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Hearing the Americas

Sheet music cover for "They're Wearing 'Em Higher in Hawaii" featuring two women in grass skirts and floral leis dancing before a seated man in a white suit, with palm fronds and a moon in the background.
Higher in Hawaii label

They’re Wearing Them Higher in Hawaii

Hawaiian

Title

They’re Wearing Them Higher in Hawaii

Date

1916

Performer

Collins and Harlan

Writer

Halsey K. Mohr

Location

Camden, NJ

Recording Technology

Disc

Description

Hawaii was often associated with exoticism and the forbidden. This song describes “Henry Meyer” who “was a buyer, buying ladies wear” for the New York fashion industry. His head is turned by the shorter skirts they wear in Hawaii. Meyer is likely Jewish: the song blends two kinds of ethnic characterization

Type

Hawaiian
Hawaii was often associated with exoticism and the forbidden. This song describes “Henry Meyer” who “was a buyer, buying ladies wear” for the New York fashion industry. His head is turned by the shorter skirts they wear in Hawaii. Meyer is likely Jewish: the song blends two kinds of ethnic characterization