First day cover issued to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Captain Cook's landing in Hawaii in 1778
Date1978
Object number00040046
NameFirst day cover
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 93 x 165 mm
ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA first day cover issued to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Captain Cook's landing in Hawaii in 1778.Features special colour cachet of Captain James Cook in Hawaii, post marked 20 January 1978 in Honolulu, 96820. The two US A 13 cent stamps depict Captain Cook in a formal portrait (Alaska 1778) and HMS RESOLUTION in Hawaii (Hawaii 1778).HistoryJames Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755 as an Able Seaman on HMS EAGLE and four years later was promoted to Master. He undertook three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean: the first as Lieutenant on HMS ENDEAVOUR from 1768-1771; the second from 1776-1779. In Endeavour Cook circumnavigated and charted New Zealand and
surveyed and claimed the east coast of Australia for the British Crown.
Cook first sighted the Hawaiian is land of Oahu on 18 January 1778, but because of the prevailing north easterly winds his first landing was at Waimea, Kauai on 20 January 1778. He left Hawaii on 2 February, sailing to Alaska to seek the elusive Northwest Passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.
Returning to Hawaii for the winter, Cook was killed in an on shore fight.
In 1874 the British erected a monument to Cook's memory near the place at Kealakekua Bay where he died on 14February 1779.
On 20 January 1978 Hawaii Post issued a set of stamps and first day cover to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Captain Cook's landing in Hawaii. Postage stamps are highly socially significant as they reflect and celebrate a nation's heritage, heroes, achievements and identity, and capture historical and symbolic moments for posterity. It is interesting to note the manner in which Cook has been depicted in the special cachet on this first day cover; the lively characterisation on the left contrasts greatly with the formal portrait of Cook on the Alaska 1778 13 cent stamp and indeed with all other stamps and covers issued by Hawaii Post depicting the navigator.SignificanceThis contemporary stamp and envelope represent an attempt to modernise Cook the explorer. While he is one of
Australia's most prominent maritime figures, this cover reminds us of Cook's crucial role in the wider Pacific region
and the continued efforts to represent and commemorate him 200 years after he arrived at Hawaii.
