Title:
Hawaii Trip 3/3 — 1950s Vintage Travel Film
REEL ID:
L018R010
RUN TIME:
00:14:11
FORMAT:
16mm motion picture film
FILM TYPE:
Color Kodak Kodachrome
SOUND:
Silent (no synchronized sound
Description:
The third and final reel in this beautifully preserved midcentury Hawaii travel series captures the golden age of island adventure through an intimate, personal lens. Though a stray hair briefly appears in the early frames—a reminder of the film’s authentic analog origins—the footage that follows offers a vivid portrait of Hawaii as experienced by American travelers in the 1950s.
The reel opens aboard a ship at sea before arriving on Kauai, where sweeping panoramas of Waimea Canyon and elevated scenic views reveal the island’s dramatic terrain. Interwoven with these vistas are quiet, human moments: sharing a meal, swimming in the ocean, and a Hawaiian child playing along the shoreline—details that lend warmth and intimacy to the travelogue.
The journey continues with scenes of pineapple field workers harvesting crops, followed by the powerful spray of Spouting Horn. A loving couple strolls along a pristine beach, reinforcing the film’s romantic and leisurely tone.
The reel then turns reflective with scenes from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, before concluding with a breathtaking finale: authentic lava footage of Pele’s volcanic flow. This dramatic sequence is spliced in from Bud Thuener Productions’ travel film Waikiki 1955, adding rare professional volcanic imagery to the home-movie narrative.
The journey ends on a note of departure and nostalgia, with a Pan American World Airways airplane preparing for takeoff—bringing the voyage, and the series, to a graceful close.
Together, this final reel serves as both a travelogue and a time capsule, preserving Hawaii’s landscapes, labor, leisure, and spirit during the height of midcentury tourism.
Tags:
Hawaii, 1950s, Kauai, Waimea Canyon, Spouting Horn, Pineapple farming, Volcano lava, Pele, Bud Thuener Productions, Waikiki 1955, Pan American Airlines, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaiian child, Beach couple, Swimming, Ship at sea, Vintage tourism, Midcentury travel, Pacific Islands, Analog film, Historical footage, Aerial scenery, Carl Damaske Collection
