49th State Hawaii record company

At the end of WWII 49th State Hawaii Record Company was founded by Honolulu, Hawaii record store owner George K. Ching. It was so named because many businessmen were anticipating Hawaii's eventual attainment of statehood, however no one realized then that Alaska would actually gain that distinction, and Hawaii would end up as the 50th State. Ching wanted to manufacture Hawaiian records to answer the demand for music in his downtown Honolulu record store. To guarantee authenticity in the recording performances, Ching enlisted with Hawaiian composer and musician Johnny Almeida, known as the "Dean of Hawaiian Music" as the label's musical director. The first 49th State recordings were made using an acetate record cutting machine, in a makeshift studio at Ching's own home. When the technology became available, a tape recorder was used recording first on paper tapes and then later on plastic. The original recordings were released first on 78 rpm records. It was a successor to Bell Records (1940), Honolulu which released Hawaiian music recordings between 1944 and 1950[1] The company has been described as "the first, top, most significant, authentic label of Hawaii"[2] Ching made recordings in his home using a "portable disc-cutter". The recording label was in business from approximately 1948 to 1958.[3] The address listed for the company in the July 15, 1950 Billboard Magazine (page 69) is 1121 Bethel Street, Honolulu, T.H.[4]

Cord International has restored and re-mastered many of the LP releases of 49th State Hawaii record company.[5] According to the May 18, 2015 obituary of Michael Cord:

In the 1980s he noticed that many of the important old-time Hawaiian record labels had gone out of business and their releases were out of print. In 1991 he began leasing the rights to those old recordings and digitally restoring them for reissue. Among the Hawaii record labels Cord brought back to life were Bell, 49th State Hawaii, Mele, Trim, Tradewinds and Gold Coin[6]

According to the May 13, 2015 Ojai Valley News obituary of Michael Cord sponsored by the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts,[7]

"One of our first acquisitions was the '49th State Hawaii Records' label," Michael Cord later recalled. "Our dream was to re-release the music completely restored and remastered. The recordings were originally released on big, thick, scratchy 78-rpm discs that were played on a Victrola. There was lots of noise-hisses and pops- and we wanted the listening experience to be just like it was when these recordings were brand new- only better."

• The Legacy of the 49th State Hawaii Record label accessed March 31, 2016
• Discogs: 49th State Hawaii Record Co. accessed March 31, 2016
• 49th State Hawaii Classic Recordings! accessed March 31, 2016
• Hawaiian music Collection, University of Hawaii at Manoa Library accessed March 31, 2016