Introduction

Welcome to hulapages.com
Over 1000 images and growing!

My reason for starting this website, and the purpose of its existence is to document
the cover art from vintage Hawaiian, tropical and exotic-themed sheet music. I've always been intrigued by the sensual images portraying life in the Hawaiian islands
and the Southern Seas. Part of my childhood was spent living in Hawaii, and I am
forever reminded of those idyllic days whenever I come across a painting or photograph
of a hula maiden, surfer, or of Waikiki beach with Diamond Head in the background.

There seems to be a large, and growing, group of Hawaiian sheet music collectors
out there in cyberspace. Just go to ebay and watch how many buyers bid on an unusual
piece of Hawaiian sheet music from the twenties or thirties. Some collect them for
the music, and some for the artwork (some both)...but there is definately a growing interest.

The Art

The general scope of this collection runs from the 1870s, when Hawaiian
sheet music first began to be published in Honolulu, up to the end of the forties.
Many of the early images on these pieces show the naivette of the artists, and its often
very obvious the illustrator never set a foot on the Islands. A good example is the
Egyptian-looking maiden on the cover of My Hula-Hula Love (1911) or the Greek
looking one on Hawaii; Intermezzo (1908). As travel to the islands became more
popular, and affordable, the artwork on Hawaiian sheet music became more realistic.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of putting together this site is researching the
artists and illustrators who created these time tested covers. Research is a passion
of mine, and I'm constantly on the lookout for details of these artists who have
been largely forgotten by time. Many of the great magazine and book illustrators
of the last century are beginning to get their well earned due, but the sheet music
cover illustrators remain largely ignored. It doesn't help that many of these artists
simply signed with their initials, or with mysterious symbols. Often, to the
consternation of collectors, they didn't even sign their work at all.

The Music

The music itself was often very non-Hawaiian as well, with silly lyrics which were
written in an attempt to mimic the Hawaiian language. Examples of these are
Oh, How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo (1916)
and Yacka Hula Hicky Dula (1916) which was sung by Al Jolson.

This music is generally known as Hapa-Haole music, or "half-white" music,
and was often put to a fox trot or jazz beat. There was still a large amount of
traditional Hawaiian music being published, mainly out of Honolulu, but the majority
of the pieces in this collection are of the Hapa-Haole variety. Unfortunately, since the
focus of this archive is on the images, not the music, there are no lyrics or musical
transcription in it's pages. I have provided a few links, however, if that is your interest.

Thank You

A special thanks to Tom Coulson who contributed many of the images on this site.
Also, thank you visitors - please feel free to email me with suggestions,
corrections or additions. My hope is that you, as a collector, will help me build
on this website by providing me with scans of pieces that are not in the archives,
so that eventually it can become the definative reference point for Hawaiian and Tropical sheet music collectors and historians. Please visit the guest book before you go.

My goals for the future include expansion of the archives to beyond the forties,
continued research into the lives of the cover artists, and improvement on scan quality,
some of which are of low quality at present...stay in touch!

Keith Emmons