Corinne Schulman gave me a box of old Beacon magazines this week. She used to be its publisher. Some of my readers will remember the Beacon, which was a Koko Head-to-Kahala monthly magazine published here from 1961 to 1974.
One article in the Beacon reminded me that 50 years ago this month Jacqueline Kennedy and her children, Caroline and John-John, spent seven weeks in the islands with her brother-in-law Peter Lawford and his two kids.
Their seven weeks in Hawaii were part of six months of travel that included trips to Switzerland, Argentina, Spain and Sun Valley, Idaho.
Over 4,000 residents greeted them at the airport, including musicians and a hula troupe. Six little girls from Sacred Hearts Academy presented them with lei.
Kennedy was the widow of President John. F. Kennedy, who was gunned down in 1963. Whereas Franklin Roosevelt was the first president made for radio (remember his fireside chats), the Kennedys were picture perfect for that newfangled medium television.
John was 44 and Jackie was just 31 when he was elected president. They were handsome and telegenic. Their time in the White House was compared to Camelot and the legend of King Arthur.
The Kennedys and Lawfords stayed at a home on Kahala Avenue, under the direction of developer Cecily Johnston, and later at Henry Kaiser’s Portlock estate.
Johnston owned a 4,000-square-foot house at 4653 Kahala Ave. She was a founder of Pacific Construction, which built the Ilikai Hotel and Foster Towers.
The Kennedys and Lawfords stayed next door to each other during the summer of 1966 and were frequent visitors to the Johnstons’.
One of Johnston’s children remembers Jackie making breakfast one morning. He was too young at the time to realize its significance.
The Kennedys had a telephone installed at their rental home for their visit, Eddie Sherman reported. Curtis Kaahanui was doing the installation when John-John came up and asked if he’d like to play ball with him. So Kaahanui did.
John-John and Caroline made another friend on Kahala beach, a lost cat they named Kamehameha. When they returned home six weeks later, Kamehameha made the trip with him, in a cat carrier.
Caroline and John-John, then 8 and 5 years old, wanted to see the Don Ho show, they told their mother. They had been hearing his songs on the radio.
The Secret Service checked out Duke Kahanamoku’s nightclub at the International Marketplace, where he was playing, but thought it was not securable.
So Kennedy threw a party and asked Don to come and entertain. The kids started throwing each other in the pool at one point, and Jackie joined in. Don picked her up and jumped into the pool.
When one Secret Service agent reached to help her out, she pulled him into the pool, too.
The Secret Service was upset and it made international news. It was all in good fun, Jackie said. Don was the best Hawaii host she could have had.
Jackie told reporters that she came to Hawaii because of her Vassar College friends. “At college a group of girls from Hawaii were my friends.
“I had never heard any people speak of home with such nostalgia as they did — the waters, the winds, the names, the flowers, the peace — I always wanted to come to the place that was loved so much.”
Jackie’s Vassar roommate was local girl Edna Harrison, whose mother occasionally sent gift baskets of island treats. The fragrance of pikake lei in particular lingered in their room, which Jackie found delightful.
Two other island women, Louise Erdman and Betsy Sumner, were also at Vassar in 1949. Edna said, “Jacqueline was a marvelous friend — attractive, amusing and great fun. She was a stimulating companion yet gentle and soft-spoken.
Hannah Hodgins was 14, she said, when she saw Jackie Kennedy at the Outrigger Canoe Club, where she smiled at everyone. “She doesn’t wear makeup and has lots of freckles,” Hodkins remarked.
Kennedy met with some of Hawaii’s famed beachboys and took a surfing lesson from them.
A mix-up occurred later when Jackie was left at the Outrigger by several friends, who were all sure someone else had taken her home. With a small entourage of Secret Service men, her wait was brief.
One night the Kennedys dined at Mochizuki Teahouse in Liliha. James Fujita, whose parents owned the famed teahouse, recalls: “One evening in the ’60s, we opened our doors to a very special guest. Gov. John Burns hosted a dinner for Jacqueline Kennedy and her children John Jr. and Caroline.
“They were the only customers that evening, and I remember the police and Secret Service were everywhere. No one was allowed to say anything until after they were long gone.”
Burns invited the Kennedys to Iolani Palace to watch the Kamehameha Day Parade from the second-floor balcony. Afterward, Burns showed the group his private office, which had once been King Kalakaua’s bedroom.
Jackie left a red carnation lei at the foot of the Kamehameha Statue, across King Street, and John Jr. snapped photos with a pocket camera.
Jackie took 10 lessons in Chinese painting and calligraphy from professor Chew Hee at his studio in Kaneohe. A watercolor of a birdcage, believed to be painted here, signed “Jackie, 1966” was found in her New York apartment when she died in 1994.
The family spent five days on the Big Island and on Kauai. They made a one-day visit to Maui.
While in the islands, Jackie went water-skiing before attending a Fourth of July supper party at the Kaiser Estate. She arrived barefoot and in a casual muumuu.
Caroline went horseback riding in Kahuku. John Jr. watched a sumo wrestling match, and Jackie was seen at a Tahiti Imports store where she bought three hibiscus-print bikinis and pareu. Later she was seen dining at Canlis Broiler (at the time Honolulu’s top restaurant).
When it came time to leave, Jackie wrote a letter to the two papers.
“I want to thank you for all that you have done to make this vacation such a perfect one for my children and for me.
“From Governor Burns who so kindly watched over us and asked people to help make our visit private, to the driver of a vegetable truck who went out of his way to lead us several miles, when we merely asked directions, everyone in Hawaii has been the same. I hope the aloha spirit is contagious, because it could change the world.”
Do you remember the Kennedys’ visit in 1966 and have a story about it? If so, please send me an email.
Bob Sigall, author of the Companies We Keep books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
