From Our Files

March archives

Our History

In 1888, King Kalakaua issued a royal charter, commissioning a magazine. Then titled Paradise of the Pacific, this publication became HONOLULU Magazine, making it the oldest magazine west of the Mississippi.

1961

Mad about the Mad Men look? It was as noteworthy in the ’60s as its recent revival in the cable show of that name has been. Paradise of the Pacific notes that while many of Honolulu’s professional men have stuck with conservative Brooks Brothers suits—this was pre-aloha-shirt Honolulu—more adventurous men, “Hawaii’s answer to Madison Avenue,” have happily “donned, with a bold flourish, ‘The Look’ (translated to mean the right look, the smart look), which calls for natural shoulders, narrow lapels, fine fabrics … becoming darker in color and lighter in weight by the year … for slimmer trousers, button-down and tab-collar shirts, narrow ties and slightly pointed shoes.”

1971

Disco fever! HONOLULU Magazine checks out a $2 million redesign of the Denny’s Imperial Hawaii Hotel, which includes Captain Nemo’s, shown above, “a discotheque inspired by Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Psychedelic lights groove to the exuberant beat of bright young combos. In fact, the lights are tuned in to the amplified instruments to match automatically the rhythm and the mood.” At the time, the restaurant chain, Denny’s, was branching out into hotels and its first acquisition was The Imperial in 1969, purchased largely unfinished. Denny’s hired local architects to give the property a “modern Hawaii” feel. Another attraction? A main dining room called the Aquarium, featuring a 54,000-gallon tank filled with tropical fish. Now known as The Imperial Hawaii Resort at Waikiki, this Lewers Street building operates as a timeshare. There is still a Denny’s on the street level.

1986

“Throughout George Ariyoshi’s three terms as governor, reporters could never figure out the reason for his hands-off policy toward controversies at the University of Hawaii and the Department of Education,” notes HONOLULU Magazine. “As late as the 1982 election, Ariyoshi was still ducking questions about why public school test scores were falling. … Then came the big switch. Ariyoshi won his third and final term. … And now the governor is urging a complete audit of the DOE. In his recent State of the State message, he sternly admonished all to ‘let the chips fall where they may.’”