The Fascinating Journey of Tauranga’s Wurlitzer Theatre Organ

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collections.

Programme from Records of Baycourt Community and Arts Centre - Ams 504/1/16

The invention of the theatre organ can be traced back to Scotsman Robert Hope-Jones in the early 1890s. Hope-Jones revolutionised organ construction with his invention of the electro-pneumatic action, a technology that became the foundation for future organ-building. By 1910, he had sold his patents to the Rudolph Wurlitzer Music Corporation, enabling the production of the legendary "Mighty Wurlitzer." These intricate instruments, built to accompany silent films, became iconic, with one organ completed every day at the height of their production.

The Tauranga Wurlitzer, known as "Opus 1482," left the Wurlitzer factory in Tonawanda, New York, on October 21, 1926. A Model H, it featured nearly 1,000 pipes and 47 kilometres of wiring. It boasted a range of sound effects, including cathedral chimes, sleigh bells, and theatrical effects like surf and train whistles, which allowed organists to craft a dynamic musical experience for silent movies. Shipped to Wellington, it debuted in early 1927 at the De Luxe Theatre on Courtenay Place (later renamed the Embassy).

Wurlitzer keys - Records of Baycourt Community and Arts Centre - Ams 504/1/16

In 1958, Eddie Aikin, captivated by the sound of a Wurlitzer since his youth, purchased Opus 1482 when the Embassy Theatre transitioned to a widescreen format. Aikin and his team dismantled the organ over seven weekends and transported it to a honey-packing shed in Tokoroa. There, after a twelve-month overhaul, it hosted a series of “Workshop” concerts, with notable performances by Australian organist Ann Holmes. Known for her expertise, Holmes had played in various leading theatres and became a familiar figure in New Zealand's organ scene.

Tokoroa High School 1960's - Records of Baycourt Community and Arts Centre - Ams 504/1/16

In 1967, Opus 1482 found a new home in Tokoroa High School’s Assembly Hall, with Ann Holmes headlining the opening concert. The organ remained there until 1971, when Aikin, facing health issues, put it up for sale. Tauranga City Council, with funding from the 20,000 Club, acquired the organ, envisioning its use for the community. Initially stored at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, it was later decided that the organ would be installed in Tauranga Town Hall. The installation required removing concrete panels—a challenging task, as the concrete, made with metal sourced from Tūhua (Mayor Island), was particularly tough.

Tauranga Town Hall - Records of Baycourt Community and Arts Centre - Ams 504/1/16

Ten months of dedicated volunteer labour led to the organ’s reinstallation in 1972. The opening concert featured Ann Holmes, joined by local resident Len Hockly. There was an initial technical glitch when the elevator mechanism stalled, with Ann Holmes waiting to be elevated, however the organ crew quickly resolved the issue, and the concert was a success. Later, renowned organist Reginald Porter-Brown performed at Tauranga Town Hall, and the Records of Baycourt Community and Arts Centre hold an autographed programme from him.

Ann Holmes waiting to be elevated to stage - Photo gca-21038

In 1986, when the Tauranga Town Hall faced demolition, the City Council proposed relocating the organ to the newly built Baycourt Community and Arts Centre. The complex task of dismantling and reinstalling Opus 1482 began, and by 1988, the organ was once again in operation. Rex White was a person dedicated to many fields of public service in Tauranga and had legendary skill throughout the theatre organ world. He headed the team responsible for installing the organ in the Town Hall in 1972 and again into Baycourt in the 1980's. American organist Dennis James inaugurated its new home with a premier concert in December of that year.

Wurlitzer technical plans - Records of Baycourt Community and Arts Centre - Ams 504/1/16

Today, the Tauranga Wurlitzer remains a treasured musical asset. Regular maintenance ensures its near-century-old components function flawlessly, allowing audiences to enjoy its distinctive sound. Recent concerts, like “Swingin’ With The Mighty Wurli” featuring Australian virtuoso Scott Harrison and the Katikatz Jazz Band, highlight its ongoing cultural significance and the dedication to preserving this remarkable piece of history.

eventfinda nz

There is a wealth of information that can be found about Opus 1482 in the Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Baycourt archives (Ams 504) and on the Baycourt youtube website - Enjoy!

Sources:

• Baycourt, Tauranga N.Z. (1988). Wurlitzer Inaugural Season.
• Tauranga 20,000 Club. (1972). Introducing Tauranga City's Wurlitzer organ : 16th September 1972. Tauranga, N.Z. 20,000 Club.
• Tokoroa High School (1967). Opening of the WurliTzer Organ in the Assembly Hall Tokoroa High School.
• Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī ref photo-gca-21038
• Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī ref Records of Baycourt Community and Arts Centre - Ams 504/1/16.

A 1st Waikato Private recalls the Battle of Te Ranga (June 21 1864)

 From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

A new account of the massacre at Te Ranga in June of 1864 has recently come to light in Tauranga. Charles Alfred Crabbe, who lived on Cameron Road near the corner of Sixth Avenue at the end of the 19^th century, left behind a collection of papers which made its way into the library archives almost 100 years later. Within this collection are the memoirs of his father, a Private George Alfred Crabbe, who served with the 1^st Waikato Regiment during the New Zealand Wars. Crabbe the senior’s manuscript is now close to 150 years old, and the passage of time has taken with it some of these pages. In an effort to preserve further loss, the manuscript spent several months with a professional archives conservator between 2020 and 2021, before being digitised and returned. It is now part of Ms 112/3 where it remains mixed into other historic notes by his son, Charles Crabbe. 

Private George Crabbe of the 1^st Waikato Regiment offers us a detailed, first-person account of his experiences and perspective during the New Zealand Wars in the 1860’s.  Despite the first seven pages of the manuscript being lost to time, we see the regiment's arrival at Tauranga and follow their movements, battles, and daily life as they engage in military operations. Private Crabbe details key engagements, beginning (for us) with the Battle of Te Ranga, and moving on to skirmishes in Maketū and Ōpōtiki. Crabbe's account of the Battle at Te Ranga is provided below. 

As the Private recounts the challenges of engagements with Māori forces, his manuscript reveals the British and colonial forces' efforts to assert control over Māori land, often using scorched earth tactics. Crabbe paints a stark picture of the harsh realities of the New Zealand Wars, acknowledging the resilience and bravery of Māori, while being simultaneously oblivious to the horror inflicted at the hands of the colonials. 

George Crabbe details the strategies used to fortify positions and the grim outcomes of battles, noting the significant loss of life among Māori defenders. He recounts the pursuit of Te Kooti, who had recently escaped from imprisonment on the Chatham Islands and was leading a determined resistance movement against colonial forces and their Te Arawa allies. Private Crabbe’s account documents Te Kooti's strategic acumen and the mobilization of his followers, which posed a substantial challenge to the colonial military.

Private Crabbe provides a distinctly Pākehā settler perspective which is disturbing, yet illuminating. All who resist colonisation are "Hauhaus”, rebels and perpetrators of dreadful acts. None are depicted as free people defending their homes and livelihoods. Similarly, the scorched earth burning of kāinga is recounted without empathy or embarrassment, but simply as dispassionate strategic particulars. To younger generations, the days when history serves as a nation's singular mythic fable are fading. Today, we squint our eyes a little, read between the lines, uncover a more nuanced version of events, and examine the context. The complexities of history require us to acknowledge not just one perspective but the voices and experiences of all.

History, after all, doesn't disappear; it accumulates. Every time we pull out our wallets or consider our children's future, we are face to face with the long tail of history.

Crabbes account of the Battle at Te Ranga

The General left for his Head Quarters at Auckland, and the command of the district devolved on Colonel Greer of the 68th. During Col. Greer's time we were kept continually at drill, besides during our ordinary duties of guards and piquets. Our regiment had not had such an opportunity up to this time of becoming proficient in drill & on account of its various companies having been stationed at different posts. During the middle of June reports were brought in by the Defence Force which was engaged keeping a good look out that the Maoris were showing in force in the neighborhood and late at night on the 16th of the month, the reconnoitering party reported that a large number of Maoris were near the river Wairarapa transporting supplies. This news resulted in an order being given after tattoo for a march out in the morning.

The expedition consisted of a small party of Artillery with one Armstrong gun, and portions of the 68th, 43rd, and 1st Waikato Regiments, and the Mounted Defence Force; the whole under the commanding officer Colonel Greer. When the party had proceeded about a mile and a half beyond the Gate Pah, the videttes were fired upon, but our men soon drove in the Māori piquets to the Te Ranga trenches, where the Maoris had made extensive earthworks.

The Artillery with their gun were placed on the rise in front of the Māori trenches. Two companies of the 43rd flanked the right in heavy fern on the slope of a gully. The Mounted Defence to dismount and flanked the left until relieved by a company 68th; while the remaining portions of the 68th. and 43rd. supported our party of the 1st. Waikatos formed the attacking party. The Armstrong gun was shortly removed to flank the trenches on the left.

 While firing was going on here a dog belonging to the Artillery, was wounded by a bullet. He howled fearfully, and such is a soldier's nature, ever ready to extract amusement from any passing event, that the dog fixed the attention of our men in every part of the field for several minutes.

The firing was kept up for about 3 hours when a general advance was sounded, and a splendid charge was made without a waver, against the trenches in the teeth of a galling fire, although we of the 1st. Waikatos had been placed behind the Imperial companies for their support, yet such was the eagerness of the Waikatos that we were up and into the trenches pell mell along with the Imperials. The affair was soon over, the Maoris being completely routed; but they fought bravely and offered a stubborn resistance for the time with their inferior weapons, mostly old fowling-pieces, spears and long-handled tomahawks.

The Maoris lost heavily in the assault. About 120 or 130 were found dead in and about the trenches besides those that were shot in the swamps when retreating. The loss of our side was only 10 killed and something over 30 wounded. The latter were brought back to our camp, early in the afternoon.

The following day a strong party went out to the scene of the previous day's conflict for the purpose of burying the enemy's dead. Our slain were brought into camp and the day following received decent burial in the cemetery near the mission station, by the side of those who had lost their lives at the storming of the Gate Pā. I think we had buried 125 Maoris in the Te Ranga trenches, (and this number, with those 15 afterwards found in the swamps) would bring the total Maori loss up to quite 180.

Archdeacon Brown read the burial service in the Maori language over the bodies of the Maories, and he delivered an address to us over the grave, speaking in high terms of their bravery, and the humanity of the chief Rawiri, who was among the slain. This chief was laid by himself wrapped in a blanket at the head and corner of the trench. The rest of the Maoris who were buried in one common grave, were almost naked, some few in the Maori fighting garb, a small mat around the loins.

George Alfred Crabbe, 1^st Waikatos, in Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries Ms 112/3

By Tauranga City Libraries Heritage and Research Team: Harley Couper

Sources: 

• MS 112/3 - Scrapbook compiled by Crabbe family
• The Crabbe Store (Tauranga Historical Society)
• Pukehinahina Survivor (Tauranga Historical Society)

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This archival collection has been digitised and is available to view on Pae Korokī. For more information about this and other items in our collection, visit Pae Korokī or email the Heritage & Research Team: Research@tauranga.govt.nz

The Mystery of the Monmouth Cannons: Part 2

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collections.

Tawakeheimoa cannon, Taumatakahawai Pā (Monmouth Redoubt) c. 1920s.
Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī ref 09-082

Last month we talked about a letter written by Colonel G. Arnold Ward, Former Mayor of Tauranga, regarding the unknown origins of the old guns in the Monmouth Redoubt. If you haven't read it already, you can check it out here. In this month's blog post we will delve deeper into the intriguing history of the two Napoleonic era carronades - Tawakeheimoa and Te Tapihana.

Tawakeheimoa, the larger of the two cannons (pictured above), is believed to have once belonged to the early Danish trader Phillip Tapsell (Kean, 2018, p. 20). Tapsell was famous for his battery of twelve 'big guns,' which he used to defend his trading station at Maketū Pā - though this defense was short-lived. In 1836, an attack by Ngāti Hauā and Ngāi Te Rangi led to the successful capture of the pā and the destruction of Tapsell's trading station (Matheson, 1989, p. 2).

Phillip Tapsell and daughter Kataraina, c. 1870s.
Image courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, Steffano Webb Collection (PA-Group-00370),
ref: 1/1-008958-G.

As for the fate of Tapsell's battery following the attack, we are provided with varying accounts. In his memoirs, Tapsell states that following the fall of Maketū Pā, the victors spiked the guns and threw them into the Kaituna River (Adams, 2021, p. 154).

Sketch map of country around Waihī Estuary and Maketū Pā (A), shows location of Tapsell's store (B), Kaituna River, and Te Tumu Pā (I). Creator unknown, 1840. 
Image courtesy of  Alexander Turnbull Library, ref MapColl-832.16a/[187-?]/Acc.1848

Interestingly, an alternate version of events reported by the Daily Southern Cross claims that six of the guns were taken by Ngāi Te Rangi to fortify Te Tumu Pā. However, they were soon recaptured by Te Arawa, except for one gun, which had already been taken to Tauranga (Daily Southern Cross, 12 May 1864, p. 4).

One of twelve 'Tapsell' guns 'Te Haupapa', Wreck of the Falcon Memorial, Maketu.
Image courtesy of Ministry for Culture and Heritage, credit Lynton Diggle, 2009.

While we might initially be more inclined to accept Tapsell's first-hand account over any other, the second version of events does seem to have some credibility to it, owing to an altercation which occurred in 1864.

According to the Daily Southern Cross, the sale of two big guns to a Mr. Black of Tauranga (likely early trader Thomas Black) by Retreat Tapsell (eldest son of Phillip Tapsell) had prompted complaints from Ngāti Kererū, who considered the guns to be taonga, and their property (for further explanation see Bentley, 2013, p. 23-4). One of these guns was reportedly "Tawake hei moa", the other was one which had been found "lying in the water" (Daily Southern Cross, 12 May 1864, p. 4). A meeting was called to discuss the sale; however Black sailed off with the guns before the situation was able to be resolved.

Tawakeheimoa after it was relocated to the Tauranga Historic Village and District Museum, 1986.
Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, ref 0460/08

At some point thereafter, Tawakeheimoa came into the possession of A. W. Burrows, who likely purchased it from Mr. Black. Burrows kept the gun in his private collection until his death in 1899, after which it was gifted to the Tauranga Borough Council for public exhibition in the redoubt (Tauranga District Council, 2004, p. 9).

But what about the other Monmouth cannon?

Te Tapihana cannon, Taumatakahawai Pā (Monmouth Redoubt) c. 1956-57.
Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī ref 09-075

The smaller carronade donated by Captain A. C. Turner, locally known as Te Tapihana, has also been attributed to Tapsell's battery due to its similarity to the other Tapsell guns (Matheson, 1989, p. 9); however this identification is much less certain. In fact, evidence points more towards a military provenance. A note published in the Bay of Plenty Times in 1914 mentions that Captain Turner received the gun from a military officer in Ōpōtiki during "the Māori War period" (BOPT, April 6th, 1914, p. 4). Additionally, the crown stamp on the cannon's barrel indicates that it was produced for military use (Ward, 1914).

Te Tapihana, Monmouth Redoubt, 2024.
Private Collection, Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries.

Of course, these details do not exclude the possibility that Te Tapihana once belonged to the early Danish trader, and the evidence has only raised further questions. Unfortunately, we may never know for sure.

Bethlehem School pupils at Redoubt, 1961.
Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī ref gca-2396

For more background on Tapsell's battery and the whereabouts of the other guns, check out this article by Alister Matheson here. 

Sources:

    Adams, J. (2021). Events in the Life of Phillip Tapsell. Oratia Books.

    Bentley, T. (2013). Tribal Guns and Tribal Gunners: The Story of Māori Artillery in 19th Century New Zealand. Willsonscott Publishing International.

    Matheson, A. (May 1989). Tapsell’s Big Guns. Journal of Tauranga Historical Society, No 37. Pp. 1-11.

    'Maketu. (From our own Correspondent.) May 5'. (published 1864, 12 May). Daily Southern Cross, p. 4.

    'Local and General'. (1914, 6 April). Bay of Plenty Times, 42(6097), p. 4.

    Tauranga District Council. (2004). Tauranga Historic Village Museum, Tauranga, New Zealand: Souvenir Book: Take a Walk in Living History. Tauranga District Council Publisher.

    Ward, G. A. (21 March, 1914). "Old guns in redoubt". [Letter from Colonel G. Arnold Ward to the Town Clerk, Tauranga]. Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, VF CCR. 

Fighting fires in Tauranga

From Tauranga City Library’s archives
A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

In honour of International Firefighters’ Day, Whakanuia Ngā Kaipatuahi, on 4 May, we would like to share some images from Pae Korokī.

Certificates are awarded by the New Zealand Fire Service in recognition of the commitment of volunteers, this is Sylvanus Davis three-year membership with the Tauranga Volunteer Fire Brigade in 1909 (from the United Fire Brigades Association).

Sylvanus Davies' three-year certificate - Ams 318

Sylvanus Davis is first on the left in this photograph of the brigade in 1911 with their new hose reel in front of the Star Hotel, that was on the corner of Spring Street and Devonport Road.

Tauranga Fire Brigade, 1911 - Photo 00-042

A.C. Bellamy writes about the history of Tauranga Fire Brigade in ‘Tauranga 1882-1982’ (available to read online in Pae Korokī), including the enrolment in 1888 of six men who were to be paid one shilling and sixpence for each monthly practice, with additional payments for fires attended.

In 1911 Tauranga Fire Station was opened, commemorating the coronation of George V (King Charles III great-grandfather).

Tauranga Fire Station, c. 1911 - Photo 00-047

The Strand fire in November 1916 destroyed eleven shops and the Commercial Hotel.

The Strand fire 1916 - Photo 02-579

Then on 15 February 1936 the Tauranga Hotel on the Strand was destroyed by fire.

Tauranga Hotel fire - Photo 99-616

Issuing of protective gear has evolved over the years, note the contrast in the photos below from the 1940s, 1963 and the 1990s.

Volunteer firefighters at scrub fire, c. 1940s - Photo 05-485

Volunteer Fire Brigade at a scrub fire, 1936 - Photo gca-4656

Firefighting demonstration at the Historic Village, 1990s - Photo 14-0132

Engaging with the community has always been a part of the work of the Fire Brigade, these images are from outreach in the 1960s.

Mount Maunganui gala day, September 1963 - Photo gcc-4258

Volunteer firefighters' display, September 1963 - Photo gcc-4100

Maybe you recognise someone sheltering from the hose spray?

Spectators at Tauranga Business Mens' lunchtime activities - Photo gcc-4095

This last image from March 1970 recognises the logistics of fire fighting in a port city.

Getting to the fire, Bay of Plenty Photo News - Photo pn-6180

Explore Pae Korokī for more images of fighting fires in Tauranga and other items of interest.

Princess Te Rangi Pai (1868-1916)

From Tauranga City Library’s archives
A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

Annette Tootell (1914-1990)
Tauranga City Libraries Ms 102/03/1

"Ōmokoroa Woman Researches Forgotten Princess” - This is the headline of a Bay of Plenty Times article from 1981, which talks about how Annette Tootell (1914-1990) from Ōmokoroa spent many years researching the life of ‘Princess Te Rangi Pai’ (1868-1916). 

Te Rangi Pai was the stage name of Fanny Rose Howie (nee Porter), a singer acclaimed as a brilliant star on the concert stage in Britain and New Zealand in the early years of this century.  She was born at Tokomaru Bay and in 1901 Fanny travelled to England with her husband, to study with the baritone Charles Stanley. In England as ‘The Princess Te Rangi Pai’ she performed widely, including promenade and formal concerts, fashionable soirees and charity performances. She sang at the Royal Albert Hall on several occasions including the Grand Scotch Festival on St Andrew’s Eve 1902. 

Fanny Rose Howie (nee Porter) - 'Princess Te Rangi Pai'
Tauranga City Libraries - Ms 102/03

Programme Cover 1903-1904
Tauranga City Libraries - Ms 102/3

She returned to New Zealand in 1905 and toured the country in 1906 and 1907 and it is here the connection begins with Annette Tootell.  Annette’s mother, Gertrude Hunt and her uncle, Horace Hunt, both accompanied Te Rangi Pai on stage and tour as performers.  Gertrude later passed her scrapbook of newspaper cuttings and handbills to Annette (Ms 102/2), who in turn created her own scrapbook of Te Rangi Pai (Ms 102/3).  Interestingly, another uncle, Percival Hunt, is the father of well-known New Zealand poet, Sam Hunt.

At Rotorua - Gertrude Hunt, Te Rangi Pai, Maggie Papakura
Tauranga City Libraries Ms 102/3

  

Hine e Hine
Tauranga City Libraries - Ms 102/3

In 1908, Te Rangi Pai’s husband, John Howie, was appointed collector of customs for the Poverty Bay area, and Fanny lived with him in Gisborne, but eventually her illness made complete rest necessary and she went to live in a house built on ancestral land at Maungaroa, near Te Kaha.

In retirement she taught singing and composed many Māori songs including the lullaby ‘Hine e Hine’, which those of you of a certain age might remember, was used to signal the end of nightly broadcasts on Television New Zealand channels, “The Goodnight Kiwi”. 

Click here to listen to Hine e Hine.

Te Rangi Pai died at Opotiki in May 1916 and was buried at Maungaroa under a pōhutukawa tree. A fine Italian marble angel sits atop her lonely grave.

Angel on Te Rangi Pai's Grave c. 1970s
Tauranga City Libraries - Ms 102/3

Although the National Library of New Zealand has a handful of items from Annette Tootell, Tauranga City Libraries is very fortunate to have been gifted original source material, which has now been digitised  and is partially available to view on Pae Korokī  - Ms 102.  As part of the collection, we have an unpublished manuscript written by Annette Tootell, on Fanny Rose Porter’s life story. This is still in copyright, and we are keen to hear from anyone who has information about Annette’s 'estate', so that we may attribute the correct license to this item. If you do have information, we would appreciate contact by email: research@tauranga.govt.nz 

Sources: 

• Herstory: a New Zealand woman's calendar, 1982: Tauranga Women's Centre (N.Z.). Dunedin (N.Z.):John McIndoe, 1981.
• New Zealand Herald - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/the-new-zealand-prisoner-of-war-composed-music-and-gave-lectures-in-his-german-camp/NR4PDNFVFP25TPIPF4CR4CYBHM/
• "Ōmokoroa woman researches forgotten princess". Bay of Plenty Times. 9 March 1981.
• Tony Chadwick. 'Howie, Fanny Rose', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand - https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3h40/howie-fanny-rose/sources (accessed 19/01/2023)
• Pae Korokī - Tauranga City Libraries Ms 102 Papers relating to Te Rangi Pai, compiled by Annette Tootell
• Wikipedia contributors. (2022, November 9). Hine E Hine. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:23, March 27, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hine_E_Hine&oldid=1120831510

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This archival collection has been digitised and is partially available to view on Pae Korokī. For more information about this and other items in our collection, visit Pae Korokī or email the Heritage & Research Team: Research@tauranga.govt.nz

Norman Blackie's Tauranga in 16mm

 From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

In 1983 my family bought a large VCR player. It was a gift from the future, as far as this 13-year-old was concerned. Painfully shy, I relished the thought of watching a movie that didn't require my going out in public. All I needed to do was wait a year and then bring it home to watch on the family 20-inch TV. 

The same year I recall my geography class laughing at the teacher as he struggled with a large reel film projector. On that sunny afternoon, watching an underpowered projector struggle to cast its dreary educational film onto a dirty white sheet stapled to the classroom wall, we pimply few exchanged knowing smiles behind his back. 

"Reel films are a joke", said those smiles. The future was VHS. 

This learned judgement was despite the jammed tapes, rogue marmite sandwiches, impossible operating instructions and unimpressive picture resolution (240 lines vs an equivalent of up to 400 lines for the old 16 mm reels). Sure reels only had mono sound, were large and unwieldy and couldn't be paused, but they had primarily lost the format wars based on convenience more than anything. VHS tapes were just smaller and easily mass-produced. The market had spoken. 

1983 was also the year the light of Tauranga resident, Norman Wakefield Blackie, flickered and failed after 84 years. Norman had been an avid videographer, capturing much of the public life of Tauranga from the 1940s to the late 1970s. 18 of his films had been gifted to Tauranga City Libraries and by 1985, the then archivist Jinty Rorke was making enquires about local "Reel to VHS" services. The reels were to be deposited with the National Film Archive, the predecessor to Ngā Taonga, Sound and Vision, where they sit today. 

Odine and Norman Blackie (via a grand-daughter on Facebook)

Fast forward and these 16 mm reels have had a new lease on life. Tauranga City Libraries recently requested Ngā Taonga undertake to restore and digitise all 18 of Blackie's reels in their care, and the results are incredible.  The digital files they created are truly beautiful. They're sharp, correctly coloured and free from all the limitations of underpowered bulbs, dirty lenses, and those old sheets from the spare bedroom.  What immediately grabbed my eye was the size of the crowds in the background. They line the streets and fill the squares, despite a population just 10% of our current. Yet Norman doesn’t often focus on these crowds, their size is nothing unusual for him. For Norman it is the spectacle itself; the floats, the costumes, the games, the beauty queens and marching girls. It seems when something is happening, half of Tauranga comes out to cheer on the other half participating.

The footage is wonderfully showcased in a beautifully nostalgic and optimistic two-minute tribute by Ngā Taonga here, and below.

Today, you can see the entire footage on Pae Koroki here, and on Ngā Taonga here. 

Sources: 

• Records relating to the history of the New Zealand Room, Tauranga Library; General and research correspondence, 1985 (Ams 289/4/2)
• Norman Blackie Collection, Pae Korokī
• The Past and the Curious, Tauranga in 16 mm, a short introduction
• Ngā Taonga blog: The Blackie Collection: a window into mid-century Tauranga (January 24, 2023)
• Norman Blackie (1899-1983), a biography by Debbie McCauley
• Tauranga Heritage Collection, Item 0007/19 (Norman's camera)
  
  

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This archival collection has been digitised and is available to view on Pae Korokī. For more information about this and other items in our collection, visit Pae Korokī or email the Heritage & Research Team: Research@tauranga.govt.nz

The Newsletter: A Moment in Historical Research

Extract from Tauranga Historical Society Journal, Aug 1971

For someone seeking a sense of the local energies at work in any given social moment between, say, 1950 and about 2010, the search term, “newsletter” will prove to be unexpectedly powerful.  It is plain, from even a simple exploration of the records held on Pae Koroki, that the (usually) month-to-month business of putting together a set of pages designed to encourage, entertain and inform a (usually) captive audience can be a rich and apt illustration of historical force and even importance.  Provided, of course, your research field is timed to be after the cyclostyle machine and before Facebook.

Two hundred and thirty results – 129 of them digitized - from Pae Koroki show the power of the newsletter as an instrument of history.  Where better to start than with an example from our own Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, August 1972:

Observant readers will note the search-term in the white field on the upper left; and the power of the search engine to drill deep into the digitised document to find the exact match at the centre of the image, mauve. 

Newsletter policy can be important.  In the Tauranga Historical Society, for instance, the Journal was the place for long-form, considered and often rather scholarly writing.  The Journals were intended to be kept and were archived by the Society as well as being made available to the public library (and, eventually, digitized on Pae Koroki).  Newsletters, on the other hand, were intended to fill the gap between Journal publications with updates and administrative details about near-future activities.  Their shelf-life was brief and few early examples survive.  In practice, however, there was a lot of overlap, as can be seen from the extract above.

Compare this approach with that of the Hauraki News[1]:

Cover of Hauraki News, No 11, May 1998

.. a cheerful (and enduring) mix of serious military history, ceremonial commemorations, personal reminiscence and soldierly cartoons, firmly in the tradition of WW1 trench newspapers[2].

Title Page of Trench Echo, Easter 1916

No doubt these both were considered to be ephemera, things of the moment, intentionally disposable.

But not always.

A sad event in Te Puna – the disestablishment of its Community Library – led to the acquisition, for the Te Puna Archive, of a near-complete series of the Pirirakau “X”Press.  Some 29 issues of the 36 numbers that came out over the period February 2002- 2004 were accumulated in a humble cardboard standing file, labelled, but with no accession number or other catalogue information.

 

Pirirakau "X"Press standing file

It turns out that a full series of the Pirirakau “X”Press  is held at the Tauranga Public Library, although it has not yet been digitised or accessioned on Pae Koroki.

The holding at the Te Puna Archive represents the second iteration of the “X” Press, which had an earlier life between 1994 and 1998, at the inception of Mark Nicholas, who took over the Chair of the Pirirakau Incorporated Society with the aim to keep people informed in the face of diminishing attendance at meetings.  He also wanted to collect Pirirakau history, and to funnel this into what became the WAI277 claim.  The “X”Press was a means of gathering and spreading information on the process of the claim before the Waitangi Tribunal.  Funding was provided by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust.

Your writer knows all this from a recent interview with the editor of the “X”Press, Chrissie Rolleston[3].  When CFRT funding ran out, at Issue No. 37 in 1998, people found that they missed this link with their past and their future.  With the residue of CFRT funding and a pretty prompt injection from the Lottery Grants Board, publication resumed in 2002.  The second series of the newsletter is another lively mix of history notes, often contributed by Patrick Nicholas, news items and practical panui, legal articles that came through from the team working on the WAI277 claim, personal reminiscences and adventures, an op-ed column from a hard-headed woman pseudonym’d Panemaaro, quizzes to stimulate the critical reader (and the purchase of the next issue, which had the answers) and a great deal of reo.  At the front: usually a mihi from an eminent Pirirakau personage and always Nga Mate o te Marama – those who had passed away.

Chrissie Rolleston
Photograph by Beth Bowden

Chrissie put the publication together on a computer at the Pirirakau Environment Centre, and printed it using variably reliable photocopiers, often having to clear jammed paper in the middle of the night.  Print run:  about 200.  “The problem was,” says Chrissie, “that people loved the “X”Press and sent it on and around their whanau.  They didn’t get that they should take out a subscription to help it go on.”

So, the Pirirakau “X”Press ran out of steam.  Valiant but sad messages in the last three issues show that efforts were made to maintain its flagging inputs and rising costs.  The writing, however, was on the Facebook wall:  social media would soon overtake the solid look and feel of a folded A4, black and white, mail-delivered magazine.   So many things together amount to an historical force, one that is generally recognised but rarely locally documented.  The story of the Pirirakau “X”Press is a real example of the impact and consequences of relinquishing expensive print to ‘free’ web-based publication[4].  Easy to access; very very hard to archive.

Parish records, rent rolls, proceedings under the Black Act[5] and the Inquisition[6] have all provided rich source material to European historians.  A search for original voices among source materials available to local NZ historians need not be confined to diaries and personal letters.  Those editors who troubled to collate and publish (and send to their local library) the notes and heartfelt contributions from the communities they were working within have also created a resource in which the authentic reactions of locals, beset by larger historical forces, can be identified.

References

[1] An example: part of the May 1998 cover of the Official Newsletter of the 6^th Battalion (Hauraki) Regimental Association (1995-2012)

[2] Image credit: https://www.europeana.eu/nl/

[3] Kōrero on 5 December 2022, Oikimoke, Te Puna

[4] Corey Doctorow, Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free, McSweeney’s 2015

[5] E P Thompson, Whigs and Hunters, Peregrine 1977

[6] Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou, Penguin 1978 (trans. Barbara Bray)