James Dole
Encyclopedia
James Drummond Dole also known as the "Pineapple King'", was an American
industrialist who developed the pineapple
industry in Hawaii
and established the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Hawaiian Pineapple Company, or HAPCO, was later reorganized to become the Dole Food Company
, which now does business in over 90 countries. Dole was a cousin (once removed) of Sanford B. Dole
, President of the Republic of Hawaii
.
(now part of Boston
) to a proud native American
Puritan
family long settled in the country since Colonial America
times. His father was Unitarian
minister Charles Fletcher Dole
and his mother was Frances Drummond. His paternal great-grandfather was Wigglesworth Dole
(1779–1845). His maternal grandfather was also a clergyman, James Drummond. Growing up, Dole attended Roxbury Latin School
in West Roxbury, Massachusetts
from which he graduated. In 1899, Dole obtained his bachelor degree in agriculture from the Bussey Institute
of Harvard University
.
After receiving USD $
50 as a gift, Dole began saving money for a future business. After growing his savings to $16,240, Dole moved to Honolulu Hawaii
at the age of 22, arriving on November 16, 1899, (then governed by his cousin Sanford B. Dole
, after the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani).
He purchased a 64 acres (258,999 m²) government homestead in the central plains of the island of Oahu
at 21°30′30"N 158°0′22"W.
After experimenting with a number of crops, he settled on planting pineapple
.
. That same year, 1907, Dole purchased magazine advertisements to promote his canned pineapples. He developed the first nationwide consumer ad campaign in the United States
and was successful. Demand for Hawaiian pineapple grew even more.
In 1913, Dole invested in a new machine invented by Henry G. Ginaca
. The Ginaca machine could peel and core thirty-five pineapples every minute. Before the invention, Dole had to contend with the slow pace of having hundreds of workers peel and core each pineapple by hand. With a fully mechanized outfit, Dole's business boomed once more. Rival pineapple companies slowly began to adopt the Ginaca machine, seeing how much Dole improved his business with the introduction of new technologies. During this period, the Hawaiin pineapple sector was at its most profitable as various small companies operating on comparatively modern small land made middling income for the operators. However, this was about to change as Dole was soon to corner the market and turn it into single mighty industry dominated by a small group of companies who mass produced the fruit for the rest of the global market.
By 1922, Dole had managed to convince his family's network in Hawaii and in Boston to arrange for a sizable capital investment fund with which he purchased the island of Lānai
and developed it as a vast pineapple plantation. It became the largest plantation in the world with over 200,000 acres (800 km²) devoted exclusively to growing pineapple. Utilizing large mechanized production and importing large numbers of foreign workers which were paid at indentured servitude levels, Dole managed to reduce the price of his pinapples to such a level that it drove every other producer out of the business which didn't fall into line with his scheme. With this vast pinapple acreage at the company's disposal, throughout the 20th century, Lānai produced over seventy-five percent of the world's pineapple crop, thereby dominating the market, and in turn, the place acquired the nickname of Pineapple Island. Dole also purchased land on the island of Maui
.
In 1927, inspired by Charles A. Lindbergh's successful trans-Atlantic flight, and seeing the potential air transportation could play in delivering his fruit thereby making an end-run around what remained of his competitors' in the Matson Navigation Company
, Dole sponsored the Dole Air Race
, putting up a prize of US$25,000 for the first airplane to fly from Oakland, California
to Honolulu, and US$10,000 for second place. Those prizes were won by the only two airplanes to survive the flight.
Ten other people died in their attempts. However, the race opened up the air-travel business to Hawaii and Dole quickly developed the contacts necessary to put a stranglehold on that commercial sector.
However, this investments in land, mechanization, and finally air transportion combined with the resulting decrease in the price of pinapples, placed the company in a vulnerable price position. Since pineapples take two years to grow to maturity, the Great Depression
of the 1930s (and the resulting decrease in demand, caused the company to lose money. By December 1932 Dole was removed from management of the company and replaced by Atherton Richards.
At that time, Castle & Cooke
took a stake in the company.
His wife was the sister of architect Charles William Dickey
, a member of another missionary family. They had five children: Richard Alexander Dole was born on October 28, 1907, James Drummond Dole, Jr. was born on February 6, 1910, Elisabeth Dole was born on April 25, 1911, Charles Herbert Dole was born on October 30, 1914, and Barbara Dole was born on October 10, 1916.
Sanford Dole had asked to avoid using the Dole name for products, but it had become well-known, at least within Hawaii.
Dole retired in 1948, only a few years after introducing the first product to actually bear his name, canned Dole pineapple juice. He suffered from various ailments in retirement; the worst were a series of strokes. A heart attack
finally took Dole's life on May 20, 1958. Dole was buried in Makawao Union Church
cemetery near Makawao
, Hawaii
on the island of Maui
. His grave overlooked the slopes of Haleakala
and the vast pineapple fields of what was at the time his Maui pineapple plantation. His wife Belle inscribed the words on his gravestone, "He was a Man, Take Him All in All. I Shall Not Look Upon His Like Again."
The tourist attraction known as the Dole Plantation was established in 1950 as a small fruit stand in the middle of Dole's original pineapple fields. In 1989, the fruit stand was transformed into a plantation home mounted on what looks like a hill of red dirt, characteristic of Wahiawa. The plantation home became a living museum
and historical archive of the life and work of the industrialist.
It is located off of Kamehameha Highway
(Route 99), at 21°31′32"N 158°2′15"W.
The plantation features the world's largest maze, grown entirely out of Hawaiian plants.
Originally built in 1998, it lost its place in the Guinness Book of World Records until it was expanded in July 2007. The maze covers 137194 ft2 and paths are 13001 feet (3,962.7 m) long.
The "Pineapple Express" is a two mile (3 km) train ride through the plantation that is fully animated, while explaining the history of the pineapple. The plantation garden tour gives information about North Shore, the Hibiscus, native species, the Lei, irrigation, Bromeliads, the Ti Leaf, and Life on the plantation.
In 1991, the Dole Cannery closed its operations and was transformed into a multi-purpose facility with media studios, conference rooms and ballrooms. The lower levels houses a modern shopping center and a 18-screen multiplex cinema owned by Regal Entertainment Group
. The actual ginaca machines and cannery storage were preserved and turned into a museum of Hawaiian Pineapple Company history. The cannery is located in the area known as Iwilei, between Honolulu Harbor
and Kapālama
, at 650 Iwilei Road Honolulu, 21°18′56"N 157°52′13"W, and ballrooms across the street.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
industrialist who developed the pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
industry in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and established the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Hawaiian Pineapple Company, or HAPCO, was later reorganized to become the Dole Food Company
Dole Food Company
Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, operating with 74,300 full-time and seasonal employees who are responsible for over 300...
, which now does business in over 90 countries. Dole was a cousin (once removed) of Sanford B. Dole
Sanford B. Dole
Sanford Ballard Dole was a lawyer and jurist in the Hawaiian Islands as a kingdom, protectorate, republic and territory...
, President of the Republic of Hawaii
Republic of Hawaii
The Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...
.
Early life
James Dole was born on September 27, 1877, in Jamaica Plain, MassachusettsJamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain is a historic neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded by Boston Puritans seeking farm land to the south, it was originally part of the city of Roxbury...
(now part of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
) to a proud native American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
family long settled in the country since Colonial America
Colonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...
times. His father was Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
minister Charles Fletcher Dole
Charles Fletcher Dole
Charles Fletcher Dole was an influential Unitarian minister, speaker, and writer in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, Massachusetts, and Chairman of the Association to Abolish War...
and his mother was Frances Drummond. His paternal great-grandfather was Wigglesworth Dole
Wigglesworth Dole
Wigglesworth Dole was a patriarch of an influential American family.-Life:Wigglesworth Dole was born November 17, 1779 in Newburyport, Massachusetts and then moved to Maine....
(1779–1845). His maternal grandfather was also a clergyman, James Drummond. Growing up, Dole attended Roxbury Latin School
Roxbury Latin School
The Roxbury Latin School is the oldest school in continuous operation in North America. The school was founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts by the Rev. John Eliot under a charter received from King Charles I of England. Since its founding in 1645, it has educated boys on a continuous basis.Located...
in West Roxbury, Massachusetts
West Roxbury, Massachusetts
West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston bordered by Roslindale to the north, the Town of Dedham to the east and south, the Town of Brookline and the City of Newton to the west. Many people mistakenly confuse West Roxbury with Roxbury, but the two are not connected. West Roxbury is separated from...
from which he graduated. In 1899, Dole obtained his bachelor degree in agriculture from the Bussey Institute
Bussey Institute
The Bussey Institute was a respected biological institute at Harvard University. It was named for Benjamin Bussey, who, in 1835, endowed the establishment of an undergraduate school of agriculture and horticulture and donated land in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts that became the Arnold Arboretum...
of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
After receiving USD $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
50 as a gift, Dole began saving money for a future business. After growing his savings to $16,240, Dole moved to Honolulu Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
at the age of 22, arriving on November 16, 1899, (then governed by his cousin Sanford B. Dole
Sanford B. Dole
Sanford Ballard Dole was a lawyer and jurist in the Hawaiian Islands as a kingdom, protectorate, republic and territory...
, after the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani).
He purchased a 64 acres (258,999 m²) government homestead in the central plains of the island of Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
at 21°30′30"N 158°0′22"W.
After experimenting with a number of crops, he settled on planting pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
.
Hawaiian Pineapple Company
His farm grew and Dole constructed a cannery and packing plant in the town of Wahiawa. Soon, yields and popularity of his product proved greater than he expected and Dole built a new cannery and packing plant near Honolulu HarborHonolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor, also called Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou, is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. It is from Honolulu Harbor, located on Mamala Bay, that the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, in an outward fashion, over the course of the...
. That same year, 1907, Dole purchased magazine advertisements to promote his canned pineapples. He developed the first nationwide consumer ad campaign in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and was successful. Demand for Hawaiian pineapple grew even more.
In 1913, Dole invested in a new machine invented by Henry G. Ginaca
Henry G. Ginaca
Henry Gabriel Ginaca was an American engineer who invented, at the direction of Hawaiian pineapple magnate James Dole in 1911, a machine that could peel and core pineapples in an automated fashion. Called the Ginaca machine, the invention exponentially increased pineapple production and...
. The Ginaca machine could peel and core thirty-five pineapples every minute. Before the invention, Dole had to contend with the slow pace of having hundreds of workers peel and core each pineapple by hand. With a fully mechanized outfit, Dole's business boomed once more. Rival pineapple companies slowly began to adopt the Ginaca machine, seeing how much Dole improved his business with the introduction of new technologies. During this period, the Hawaiin pineapple sector was at its most profitable as various small companies operating on comparatively modern small land made middling income for the operators. However, this was about to change as Dole was soon to corner the market and turn it into single mighty industry dominated by a small group of companies who mass produced the fruit for the rest of the global market.
By 1922, Dole had managed to convince his family's network in Hawaii and in Boston to arrange for a sizable capital investment fund with which he purchased the island of Lānai
Lanai
Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....
and developed it as a vast pineapple plantation. It became the largest plantation in the world with over 200,000 acres (800 km²) devoted exclusively to growing pineapple. Utilizing large mechanized production and importing large numbers of foreign workers which were paid at indentured servitude levels, Dole managed to reduce the price of his pinapples to such a level that it drove every other producer out of the business which didn't fall into line with his scheme. With this vast pinapple acreage at the company's disposal, throughout the 20th century, Lānai produced over seventy-five percent of the world's pineapple crop, thereby dominating the market, and in turn, the place acquired the nickname of Pineapple Island. Dole also purchased land on the island of Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
.
In 1927, inspired by Charles A. Lindbergh's successful trans-Atlantic flight, and seeing the potential air transportation could play in delivering his fruit thereby making an end-run around what remained of his competitors' in the Matson Navigation Company
Matson Navigation Company
The Matson Navigation Company, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, is a private shipping company with roots extending into the late 19th century...
, Dole sponsored the Dole Air Race
Dole Air Race
The Dole Air Race, also known as the Dole Derby, was a tragic air race to cross the Pacific Ocean from northern California to the Territory of Hawaii in August 1927. Of the 15-18 entrant airplanes, 11 were certified to compete but three crashed before the race, resulting in three deaths...
, putting up a prize of US$25,000 for the first airplane to fly from Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
to Honolulu, and US$10,000 for second place. Those prizes were won by the only two airplanes to survive the flight.
Ten other people died in their attempts. However, the race opened up the air-travel business to Hawaii and Dole quickly developed the contacts necessary to put a stranglehold on that commercial sector.
However, this investments in land, mechanization, and finally air transportion combined with the resulting decrease in the price of pinapples, placed the company in a vulnerable price position. Since pineapples take two years to grow to maturity, the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s (and the resulting decrease in demand, caused the company to lose money. By December 1932 Dole was removed from management of the company and replaced by Atherton Richards.
At that time, Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture...
took a stake in the company.
Family and retirement
Dole married Belle Dickey (1880–1972) in Jamaica Plain on November 23, 1906.His wife was the sister of architect Charles William Dickey
Charles William Dickey
Charles William “C.W.” Dickey was an American architect famous for developing a distinctive style of Hawaiian architecture...
, a member of another missionary family. They had five children: Richard Alexander Dole was born on October 28, 1907, James Drummond Dole, Jr. was born on February 6, 1910, Elisabeth Dole was born on April 25, 1911, Charles Herbert Dole was born on October 30, 1914, and Barbara Dole was born on October 10, 1916.
Sanford Dole had asked to avoid using the Dole name for products, but it had become well-known, at least within Hawaii.
Dole retired in 1948, only a few years after introducing the first product to actually bear his name, canned Dole pineapple juice. He suffered from various ailments in retirement; the worst were a series of strokes. A heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
finally took Dole's life on May 20, 1958. Dole was buried in Makawao Union Church
Makawao Union Church
Makawao Union Church is a church near Makawao on the Hawaiian island of Maui. It was founded by New England missionary Jonathan Smith Green during the Kingdom of Hawaii. The third historic structure used by the congregation was designed by noted local architect C.W. Dickey and dedicated in 1917 as...
cemetery near Makawao
Makawao, Hawaii
Makawao is a census-designated place in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 6,327 at the 2000 census. Located in the rural northeast slope of Haleakala on East Maui, the community is known for being the hub of the "Upcountry", a part of the island dominated by mostly...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
on the island of Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
. His grave overlooked the slopes of Haleakala
Haleakala
Haleakalā , or the East Maui Volcano, is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui. The western 25% of the island is formed by the West Maui Mountains.- History :...
and the vast pineapple fields of what was at the time his Maui pineapple plantation. His wife Belle inscribed the words on his gravestone, "He was a Man, Take Him All in All. I Shall Not Look Upon His Like Again."
Legacy
About 8.5 acres (3.4 ha) of the original estate, including surrounding horticultural gardens, was kept in the Dole family until 1972. Although his original three-room house collapsed in 1971, a kitchen house from 1901, and a prefabricated building constructed in 1905 and expanded around 1909 for his growing family, remained but was deteriorating. In the late 1970s, the new owners developed the land into suburban residences. The remaining structures were removed from Wahiawa for the new subdivision. The Waipahu Cultural Garden in Waipahu, Hawaii at 21°23′7"N 158°0′43"W recreated a Hawaiian plantation village.Living museum
A living museum is a type of museum, in which historical events showing the life in ancient times are performed, especially in ethnographic or historical views, or processes for producing a commercial product in terms of technical and technological developments are shown, especially the craft...
and historical archive of the life and work of the industrialist.
It is located off of Kamehameha Highway
Kamehameha Highway
Kamehameha Highway is one of the main highways serving suburban and rural O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Starting from Nimitz Highway near Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, it serves the island's older western suburbs, turning north across the O‘ahu Central Valley to the...
(Route 99), at 21°31′32"N 158°2′15"W.
The plantation features the world's largest maze, grown entirely out of Hawaiian plants.
Originally built in 1998, it lost its place in the Guinness Book of World Records until it was expanded in July 2007. The maze covers 137194 ft2 and paths are 13001 feet (3,962.7 m) long.
The "Pineapple Express" is a two mile (3 km) train ride through the plantation that is fully animated, while explaining the history of the pineapple. The plantation garden tour gives information about North Shore, the Hibiscus, native species, the Lei, irrigation, Bromeliads, the Ti Leaf, and Life on the plantation.
In 1991, the Dole Cannery closed its operations and was transformed into a multi-purpose facility with media studios, conference rooms and ballrooms. The lower levels houses a modern shopping center and a 18-screen multiplex cinema owned by Regal Entertainment Group
Regal Entertainment Group
Regal Entertainment Group also known as REG is a movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Regal operates the largest and most geographically diverse theater circuit in the United States, consisting of 6,775 screens in 548 locations in 39 states and the District of Columbia as of...
. The actual ginaca machines and cannery storage were preserved and turned into a museum of Hawaiian Pineapple Company history. The cannery is located in the area known as Iwilei, between Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor, also called Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou, is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. It is from Honolulu Harbor, located on Mamala Bay, that the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, in an outward fashion, over the course of the...
and Kapālama
Kapālama
-History:The name comes from ka pā lama in the Hawaiian language which means "the enclosure of lama wood". "Lama" was the Hawaiian name for endemic ebony trees of genus Diospyros that were used in religious ceremonies....
, at 650 Iwilei Road Honolulu, 21°18′56"N 157°52′13"W, and ballrooms across the street.