Rumors, Take Two

The famous Hawaii Importing Company ad

This is it! The famous Hawaii Importing Company ad.

This ad was the most frequently cited secret message to the Japanese in Honolulu newspapers: the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on December 3 and the Honolulu Advertiser on December 4, 1941.

It would take two pages for me to decipher it for you, and you probably wouldn’t read the whole post anyway. Just look at the annotations; that will confuse you enough.

(This image is taken from Gwen Allen’s HAWAII AT WAR, page 55.)

When you turn this ad upside down, the black background is supposed to be a cloud of smoke from flaming ships. The heading “Fashions by the Yard” is supposed to refer to the Pearl Harbor Ship Yard. The names of the silk were references to different ships.

The word Yipee is supposed to be the Power Plant.

The “U” in Junoo referred to the Union Oil Company. Well, the pilots missed that message because the Japanese did not hit the oil tanks at Pearl.

Another of my favorite rumors was the “sheets on the line” rumor. It stated that Japanese spies were hanging sheets on clotheslines to guide the enemy towardPearl Harbor.

If a Japanese pilot flew so low as to see sheets on a clothesline, my guess is that he could have spotted 600-foot battleships in the harbor with no additional assistance.

There was a rumor on Oahu that civilians were warned not to wear blue workclothes near any military post. To explain that one, we have to back up to the headline about Japanese Parachutists Landing in St. Louis Heights. These parachutists supposedly wore blue “jumpsuits” and were roaming around bases.

In fact, all sightings of parachutists were explained by falling branches, children climbing trees, and one Japanese-American OCD warden who was shot because he was misidentified as an enemy. The rumors about paratroopers landing persisted throughout the war.

The most enduring rumor was that the water supply was poisoned. This threat was considered real. The military was vigilant about guarding the water supply, and no poisoning occurred.

For the first six months of the war (before the Battle of Midway), rumors of the Japanese returning by air and sea were rampant, and with good cause. Japanese subs bombed neighbor island cities. In January of 1942, the army transport Royal T. Frank was sunk by a Japanese sub. The incident occurred between the Big Island and Maui. Twenty-nine persons died, and 39 survivors reached Hana, Maui.

Fear. Rumors. Distrust. All of these fueled anxiety. It is difficult to understand that Hawaii was at war. It was attacked, and the enemy loomed close.

In the April 1942 edition of the Hawaii Chronicle, Tim Warren wrote: “We are at War! We are in a strategic spot. The enemy desires that we be eliminated. Be on the alert. Be ready for anything. When warned, take heed.”

MY NEW MIDDLE-GRADE HISTORICAL FICTION WILL BE RELEASED ON JUNE 11. THE REVIEWS ARE COMING IN QUITE COMPLIMENTARY. I’M EXCITED TO SHARE SOME 19TH C. HISTORY WITH YOUNG PEOPLE.