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Imagine it's a cool afternoon in November 1901.

0:21

You're working on a farm in Wauhiaua, a

0:23

sun-baked plateau in central Oahu, northwest

0:26

of Honolulu, Hawaii. Your foreman

0:28

has asked you and three co-workers to clear

0:30

a ten-acre parcel of wild grass and guava

0:33

bushes in order to plow.

0:35

You've been here a month, ever since losing

0:37

your job at a sugar plantation on Maui. Your

0:40

new boss is a novice homesteader from Massachusetts.

0:43

He's already tried to grow watermelons, grapes,

0:46

cashews, and who knows what else, but

0:48

none of those crops thrived. Now

0:50

he has a new idea, pineapples. Once

0:53

you plow these acres, you're supposed to plant 50,000

0:55

of them. The boss's

0:57

right-hand man, your foreman, hovers

0:59

as you work. Well, how much longer

1:02

before we can start planting? Well,

1:04

that red soil over there is pretty thick, Chief. We'll

1:07

probably have to till it twice to loosen it all

1:09

up. Two, three days just to turn

1:11

the soil, at least another week to plant.

1:14

Well, do what you have to do. Just get those plants

1:16

in the ground as fast as you can. Boss

1:18

doesn't want them to dry out. They cost him

1:20

a pretty penny, and I hear he's buying even

1:22

more.

1:22

You've met the boss

1:25

a few times. He seems nice

1:27

enough, though he may be in over his head, switching

1:30

to yet another new crop, but it's not

1:32

your place to challenge his decisions.

1:34

As long as he keeps paying you a dollar a day. The

1:37

foreman is about to leave, but then turns back.

1:40

Oh, and after you clear the field, make

1:42

sure to lime it good before you plant.

1:44

You frown. You've worked

1:46

pineapple fields back home in the Philippines, and

1:49

you know they need soil that's acidic. Adding

1:51

lime to the soil will do the opposite. Lime?

1:55

You

1:55

sure about that? will practically

1:57

kill a pineapple plant. Bosses

1:59

orders.

2:00

So no backtalk, just do it. You

2:02

got it, Chief. Lime it is. Say,

2:05

who's gonna buy all this fruit anyway? Pineapples

2:07

aren't easy to transport, in my experience. Might

2:10

turn into a rotting mess before

2:12

you get them down to Honolulu. Well,

2:14

that's none of your concern, either. Boss

2:16

Man has a plan. He says he'll get the fruit peeled,

2:19

sliced and canned right here before it goes

2:21

to Honolulu. How's he gonna do all

2:23

that? Again, not your concern.

2:26

Just get the plants in the ground, okay? You

2:29

nod and turn back to the fields. Your

2:31

boss is clearly determined, and if he manages

2:34

to pull this off, there will be plenty of work

2:36

around here. But even though you haven't been

2:38

here long, it's clear that the sugar men

2:40

are the ones who really run these islands. Compared

2:42

to all of Hawaii's sugar plantations,

2:44

you don't see how your boss

2:46

and his pineapples stand much of a chance.

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From WONDERY, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this

4:13

is American History Tellers. Our History,

4:16

your story.

4:32

At the turn of the 20th century, a

4:34

powerful group of businessmen and sugar barons

4:37

deposed Hawaii's native monarchy in

4:39

a bloodless coup, paving the way for

4:41

America to annex the islands.

4:43

Hawaii was flooded with adventurers

4:45

and entrepreneurs looking for opportunities.

4:47

One man with an ambitious and

4:50

unlikely dream was James Dole,

4:52

who set his sights on pineapples. Dole

4:55

was warned that pineapples would never flourish.

4:58

They were difficult to cultivate and easily perishable,

5:01

but he saw the tropical fruit's potential, and

5:03

he was determined to create Hawaii's first large-scale

5:06

pineapple operation and to compete

5:08

with the Big Five sugar producers. Within 20

5:11

years, thanks to Dole's innovations

5:13

and savvy marketing, pineapples

5:15

expanded from a novelty fruit to become Hawaii's

5:18

second largest crop, one that employed

5:20

thousands of immigrant workers and reshaped

5:22

the island's agriculture and image. This

5:25

is episode two, The Pineapple King.

5:31

James Drummond Dole landed in Honolulu

5:33

in mid-November 1899, a skinny 22-year-old

5:37

with an agriculture degree from Harvard University

5:40

and dreams of becoming a farming entrepreneur.

5:43

Dole had been hearing about Hawaii his whole life.

5:45

Earlier generations of the Dole family

5:48

had come to the islands in the mid-1800s

5:50

as Christian missionaries. His second

5:52

cousin, Sanford Dole, was among the

5:54

leaders of the group that deposed Hawaii's queen,

5:56

Lily O'Calloni, and

5:58

took control of the islands in 1890.

6:00

After the monarchy was overthrown,

6:02

Sanford Dole became Hawaii's first president,

6:05

and later when Hawaii became a U.S. territory

6:08

its first governor.

6:09

Sanford Dole was backed by the island's powerful

6:12

sugar industry, but he knew that in order

6:14

to thrive, Hawaii needed to

6:16

diversify its crops.

6:18

So he reached out to his second cousin, known

6:20

as Jim, and encouraged him to come to

6:22

Oahu and try growing something other

6:25

than sugar.

6:26

Then Dole arrived in Hawaii with fifteen

6:28

hundred dollars in savings and head full

6:31

of agricultural theory, but he had

6:33

no practical farming experience other

6:35

than having grown a few vegetables in his mother's

6:37

garden.

6:39

But nonetheless, in July of 1900, Dole bought a

6:42

sixty-one acre parcel in the hills of Oahu

6:45

at an outpost called Wahiwa.

6:47

He soon discovered that the land was not ideal

6:49

for many crops.

6:50

It sat on a dry, windswept plateau

6:53

between two valleys, more than 800 feet

6:55

above sea level.

6:56

Sun was abundant, but water was

6:58

limited, and irrigation would be a challenge.

7:01

It was also an arduous five-hour trek

7:04

to the port of Honolulu along a winding

7:06

wagon road.

7:07

Initially, Dole had envisioned a coffee

7:10

plantation, but when he moved to the

7:12

property, he chose to instead experiment

7:14

with other crops. He planted test

7:16

patches of peas, potatoes, star

7:19

fruit, grapes, watermelons, avocados,

7:21

and bananas, And then he decided

7:23

to try a crop that had vexed many others, pineapples.

7:30

Pineapples were not native to Hawaii,

7:33

but had been growing wild on the islands for centuries,

7:36

likely introduced by Spanish explorers.

7:39

Attempts at cultivation began in the 1850s, but

7:41

most pineapple farms were small and unprofitable.

7:45

The plants were tricky to grow, because they

7:47

were susceptible to pests and required good

7:49

drainage. the fruit was difficult

7:51

to transport.

7:52

Once established, though, a pineapple plant

7:55

could produced for fifty years.

7:57

That longevity appealed to Jim Dole.

7:59

He figured if he could get enough plants

8:01

started, his farm would become a long-term

8:04

moneymaker.

8:05

A few nearby farmers had successfully

8:08

grown pineapples, which he felt was proof

8:10

that the soil was suitable, but no one

8:12

had tried to plant the crop on the scale he was

8:14

planting. Soon after Dole

8:16

purchased his 61 acres, a childhood

8:18

friend named Fred Tracy came to Hawaii

8:21

to help. The

8:22

two men started plowing fields, using

8:24

second-hand equipment pulled by a horse named

8:26

Withers with a cracked hoof.

8:28

Dole and Tracy lived together in a barn

8:31

along with their horse while they built a small

8:33

cabin to serve as more permanent lodgings.

8:35

They

8:35

pooled all their money to buy their first pineapple

8:38

plants, then hired a few Japanese, Filipino,

8:41

and Chinese field workers. Their

8:43

first crop of pineapple plants failed

8:45

to bear any fruit, and eventually they figured

8:47

out their mistake.

8:49

Dole had treated the soil with lime

8:51

to make it more alkaline, based on faulty

8:53

advice from a Harvard professor. Pineapples

8:55

Pineapples preferred acidic soil.

8:57

So the next crop bore a small yield of

8:59

fruit, which Dole and Tracy peddled in markets

9:02

in Honolulu, a day-long trip by

9:04

horse and buggy from their farm. But

9:06

they soon discovered that once ripe, pineapples

9:09

bruised easily and spoiled quickly.

9:11

Still Dole was undeterred.

9:14

He realized it would be too difficult to ship and

9:16

sell fresh, whole pineapples on a large

9:18

scale.

9:19

So he decided to process and package his fruit,

9:21

hoping to make it more transportable.

9:23

He also set his sights on a bigger market, the

9:26

American mainland.

9:28

In the 1890s, a few small

9:30

pineapple growers had tried processing their

9:32

pineapples into syrup or jelly and

9:34

packaging it in glass containers. But

9:36

the jars themselves were prone to breakage, and

9:40

a 35% tariff on processed foods imported

9:42

into America cut into profits.

9:44

By the time Dole came along, most of

9:46

these early growers had gone out of business. Dole's

9:49

timing was fortunate.

9:51

The import tariff had expired in 1898 when

9:53

the US annexed to

9:55

why, meaning D'al now had the advantage

9:57

of lower tariffs on any fruit he exported.

10:00

He also decided to preserve his pineapples

10:02

in sturdier tin cans instead of

10:04

glass jars, reducing his breakage costs.

10:07

Still, Dole knew almost nothing about canning

10:10

fruit, and he had another problem.

10:12

He was running out of money. So

10:14

in December of 1901, Dole

10:16

incorporated the Hawaiian Pineapple

10:18

Company to raise cash.

10:20

He sold shares to investors, some of

10:22

whom were the elite of Oahu, lawyers,

10:24

politicians, and sugar barons, including

10:26

a few of the men who had deposed the queen. Dole

10:29

hoped the influx of new capital would allow

10:31

him to hire more laborers, buy more horses,

10:34

grow more pineapple plants, and most importantly,

10:37

build his own cannery.

10:39

Eventually Dole was able to sell enough company

10:41

stock to purchase another 50,000 pineapple plants, but

10:44

it wasn't enough money to build a cannery.

10:47

So in early 1902, he traveled to the U.S., hoping

10:50

to bring back enough cash and canning equipment

10:52

to take his ambitious enterprise to the next level.

10:55

But if he failed to secure this investment, he

10:57

knew his dream could be doomed.

11:01

Imagine

11:04

it's December 1904. You're

11:06

the manager of Hunt Brothers Fruit Packing Company

11:08

of Northern California, but today you're

11:10

a long way from home. You've come to Hawaii

11:13

to visit the pineapple farm of James Dole,

11:16

who's seated beside you as he steers a horse-drawn

11:18

wagon slowly up into the hills above

11:21

Oahu. On your first trip

11:23

here a year ago, you liked what you saw and

11:25

decided to become Dole's sales agent and

11:27

an early investor. Sales were slow

11:29

at first, but now you're thinking of expanding

11:31

your partnership and investing more money into Dole's

11:34

scrappy company. Maybe a lot more.

11:37

You win since the wagon goes over another

11:39

bump in the rutted dirt road. Well

11:41

I see you haven't improved the road yet. Well

11:43

we've invested in other areas. You'll see

11:46

we've grown quite a bit since you were here in The wagon

11:49

rounds a bend and you finally see the tidy

11:51

rows of spiky pineapple plants up ahead.

11:54

Field workers turn and watch you approach. Dole

11:57

greets them with a friendly wave. See,

11:59

this is all new.

12:00

A couple of neighboring farms went out of business

12:02

and we bought their land. And we leased another 300

12:05

acres over that hill, getting us close to 1,000

12:07

planted acres now. Well,

12:10

that's impressive. You have come a long way. And I

12:12

feel we can't slow down, not for a minute. I've

12:14

read about those new farms in Cuba and Puerto

12:16

Rico. We need to stay competitive. But

12:19

how's the cannery running? Well, that's

12:21

what I've been wanting to discuss with you. Is

12:23

there a problem? My firm invested a

12:25

fair amount of money. No, I know. Now

12:27

that our crops are coming in strong, the canning

12:29

process

12:30

here is just too slow. My workers

12:32

can't keep up. And next year should be

12:34

an even bigger yield, but I'm not sure

12:36

we'll be able to get it all canned fast enough. Well,

12:39

what do you think might be the solution? Dole

12:43

stops the wagon outside a wood-framed building.

12:45

Inside, you see workers chopping and slicing

12:48

pineapples by hand. The

12:51

two of you climb down, and Dole hands the reins

12:53

to one of his employees. Well, I think we

12:55

need a new cannery.

12:56

And a big one. There's some land

12:58

I've been looking at just west of downtown Honolulu.

13:01

Could be perfect. And how would you get all that

13:03

fruit too, Honolulu? That wagon's

13:05

not going to do the job.

13:07

Oh, I've got a plan for that, too. A friend

13:09

of mine from college, he's running his father's railroad

13:11

company. And I think I can convince

13:13

him to add a narrow gauge rail spur up here

13:15

to Wajilwa. Then we'd have direct rail

13:18

access to Honolulu. We could process

13:20

and can the fruit right near the pier and ship

13:22

it to you. We could even start canning fruit

13:24

for other plantations because I know they're

13:27

desperate for better methods as well. I

13:29

see. But how long would all this take?

13:32

Maybe a year to get it up and running, and

13:34

of course, we'd need capital. Of

13:36

course. And I assume you're looking to us for

13:39

that. Yes, I'd like you to take more

13:41

shares. But I think together we could turn

13:43

this into the greatest pineapple business in the the world.

13:46

Dole leads you toward a mound of freshly picked

13:48

pineapples. He picks one up and hands

13:51

it to you, clearly proud. You

13:53

like this young farmer. He's a bit naive,

13:55

but he's ambitious. already been

13:57

thinking about investing more and in

14:00

time, maybe, you could even make a play to

14:02

gain control of this little upstart company.

14:08

In late 1902, Dole established

14:10

a key partnership with Joseph Hunt of Hunt

14:12

Brothers, a Northern California fruit packer

14:15

and wholesale grocery distributor.

14:17

Later on, Hunt would become one of the world's

14:19

largest producers of ketchup and canned

14:21

tomatoes.

14:22

The two men met while Dole was traveling the

14:25

U.S. to raise funds and buy cannery equipment.

14:27

After meeting Dole, Hunt

14:29

agreed to become sales agent and distributor

14:31

for Dole's canned pineapples and invested

14:33

$10,000 to help Dole build his first

14:36

cannery. And when Dole's

14:38

first harvest came in mid-1903,

14:40

he packed 43,000 cans and

14:43

shipped them to San Francisco.

14:44

Hunt Brothers sold the canned fruit to stores up

14:47

and down the West Coast.

14:48

A year later, Dole packed nearly five

14:50

times that amount.

14:52

Even so, some investors felt the company's

14:54

growth was too slow and sold their shares.

14:56

They found an eager buyer in Joseph

14:58

Hunt, who by 1904 owned 40% of Dole's company.

15:03

But

15:03

the partnership was mutually beneficial.

15:06

In 1905, with the help from Hunt's financing,

15:08

Dole's production rose again to more

15:10

than 600,000 cans.

15:13

But keeping up with demand was still a challenge.

15:16

The canning process was slow and labor-intensive.

15:19

Workers would cut the fruit into pieces, pack

15:21

it into cans, solder the lid shut.

15:24

But if the soldering wasn't done just

15:26

right, the pressure of the fermenting pineapple

15:28

would cause the cans to explode. Dole

15:31

lost thousands of cans every year

15:33

to spoilage and explosions.

15:35

Still, despite the setbacks, business

15:37

continued to boom.

15:38

By 1905, Dole's original

15:41

cannery couldn't keep up.

15:42

To increase capacity, he convinced Hunt

15:45

to help him build a modern new cannery near the

15:47

Honolulu piers.

15:48

At the same time, Hunt persuaded the American

15:51

can company to build a new factory right next

15:53

to Dole's cannery. Next,

15:55

in order to get his fresh fruit to the factory more

15:57

quickly. Dole worked out a deal with

15:59

former Harvard

16:00

classmate Walter Dillingham,

16:02

who

16:02

ran the Oahu Railway and Land Company.

16:05

Dillingham agreed to build an 11-mile

16:07

extension that connected Dole's plantation

16:09

to the main rail line into Honolulu.

16:11

What had been a five-hour trip over rough

16:14

roads was now just 60 minutes by

16:16

train.

16:17

And then in 1907 Dole's new cannery

16:19

and packing plant opened in Honolulu.

16:22

He had also solved the problem of the exploding

16:24

cans with new sealing machines that

16:26

crincolets on more tightly. That

16:28

year, he processed 2.7 million

16:31

cans of pineapple. Dole's

16:33

Cannery employed 700 men and women

16:35

who processed 8,000 cans a day during

16:38

peak season.

16:39

It quickly became the largest pineapple plant

16:41

in the world.

16:42

But then, in October of 1907, a

16:45

financial crisis spread across the United

16:47

States, causing the stock market to plunge.

16:50

Many consumers considered pineapples

16:52

a luxury item, and demand plummeted.

16:55

The so-called panic of 1907 didn't

16:58

have an immediate effect, as most of Dole's

17:00

crop from that year had already been canned and

17:02

sold. But 1908 promised to bring a record

17:05

crop of pineapples, and Dole worried

17:07

that he might not be able to sell his product to

17:10

consumers tightening their belts. So

17:12

even though he finally had his operation running

17:14

at full speed, Dole needed to

17:16

figure out a way to keep customers buying what

17:19

he produced, Because if he failed,

17:21

everything that he had built would all come crashing

17:23

down.

17:29

still

17:50

impacting the news today. Stories that

17:52

illuminate how Israel was changed by the

17:54

terrorist murder of 22 high school girls

17:56

in 1974, or the scars still felt after 40 years of the

17:59

nine innocent Arab Israelis

18:01

were murdered. Learn about Hamas, the Mossad,

18:04

the PLO, names you've heard but maybe

18:06

don't quite understand. Listen to Unpacking

18:09

Israeli History on Apple Podcasts,

18:11

Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your

18:13

podcasts.

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In early 1908, Jim Dole

20:23

confronted a stark dilemma.

20:24

His pineapple business had grown rapidly, and

20:27

he had engineered efficient new ways to produce

20:29

and package his product. But he now faced

20:32

the possibility of too few customers.

20:34

When he had first started his business, the naysayers

20:37

had been quick to warn of his impending failure.

20:39

The Honolulu advertiser called it a

20:42

foolhardy venture which had been tried unsuccessfully

20:44

before, arguing that pineapple export

20:47

on any profitable scale was out of the question.

20:50

But Dole's early success seemed to prove the

20:52

critics wrong.

20:53

Still, six years later, the panic

20:56

of 1907 suddenly threatened

20:58

to ruin his company.

20:59

Dole knew he needed to take bold action.

21:02

So in early 1908, he joined forces with

21:05

other pineapple growers, who were also expecting

21:07

a drop in sales.

21:09

Dole met with these other farmers to develop plans

21:11

to market pineapples more aggressively in the

21:13

U.S. and to educate buyers on how

21:16

to eat them, cook with them, and even how to

21:18

use them in cocktails. So So in

21:20

May of 1908, they formalized

21:22

their alliance, creating the Hawaiian Pineapple

21:25

Growers Association with Dole named

21:27

its first president.

21:28

The group pooled funds to create a $50,000 national marketing

21:32

and advertising campaign.

21:34

Soon thereafter, in newspapers and women's

21:36

magazines, their ads shared recipes

21:38

and cooking tips, promoting Hawaiian-grown

21:41

pineapples as the best tasting in the world.

21:43

One ad in the Ladies' Home Journal put it,

21:46

Don't

21:46

ask for pineapples alone. Insist

21:48

on Hawaiian pineapple.

21:50

Dole also offered a free recipe booklet

21:52

to anyone who wrote to request one, featuring

21:54

dishes like baked ham garnished with sliced

21:56

pineapple. Dole

21:57

and the Hawaiian Pineapple Growers Association

22:00

had competition, though.

22:01

Other parts of the world, such as Cuba and

22:03

the islands of the West Indies, also exported

22:06

pineapples to America.

22:08

But Dole's ads sought to link Hawaii

22:10

and pineapples in consumers' minds, the

22:12

way Cuba was linked with cigars.

22:14

Newspaper ads and the packaging on the cans

22:16

themselves promoted mythical versions

22:18

of the islands, featuring hula girls and

22:20

grass skirts, beneath titles like

22:23

Paradise Island.

22:24

Dole wasn't just selling pineapples, he

22:26

was selling Hawaii.

22:28

The campaign was a resounding success.

22:31

Demand rebounded in late 1908, and

22:34

pineapple sales reached a record high.

22:36

Members of the New Growers Consortium exported

22:38

nearly ten million cans of sliced,

22:41

crushed, cubed, and grated fruit that year.

22:43

Just six years earlier, that number was

22:45

only 75,000. And soon, even Hawaii's

22:47

tourism board

22:49

realized that pineapples were an effective marketing

22:51

tool and began using them in its promotional

22:54

materials.

22:55

The success of Dole and the Growers Association

22:57

drew more farmers into the pineapple business.

23:00

Dole encouraged this, since few of the

23:02

growers had their own canning operation, which

23:04

meant they would need to pay him to process their

23:08

fruit. So by 1909 Dole had doubled

23:10

the size of his Honolulu cannery and processing

23:12

plant.

23:13

He employed hundreds of workers at the peak

23:15

of each season, many of whom were recent

23:17

arrivals to the islands. Pineapple,

23:19

an immigrant itself to the islands,

23:21

was now mostly grown and processed

23:24

by immigrant labor. But

23:25

that was nothing new for the islands. For decades,

23:28

Hawaii had been a magnet for immigrant agricultural

23:31

workers from Japan, Portugal, and

23:33

especially China.

23:34

But when Hawaii became a U.S. territory

23:36

in 1900, it became subject

23:39

to America's ban on Chinese immigration,

23:41

enacted by the Chinese Exclusion Act

23:43

of 1882. So after 1900, Japanese

23:45

laborers

23:48

began to outnumber Chinese on Hawaii's sugar

23:50

plantations,

23:51

and when their sugar contracts expired after

23:53

three to five years,

23:55

many left to work on pineapple farms, where

23:57

the work was less physically demanding.

24:00

In 1909, most of Dole's field

24:02

and cannery workers were Japanese, plus

24:04

some Portuguese and a growing number of Filipinos.

24:07

Immigration from the Philippines had increased

24:09

after the Philippine-American War, when the group

24:12

of Asian islands like Hawaii before it became

24:14

a U.S. territory.

24:16

Workers of all nationalities lived in bunkhouses

24:19

and shopped at the company store.

24:20

During peak season the days were long, 10 to 12

24:23

hours, the pay was measly, about

24:25

a dollar a day and sometimes less.

24:28

not all of these workers were equal. On

24:31

the plantations, a hierarchy evolved.

24:33

White Americans or Europeans, the

24:36

Howleys, owned the land and managed

24:38

the crews.

24:39

Portuguese field bosses, known as ditch

24:41

lunas, often served as foremen overseeing

24:43

the mostly Asian field workers.

24:46

Native Hawaiians also worked in the industry,

24:48

but immigrants comprised an ever-larger portion

24:50

of Hawai'i's population. On

24:53

his plantation, Dole was known as

24:55

a fair but driven boss, who tried to get

24:57

to know his employees and paid above-average

24:59

wages. At the cannery, he provided

25:01

showers, an employee lounge, and eventually

25:04

free daycare. But

25:05

he was motivated less by kindness than

25:07

by good business sense.

25:09

As long as his workers stayed happy with their

25:11

modest wages and didn't strike, his

25:13

company would prosper.

25:15

But Dole also had an eye on profit and growth.

25:18

In order to stay competitive, he needed

25:20

to keep costs as low as possible, and

25:22

that meant pushing his workers to produce at a faster

25:25

rate. Pineapples had to be peeled,

25:27

cored, and sliced largely by hand, a

25:29

painstaking and sometimes dangerous process.

25:32

And crude, hand-cranked machines had

25:35

been introduced. One machine peeled the

25:37

fruit, another cored it, another sliced

25:39

it. These

25:40

helped increase processing rates to about 10

25:42

to 15 pineapples per minute, but

25:44

for Dole, that still was not fast enough. To

25:47

keep up with demand, his employees had to

25:49

put in long shifts and work quickly, sometimes

25:52

cutting themselves or even losing fingers

25:54

in the machinery. So, if Dole

25:56

wanted to keep expanding and maintain morale

25:59

among his workers,

26:00

you would have to innovate. Imagine

26:06

it's March 1912. You're

26:08

standing on the factory floor at the sprawling Hawaiian

26:10

pineapple company Cannery in Honolulu,

26:13

about to unveil the latest version of your

26:15

invention, a single machine that will

26:17

automatically trim, peel, core, and slice

26:19

pineapples. The company's president

26:22

hired you a year ago to invent a machine that

26:24

could both speed up the process and salvage

26:26

the trimmings to make his newest product, bottled

26:29

pineapple juice. But he's notoriously

26:31

impatient and meticulous. So

26:34

as he hovers next to you by the machine,

26:35

you feel your heart race. All

26:38

your prior attempts have been full of glitches.

26:40

But now you think you've worked out the kinks. At

26:43

least you sure hope so. So with this

26:45

new prototype, one machine does it all. No

26:47

more Lewis peeling machines or those dangerous

26:49

slicing machines. It just needs three

26:51

or four workers to operate. Yeah, I

26:54

understand the concept, but let's see

26:56

if it works. You load

26:58

a few pineapples onto the machine's conveyor

27:00

belt and watch as they trundle inside. So

27:03

as you can see, the machine locks off the top

27:05

and bottom, removes the core, cuts

27:08

off the rind, and spits out a clean

27:10

tube of pineapple there. Dole

27:13

watches as a perfect cylinder of pineapple

27:15

emerges from a chute, bends down to

27:17

pick it up, then specs it closely. He

27:20

seems impressed. So far

27:22

so good. These look clean. And

27:24

the trimmings. Yes, those are collected in this

27:26

bin and then sent to the juicing station over

27:28

there. And all this excess pulp

27:31

is collected as well. It's crushed for syrup.

27:33

There's very little waste.

27:35

But just then your machine clogs and

27:38

seizes. Dole looks furious.

27:42

Look, I can't use a machine that keeps breaking

27:44

down. For what I pay you, I should

27:46

be able to get something reliable. I'm

27:48

sorry, sir. I'm not sure. It was working fine

27:50

before. It doesn't matter. All

27:53

I know is the hand crank machines work day

27:55

in and day out. They don't die on

27:57

me. But I will tell you this

28:00

If more of my people get injured on those old

28:02

machines, it'll be your fault." D'ol

28:04

storms off, leaving you to wonder if this might

28:06

be your last day on the job. Then

28:08

again, you're sure that with just a few more adjustments

28:11

and upgrades, you can get your machine

28:13

up and running and reliable. If you're

28:15

right, you could process 50 pineapples

28:17

a minute, maybe more. You just hope

28:19

your boss gives you one more chance to prove

28:21

it.

28:25

Despite the setbacks, hiring inventor

28:28

and engineer Henry Gonaka would turn

28:30

out to be one of Dole's smartest moves.

28:32

Gonaka had previously worked on sugar plantations

28:35

and a small cannery in Wauhiawa, where he

28:37

learned about fruit packing. In 1911, he

28:38

was working as an

28:41

engineer at the Honolulu Ironworks.

28:43

That's where Dole found him and lured him away, offering

28:46

Gonaka $300 a month to

28:48

design a machine that would automate the labor-intensive

28:50

process of preparing a pineapple for canning.

28:53

After a few frustrating

28:55

failures, Gannaka slowly improved

28:57

his machines,

28:58

and by 1913, his automatic

29:01

fruit core and sizer more than tripled

29:03

Dole's production.

29:04

Requiring fewer than five operators per

29:07

machine, Dole's cannery began processing 35

29:10

pineapples a minute, then 50, and

29:12

eventually 100.

29:14

Just as Henry Ford was learning how to

29:16

churn out more cars through the assembly line

29:18

process, Dole and Gannaka were

29:20

pioneering the automation of agriculture.

29:23

In 1915, Gannaka's newest machine

29:25

was awarded a gold medal at the Panama

29:27

Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Gannaka

29:30

left Hawaii that year to join his brothers

29:33

at a mining operation in California.

29:35

He died just three years later at age 42

29:38

of influenza and pneumonia, leaving his

29:40

invention to far outlive him. Kanaka

29:43

machines would continue to be used across the industry

29:45

for decades to come.

29:50

By 1915, pineapples had become not

29:53

just Hawaii's second largest crop, but

29:55

its second largest industry in terms of revenue.

29:57

But

29:58

the powerful Big Five sugar cup companies

30:00

still ruled Hawaii's commerce and

30:02

politics.

30:03

Over the years, these companies had strengthened

30:05

their power base, expanding beyond

30:07

sugarcane into shipping, newspapers, and

30:09

hotels. Dole had no choice

30:11

but to do business with them, leasing land

30:13

from the Big Five and largely relying

30:16

on their ships to deliver his product to America.

30:19

But

30:19

consumer pineapple sales slowed during

30:21

World War I, so Dole negotiated

30:23

a deal to send canned pineapples to overseas

30:26

Allied troops.

30:27

It was not just a contribution to the war effort,

30:29

but also turned out to be a brilliant marketing campaign.

30:32

Troops returned home after the war with

30:34

a new taste for the island fruit, making

30:37

it even more of a staple on American pantry

30:39

shelves.

30:40

So as the war came to an end, demand

30:42

for pineapple rebounded.

30:44

In 1918 alone, 25 million cans of

30:47

dull pineapples went to American homes and

30:50

businesses. Improvements to the ganaka

30:52

machines led to steady increases in production,

30:55

and by the mid-1920s, Dole's

30:57

Honolulu cannery was packing half

30:59

a million cans a day.

31:01

Dole, meanwhile, had gotten married and started

31:03

a family.

31:04

He built a lavish plantation house for his

31:06

wife, Belle, and their five children.

31:09

He continued to buy more land, including

31:11

former sugar cane fields.

31:13

He created pineapple plantations on other Hawaiian

31:15

islands and nursed ever more ambitious

31:17

plans to compete with big sugar and

31:19

make pineapples the number one industry in

31:22

Hawaii. Then in 1922,

31:24

he decided to expand his empire even

31:27

further by buying an entire island.

31:29

Soon it would become the largest pineapple plantation

31:32

on the planet, but Jim Dole's

31:34

triumph would not last long. Soon

31:37

the American economy would take a devastating

31:39

turn, and the Pineapple King would

31:41

suffer precipitous fall from power.

31:48

It's the fall

31:51

of 2017 in Rancho Tejama, California. A

31:54

man and his wife are driving to a doctor's

31:56

appointment when another car crashes into

31:59

them, sending them

32:00

flying off the road. Disoriented,

32:02

they stumble out of the car, only to hear

32:04

dozens of gunshots whizzing past them.

32:07

This is just one chapter of a much

32:09

larger

32:10

nightmare unraveling in their small

32:12

town. This

32:13

is actually happening presents a special

32:15

limited series called Point Blank, shedding

32:18

a light on the forgotten spree killings of

32:20

Rancho Tejama, where a lone

32:22

gunman devastated a small town,

32:24

attacking eight different locations in the span

32:27

of only 25 minutes. The series follows

32:29

five stories of people connected to the incident,

32:32

from a father that drew the gunman away from

32:34

a local school to the sister of the shooter.

32:37

These are riveting stories that will stick with

32:39

you long after you listen. Follow

32:41

This Is Actually Happening wherever you

32:43

listen to podcasts. You can listen ad-free

32:46

on the Amazon Music or Wandery app.

32:54

By the 1920s, Jim Dole

32:57

had purchased or leased every available piece

32:59

of land he could find.

33:00

His Hawaiian Pineapple Company held more

33:02

than 12,000 acres on Oahu, Maui,

33:05

and the Big Island of Hawaii. In need

33:07

of even more farmland, Dole traveled

33:09

the world searching for new fields.

33:11

But

33:11

after touring Mexico, Fiji, the

33:13

Philippines, Malaysia, and Australia, he

33:16

decided he preferred to find a way to expand

33:18

closer to home. So

33:20

in 1922 he purchased the sparsely populated

33:23

cactus-covered island of Lanai for $1.1

33:26

million in cash.

33:29

Rather than borrow money for the purchase, Dole

33:31

sold shares of his company to the Waialua

33:33

Agricultural Company, one of Hawaii's

33:35

largest sugar firms.

33:37

He had been leasing land from Waialua for

33:39

years,

33:40

and now with their investment they owned a

33:42

third of Dole's company.

33:44

Waialua was in turn owned by Castle

33:46

and Cook, one of the Big Five Sugar

33:48

Corporations.

33:49

Some advisors warned Dole about letting Big

33:52

Sugar take such a large stake in his company,

33:54

but he believed the earnings from the new Lanai

33:56

plantation would offset that risk.

33:59

the time.

34:00

roughly only a hundred people lived on the

34:02

90,000-acre island, mostly native Hawaiian fishermen

34:05

and farmers raising cattle and sheep.

34:07

Dole hired some of those residents, while

34:09

others were displaced to make room for his

34:11

pineapple fields.

34:13

And after acquiring the island, Dole spent

34:15

the next few years turning Lanai into

34:17

the largest pineapple plantation in the world.

34:20

He spent more than $4 million constructing

34:22

a harbor and roads, as well as a

34:24

water system, a reservoir, and company

34:27

housing to accommodate 1,000 workers. In

34:30

time, the island would produce 75% of the world's

34:32

pineapples.

34:39

Throughout the 1920s, Dole continued

34:41

to create clever marketing campaigns to increase

34:43

consumers' appetite for his crop.

34:46

He launched a recipe contest in 1925, whose winner, a woman

34:48

from Norfolk, Virginia,

34:51

was credited with creating the pineapple upside-down

34:53

cake.

34:54

Dole printed the recipe in magazines and a pineapple

34:57

cookbook.

34:58

The cake was an instant hit and would become

35:00

a classic. The

35:01

steady rise in profits through the 1920s

35:04

allowed Dole to pay shareholders regular dividends

35:06

and to continue making improvements for his workers.

35:09

He created employee pension and stock plans

35:11

and paid annual bonuses.

35:13

And in 1927, Dole launched another

35:16

new marketing campaign.

35:17

Until then, his company, still called the Hawaiian

35:19

Pineapple Company, had been selling its canned

35:22

fruit under various paradise-themed names

35:24

like Waikiki, Paradise Islands, and

35:27

Royal Palm. But

35:28

now, Dole and his executives decided that

35:30

the name Dole was well-known enough that

35:33

it was time to begin embossing it on the top of

35:35

every fruit can.

35:36

Ads began to feature Dole's name and his

35:38

backstory, with the tagline, You

35:40

Can Thank Jim Dole for Canned Pineapples. That

35:44

same year, Dole was inspired by Charles

35:46

Lindbergh's pioneering transatlantic flight

35:48

and started thinking about delivering pineapples by

35:51

air instead of sea. To test this

35:53

idea, he came up with yet another marketing

35:55

scheme. But this one would end

35:57

in tragedy.

36:02

Imagine it's August 16, 1927. A

36:05

foggy Tuesday morning in Oakland, California.

36:08

You're the pilot of a Lockheed Vega monoplane

36:11

dubbed the Golden Eagle, owned by George

36:13

Randolph First, son of the newspaper magnate.

36:16

You're one of eight planes about to compete in the

36:18

Dole Air Race, sponsored by the Dole

36:20

Pineapple Company. The goal is to

36:22

fly from Oakland to Honolulu. And

36:25

if you can beat the other seven planes, you'll

36:27

take home the $25,000 grand prize. But

36:31

unfortunately, the race

36:32

seems jinxed. Already

36:34

there have been multiple crashes and three deaths.

36:37

So now, as you and your navigator stand behind

36:39

your plane, waiting for officials to clear the

36:41

runway, the newspaper reporter approaches.

36:44

You boys see that latest crash? It's a

36:46

miracle no one was killed.

36:48

How are all these wrecks making you feel about your

36:50

chances? Sorry, pal, we're kind of busy

36:52

here. Go talk to one of the other pilots. I'd

36:55

rather talk to the guy who's been bragging he has the fastest

36:58

plane. That true? Of course it is. 200

37:00

horsepower and fast as a bullet. We

37:03

got her up to 135 miles per hour just yesterday. I

37:06

figure we'll make it to Hawaii in about 20 hours.

37:09

In fact, I'll predict that we'll be having breakfast in

37:11

Honolulu tomorrow morning. Bacon, eggs,

37:13

and maybe a little pineapple. You

37:15

don't worry you'll end up flying into the cliffs like

37:17

those boys last week,

37:18

or land in the bay, or tear off

37:20

your landing gear? No, sir. I've

37:22

been flying since the war. I've been a stunt

37:25

pilot, logged more than 5,000 hours in the air. And

37:27

I've seen my share of wrecks, sure. But

37:29

this flight is a straight shot over open water.

37:32

Should be no problem.

37:33

So you're telling me you're not scared? Not

37:35

one bit. Those other crashes were pilot

37:37

error, plain and simple. Well, I don't

37:39

know. Seems to me like they ought to cancel the whole thing.

37:42

I know they're calling it the greatest race in aviation

37:45

history, but

37:45

three men are dead. You've

37:48

had enough of this reporter's doom and gloom, and

37:50

thankfully, you see race officials waving their

37:52

arms out on the dirt runway. It's your

37:54

signal to taxiing the place. Well,

37:56

excuse me, sir, and please step back. We're being

37:58

cleared for takeoff, so...

38:00

It's you in Hawaii.

38:03

You and your navigator climb into the cockpit

38:06

and fire up the engine. The fog has cleared

38:08

and you're airborne in no time. The

38:10

crowd of nearly 100,000 cheers your

38:12

smooth takeoff, and soon the Golden

38:15

Gate Bridge passes beneath you. You're

38:17

on course and you have plenty of fuel, along

38:19

with two quarts of coffee and a dozen sandwiches.

38:22

A head lay 2,400 miles of ocean

38:24

and a life-changing amount of money.

38:30

Coming on the heels of Charles Lindbergh's

38:32

transatlantic flight, the Dole

38:34

Air Race of 1927 was supposed to

38:36

be a thrilling competition that aligned the Dole

38:39

name and brand with progress and adventure.

38:41

The race was initially conceived

38:43

by Hawaii's governor and the publisher of the

38:45

Honolulu Star Bulletin, who thought it might

38:47

be good publicity for Hawaii. They

38:50

They brought the idea to Dole, who agreed to sponsor

38:52

the race with a $25,000 grand prize and

38:55

a $10,000 prize for second place.

38:58

August 16, 1927, eight

39:00

planes were scheduled to compete.

39:02

Two of them crashed during takeoff.

39:05

Two others managed to get airborne, but

39:07

soon turned back with mechanical problems.

39:09

Of the four that remained,

39:11

the pilot of the Wollarock reached Honolulu

39:14

in 26 hours and took first prize.

39:17

plane called the Aloha got lost

39:19

and nearly ran out of fuel but landed

39:21

two hours later. The two other

39:23

planes never arrived.

39:25

The Lockheed Vega monoplane named the Golden

39:28

Eagle, with its crew of two, was lost

39:30

at sea.

39:31

The Miss Doran, which carried a two-man

39:33

crew and a twenty-two-year-old Michigan schoolteacher

39:35

named Mildred Doran, also vanished.

39:38

The public was horrified by the tragedies, and

39:41

even aviators who had supported the race now

39:43

argued that it had been far too risky.

39:46

Dole offered an additional $20,000 reward for the

39:48

recovery of the missing

39:50

crews, whom rescuers hoped might

39:52

be found alive in life rafts.

39:55

But a plane that joined in the search, the

39:57

Dallas Spirit also disappeared.

40:00

none of the three missing planes was ever

40:02

found.

40:03

In total, the race claimed ten

40:05

lives.

40:06

Many in the press criticized Dole's race

40:08

as wasteful and foolhardy.

40:10

The Philadelphia Inquirer called it an orgy

40:13

of reckless sacrifice.

40:14

Dole felt personally guilty and

40:16

wished he had pushed for stiffer safety requirements.

40:19

He told the press that he deeply regretted the

40:21

loss of life and that he was through with aviation.

40:25

And yet the race had its desired effect.

40:27

Now, the world knew the name Dole, and

40:29

despite the tragedies, the press had been

40:32

good for business.

40:33

Some even praised the race as a bold advancement

40:35

in long-distance flight.

40:37

But meanwhile, Dole's competitors were

40:39

starting to catch up.

40:41

Heading into the late 1920s, Dole's

40:43

share of the pineapple market had declined

40:45

to about a third.

40:46

Large rivals had entered the business, including

40:49

the California Packing Corporation, which

40:51

later became known as Del Monte.

40:54

Still, by 1930, Dole was manufacturing

40:56

more than 100 million cans of pineapple

40:59

a year.

41:00

Pineapples were now firmly entrenched as

41:02

Hawaii's second largest crop behind

41:04

only sugar.

41:05

And Dole stood alone as the world's largest

41:07

pineapple producer. But

41:09

Jim Dole would not be around to see the company

41:11

he founded reach its peak.

41:13

As the Great Depression hit America, demand

41:16

for canned pineapples plunged.

41:18

In 1931, Dole packaged a record 120 million cans,

41:20

but much event

41:23

went unsold.

41:25

After years of profits, Dole's

41:27

company began losing money, and he began

41:29

borrowing to stay afloat. By

41:31

late 1932, the company

41:33

was on the verge of bankruptcy.

41:35

Skittish shareholders decided it was time

41:37

for a shake-up.

41:38

Dole was ousted as general manager

41:41

and given the mostly honorary title of chairman

41:43

of the board. Big Five

41:45

sugar company Castle & Cook, which still

41:47

held a minority stake in Dole's Hawaiian Pineapple

41:50

Company, control and named

41:52

a new president. Dole

41:53

would stay with the company for another 16 years, but

41:56

from the sidelines.

41:58

Dole had beaten the odds to build a map of the company's massive

42:00

pineapple empire, and helped to transform

42:02

Hawaiian agriculture.

42:04

More importantly, his savvy marketing campaigns

42:06

had established Hawaii in the American imagination

42:09

as an exotic island paradise.

42:11

Other companies, from hotels to passenger

42:13

ships, followed N'Dole's footsteps, using

42:16

that tropical allure to turn Hawaii

42:18

into a booming tourism destination. And

42:21

as more tourists came to the islands through

42:23

the 1920s, so did many thousands

42:25

of American sailors and soldiers. An

42:28

expanding US military presence would

42:30

create tensions with local Hawaiians, leading

42:33

to an explosive murder trial that made headlines

42:35

around the world and threatened Hawaii's tourist-friendly

42:38

image.

42:41

From Wunderi, this is episode two

42:43

of Hawaii's journey to statehood from American

42:45

history tellers. On the next episode,

42:48

travelers flock to Hawaii on luxury

42:50

steamships, lured by novelties like

42:52

surfing, hula dances, and flowery

42:54

shirts. Tourism transforms the

42:56

islands but further marginalizes native

42:58

Hawaiians, and the U.S. military expands

43:01

its presence with deadly results.

43:06

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to

43:08

American Historytellers ad-free on Amazon

43:10

Music. Download the Amazon Music

43:12

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43:15

with Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts. Before

43:18

you go, tell us about yourself by completing

43:20

a short survey at Wondery.com

43:22

slash survey.