And here's another promotional package – and an ambitious one at that: The Journal's Hawaiian Adventure. The full page ad from the June 6, 1963 Journal above describes the trip to Hawaii.
As the well-written ad copy notes, "Make your vacation of 1963 one that pulsates with life, providing joy today and cherished memories tomorrow.
"You just mustn't miss seeing the one and only island state – the fiftieth of our great nation. On your approach by air Hawaii has the appearance of green jewels sparkling in the blue Pacific.
"This is the summer to look at, taste, feel, smell and love lovely Hawaii.
"And the way to go is to join The Journal's Hawaiian Adventure, a conducted tour that will take you just about everywhere that is anywhere in Hawaii, a magic carpet expedition designed to provide you the fullest enjoyment while freeing you from the troubles, problems and petty annoyances of traveling."
This small Lorain Travel Bureau ad, which appeared in the Journal on June 4, 1963, provides a little more detail.
The 14-day trip had the price tag of $785 plus tax. In today's greenbacks, the $785 converts to about $7,800. It seems like a lot, but according to various online travel websites, the average cost of a trip to Hawaii today for one person for one week is about $4,000 – so maybe the Journal's package wasn't so bad.
I've never been to Hawaii. It's not on my bucket list or anything but I suppose it should be because of all that I've heard from friends and co-workers who have been there.
In the meantime, I'll have a glass of Hawaiian Punch and head down to Main Street Beach here in Vermilion.
4 comments:
When I hear the word Hawaii,I think of the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor,Elvis Presley's Hawaiian Concert and who else but Don Ho singing Tiny Bubbles.
Anonymous, I too think about the Elvis Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite concert, which was seen by more than one billion people live worldwide. The most ever for a television live special.
I also think of Pearl Harbor and Elvis. In 1961 efforts to raise money to build a memorial for those lost on the USS Arizona had stalled. Elvis and Colonel Parker heard about it and said they would do a benefit concert on March 25, 1961 to raise money for the memorial. The money raised from that concert was the catalyst needed to complete the fund raising. There is a plaque at the memorial commemorating Elvis' contribution to the project.
I was there, back in '10, I think it was. Took a kid there for a couple weeks as a college graduation present. His choice. I was worried I was gonna get stuck with "hiking glacier in Alaska."
A looong flight, for sure. But it was like no place I'd been, before, and we had a great time. We stayed in a bed and breakfast place in Kailua. Very nice. And expensive for a penny-pincher like me! It is a beautiful place with flowers blooming all over. Mountains, ocean. All beaches are public land, if you can reach them. Lots of hiking with one side of a mountain in tropical forest and the other in desert. There's also an odd but reasonably easy mix of so many different people and cultures. That's interesting, too. And, look! There's a DrugMart.
It would've been nice to go in the 1960s, before all the crowds and commercialism. I don't know if I'd want to live there. We were on Oahu - toured the Battleship Missouri and number of museums, did our share of swimming. But the longest you can drive (when the roads aren't clogged with traffic) is about 90 minutes--then you run out of island. And the sun is brutal in the summer. I had to wear a hat the whole time and got a slight sunburn right through a long-sleeve white cotton shirt!
There were places we were warned not to go, and not to leave anything valuable in sight in the car, like anywhere else, but we never felt the least bit unsafe or uncomfortable. Though, I saw a lot of circumstances where a drunken, loud, obnoxious haole might (and maybe should) get in trouble.
Funny how the small ad mentions "passport-puzzles." You don't need one to get into or out of Hawai'i. Unless, of course, you're using it as I.D. to fly the increasingly unfriendly skies.
What I think about...
https://youtu.be/AepyGm9Me6w
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