Timeteo Gasper

"Living at Kuliouou with my cousins . . . was a time when we were having real hard times, but we survived. This is when we kids really grew up together as a family. All the kids slept on the floor, some on the back of the slop truck, and in the backyard was a hammock. I slept under it. Hard times yes, but we all survived. During this time is when I really got to know my grandfather, Papa Gasper. Papa always told me, "Boy, you can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it and try. Never say, you can't. I have learned a lot from Papa and it has helped me to be smarter and survive in hard times. His advice sank into my head. Papa taught us how to be self-sufficient. . . Communication with our elders was important. That's how we learned. . . "

Raymond Gasper, Sr.

Feb. 15, 1937 - Aug 6, 1997

(son of Lorenzo "Lole" Gasper)

The following timeline represents events that occurred in Hawaii during the lifetime of "Papa" Timeteo Gasper. These are events which may have impacted him directly or events which he may have heard, read in the local newspaper or listen to on the radio:

1894 - The Republic of Hawaii was established
1896 - Moana Hotel ("Grand Old Lady" of Waikiki/now the Sheraton Moana Surfrider) is planned
1898 - Hawaii's state flag is replaced by the United States' "Stars and Stripes"

20th century

1900 -
- Hawaii becomes a U.S. territory
- One pound of sugar costs 7 cents
1901 -
- The Hawaiian Pineapple Company, now Dole, is established
- James "Jim" Drummond Dole's first plants pineapple in Wahiawa's countryside
- 1901 - Honolulu Rapid Transit's inaugural run of electric streetcars
1903 - Joint Tourism Committee is created to promote the Territory to the world (now the HVCB)
1905 - Only 80 automobiles are registered on the island of Oahu
1910 - First airplane flight in Hawaii
1912 - Duke Kahanamoku participates at the Olympics in Stockholm
1916 - The brothel "Iwilei Stockade" is shut down
1917 - Charlie Chaplin visits Hawaii and speaks at the Honolulu Ad Club's luncheon
1920 - Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, visits the Islands
1922 - Honolulu Museum of Art is chartered
1923 - Hawaiian Dredging Co. begins dredging of the Ala Wai Canal
1924 - Work begins on the structural foundation of Aloha Tower
1927 -
- Group of women found the organization "Outdoor Circle" and end billboard advertising
- Inaugural Lei Day
- The Royal Hawaiian Hotel opens for business
1929 - First interisland flight by Stanley C. Kennedy in an amphibious plane
1934 - President Roosevelt was the first U.S. President to visit Hawaii
1935 -
- First 2,270-mile trans-Pacific flight from San Francisco to Hawaii takes 21 1/2 hours
- 5-year-old Shirley Temple visits Hawaii
- "Hawaii Calls" radio program enters the hearts and living rooms of America
1941 -
- When World War II began in 1939, the United States chose to stay out of the war. After the historic Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II. Many of the damaged ships and submarines were repaired by armed forces and used in the war. The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific was dedicated in 1949 in Honolulu; thousands are buried there.
- A lone Japanese pilot crash lands on Niihau and is killed after he shoots a Hawaiian
- First land-based interisland flights
1946 - Great tsunami hits Hilo, killing over 100 people and causing $25 million damage
1956 - Financing is settled and Ala Moana Shopping Center opens
1957 - The first telephone cable from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii operated
1959 - Hawaii became the 50^th state on Aug. 21, 1959
1962 - The jet-aircraft terminal in Honolulu was completed