier of the era.

My guess is that after serving in the European Theater during the duration, he was granted some shore leave in Hawai`i. And while there was still tension over the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the islands of this  still had the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. It's hard to say though. My assumptions may be completely off base as this could be just another random photograph lost to time. 
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