How the spirit of the season found its way to the islands

This account was first published in its entirety in the Hawaii Catholic Herald on Dec. 20, 1985.

By Father Louis Yim | Hawaii Catholic Herald

The earliest reference of a Christmas celebration in Hawaii was recorded by the English sea captain George Dixon in December 1786, when his ship, the Queen Charlotte, was anchored in Waimea Bay, Kauai. He noted in his journal: “This being Christmas ... we spent the time ... with plenty of good cheer ...” He then wrote of feasting with his crew on roast pig, other foods and “Christmas libations in punch mixed with the juice of the cocoanut.”

With the coming of Americans and Europeans to these shores, especially during the first half of the 19th century, Christmas gradually became a regular event in the Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1827, one observer wrote, “Christmas appears to be noticed in the village (of Honolulu).” Accustomed to the traditions of their homelands, the foreign settlers of Honolulu were hosting Christmas dinner parties and “joyful social gatherings” among families and friends. That same observer in 1827 also noted: “A dinner (was being) prepared in Poki’s (Boki, the governor of Oahu) wood house, another at the Consul’s. The mechanics and others I learned were to have a dinner.”

Newspaper accounts

Local newspapers of the period chronicled the islands’ growing Christmas practices. Hawaii’s first English-language newspaper, the Sandwich Island Gazette (which, by the way, had its printing press in a rented building on the premises of the Catholic Mission on Fort Street), published in 1837 the first commercial Christmas greeting to appear in print. “With all good wishes for the welfare of our patrons, and of every member of the community, we wish them a Merry Christmas ...” it said in part.

The following year, 1838, the Gazette ran another Christmas message plus a Christmas extract taken from the “Sketch Book.” Another newspaper, The Polynesian, in 1846 expressed the wish: “May you never wake to a less pleasant Christmas morn.” And the Sandwich Island News, also in 1846, printed for its readers the popular Christmas poem by Clement C. Moore, “St. Nicholas’ Visit.”

In 1844, the Polynesian reported that many of the town’s foreign merchants closed their shops on Christmas as “their occupants (were) engaged in the customary amusements of (the Christmas holiday).” The same paper also commented: “in the evening the lady of the French Consul (Jules Dudoit) gave a large and very agreeable entertainment at which were present ‘tout le mond.’”

This new trend of Hawaii’s Christmas celebrations was further noted in 1856 when a letter to the Polynesian cited how one Honoluluan spent the holiday: “In the evening I visited the Circus and at night attended a Mechanic’s Subscription Ball. The most intricate quadrilles, foreign waltzes, polkas, mazukas, redowas, etc. were danced to time and measure.”

Presents, trees and Santa

Christmas presents were also in vogue and, as expected, advertisements of Christmas sales soon appeared in the papers. Possibly the first such ad was one printed in the Polynesian in 1847: “Christmas Gifts — Just opened at Everett & Co’s., a small invoice of fancy French and China colognes.” The 1850s saw an increase in Christmas ads. They announced “toys suitable for Christmas present,” “confectionery and perfumery,” “a fine assortment of Books and albums,” “Pina Handkerchiefs and Dresses” and “a choice and very large variety of Christmas cakes ... at Mrs. Cattenach’s store on Nuuanu street.”

Christmas trees and Santa Claus found their way to Hawaii in the 1850s. Punahou School had this item in the school paper in 1850: “We would remind our readers that Old Santa Claus may be expected to pay us his annual visit a week from this evening.” David L. Gregg, the United States commissioner to Hawaii, wrote in his diary on Christmas Day, 1857, that “Last evening Mr. Bates had a party of neighbors with a Christmas tree, etc.” Gregg, who attended the event with his wife and young daughter Carrie, made an additional amusing comment: “Carrie was desperately frightened by Santa Claus, personated by Dudley Bates in a somewhat wretched manner (!)”

An impressive Christmas tree party was reported in 1858 by the Pacific Commercial Advertiser. It was hosted by the widow Mrs. John Dominis, the future mother-in-law of Queen Liliuokalani, at her residence, Washington Place. The tree —“all lighted up with candles and the branches bending under the weight of the gifts” — was set up “in one of the upper chambers” of the mansion. Santa Claus made his appearance to present gifts to about 100 children and after a large dinner the youngsters were sent home and “the evening was spent in dancing.”

In 1862, the Polynesian had this to say: “Christmas trees were dressed in various quarters of the town; the custom, we are glad to see, is gradually increasing and promises to become a permanent institution in our community.” Hawaii’s Christmas trees, in those days, were of the local variety cut in the mountains. The islands did not begin to import trees from the Mainland until about 1903.

Puritan convictions

But Christmas in Hawaii during this period involved mostly the “haoles.” The Hawaiians, although converted to Christianity, never observed Christmas. This was due, strange as it may seem, to the disapproval of the Christian missionaries who came to Hawaii in 1820. Of traditional Puritan convictions, these New Englanders could find no Biblical reference for the Christmas observance, and considered the celebration tainted with superstitious pagan customs. One of them, in 1843, criticized Christmas in Honolulu in this way: “This has been a Merry Christmas to many but the way (they) have kept it has not been acceptable to Him who was born on this memorable day ... to devote this day to merriment.” The missionaries affirmed the significance of Christ’s birth, but they never held special Christmas church services for their Hawaiian congregations.

Interestingly, the missionaries had sought to join Thanksgiving (a festive day for them) with Christmas as one celebration. Kamehameha IV obliged them by designating Dec. 25, 1856, as this combined holiday in the kingdom. David L. Gregg criticized the king’s decision saying, “It was I think in bad taste that it was so arranged.” However, The Friend, a monthly missionary publication, commented, “the union of these festival days appears to have general satisfaction.” And two years later, in 1858, The Friend bemoaned the fact that this had failed to become an annual event and was of the opinion that “the blending of the two days will have the most happy effect upon all classes.”

The Catholic influence

The Catholics were the only ones who maintained a religious observance of Christmas Day. But undergoing persecution in the 1830s, and struggling to reestab1ish their missions in the 1840s, they made little impact on Hawaii’s early Christmas scene. In fact, the first Catholic missionary, Father Alexis Bachelot, had the most unpleasant experience during the Christmas of 1831. Ordered to leave the Islands by the Hawaiian government, he had pleaded: “But we should be happy to put off the departure if it be possible till after Sunday which happens to be Christmas day and which we should like to pass on shore.” The request was denied and he was expelled from Hawaii on Dec. 24.

With the granting of religious freedom in 1839, the Catholic missionaries resumed their Hawaii mission the following year. That Christmas of 1840, Father Louis Maigret succinctly scribbled in his journal: “It is the beautiful feast of Christmas.” No mention was made of the festive Christmas Mass that probably was celebrated in the old Mission chapel on Fort Street. But the next year, 1841, Brother Calixte Lecomte wrote in his journal: “For Christmas, about 350 people received Communion at the first Mass.” And he also informed us that “Father Mathias had forgotten to tell the parishioners on the previous Sunday about abstinence.”

Our Lady of Peace Cathedral was completed during the summer of 1843. Of the first Christmas in the new church that year, Brother Lecomte wrote: “over 500 people received Communion, Father Maigret has baptized 32 people today, Christmas Day.”

In 1847, Father Maigret was consecrated a bishop and was made vicar apostolic of the Catholic Mission in Hawaii. Christmas in Honolulu’s Catholic cathedral was now observed with all the splendor of the traditional Roman Catholic Pontifical High Mass. Brother Victorinus Bertrand of the mission indicated this in his journal on Christmas Day, 1857. “The feast of Christmas, a magnificent ceremony (of the Mass) with the Bishop (Maigret) pontificating and Father Raymond (Delalande) as deacon and Father Agathange (Grould) as subdeacon.”

Glimmer of change

Although the Catholics maintained a low profile in their Christmas observances, they did not go unnoticed. In 1861, the Polynesian had this to say: “among the many Christian Churches in this town, the Catholic Church ALONE devoted a portion of the day to religious services and that portion of the population, foreign and native, alone seemed to remember that on that day a child was born.”

But Christmas in mid-l9th century Hawaii was witnessing a glimmer of change among the Protestant missionaries. An event during the Christmas of 1857 in Honolulu received some attention to this effect. Rev. Samuel C. Damon, chaplain of the Seamen’s Bethel Church (which gave Bethel Street its name), was commended in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser. “Divine service will be performed at the Bethel, tomorrow Christmas Day at 11 o’clock a.m. A sermon suited to the occasion will be preached by the Rev. Mr. Damon. This is a new feature in the celebration of Christmas at these Islands, and a very praiseworthy imitation of the custom in other countries.”

David L. Gregg likewise commented in his diary about the incident: “Rev. Mr. Damon had services this (Christmas) morning. Some of his brethren sneer at his observance of a foolish custom. It is not a new thing among Presbyterians to hold that Christmas is a superstitious festival. Wonder how it is they consent to commemorate their own birth days or the birth of Washington! The advent of the Savior was not less important to the world.” Gregg, a devout Catholic, was obviously critical of the Protestants’ views on Christmas.

The turning point of the history of Christmas in Hawaii would have to be its celebration in 1862. The Hawaiian Kingdom, from hereon, would designate Christmas as a national holiday on its calendar and, gradually, all of its citizens, “foreign and native,” would be involved with the Christmas observance.

A touch of royalty

Impressed with the Anglican religion, Kamehameha IV had arranged (not without political implications) to have the Church of England established in the Hawaiian Kingdom. Bishop Thomas N. Staley arrived in October 1862 to head the Hawaii Anglican Mission. Acquiring a former Methodist church on the corner of Nuuanu and Kukui Streets, Bishop Staley began making arrangements for an elaborate Christmas celebration with a midnight church service in his temporary cathedral. He would later note in his diary: “The king, who is with us in all our proceedings, proclaimed a general holiday for that day.”

Confirmed as members of the Anglican Church on Nov. 28, Kamehameha IV and his wife, Queen Emma, actively participated in Bishop Staley’s Christmas plans. The king sent his subjects into the mountains to cut cypress boughs and “also supplied a large quantity of myrtle, orange boughs, and beautiful flowers” for the decoration of the church. He also loaned the church his silver candelabra from the palace “so that when night came, and the time for midnight service arrived, the church was a perfect blaze of light.”

Archdeacon George Mason of the Anglican mission described the event: “On Christmas Eve, the arrangements in the church were finished by 5 p.m., and I never saw in England a church so beautifully decorated. The natives have great taste in these matters ... Crosses, circles, and the sacred initials I.H.S. abounded. Over the altar was the text ‘The Word was made flesh,’ in native and in English.”

The services began at 11:30 p.m. Mason continued with his description: “The Litany was first softly chanted in native. Then the bishop and clergy put on their best robes, and with a choir of 20 in surplices, we walked in procession round the church singing ‘Adeste Fideles.’ Then the Holy Communion service commenced — choral throughout. About 30 received. Service over at 1:00 a.m., a salute was fired from the battery and then commenced a grand night scene as I can only faintly describe.”

Early island ecumenism

The “battery” mentioned here was situated on Punchbowl. Announced by the loud gun-salute, barrels of lighted tar were sent rolling down the rim of the crater to brighten the Christmas night over Honolulu. Then, led by lighted torches, a lively procession made up of the king and queen, clergy and choir, and the people wound its way through the streets of Honolulu shouting and cheering and singing Christmas carols. In a spirit of early Hawaii ecumenism, the procession made its way to the Catholic Mission on Fort Street and sang for the bishop, “Luis Makale,” as Father Robert A. Walsh “came out on the porch of the Catholic rectory” to cheer the whole proceeding. The procession then continued on toward the palace grounds.

The people all gathered in the palace courtyard (not the present one, but the previous Iolani Palace) and Archdeacon Mason described the festivities. “At this moment, some really good fireworks were let off and rockets shot up into the air amidst deafening shouts from a thousand voices for the king and queen. … We (later) made the air ring with the National Anthem and another round of protracted ‘Hurrahs,’ and so to bed.”

Christmas, in full regalia, had finally arrived in Hawaii.

Father Yim in the retired diocesan archivist and historian.