Raise Your Cup

Katikati Heritage Museum's collection of artefacts which went into temporary storage last year will be rehoused in new premises under a new name, the Western Bay Museum.  During its hibernation we have been given the opportunity to showcase a selection of items from the collection.

Refreshing Choysa Tea, Flavour, Purity, Fragrance, Strength, 2lb tin
Collection of Western Bay Museum, Ref. #0144

Past visitors to the old premises will remember the huge array of tins which were displayed on walls, shelves and in every nook and cranny.  Among these were a large number of tea tins and caddies.  Some of the older ones, sadly a little worse for wear, are interesting in that the brands are still around.

Choysa, The Perfect Tea, Non-Injurious, Refreshing
Collection of Western Bay Museum, Refs. #0162 & #0204
Choysa Tea celebrated its centennial in 2005, when the company's press release included the original matra, "flavour, purity, fragrance, strength."  The more familiar bright red and yellow oval logo possibly arrived in the 1950s when it was first marketed nationwide, and was well established when it had its 75th anniversary in 1980.

The Bell Tea, Delicious, Wholesome, Refreshing, Refreshing
Amber Tips, Eastern Tea Co., Christchurch
Collection of Western Bay Museum, Ref. #0180

Bell Tea is another brand that has been around for a long time.  Their web site claims that they were established in 1898 by the firm R. Wilson & Co. (who later went into partnership with Norman Harper Bell), and features the design on the tin at left (above), although this example  is clearly considerably newer.  A 1906 newspaper advertisement claimed the superiority of "Amber Tips" tea from the Eastern Tea Company of Christchurch, "not mixed with Fanning's and inferior Teas."  In 1913 it was sold in ½ lb. and 1 lb. packets, and in 5 lb. and 10 lb. tins, an example of which is shown above.

Pyramid Tea, The Height of Perfection
Collection of Western Bay Museum, Ref. #0161

Purity, perfection, quality and non-adulteration were strongly emphasized in all tea advertisements from the 1900s and 1910s, some like Pyramid Tea even going so far as to suggest that imbibing of low grade teas might cause "harmful and injurious effects."

Pyramid Tea, The Height of Perfection
Newspaper advertisement, Sun (Christchurch), 17 May 1918

The British company's tins and advertising contain images of the Great Pyramids at Gizeh, the Sphinx and of course the ancillary figures in Arabic dress, camels, palm trees, etc., commonly used icons when the Empire was at its peak.

Golden Bloom Tea, 2 lbs. net, The National Trading Co. of New Zealand
Collection of Western Bay Museum, Ref. #0172

These two-pound tins of Golden Bloom Tea ("The Flavour Satisfies") are probably from a couple of decades later, judging by the shape and  watercolour artwork on the exterior.  A newspaper advert from 1934 listed 1 lb. of Golden Bloom Tea for 2/9d.

Tea Caddy with Art Nouveau decoration
Collection of Western Bay Museum, Ref. #0174

Although we're not entirely sure, this could possibly be a tea caddy made of pressed metal.  It is decorated in an Art Nouveau style, and therefoe probably dating from the late 19th or early 20th century.

References

Raise Your Cup to Choysa Tea: The Iconic Brand Turns 100, Unilever Media Release, 24 August 2005, Courtesy of scoop.co.nz
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0508/S00420.htm

"Amber Tips" Tea Advertisement, Hastings Standard, 7 August 1906, Courtesy of Papers Past
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=HAST19060807.2.21.5

Amber Tips Tea Advertisement, Timaru Herald, 8 October 1913, Courtesy of Papers Past
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=THD19131008.2.45.4

Pyramid Tea Advertisement, Sun (Christchurch), 17 May 1918, Courtesy of Papers Past
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=SUNCH19180517.2.83.17.2

T.E. Taylor & Co. "Pyramid Teas" Advertisement, Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 7 June 1918, Courtesy of Papers Past
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AMBPA19180607.2.17.6

Golden Bloom Tea Advertisement, Waihi Telegraph, 24 November 1934, Courtesy of Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 38, September 1994
http://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journal/38/advertisements.htm

Planet Jr., the All-Season Tool for Your Garden

Planet Junior Seeder No. 025 - Circa 1919
Image courtesy of Katikati Heritage Museum, Ref. 7420

The Katikati Heritage Museum collection contains a large number of agricultural artifacts, many of which relate to the dairy industry during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, before, during and after the Great War.  Also in the collection are several implements with the brand name "Planet Jr" cast into the metal parts.

1928 advertisment for Planet Jr. tools

The Planet Junior range of implements were designed and sold by the firm of S.L. Allen & Co., Inc. of Philadelphia for the small farmer or home gardener.

Planet Jr. cultivator
Image courtesy of Katikati Heritage Museum, Ref. 7745

In addition to the seeder shown above, the product line included a fertiliser distributor, various plough, hoe and harrow attachments, a drill marker and a grass edger.

Planet Jr. plough attachments
Image courtesy of Katikati Heritage Museum, Ref.7057

Advertisement for Planet Jr Farm and Garden Tools, Agents and Importers: Guinness Bros., Tauranga
Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection

The Planet Jr. brand was advertised in the Bay of Plenty Times by Louch & Co. as early as 1887, and in 1889 by Mann & Co. of The Strand.  By 1894 they were sold by The Cooperative Store, but by 1910 marketing of the brand in Tauranga was being by Guinness Bros., whose advertisment shown above for a seeder very similar to the one from Katikati forms part of the Tauranga Heritage Collection.

Mrs. Potts' Sad Irons

While the Katikati Heritage Museum spends a few months in hibernation, we will be showcasing a selection of items from the collection which were photographed and catalogued during the packing up process last year.

A sad iron is a smoothing iron with a solid, flat base which could be heated by placing it directly on a a stove, the term "sad" being Old English for "solid."  They were developed in the later Middle ages, and  rags were used around the handle to avoid burns.

Mrs Mary Florence Potts patented two clothing irons in 1870 and 1871, the second of which was the "Cold Handle Sad Iron."  It became so popular that it was copied by several other manufacturers, and effectively revolutionised clothing iron production in the United States.  The removable wooden handle was sold with three bodies and a stand.

J & J Siddons is a well known foundry from West Bromwich in the English Midlands, still in production, although now their output consists mostly of industrial castings rather than sad irons.

The difficulty with sad irons is that they don't hold their heat very well.  The charcoal iron was hollow with metal pans to hold glowing charcoal, often designed small holes in the side to feed the glowing charcoal with air, and a chimney to direct the smoke produced away from the garments.

The Tilley paraffin pressure domestic iron was advertised in 1953 as proving "themselves a friend to every housewife."

Photographs and text by Brett Payne

The Vest Pocket Kodak Camera and 127 Roll Film

While the Katikati Heritage Museum spends a few months in hibernation, we will be showcasing a selection of items from the collection which were photographed and catalogued during the packing up process last year.

Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak camera, 1915-1920
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection, Ref. 0070

In April 1912 Eastman Kodak Ltd produced a new folding camera, the Vest Pocket Kodak, which used a new 127 format roll film on a metal spool, specifically designed to be a handy, compact alternative to larger folding cameras using 120 film.

Illustration from 1912 Kodak Catalogue

The company's 1912 catalogue, listing it for a price of $6.00, claimed it was:

"... so flat and smooth and small as to go readily into a vest pocket, so carefully made as to be capable of the highest grade of work ..." and "... always ready for action."

Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak camera with leather case, No 1 Portrait attachment lens and spool of 127 format film
Collection of Brett Payne

For another 75 cents the customer received a leather case, while an 8 exposure film cartridge and a portrait attachment lens cost only 20c and 50c respectively.

Illustration from 1915 Kodak Catalogue

Less than three years later, the Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak was introduced, with a feature which allowed the photographer to inscribe a caption on the film negative through a special window on the camera's back.

Soldier during the Great War, April 1915, Willisborough Lees, Kent, England
Photographic print from 127 format film, Collection of Brett Payne

The standard model, constructed of aluminium with a black enamel finish, quickly became popular amongst soldiers serving on the front during the Great War, becoming "the most successful camera of its day," and almost 2 million of them had been sold by the time the pattern was discontinued in 1926.

Baby Brownie (1934-1941) and Brownie 127 (1952-1959) cameras
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection, Ref. 0074

Use of the 127 format film continued throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s in small, inexpensive soild body box-style cameras such as the Baby Brownie (1934-1941) and the Brownie 127 (1952-1959).  In the 1960s and 1970s, however, it was largely superseded by 126, 110 cartridge and 35 mm formats.

References

127 film, Wikipedia.
Coe, Brian (1978) Cameras: From Daguerreotype to Instant Pictures, Crown Publisher, Inc., p. 104.
Coe, Brian (1988) Kodak Cameras: The First Hundred Years, Hove Foto Books, Hove, East Sussex, p. 168-173.
Gustavson, Todd (2009) Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital,  Sterling Publishing, Toronto, p. 178-183.
Niederman, Rob & Zahorcak, Milan (2011) The Digitized Kodak Catalog Project, 1886 to 1941, privately published on CD-ROM.

Text by Brett Payne

Omokoroa Point, by Alf Rendell

Omokoroa Point, Bay of Plenty, undated, probably c. early 1950s
Hand-coloured black-and-white photographic print, by A.H. Rendell, Tauranga

This charming aerial view of Omokoroa Point was found in a cupboard in the Katikati Heritage Museum, sadly hidden from view, but ironically this protection from the ravages of sunlight has preserved the vivid colours of the hand-colouring.  Fiona Kean from the Tauranga Heritage Collection thinks it likely that the colouring work was carried out by Alf's talented sister.

Matua Peninsula and Mauao, c.early 1950s
Black and white print by A.H. Rendell, courtesy of the Tauranga Heritage Collection

 

Alf Rendell published several series of aerial views of Tauranga and environs in the late 1940s and 1950s, after returning from war service, and taking advantage of a friend who owned a Tiger Moth.  He revisited some of these views half a century later to show what a different place Tauranga had become.

Matua Peninsula and Mauao, c. 2007
Colour print by A.H. Rendell, courtesy of the Tauranga Heritage Collection

The Killen Harmonium

The Killen Harmonium
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Museum, Killen Collection

Made in Dublin in 1877 to an American design, this four-stop Mason & Hamlin harmonium, which still has all its keys, reeds and pedals and can still be played, was brought out to New Zealand by John and Ellen Killen a year later in 1878.   John Killen, Justice of the Peace, Councillor for Tauranga City Council and the Katikati Road Board, was an elder of the Presbyterian Church (helping to establish that denomination in Katikati), a farmer, business man, and father to four sons and two daughters.  His wife Ellen Orr Killen née Wilson was the sister of Martha Gilbert, née Wilson, one of whose sons married a Lockington.

Mason & Hamlin trade card, 19th Century

Dr Barbara Mary Smith, whose grandmother Mary Elizabeth Smith née Killen was a daughter of John and Ellen, donated the harmonium, together with a gown, clothing and various war items to Katikati Heritage Museum.

Illustrated Catalogue of the Mason & Hamlin Organ Company, 1880

Working Bee at the Katikati Cemetery on 15 April 1889, courtesy of Tauranga Memories Kete

Katikati's World War One Soldier

This solar-operated moving diorama was made by Kate and Bob MacIntyre of Pahioa in 2009, for a sculpture competition at Katikati, and later purchased for the museum after achieving a second placing.  They collaborated in the design and construction, Kate with her wonderful artistic skills, Bob with his incredibly varied engineering expertise, and called it a "Kinetic Sculpture" for entry purposes.  It has a small motor in the panel underneath the soldier, and when connected to the solar photovoltaic panel (later situated below a skylight in the roof of the museum), the Katikati soldier “marches” to war, or home from war, and the scenes behind him turn to indicate his going or coming.  There’s an “On” switch on the side to activate the motion.

Bob MacIntyre sadly passed away last year, so posting this short video is a small tribute to Bob's irrepressible enthusiasm for any number of projects.  Many thanks to his widow Jocelyn and daughter Kate for sharing their memories.

Memorabilia from the tug Taioma

"Welcome aboard the tug Taioma," signboard from Tauranga District Museum & Historic Village
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

Within the Katikati Heritage Museum's collection are many items which fall into the memorabilia category of artefacts, including two pieces which appear to date from the 1970s, when the former harbour tug Taioma was resident at Tauranga's Historic Village and District Museum.

The tug Taioma in Wellington Harbour
Image courtesy of Tyne Tugs and Tug Builders

Built at Aberdeen in 1944, it first saw service with the British Ministry of War Transport as the Empire Jane.  Only three years later it was purchased by the Union Steam Ship Co. of New Zealand Ltd., who renamed it the Taioma.  Among its exploits was an involvement in the attempted rescue of the ill fated inter-island ferry Wahine.

Taioma Donation Box
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

In 1978 it was decommissioned and in March 1979 rehoused at the Tauranga District Museum, where a fee of 50c per person was charged for tours.  This was not  sufficient, it appears, "to offset tug maintenance," as is demonstrated by the somewhat simplified model of the Taioma used as a donations box.

Bob Owens speaking in front of the tug ‘Taioma’ 14 April 1979
Courtesy of Tauranga City Library's Tauranga Memories Kete

In 1999 part of the superstructure and most of the fittings were removed, and the Taioma was scuttled off the southern tip of Motiti Island on 19 March as a diving attraction.

References
Tyne Tugs and Tug Builders
The Taioma Tug, Tauranga Memories Kete

Swimwear in the 1920s

Black woolen men's swimsuit, Pacific brand, c. 1920s-1930s
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

One of the items in the Katikati Heritage Museum's small collection of vintage clothing is this men's  swimsuit.  Branded with a green fern logo and the name "Pacific," it was probably made, and used, in the 1920s and 1930s.  One-piece "elastic" knitted wool suits became common after the Great War,  and the American Association of Park Superintendents' official 1917 Bathing Suit Regulations specified that men’s suits should have a skirt that covered the shorts.  By the mid-1930s they were being manufactured with Lastex, a woven satin finish elastic and silk material.  The Australian swimming team caused an uproar at the 1936 Olympics by wearing bare-chested Speedo shorts. (Vintage Mens Swimwear by Collector's Weekly)

Group at the beach, Lake Winnipeg, Canada, 1921

This photograph taken in 1921 shows a range of woolen swimming attire, including two men's one-piece costumes very similar to that in the museum's collection.  (The handsome man at the right with a cigarette hanging from his lips is the author's grandfather.)

Post Script (31 Aug 2014):

Society member Shirley Arabin has sent in this snapshot of her father-in-law wearing a bathing suit on Mount Maunganui Main Beach.

Shaving in the 20th century

Sunbeam Shavemaster Model "R" electric razor, possibly a demonstration model, c.1937-1945
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

Included within the Katikati Heritage Museum's collection are a huge number of household/domestic items.  This early men's Sunbeam Shavemaster electric dry razor from the 1940s (the first Sunbeam electric razor was released in 1937) appears to be a demonstration model, complete with instructional display.

Advertisement for Sunbeam Shavemaster, Life magazine, 23 October 1944

Magazine advertisements of the period, such as the one above from an October 1944 issue of Life, in particular targeted soldiers on service abroad.

Puma cut-throat razor
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

Leather sharpening strops
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

The standard alternative for those without either the means to purchase such a luxury, or access to an electrical socket, was of course the standard cut-throat razor, sharpened at frequent intervals on a leather strop.  This particular type was manufactured in Solingen, Germany by Puma-Werk, "knifemakers to the world since 1769."

Philips Ladyshave electric razor, c. 1980s
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

Philips still produce Ladyshave electric razors, the first models using this brand having been released by at least the late 1950s, but this version appears to be from a couple of decades later.

Meccano and Fun Ho Toys

Meccano Model 7.2 Steam Roller, c. 1950s
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

Included in the Katikati Heritage Museum's small collection of toys is this steam roller constructed entirely of Meccano parts.

Diagram of Steam Roller 1948 Model 7 from Meccano manual

Comparison with photographs of a similar model put together by Meccano afficionado Alan Esplen suggest that it was made to the design of a Model 7.2 Steam Roller included in the official Meccano manuals from 1948 to 1953.  There are a few small differences or modifications, necessitated no doubt by the absence of specific parts from the maker's collection, but the basics are almost identical.

Fun Ho die-cast toy Steam Roller
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

Although Meccano also manufactured die-cast steam rollers under the Dinky brand, this particular toy steam roller was produced by the well known New Zealand firm Fun Ho based Inglewood from 1935 to 1982.

Blue Bath, Rotorua

Unidentified group at the Blue Bath, Rotorua, c. 1930s
Quarter-plate glass negative by unknown amateur photographer
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

These two amateur snapshots are images scanned from a small box of quarter-plate glass negatives of unknown provenance in the Katikati Heritage Collection.  They depict an unidentified group - three women, a man and a young girl - standing on the front steps of the Blue Bath in Rotorua.

Unidentified group at the Blue Bath, Rotorua, c. 1930s
Quarter-plate glass negative by unknown amateur photographer
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

The Blue Baths, housed in a stunning art deco/Spanish Mission-style building, opened in 1933 and offered mixed bathing for the first time in New Zealand.  Perhaps this family was visiting to see what all the fuss was about.

Blue Baths, Rotorua, October 2010
Photograph by Brett Payne

After being closed for 17 years the Blue Baths were restored to their former glory and reopened in 1999.

Painting of St Peter's Anglican Church by Ella Thompson

St Peter's Anglican Church by Ella Thompson
Photograph by Brett Payne

This painting of Katikati's St Peter's Anglican Church was done by Ella Thompson in 1984.  Missing for a while, it was rediscovered by Don Wallis in the ceiling of the church building. It had to be cut into two pieces to be removed, but was restored and has been on display in the Katikati Heritage Museum since it opened in 2000.  Although often described as a mural, this is not strictly accurate since it was painted on a large canvas rather than directly onto a permanent surface.

Painting of  on display at the Katikati Keritage Museum, June 2014
Photograph by Brett Payne

Wood Rose, Dactylanthus taylorii

Specimens of Wood Rose, Dactylanthus taylorii
Katikati Heritage Museum collection, Photograph by Brett Payne

Tucked away in a dark corner of the Katikati Heritage Museum, volunteer Sue Sisley came across a case containing some strangely shaped pieces of wood with an intriguing label identifying them as Wood Roses, aka Dactylanthus taylorii.

Dactylanthus taylorii, as described by Hooker in 1859

Actually Dactylanthus taylorii is something of a misnomer, as all traces of this unusual parasitic plant have long since disappeared.  Otherwise known as pua o te reinga or Flower of Hades, it is endemic to New Zealand, having been first discovered and described from around the headwaters of the Whangaehu River on the slopes of Mount Raupehu by Reverend R. Taylor on 18 March 1845.

Short-tailed bat feeding on flowers of Dactylanthus taylori
(Click for short video)

The tuber attaches itself to the roots of a range of about 30 native hardwood trees and shrubs, from which it derives its nutrients, and in response, the host roots mould themselves into the characteristic shape of a fluted wooden rose.  It has no green leaves, but real flowering stalks protrude above the surface, and the inflorescences, filled with sweet-smelling nectar, are pollinated by short-tailed bats, rats and mice.

Dactylanthus taylorii covered with moss and protected by wire mesh cage, Whirinaki Forest, Te Urewera
Photograph by Brett Payne

In the past the large tubers were dug up, then boiled for several hours to soften the warty growth, which was carefully scraped off to reveal the "flowers."  They were then commonly dried and varnished.  Although formerly found throughout the North Island and northern South Island, there are now likely to be less than a few thousand left.  D. taylorii is listed as "Threatened - Nationally Vulnerable" by the Department of Conservation and ranked as high priority for conservation.  Collection is no longer permitted, and protection measures include both pest control and enclosure in wire mesh cages.

Specimens of Wood Rose, Dactylanthus taylorii
Private collection, Photograph by Brett Payne

The museum's former owner Nancy Merriman has revealed that the family used to visit Pyes Pa in the 1960s, where they found the two smaller ones, while the largest originated from the Goodwin Collection.  Further discussion with volunteers while this item was being photographed and packed for temporary storage turned up two further specimens in a private collection, gifted in the Taumarunui area during the 1970s.

References

Hooker, J.D. (1859) On a new Genus of Balanophoreae from New Zealand, and Two Species of Balanophora, Transactions of the Linnaean Society, Volume 22, p.425-428, from Botanicus

Hill, H. (1926) Dactylanthus taylori, Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, Vol 56, p. 87-90, pl. 14-17.


Scarrow, Eion (1993) Newspaper clipping about Dactylanthus taylorii, from the New Zealand Herald, 1 December 1993 (Courtesy of Peter Martin)

Ecroyd, Chris E. (1996) The ecology of Dactylanthus taylorii and threats to its survival, New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 20 (1): 81-200.

La Cock, G.D., Holzapfel, S., King, D. & Singers, N. (2005) Dactylanthus taylorii recovery plan, 2004-2014, Threatened Species Recovery Plan 56, Department of Conservation

Anon (2007) Dactylanthus taylorii fact sheet, August 2007, Department of Conservation

Dactylanthus taylorii, from Wikipedia

Native Plants: Dactylanthus, by Department of Conservation

Photographs of Dactylanthus by Rod Morris.

Matt McGlone. Evolution of plants and animals - Ecological influences, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 8-Jul-13

Dactylanthus taylorii, Photographs from the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network