Aloha, from 1907
Century- old postcard finds its way back home
After106 years, a postcard has finally returned home.
Thanks to a Boynton historian and a splash of serendipity, the postcard— which cost a penny in1907— will be put on permanent display in a Hawaii museum as an “invaluable” part of the island’s history.
“I came so close to putting it back,” said Ginger Pedersen, a vice president of the Boynton Historical Society. “But something inside told meto pick it up.”
Pedersen found the early 1900s postcard, sent froma Hawaiian sugar plantation owner to aUnited States Congressman, at the Tropical Postcard Convention in Pompano in August.
When she paid $ 7.50 for the vintage postcard, she had no idea what she had stumbled on.
“I just liked it because of its old age and the picture of the sailboat,” she said.
The card shows a traditional Hawaiian sailboat coasting towards the palm trees of Cocoanut Island, Hawaii. It’s addressed to former U. S. Rep. Philip P. Campbell of Kansas, who served between1903 and 1923. It came from Francis
Gay, a prominentHawaiian land owner and sugar farmer.
Once Pedersen read the inscription, she knew she had a piece of history on her hands.
Gaywrote to Campbell: “With aloha nui fromus all and wishing you a very pleasant trip. – Francis Gay, Makaweli, Kauai“
Pedersen spent a year in Kauai when shewas10 and is familiar with the Gay family and their plantation at Makaweli, which she said can’t be found on amap.
The Gay family spent120 years producing sugar throughout theHawaiian islands under the company name of Gay& Robinson. The family still owns a quarter of the island of Kauai, “The Garden Island,” and the entire island ofNi’ihau, “The Forbidden Island.”
Kauai is a rural island with mountains and two- lane roads. Ni’ihau is about the size of Palm Beach County and restricts visitors, as it is home to only130 native Hawaiianswhohave been relatively untouched by technology.
“WhenI sawthe name, I knewwhoitwas,” she said. “Iwas surprised that somehowin106 years it didn’t get thrown away. I sawit and thought, gosh, this thing needs to go home back to Kauai.”
So, more than a century after the postcardwas shipped to the mainland by steamboat, Pedersen sent it back over that same ocean, via an express jet lastweek.
“It’s a mission of mine to get items where they need to go to be protected and preserved,” Pedersen said. “Maybe it’ll provide a clue for someone someday.”
Chris Faye, curator of the KauaiMuseum, said it’s “out of the blue” and “unusual” to receive a century- old postcard, but she’s happy to have a piece of the island’s history back on the island.
“It’s a great find. It’s just interesting howeverything is connected, Itwas meant to be,” she said about getting the postcard back106 years after itwas first sent.
According to an outside appraisal, the postcard is nowworth between $ 100 and $ 150, said Patty Anderson, of Patty’s Antique Postcards. She adds: “but the fact that it nowresides at a museum, of course, some would say labels it as ’ priceless’.” Faye agrees, “itmay not be valuable money wise, but historically it’s invaluable.”
Faye said that the Gay family name iswell- known in the area and she will add the postcard to the museum’s collection next year.
Faye said that she can only suspect what Campbellwas doing inHawaii in the early 1900s.
“[ Campbell] probably came to the area on factfinding trip to check on the harbors and roads,” she said.
Pedersen has her own ideas about the trip that prompted thewell- wishing postcard. “Gaymay have befriended the congressman whileHawaiiwas looking towards becoming a state.”
America annexed the territory ofHawaii in1898 and it became a state in1959.
What actually happened between the twomenis still amystery, but Pedersen and Faye say they are one step closer to figuring it out.
TomMoore, of theTropical Postcard Club, said he isn’t surprised that a postcard has unlocked a bit of America’s past.
“There’s a lot of history in these postcards,” he said. “They’re a chronicle of time.”