Some great videos are circulating through the Hawaiian blogs… It seems that someone toured the islands back in the 1940’s and took a few reels of 16mm film. These vintage films turned up at a garage sale and were rescued by Tim Peddy and Rick Helin, who understood their value. With the assistance of the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County and a special telecine converter the film was transferred to a digital format.
Watching the films is a great look into life on the islands six decades ago. Photos of places familiar and yet removed in time.
Saddle road seems familiar, it has gotten a bit better. The scenes of paniolos driving cattle into the surf to to be towed to a waiting freighter are simply fantastic!
In the second clip I see some footage that was clearly not taken on the Big Island, probably windward Oahu judging by the cliffs in the background.
The film of the Inter-Island Airways (now Hawaiian Airlines) Sikorsky S-43 flying boat is great. There are also great aerial shots of the Hamakua Coast showing and seemingly endless expanse of sugar cane fields and plantation towns.