Streetcar Days in Honolulu
Breezing Through Paradise
By MacKinnon Simpson and John Brizdle
160 pp., Honolulu, JLB Press

This fine coffee-table style book about the history of Honolulu traction is a work of art as well as a carefully researched and detailed compendium. It is filled with richly reproduced photos and historical documents including a large fold-out. There is a time and pay sheet, rolling stock orders, signs, drawings, schematics, historical maps, a reproduction of a hand water colored tax map, shop photos, specifications, tokens and transfers, car interior photos, pictures of motormen and moguls, inset memoirs and profiles, posters, badges and much more all carefully annotated.

Beginning with wagons and horses, the book takes you on an incredibly detailed adventure through early steam, the horse-drawn omnibus, tracked horse drawn carriages, the glorious period of electrified traction, and the latter's demise and replacement with busses.

One can gain a great deal from studying its pages. You do no simply see a motorman here and there; rather you have portraits and work photos and learn about the lives of the people and characters who lived the history of Hawaiian traction. The book holds fascination for the casual reader, while at the same time being filled with the sort of elaborate detail desired by dedicated trolley enthusiasts. One can, for example, see the detailed inner workings of a controller. There are endless technical details along with descriptions of the people who dealt with them.

Simply put, this book is a gem. It provides a very elegantly readable history of traction and exquisite illustrations. I had the sense, when I first flipped through its glossy pages, that the historical photos had been carefully tweaked to restore clarity. In fact, the captions reveal, some photos had been hand tinted for the book! Needless to say, I eagerly recommend this book for collectors as well as for those who simply enjoy fine traction photos and a good read.

-railpipe

Further information and photos may be seen at the book's official website:
http://www.streetcardays.com