Rev. Samuel Ruggles planted coffee cuttings in Kona in 1828. They grew well on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa.
After the 1899 price crash, big plantations leased small plots to their workers, most of them Japanese immigrants. By 1910, Japanese families made up 80 percent of Kona's coffee farmers.
From 1932 to 1969, Kona schools took their long break from August to November so children could help with the harvest. Surplus Army jeeps replaced the donkeys that hauled the coffee in the late 1940s.
What time is taking away
Coffee Vacation
Kona public schools moved their long break to August to November so children could pick coffee. Schools returned to a normal summer break in 1969.3
Japanese family coffee farms
The Kona Coffee Living History Farm shows the Uchida family farm, Japanese immigrants from Kumamoto, as it was in 1925 to 1945. It has a coffee mill, drying platform (hoshidana) and pack donkeys.4
What the record says
- Rev. Samuel Ruggles brought coffee cuttings to Kona in 1828; Honolulu Magazine says they came from Chief Boki's trees.2,3
- Don Francisco de Paula Marin recorded planting coffee on O'ahu in 1813.2,3
- After coffee prices crashed in 1899, owners leased 5 to 12 acre plots to workers, most from Japan.1,2
- By 1910, Japanese families made up 80 percent of Kona's coffee growers.3
- From 1932 to 1969, Kona schools held a 'Coffee Vacation' from August to November.3
- Kona trees bloom in February and March, and cherries are hand-picked several times between August and January.1
- Hawaiian law requires Kona blends to state their Kona percentage; blends typically contain only the 10 percent minimum.1
- The coffee berry borer was found on Kona plantations in September 2010.1,2
Accounts differ on where Ruggles's cuttings came from (Boki's trees versus Brazilian stock; both may be true since Boki's plants came from Brazil). One timeline dates the Coffee Vacation to 1845; Honolulu Magazine's 1932 date is used.
- Kona coffee · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- Coffee production in Hawaii · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- A Timeline of Coffee in Hawai'i · HONOLULU Magazine, 2014 in the bibliography
- Uchida Farm House (Kona Coffee Living History Farm) · Kona Historical Society in the bibliography
