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The Pacific Commercial Advertiser Archive

About

The Pacific Commercial Advertiser (PCA) debuted in Honolulu on July 2, 1856, when Hawaiʻi was in the throes of westernization and the resulting decline of the Native Hawaiian culture and population. Owner and editor Henry Martyn Whitney called the PCA an "opposition paper," because "The whalemen wanted an American newspaper and the white residents wanted one that was not run 'by authority'" (referring to the Hawaiian government-sponsored Polynesian, according to Whitney's obituary. He based the PCA upon the New-York Commercial Advertiser, where he had been employed. Whitneywas the first newspaperman in Honolulu to meet ships off port in a boat to pick up foreign newspapers, as was often done in New York. Initially the Pacific Commercial Advertiser was published every Thursday. In 1882 a daily (except Sunday) edition was also published. In May 1888 the weekly edition ceased.

Archive Info

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Source Information

The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 1856–1884 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2024. Last updated: February 28, 2023

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The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
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The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
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The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
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The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
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The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
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The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
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Archive Info

Source Information

The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 1856–1884 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2024. Last updated: February 28, 2023