The History of Hawai‘i From Our Files: The 50th Star on the U.S. Flag Debuts on July 4, 1960
We flip back to 1960 for the debut of our state’s star on the U.S. flag, the same day when new stamps went on sale at the Honolulu post office.
For more than 100 years, HONOLULU Magazine has kept its readers and advertisers at the vanguard of fashion, insight and fun. Starting out as Paradise of the Pacific in 1888 with a commission from King Kalākaua, we’re the oldest continually publishing magazine west of the Mississippi. Here is a look into our archives.
The 50th star on the U.S. flag debuts on July 4, 1960. Paradise notes that 30 new 50-star flags will be unfurled over the nation’s Capitol in Washington, and stamps will go on sale at the post office in Honolulu that same day and across the nation on July 5. “The collection impulses are scheduled to reach fever pitch,” Paradise says. “First day cover (envelope with postage stamps) requests from a single large stamp dealer in the Eastern United States filled an entire post office work truck.”
FAST FACT: On July 7, 1898, the U.S. Congress annexes Hawai‘i. The Islands become a territory in 1900 and a state in 1959.
Learn more about the evolution of covers in HONOLULU Magazine and Paradise of the Pacific: 125 Years of Covers, available at shop.honolulumagazine.com.
