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Elks Honolulu Lodge No. 616
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Elks Carnival 1911: Unusually Worth While
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By several measures, the Feb 1911 Elks Carnival was a success. As it drew to a close, the hundreds of visiting Shriners steamed away on the SS Wilhelmina. Their visit was a fraternal success, strengthening bonds between the two groups. The mainstream press labeled the event a financial and political success, managing to work in Pres. Taft, the telegraph, and electric lights yet again.
After an aborted 1909 attempt at a carnival, mainstream, conventional Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual questioned “why any one should seek to encourage the rude street license and senseless noise [of a carnival] ...is hard to conceive.” The reason for encouraging the Carnival and Floral Parade is NOT hard to conceive at all. Shriners spent money on fun: Rexall Drugs offered a “Shriner Sundae - ice cream with fruit, topped with a red fez.” (cherry on top?) Shriners were not the only February tourists to attend the Elks Carnival. The press reported: “Three excursion parties from the mainland – each in its own chartered steamer – will be in Honolulu during Carnival week.” Three steamer loads of visitors staying a week at least. What a marketing opportunity. Seasonal sales! They needed a hotel room, to eat, hire a hack (cab), be entertained, take photos, and send glowing postcards home.  Honolulu Photo Supply reminded Evening Bulletin readers: “photographs you take will be a constant source of pleasure.” A camera was now a modern portable convenience anyone could carry and operate! Why it even fit in your pocket. There was business in selling the camera, then developing and printing your photos. If you were a techno klutz – Honolulu Photo Supply sold preprinted photos.
The Elks Carnival and Floral Parade became “hooks” on which Honolulu merchants hung sales. Tourists would of course need clothing suited to the event and climate. Ads targeted Elks and Elk wanna bes, hinting that not dressing to the Elks benchmark lowered you socially. Residents were urged to dress up to the fresh mainland styles -“Fifth Avenue” dressing a must. You couldn’t possibly be seen at the evening dance in the same outfit you wore to have your fortune told by Ye Gypsies or view the Wild Man. Ladies and gentlemen, residents and visitors were admonished to dress for success: “Ladies’ Evening Slippers that are correct in style,” were offered by Manufacturers’ Shoe Co., Fort St., “for the coming social events.”
Product placement and “promotional consideration” are not new concepts. The publicity surrounding the raffle offering of a new Overland Runabout for $1.00 tickets prominently mentioned the source, von Hamm-Young Motors. The winner, William Heilbron of Metropolitan Meat Market, was sure to brag to his wide circle of friends about his luck. As he drove the car around town he was a mobile ad. A mark of the week’s financial importance was the 1st Pan Pacific Travel Congress meeting during the week of the Parade and Carnival. Delegates met to discuss travel and tourism Pacific wide. Rev. Gulick’s hula bashing was not a positive contribution to the tourism image Hawaii Promotion Committee intended to project. The 50 representatives included the expected Honolulu Chamber of Commerce and Hawaii Promotion Committee, Hilo and Oahu railroads, hotels and steamship companies, and consuls from China, Japan, and Portugal. Less expected was the Trail & Mountain Club, and consuls for Peru, Mexico, France, and Netherlands. Completing the sweep were reps for the Chinese and Japanese Merchants’ associations. Among the reasons to organize was to counter organized competition from other travel destinations in Europe and the West Indies.  Before privacy policies, names and addresses of customers were freely shared among tourism promoters, publishers, hotels, and steam ship lines. If you bought a fresh pineapple in Chicago in winter, your name floated back to Honolulu and a travel brochure was whisked to your mail box.
For tourism promoters, the Floral Parade and Elks Carnival became a marketable commodity in the depths of winter. Paradise of the Pacific reminded December readers: “It will be unusually worth while for tourists to be in Honolulu next February.” It was also unusually worth while for Elks to continue the Carnival fundraisers and so they did for years to come – with a little help from their friends.
Anita Manning, Lodge Historian
NEXT: Rewarding 616 wives.
References: Advertiser 1911 Feb, 20, 23
Evening Bulletin 1911 Feb 18, 20 Hawaiian Annual for 1910 1909 p 170 Hawaiian Star 1911 Feb 20, p 10; 21 p3; 23 p 4, 8 O Luso 1911 Feb 25 p 1 Paradise of the Pacific 1912 Dec p 15
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