Happy New Year 2010!

May you have a safe, healthy, engaging, fun and prosperous New Year, 2010!

New Year's Eve

 On a cheery note, we advise that "you can say it in postcards", circa 1910 :

Oh, strike that! Got it wrong! Meant to say: THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!! ROLL ON 2010!

Merry Christmas, Dear Readers!

 A Merry Christmas to Our Readers! We hope Santa was nice to you.

Have some fun!

A message to those we won't be spending Christmas with this year: 'Til our next meeting!

Bungalow of Mt Albert, Auckand, 1906

The Bungalow, Mount Albert, Auckland, NZ, 1906.

Sent to an address in Headingley, Leeds, UK in 1906, this real photo postcard shows May, Marie, and Tom's "new cottage" that they had just moved into. Tom writes: "It is a nice place & I think we will be very comfortable." He continues that the owner privately produced these postcards and, as can be seen in the note in the margin on the photo side, the owner's wife and son are the people in the picture. The view suggests the house & property received a lot of sunshine.

Greetings from Ponsonby, postmarked 1907.

Will sent the above multi-view of the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby to the Headlingley, Leeds address in 1907. Click on the image for a larger view.

Bungalows of Avondale, Auckland: Pictures of Home

Well, actually, this is a tale of one bungalow in Avondale...

61 Roberton Road, Avondale, Auckland, NZ, May 1913. S Collins & Son, photo.

This real photograph postcard was sent to "all at home", perhaps in the UK, by Ethel and Frank to show their home at 61 Roberton Road, Avondale, Auckland on May 8th 1913. Perhaps it is their new home.

The house clearly needs some work. Although it has the basics, it clearly needs painting and to the proud homeowner it could do with some "improvements".

Curiously, Ethel & Frank do not comment on the house other than to include a postscript: "P.S. The white frames set in the windows are fly screens, grand things to keep flies out doors." For some curious reason, Kiwis did not widely adopt this innovation to limit bug life indoors. Perhaps this is because flying insects came to be a relatively minor problem - Kiwis wiped out flies like the Chinese did during the Cultural Revolution(!) - or the relative absence of infectious disease borne by insects or their biting behaviour - resulted in little use of insect screens.

61 Roberton Road, Avondale, Auckland, post May 1913. A E Woodall, photographer, Remuera.

Some time later, the above photo materialises. Clearly Ethel and Frank have been busy on the home improvement front. A more stylish (for the time) verandah has been added, window shades have been installed, as has a bay window on the side, and the house and roof have been painted. Some serious work has gone into upgrading the front lawn and flower beds, while a concrete path has been laid. The family "back home" would certainly have been impressed with Ethel and Frank's industriousness in taming the urban landscape.

The house at 61 Roberton Road still stands, with chimneys intact, but the verandah in the second photo has gone, perhaps long ago. It can be seen by loading in the address at Google Earth.

Message In a Bottle at New Brighton

Sea Bass at New Brighton. They were fishing them out at a rate of 100 per hour...

What Tommy Taylor, prohibitionist and Mayor of Christchurch, 1911, hoped wouldn't wash up on the beach at New Brighton.

Doffing my hat to Canterbury Heritage which has an anti-wowser postcard posted here.

Swaggies On Shank's Pony - Especially for Jayne

Swaggies on Shank's Pony, Waltzing Matilda

According to Wikipedia - for a quick ref. subject to a second opinion of an expert, "to waltz Matilda" is to travel with a swag.

Shank's pony means to walk on one's own legs. One suggested source for the term is that the horse drawn grass mower of Alexander Shanks and Co of Arbroath, Scotland required the human operator to walk behind horse and mower rather than ride.

"waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me..."

Christchurch Past & Present #16 - Motorbus on High Street

High Street, Christchurch, NZ. circa 1908. postcard.

More past than present, a view of High Street looking northwest towards "the bottleneck" in the distance, the intersection of Colombo, High, and Hereford streets, just south of the Square. Cashel street runs across the foot of this postcard circa 1908.

The correspondent helpfully names significant features of the view, including the motor bus. In most early twentieth century views of Christchurch, trams feature prominently.

Perhaps the bus was an early experiment that was found wanting when it came to mass transit so the electric tram prevailed until their departure in the 1950s. The tram, of course, made a re-appearance in the central city as a tourist gimmick in recent decades and part of the Cashel street mall is currently being ripped up to extend the overpriced ride round the few central city blocks it traverses.

For a present day view of the scene pop over to Canterbury Heritage where the two views are presented together. Thanks to Canty Heritage for putting up a current view; I've only a recent view 90 degrees to the left down Cashel St.

Manners Street - Perrett's Corner - 1905

Willis Street at Manners Street, looking north circa 1905.

The car had not yet arrived in such numbers to stage a takeover of Wellington streets by 1905. This view - looking north on Willis Street with Manners Street to the right - shows horsepower providing the main source of transport power in early 1905 (based on the postmark on the postcard, though the view itself may have been taken a few years earlier).

Perrett's chemist stands to the immediate right of the women crossing the street with a pram (short for perambulator or baby carriage) and close to the photographer's position. Perhaps the women have just purchased one of Mr Perrett's potions to cure their ailments or to restore their nerves.

A hansom cab stand existed just around the corner to the left on Boulcott street as pictured in the view below. Electric trams introduced to Wellington streets in 1904 were more affordable to the average citizen and a number of routes ran down Manners Street on to Willis Street. With the extension of tram service to outer parts of the city, faster subdivision for housing proceeded during the 1900s.

Hansom cab on Boulcott Street with the Manners Street, Perrett's corner intersection in the middle background, circa 1913.

The streets were not yet paved so in the summer Wellington's residents coped with the dust, horse manure, and flies as best they could. It was not unknown for horses to die on the streets on occasion requiring their owners or the council to remove them. In the winter, the rain turned the streets into mud baths with potholes and ruts thrown in for good measure.

Turner's Chemist, Manners Street Corner, 1898-1900s

Evening Post, 3 March 1898, Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand.

D L Turner announced the opening of his new premises - a chemist shop at the corner of Manners and Willis streets, Wellington - in the Evening Post of 3 March 1898.

In the picture postcard below, circa the mid 1900s, Turner's store sign can be seen.

Dr Harding's 3 storey building of the early 1870s has been modified by converting the bricked wall ground floor to a retail frontage that Mr Turner occupied in early 1898.

The electric tram suggests the picture dates from after 1904 when the electrics were introduced. The Duke of Edinburgh hotel on the left is now a significant three story masonry structure replacing the two storey affair of the 1870s.

Turner's Corner, Manners Street, Wellington, circa 1905.

It's unclear when Turner vacated the premises but by August 1908 Claude H Perrett was operating his chemist shop at the location.

Christchurch Past & Present #15 - Sumner Beach & Pier Panorama

A view of the Sumner pier and beach from Cave Rock, probably in the early 1920s by Aldersley. Clifton Hill in the background, largely cleared of trees with some replanting on the lower slopes. Shag Rock (Rapanui) in far right background.

The building at the seaward end of the pier is the Sumner Lifeboat institution's boatshed that in more recent times has been relocated to a new building at the end of Scarborough beach that lies behind the camera position to the east.

A modern view of Sumner from a similar spot on Cave Rock taken in early January 2007. (Two photos have been rather inexpertly spliced together). The pier has long gone but the pier tearooms - restaurant remains. The sand has accumulated over the decades so the high tide mark has moved further out from the old shoreline.

Clifton Hill has a denser subdivision of housing while tree replanting has expanded to add more cover and soil retention. Canterbury's nor'westers can act to dry vegetation on Clifton Hill and neighbouring hillsides increasing the risk of summer fires.

Picnic Time in Early New Zealand

With the picnic season well underway in New Zealand, here's a view of early picnicking at Whangaroa Heads during the Northern Steam Ship Company's Annual Summer Cruise that was popular among Aucklanders in the early 1900s.

Otira Tunnel Midland Railway Southern Alps New Zealand

Construction yard at entrance to the Otira tunnel

The Midland line of the New Zealand railways network connects Christchurch on the east coast of the South Island to the West Coast. Confronting many geographic obstacles, the line must traverse the Southern Alps. At Arthur's Pass, a tunnel through the Southern Alps to Otira had to be constructed.

When it was completed in 1923, the Otira tunnel was the longest in the British Empire. Since the dominant railway locomotive technology at the time - steam - was impractical to haul trains through the tunnel, electric locomotives were tasked with hauling trains through the tunnel with steam resuming once again after the trip through the tunnel.

Electric locomotive at Otira

Rail service provided faster and more reliable transport for passengers and supplies to the West Coast, treacherous bars at the mouth of river harbours of Hokitika, Greymouth, and Westport putting shipping at great risk. The West Coast's major products, coal and timber, were more cheaply railed to Canterbury for domestic use and for export from the Port of Lyttelton.

Cuppa Tea - Unity Tea Float Whangarei Parade, early 1900s

In an age when a cup of tea quenched the thirst of many New Zealanders, a parade float for Unity Tea travels through Whangarei, Northland, in an unidentified parade during the early 1900s.

Thomson Soda Caxton Co Dunedin World War One

An advertising postcard for Thomson Soda, Caxton Company of Dunedin, New Zealand, showing a First World War New Zealand army soldier musing over his discovery of a Thomson Soda bottle in the Egyptian sands.

Christchurch Past & Present #14 - The Canterbury Rowing Club, Kerrs Reach

Christchurch's first rowing club was established in 1861 at Kerrs Reach on the Avon River, becoming the Canterbury Rowing Club the following year. The first regatta was held on the Avon on Boxing Day (26 December) 1870.

These vintage postcards from the early twentieth century show the Canterbury Rowing Club's boatsheds & rooms at Kerrs Reach with rowing crews ready to race. A women's coxed rowing four appears in the second card.

Today the Avon Rowing Club sheds & rooms occupy the Canterbury Club's former site and further down the right bank are the boatsheds of the Christchurch Canoe Club.

The Kerrs Reach cutting - a straightening of a stretch of the river - was completed in 1950 that allows improved rowing training and racing on the Avon. An old bend in the river runs away to the right of the present day pictures, essentially encircling Porritt Park which hosts a field hockey stadium.

Christchurch Past & Present #13 - Rangiora

Ashley Street, Rangiora

Some of us plan to be at the cricket in Rangiora today, a small town a short distance north of Christchurch.

Here are some views of Rangiora about a century ago. They were mailed back to England by a new immigrant involved in the retail tailoring and clothing industry.

High Street, Rangiora

The "x" on the Ashley Street postcard view marks where he lived while in Rangiora, the "x" on the far right in the High Street view, the shop he worked in. He later moved north to Tauranga and then Auckland to complete his time in the retail trade before leaving, perhaps, to return to England.

The Post Office, Rangiora

Christchurch – Past & Present #12 A Day at New Brighton Beach

Children taking a paddle near the pier, New Brighton, circa 1910

When the New Brighton Pier was opened in 1894 it launched a new phase in seaside holidays at the beach. Gala days were held on the foreshore near the pier. Large crowds turned out, arriving by tram from the city and on occasion by excursion steamers run from Lyttelton. The beach was also used for racing horses until the New Brighton racecourse was built.

Beach crowd viewed from the pier, New Brighton, circa 1910

No one appears to be bathing, instead everyone is dressed up in Sunday best admiring the surf. At least the risk of sunburn and skin cancer are minimized, however uncomfortable the seasiders may be in their clothing.

Christchurch – Past & Present #11 New Brighton Pier

The New Brighton Pier was opened in 1894. It was 210 metres long and six wide. Aside from a promenade along the pier to take in the views of Pegasus Bay, slot machines and penny peep shows provided entertainment.

Gardens along the shoreline, a bandstand, and the ubiquitous tearooms provided other forms of entertainment along with a walk along the sand for parents and paddling or bathing for the young.

The pier deteriorated in the 1950s and was dismantled in 1965.

The new pier was built in 1997, extending out to 300 metres. It is anchored by the New Brighton public library and a cafe. The New Brighton shoreline remains a popular seaside recreational spot for Christchurch residents.

Christchurch – Past & Present #10 New Brighton

Turn of the twentieth century views of the seaside suburb of New Brighton, Christchurch: the pier, Seaview road, the Esplanade, and the River Avon.

A view, circa 1910, looking east towards the sea down Seaview road, a solitary tram coming down the sandy, dusty street on its return run into Christchurch. The pier pavilion may be seen at the end of the road. The store on the front right advertises the Lyttelton Times newspaper and Nelson Moate's tea.

The New Brighton clock tower that now stands at the end of Seaview road in front of the New Brighton public library and the entrance to the new pier.