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Overview
The Palaka
In Hawai'i plaid shirts like this one are known as palaka shirts. Duyring the 1920s, palakas only came in dark blue and white. Eventually other colour ways were introduced.
The word palaka was originally an Hawaiian transliteration of the word 'frock' which was used by English and American seamen to describe their loose, long-sleeved upper garments. Overtime, the word palaka came to be applied to a particular type of plaid fabric as opposed to a type of garment. In the early 20th century, hardwearing plaid cotton shirts became popular amongst plantation workers and paniolo (cowboys), and other outdoor workers. In 1932 the Trade, Commerical and Industrial Development Committee reported that palaka shirts were had 'grown to be almost a national costume', being worn by boys and girls to school, and by 'the younger set' to 'house parties, to cocktail parties, and beach parties'. (1)
Hawaiian scholar, Alfons L. Korn that 'palaka is the traditional ‘Pattern of the islands’. (2)
Arakawas - from cottage industry to department store
Arakawas was founded in the early 1909 by Zenpan Arakawa, a Japanese imigrant from Okinawa. A former sugar plantation worker, Zenpan set up a cottage industry making bags and then palaka work shirts. Eventually, Arakawas grew to become one of Hawai'i's biggest rural department stores. The store closed in 1995.
Co-collecting in Hawai'i
This shirt was acquired by Te Papa during a co-collecting trip to Hawai'i in 2017 based around the aloha shirt, and associated designs. Te Papa worked with Noelle Kahanu, a cultural specialist from the University of Hawai‘i, to develop collection that reflects the ways in which Hawaiian culture has been historically represented, and misrepresented, through the aloha shirt, and the ways in which contemporary native Hawaiian designers are utilising the aloha shirt to communicate indigenous cultural values.
Te Papa’s co-collecting programmes are guided by the principle of mana taonga – the sharing authority with stakeholder communities.
References
1. Quoted D. Hope., The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Island, Patagonia, p. 50.
2. Alfons L Korn, "Some Notes on the Origin of Certain Hawaiian Shirts: Frock, Smock-Frock, Block, and Palaka." Oceanic Linguistics 15, no. 1/2 (1976): 14-38.