Aloha Friday

Aloha Friday came from Hawaii’s clothing industry. In the 1940s, businessmen always wore a suit and tie. In 1946 the City and County of Honolulu allowed their employees to wear sports shirts during the hottest summer months. The Hawaiian Fashion industry realized they would benefit if residents wore Hawaiian made clothing. They encouraged companies to allow employees to wear aloha gear to work on Fridays. 

In 1966 the Bank of Hawaii allowed Aloha attire on Fridays. The tradition began when Maui’s Wilson P. Cannon, Jr., who was president of the Bank of Hawaii, started wearing aloha shirts to the office. Soon after this, Aloha Fridays were official. By 1970 it was common for aloha wear to be worn on any day of the week. Aloha Friday was referred to as the last day of the work week.

Today, aloha shirts are everyday business wear. Knowing that it is Aloha Friday gives people in Hawaii a head start on the weekend and helps them look forward to time with ‘ohana. Aloha Friday has made its way to the Mainland as casual Friday. Some Mainland offices even encourage colorful Aloha Shirts on Fridays. Aloha Fridays = no work 'till Monday! We celebrated Aloha Friday with a wonderful group of ukulele musicians from the Comfort & Joy Ukulele Out Reach and our residents enjoyed it so much that we are looking forward to bringing them back!