Hawaiʻi's Journey to Statehood | The Pineapple King | 2
American History Tellers
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How to Get Your Machine Up and Running
In 1911 Jim Dole hired engineer Henry Gannaka to design a machine that would automate the labor intensive process of preparing a pineapple for canning. By 1915 pineapples had become Hawaii's second largest crop but its second largest industry in terms of revenue. But consumer pineapple sales slowed during World War one So Dole negotiated a deal to send canned pineapples to overseas allied troops It was not just a contribution to the war effort But also turned out to be a brilliant marketing campaign. In 1918 alone 25 million cans of Dole pineapples went to American homes and businesses Improvements to the Gannaka machines led to steady increases in production until by the mid 1920s Dole's Honolulu
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