Antique & Vintage Postcards

A grand red-roofed landmark presides over a sun-drenched Lahaina street in this lively chrome postcard of the Pioneer Hotel — vintage 1960s automobiles nosed up to the curb, coconut palms swaying overhead, and the two-story wraparound veranda exuding the unhurried charm of old Hawaii. Written in looping blue ink by a traveler who signed off as Lou and Flossie, the message crackles with personality: "Very crowded here today, the 'Lurline' is in port, in Maui. By the way, Maui isn't the best. I'll take swinging Waikiki any day." The SS Lurline — Matson Navigation's beloved passenger liner — is the invisible star of this card, her port call flooding Lahaina with day-trippers and souring at least one visitor on the Valley Isle. The pair changed their flight home and made it back from Maui to Honolulu in a smooth 23 minutes by jet. Addressed to a Miss Cole in Bloomfield, New Jersey, this used chrome card was published by Mike Roberts Color Productions of Berkeley, California, and distributed by Movie Supply of Hawaii, Honolulu — a classic Hawaii tourism-era production chain. Like PC-03565, the Pioneer Hotel and its Front Street neighbors were lost or heavily impacted in the 2023 Lahaina fires, adding historical weight to this everyday snapshot.