C.F Washer and Sons and Sam Snowden’s Spring Street Service Station (Part 1)

Guest article by John Green

Main Street, Te Puke, with C.F. Washer’s sign on left, beyond hotel, c1910
Real photo postcard by unidentified photographer
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 99-975

At the beginning of the 20th Century there were many coach builders, wheelwrights and blacksmiths but they soon had to adapt to the appearance of the “horseless carriages” that were gaining popularity. Bay of Plenty residents, the Washers, and one of their early employees Sam Snowden managed to think outside the square and run successful motor garages in the central business district for many decades with their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial skills.

It is very difficult to find much written record of their activities but several images from different eras have been preserved in the Tauranga City Library Archives and the Tauranga Heritage Collection.

Main Street, Te Puke, 1919
Real photo postcard by Henry Winkelmann (Tourist Series 975)
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 99-045

It appears the C.F. Washer business had its origins in Te Puke where there was a ‘House Furnisher, Ironmonger and Coach Builder’ under the same name in 1910.

Tauranga Coach builders, c1909
Copy negative of mounted print, copied for Bay of Plenty Photo News, No 93, 7 Mar 1970
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. pn 6542

It is hard to date this Tauranga image and we can’t confirm it is Washers but maybe it was as early as 1909. Washer had been in business for 50 years in 1959.

[Editor’s Note: According to Electoral Rolls, Cecil Frederic Washer, coachbuilder, was living at Hamilton Street, Tauranga at least as early as 1911, but his father Alfred Washer had been farming in Tauranga and Te Puke since the 1880s.]

Charlie Haua’s Invitation to C.F. Washer’s Jubilee Buffet, 24 March 1959
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Ms 81/3/2/1

Sometime before this image was recorded in 1922 Washer’s Empire Garage was established on Willow Street. They were agents for Hudson, Buick and Dort. This was one of the important early and long-standing businesses spanning six decades, the business closed in 1970. Charlie Haua (Tauranga’s last blacksmith, 1903-1980s?) and Sam Snowden were in the lineup of employees as blacksmiths, rather than mechanics.

Washer’s Empire Garage, 1922
(L to R) Unknown, Jack Wright, Charlie Haua, unknown, unknown, Sam Snowden, unknown, Fred Washer
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 99-1144

To be continued ... Part 2

Sources

Tauranga 1882-1982 —The Centennial of Gazetting Tauranga as a Borough, Edited by Alan Bellamy. Published by TCC, 1982

Personal memories of the writer and Alan Jones, a former employee of Sam Snowden.

Images
Thanks to Tauranga City Libraries for their amazing collection of images on Pae  Koroki, and to Fiona Kean and the team at the Tauranga Heritage Collection for permission to use two of their images, including the one taken by the late Alf Rendell

C.F Washer and Sons and Sam Snowden’s Spring Street Service Station (Part 2)

Guest article by John Green (continued from Part 1)

Sam Snowden felt there was room for another motor business in the downtown area and set up on the corner of Durham and Spring Streets (now the site of our first parking building). He was the agent for International and sold trucks and bulldozers as well as benzine (petrol) and other oil products.

Sam Snowden’s Spring St Service Station, 1940s
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 03-457

All service stations seemed to sell benzine from multiple manufacturers, eg. Big Tree, Plume, Shell, Texaco, Europa, Atlantic.

The modernised stuccoed Snowden Garage with flat, undated
Black-and-white silver gelatin print (92 x 148mm) by Alf Rendell, Tauranga
Tauranga Heritage Collection Ref. 0181/15, Tauranga Museum

Much later the workshop was extended and a second storey flat was added to the building.  Former employee Alan Jones remembers Sam coming into the workshop on cold days and lighting his forge to warm the place.  We believe the Snowdens (possibly the two sons) also had a car rental business across the road next to their tractor showroom and parts department.

Garage of C.F. Washer Ltd, Willow Street, 1937
Copy negative of mounted print, copied for Bay of Plenty Photo News, No 93, 7 Mar 1970
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. pn 6546

Washer’s Garage, Willow Street, c1950s
Black-and-white silver gelatin print (96 x 150mm) by Alf Rendell, Tauranga
Tauranga Heritage Collection Ref. 0186/15, Tauranga Museum

Meanwhile back at Washers expansion was underway, they now had the corner section for the sale of fuel and the side building was the service area. The name was changed to C.F. Washer and Sons and they became distributors for Vauxhall, Bedford and Chevrolet.

The final form of C. F. Washer and Sons, 1970
Black-and-white 35mm-format negative, published in Bay of Plenty Photo News, No 93, 7 Mar 1970
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. pn 6534

Their buildings covered many square yards and included a truck workshop on Hamilton Street, lube bay, parts department, showroom and another service centre in the original 1922 building facing Willow Street.

Washer’s Resale Cars, Cameron Road
Copy negative of loose print, copied for Bay of Plenty Photo News, No 93, 7 Mar 1970
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. pn 6548

Washers also dealt in used vehicles. If you look closely, you may recognise this building as part of present day Kale Print and a back corner of the Brain Watkins House is visible.

Charlie Washer, September 1964
Black-and-white 120-format negative, publ. Bay of Plenty Times, 30 Sep 1964
Collection of Te Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. gca-7412

Over the decades a lot of car brands went out of production and many of the oil companies had amalgamated. Boron (additive) was a sales gimmick for Caltex.

Sources

Tauranga 1882-1982 —The Centennial of Gazetting Tauranga as a Borough, Edited by Alan Bellamy. Published by TCC, 1982

Personal memories of the writer and Alan Jones, a former employee of Sam Snowden.

Images

Thanks to Tauranga City Libraries for their amazing collection of images on Pae  Koroki, and to Fiona Kean and the team at the Tauranga Heritage Collection for permission to use two of their images, including those taken by the late Alf Rendell