"Hawaii's Early Territorial Days" is perfect for Hawaiiana and postcard collectors. This hardcover book can be found in Honolulu bookstores as of November 2001, and purchased through our orders page

The Island Curio cards are well known to dealers throughout the world. Here is a sampling of some cards that illustrate the text:

The period from about 1890 to 1910 is known as the "Golden Age" of postcards. Throughout most of this period, there was no inexpensive technology to provide pictures for newspapers and magazines. The hand held Kodak camera was not readily available, so people relied on picture postcards to convey what they saw and experienced both at home and while traveling. Hawaii was in the early stages of its tourism development, and there were a number of postcard "Publishers" who provided cards for the visitors. Prominent among these was James Steiner who marketed his cards first under the name "Island Curio Store," and later as "Island Curio Co."

Island Curio Store in the Elite Building, Honoluu, Hawaii

This work started out as a project for family purposes to provide the author's family with a book that would assemble all the postcards the author had collected in a fifteen year search. With encouragement from Mutual Publishing Co. the scope was extended to provide some historical insight into the look and feel of Hawaii during those early days of the transition from an independent country to a part of the United States. Over 25 topics are covered int the textual portion. See Table of Contents.

The catalog covers 28 pages. Most of the cards listed are found in the author's collection, but there are cards from other collections. Small but recognizeable reproductions are provided for all but a few of the over 475 cards listed, with the differences in the printing and the back (address side) and other variations noted. See Sample of Catalog.