What Waikiki, Honolulu looked like in the 1940s

#1 Kalakaua Birdseye Waikiki.

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It is amazing to see how much open land there still was at this point in time on the mauka (inland) side of Kalakaua Avenue compared to the makai (ocean) side. But that would be changing quickly looking at the platted lots ready for homebuilders and businesses in the upper right quadrant.

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#2 Old Waikiki, looking west along Kalakaua Avenue from east of the Kaiulani Avenue intersection, 1945

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#3 The art deco Waikiki Theater on Kalakaua Avenue, 1945

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#4 Looking towards the mauka side of Kalakaua Avenue at the Waikiki Theater block, 1946

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#5 The stately 1901 Moana Hotel on Waikik’s Kalakaua Avenue some time after the 1918 reinforced concrete end wings were added, 1930s

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#6 Waikiki’s magnificent Moana Hotel viewed from across Kalakaua Avenue.

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#7 View from courtyard of the Moana Cottages looking across Kalakaua Avenue towards the Moana Hotel, 1948

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#8 Nice sharp photo of the stately Moana Hotel taken from the 1920s Moana Bungalows looking across Waikiki’s Kalakaua Avenue, 1940s

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#9 Looking makai at the courtyard and bungalows across Kalakaua Avenue from the Moana Hotel.

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#10 The tranquil courtyard and bungalows across Kalakaua Avenue from the Moana Hotel, 1940.

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#11 The Earl Thacker Co. on Waikiki’s Kalakaua Avenue across from the Moana Hotel, 1940s.

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#12 Wartime streetview of Kalakaua Avenue looking more or less east from the bus stop at the Waikiki Theater Block, 1940s

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#13 Kalakaua from the Moana, 1940s.

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Vantage point is an upper floor at the 1901 Moana Hotel looking over the roof of the neighboring 1941 Outrigger Arcade and across Kalakaua Avenue towards the 1936 Waikiki Theater block.

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#14 Looking west from an upper floor at the Moana Hotel at the Outrigger Canoe Club and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, 1940s

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#15 Kalakaua Avenue at the intersection with Royal Hawaiian Avenue in Waikiki Town, 1944

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#16 Looking mauka along Kalaimoku Street in Waikiki. You could get your car lubed while taking in a movie, 1946

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#17 Early days at Waikiki’s other Art Deco movie house, the 1941 Kuhio Theater on Kuhio Avenue at Kalaimoku, 1947

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#18 The tropical interior of the Waikiki Theater, 1940s

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#19 The art-deco Waikiki Theater on Kalakaua Avenue across from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, 1943.

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#20 Quite a crowd of uniformed servcemen and a few civilians showed up at the Waikiki Theater on Kalakaua Avenue, 1943

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#21 Art Deco Waikiki Theater on Kalakaua Avenue in the center of Waikiki, 1947

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#22 Looking across Kalakaua Avenue at the Waikiki Theater, 1945

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#23 Art Deco Waikiki Theater on the mauka (inland) side of Kalakaua Avenue across from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, 1946

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#24 Art Deco masterpiece on Kalakaua Avenue, 1949

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It was closed in 2002, and demolished in 2005.

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#25 Waikiki Theater at Night, 1948.

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"Adventures of Don Juan" (1948) starring Erroll Flynn and Viveca Lindfors was playing that night.

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#26 Liberty House department store on the mauka side of Kalakaua Avenue in the Waikiki Theatre Block, 1944

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#27 The Waikiki Theater Block on the mauka (inland) side of Kalakaua Avenue between Kaiulani and Seaside Avenues, 1940s

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#28 Sailors at the Waikiki Theater on Kalakaua Avenue, 1940s

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#29 The old Waikiki Theater Block on Kalakaua Avenue, 1944

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#30 The old Waikiki Drug Co. on Kalakaua Avenue between the Waikiki Theater and Liberty House Waikiki, 1946

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#31 The shops between the old Waikiki Theater and Liberty House on the mauka side of Kalakaua Avenue, 1947

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#32 Overexposed but interesting view looking more or less west at the Waikiki Theater Block on Kalakaua Avenue, 1940s

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#33 The Willard European hotel cottages in the “garden spot of Waikiki” on Lewers Road at Kalia, 1940s

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#34 The Willard Inn cottages on Lewers Road at Kalia in Waikiki. Demolished late to make way for the Edgewater Hotel, 1940s

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#35 The tranquil tropical gardens at the long gone Willard Inn which used to be on the corner of Waikiki’s Kalia Road at Lewers Road (now Lewers Street), 1940s

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This low rise cottage hotel became the site of the architect/hotelier Roy Kelley’s seven floor 1950-2005 Edgewater Hotel.

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#36 Ladies enjoying a smoke in the rattan furnished Lanai Lounge at the Willard Inn, Waikiki, 1940s

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#37 A lanai guest room at the Willard Inn on Lewers at Kalia, Waikiki, 1940s

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#38 Liliuokalani Ave at Koa Waikiki, 1944.

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Picturesque cottage on the NW corner of Waikiki’s Liliuokalani and Koa Avenues, just a block mauka from Kuhio Beach. The 1970 19-story Waikiki Resort Hotel is on the site today.

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#39 Moana Court Bungalows, 1940s.

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This was once the view from the Moana Hotel porte-cochère looking across Kalakaua Avenue at the Moana Court bungalows. Moana Court came down in the early 1950s to be replaced by the 1955 Princess Kaiulani Hotel.

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#40 Outrigger Arcade on the Kalakaua Avenue side of the Outrigger Canoe Club, 1940s

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#41 Lei stringers at the park on the makai side of Kalakaua Avenue at Beachwalk, 1940s

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#42 Residential section of Waikiki on Lewers Street at Aloha Drive, between Kuhio Avenue and Ala Wai Blvd. 1940s

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#43 Tropical decor at Roy Kelley’s Islander Hotel on Seaside Avenue, 1940s

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#44 Diamond Head from the penthouse at Hotelier Roy Kelley’s Islander Hotel on Seaside Avenue in Waikiki, 1940s

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#45 Roy Kelley’s first hotel, the five story Islander at 351 Seaside Avenue, just makai of Kuhio, 1947

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#46 The old Waikiki Tavern and Inn on the makai (ocean) side of Waikiki’s Kalakaua Avenue, 1930s.

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#47 Looking Diamond Head along the mauka (inland) side of Waikiki’s Kalakaua Avenue, 1940s

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#48 St. Augustine’s Catholic Church on the NW corner of Kalakaua and Ohua Avenues in Waikiki, 1949.

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#49 Kind of unusual photo of an HRT (Honolulu Rapid Transit) electric trolley bus making a wide U-turn at the Kalakaua – Monsarrat Avenue intersection, 1940s

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#50 Old Waikiki Aquarium, 1949.

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#51 One of two 7” naval cannons that used to be on the Kalakaua Avenue side of the Waikiki Natatorium, 1949

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#52 Kalakaua Avenue side of the landmark James B. Castle mansion “Kainalu” on the water at the tip of Diamond Head.

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#53 Waikiki Elks Club from Kalakaua, 1940s

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#54 Waikiki Elks Club Main Entrance, 1940s

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#55 Waikiki Elks Club Billiards Lounge, 1940s

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#56 Looking mauka towards Manoa Valley from the Ala Wai Canal which separates Waikiki from the rest of Honolulu, 1947

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#57 Nice sharp street level snap of Kalakaua Avenue looking west, 1940s

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#58 Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, a club and hotel in Honolulu, 1940

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#59 Couples sit outdoors at patio tables, having a meal at a beach side restaurant while a waiter looks on, Waikiki Beach, 1945

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#60 Grandiose Waikiki building, 1940s

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#61 Men walk on sand at Waikiki, 1940s

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#62 Wide shot of people bathing in water, 1940s

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#63 Two sailors walk in uniform on beach, 1940s

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#64 Sailors mill outside of Waikiki theater block on quiet street with parked cars and palm trees, 1940s

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#65 U.S. Military Ships in Water Near Pearl Harbor Attacks, 1940s

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#66 Soldiers Celebrating with Hawaiian Women in Waikiki, 1940s

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#67 Waikiki Beach, 1940s

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