The local saying "back in day" takes on deeper meaner at a new photo exhibit marking Bishop Museum’s 125th year.

The 1,000-plus historical photographs from the museum’s archives vividly depict everyday life in the islands through the decades.

"Since it’s our 125th year, we wanted an exhibit celebrating that fact," said Brad Evans, director of exhibits and production. "We decided, ‘Let’s tell the story of Hawaii in that time period.’ You see that people lived very different lives, they got there in different ways and they wore different clothes and listened to different music."

"CHANGE: 125 Years Through the Eyes of Bishop Museum," opened Friday and is on exhibit through March 16 in the J.M. Long Gallery.

The interactive, multimedia presentation is not displayed chronologically but grouped thematically, covering topics such as food, entertainment, fashion, sports, communication, education, transportation, shopping, political life and home life.

A photo from 1890 shows how the profile of Punchbowl crater has changed when compared with one taken today. Using a touch-screen tablet, museum visitors can see the two images side by side.

In another example of then versus now, 100 pounds of pineapple cost just $1.50 in 1917, or a penny and a half a pound. In 1954, you could buy a pound of the fruit for 9 cents, and today, $1.59 a pound.

Museum researchers pored through newspaper ads to find the prices from different eras for a dozen items, according to Evans.

"We had a lot of fun putting this together," he said.

A gallery of Hawaii newspaper front pages and headlines marks historic events dating from 1889 to the present. A bold headline from the Dec. 7, 1941, Honolulu Star-Bulletin 1st Extra edition reads: "WAR! Oahu Bombed By Japanese Planes."

Visitors can try their hand at cursive handwriting as it used to be taught in schools, turn the dial on an antique radio to hear samples of music from the 1920s to the current day, or listen to a party-line conversation on an antique rotary phone.

Visitors are even invited to (unofficially) vote for a new state fruit in an authentic voting booth. Among the fruits "campaigning" for recognition are the pineapple, mango, lilikoi and ohelo berry.

Evans said the "CHANGE" exhibit is designed for multi-generational families to explore together.

"We’re hoping that people, especially kids, will be asking questions and, hopefully, parents and grandparents will have fun saying, ‘Well, that’s a typewriter or a rotary dial phone. Or that’s how I used to listen to music.’"