Tauranga in Colour - 1900s to 1970s

Hand-coloured Photography in Tauranga Moana
Part 2 - 1900s to 1970s (contd. from Part 1)

Town Wharf, Tauranga, Tourist Series (931), c. 1910s-1920s
Hand-tinted real photo postcard by Henry Winkelmann, Auckland, published by Frank Duncan & Co.
Courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0302/15

The advent of picture postcards in New Zealand from 1897 heralded a huge opportunity for photographers. Lithographically printed cards based on engravings were soon replaced by colour views based on photographs, which could be printed for very modest cost in Germany. Kodak and other manufacturers started supplying paper specifically designed for postcards in the early 1900s, giving rise to a plethora of real photo postcards (RPCs) that could be hand-tinted with watercolours. The outbreak of war interrupted supplies of cheap lithographically printed cards, and the hand-tinted RPCs quickly became much more common while other printers struggled to keep up with demand and to compete pricewise. [13][14]

Herries Arch, The Strand, c. 1941
Hand-coloured silver gelatin print, by unidientified photographer/colourist/publisher
Courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo 03-577

Between the wars, by which time the postcard-collecting craze had abated somewhat [15], postcard publishers started to produce sets of smaller scenic prints packaged in tourist-oriented envelopes. These were often deckle-edged, and some were hand-coloured, like this slightly garish view of the familiar Herries Arch.

The Strand Gardens, Tauranga, c. 1935-1936
Full-plate mounted photographic print by Alfred H. Rendell, hand-coloured by Marjorie West
Courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0087/10

Alf Rendell produced many local street views before and after he took over his father’s business in 1938, including this view of The Strand Gardens, easily dated by the late 1930s cars parked along the street. As with all of his coloured photos, it was expertly finished by his older sister Marje. [16][17]

Mauao and Mount Maunganui township from Hopukiore (Mt Drury), c. 1946-1947
Hand-coloured postcard print by unidentified photographer/colourist, publ. as a calendar for 1948
Courtesy of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo 03-462

Of the many postcard views existing of Mount Maunganui at the time when it was a sparsely populated community of holiday cottages, this hand-coloured view taken before 1948 seems to capture the vibe well. It was published as a calendar, with a “Greetings” message suggesting it may have been aimed at the summer tourist market.

Aerial view of Tauranga’s Central Business District, May 1947
Photographed and hand-coloured by Whites Aviation Ltd., Wellington
Courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo 21-1327

The post-World War II years saw a boom in aerial photography, largely driven by the innovative firm of Whites Aviation Ltd, which almost single-handedly developed a new market for enormous coloured aerial landscape prints. They became so popular that, in the words of Hamish Keith, “the images … of mountains, rivers, farms and towns were a near-ubiquitous presence: in living rooms, boardrooms, waiting rooms and tea rooms.” [18][19][20] This view of downtown Tauranga is one of several that have hung in the Tauranga council offices over the last few decades, and now resides in the Library’s archived art collection.

Omokoroa Point, Tauranga, c. 1950s
Half-plate mounted photographic print by Alfred H. Rendell, hand-coloured by Marjorie West
Courtesy of of Robin Hicks, private collection

Alf Rendell joined the fray too, hiring the Tauranga Aero Club’s Tiger Moth and capturing views of a rapidly growing post-war Tauranga Moana, many of which have been reproduced in his and Fiona Kean’s book, Rendell’s Tauranga. [21] Occasionally he would receive commissions, such as this one from Alan Unsworth a developer who subdivided land in Omokoroa in the 1950s and provided framed hand-coloured aerial prints to all those who purchased plots. [22]

Oblique aerial photograph of house in Moffat Road, Bethlehem, c. mid-1950s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin print by unknown photographer and colourist
Courtesy of John & Julie Green, private collection

More specific low-level aerial shots were commissioned too. When John and Julie Green purchased their property on Moffat Road, Bethlehem in the late 1970s they found this hand-coloured photograph of the house and garden, taken post-1952, probably not long after it had been moved into the site, hanging on the wall and there it still hangs today.

Jean Cole née Henderson as bridesmaid for her sister’s wedding, 16 October 1954
Photographed and hand-coloured by Rupert Connell Studio, Devonport Road, Tauranga
Courtesy of Jean Cole, private collection

Studio photographers were still marketing hand-coloured black-and-white portraits in the late 1940s and 1950s. Lissa Mitchell illustrates her recent work on women photographers [23] with fine examples from the Iva Gordon Studio in Masterton (c. 1940-1945), the Swainson Studios in New Plymouth (c. 1947), the Nevill Studio in Dunedin (c. 1951), the Bettina and Margaret Lea Studios in Auckland (c. early 1950s). To this we can add Rupert Connell’s studio in Devonport Road, Tauranga [24] who specialized in bridal portraits. Jean Cole had her portrait taken there in 1954 and recalls:

“He had this photo in his display window for months, and I couldn't afford to buy it. My grandfather gave it to me as part of my wedding gift. It was taken on 16 Oct 1954 when I was bridesmaid for my sister.”

Mount Maunganui, N.Z., c. 1960s
Hand-coloured postcard by N.S. Seaward’s Studio, Broad Bay, Dunedin
Courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo 99-027

The availability of inexpensive, and increasingly good quality, offset colour lithographic printing from the 1950s eventually led to the demise of hand colouring of postcards, but a few firms continued to produce them in moderate number into the 1960s, most notably the National Publicity Studios and N.S. Seaward.

Cinema advertising for Chas. Hartley, Draper and Munro Motors, c. 1920s
Hand-coloured lantern slides by Swinson and Barclay
Courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, Refs. 0954/05/14 and 0954/06/4

Perhaps the last significant use of hand-coloured photography in New Zealand was in the form of cinema advertising slides. Although these two particular examples appear to be from the inter-war period, it is evident from the selection of lantern slides held by the Tauranga Heritage Collection that their use continued well into the 1970s.

This article, in two parts, has been written as part of a much larger and longer-term project researching the development hand-coloured photography in New Zealand. If readers have examples of such photos in their homes or family archives, or know of others who might, and are interested in sharing them, I’d be very keen to hear from you. Please email me at gluepot@gmail.com.

References

[13] Main, William (2007) Send Me a Postcard: New Zealand Postcards and the Story They Tell, Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, 140p

[14] Haks, Leo, Dallimore, Colleen & Jackson, Alan (2015) Post Marks: The Way We Were – Early New Zealand Postcards, 1897-1922, Kōwhai Media, Auckland, 327p

[15] Main, William & Jackson, Alan (2005) Wish You Were Here: The Story of New Zealand Postcards, New Zealand Postcard Society, Wakefield, 126p

[16] Payne, Brett (2023) Tauranga Photographers: Alf Rendell, Tauranga Historical Society blog, 20 January 2023

[17] Kean, Fiona (2013) Alf Rendell, photographer, Tauranga Historical Society blog, 2 August 2013

[18] Alsop, Peter (2016) Hand-coloured New Zealand: The Photographs of Whites Aviation, Potton & Burton, Nelson, 417p

[19] Alsop, Peter (2020) Wonderland: The New Zealand photographs of Whites Aviation, Potton & Burton, Nelson, 175p

[20] Keith, Hamish (2016) Introduction to Hand-coloured New Zealand: The Photographs of Whites Aviation, by Peter Alsop, Potton & Burton, Nelson, p7

[21] Rendell, Alf & Kean, Fiona (2015) Rendell’s Tauranga: Historic Tauranga from Above, Paper Plus Tauranga, 156p

[22] Robin Hicks, personal communication, July 2023

[23] Mitchell, Lissa (2023) Women and Photography in Aotearoa New Zealand, 1860-1960, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 368p

[24] Payne, Brett (2021) Rupert Connell, Tauranga Historical Society blog, 25 June 2021