Category Archives: Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa

January 1957 and 1958: This month last century

25 January 2011 – 4.30pm

53 years ago – Sir Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole (4 January 1958)

54 years ago – Scott Base opens in Antarctica (20 January 1957)

Having reached the summit of Everest with Tenzing Sherpa in 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary completed another extreme feat in January 1958. Early in the New Year, as New Zealanders were soaking up the summer sun, Hillary and four others were freezing at the South Pole.

Hillary’s party was the first to reach the Pole overland since Captain Scott’s tragic expedition in 1912. (The picture below commemorates the tragedy.)

GH006842 Embroidered picture about 1912 embroidered by Private A Cridge. Te Papa

Hillary and his team had travelled there in modified Massey Ferguson tractors and were the first people to reach the southern-most point on the globe by motor vehicle.

Sir Edmund was in Antarctica as the leader of the New Zealand section of the privately organised Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1955-1958. The overall leader was Dr Vivian Fuchs, a British explorer.

The New Zealanders were charged with setting up a base in McMurdo Sound. The result was Scott Base, New Zealand’s permanent research station. It opened on 20 January 1957 to support the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition and New Zealand scientists attached to the expedition who were also involved in the International Geophysical Year (IGY)1957-58.  (Another base for the IGY was located at Cape Hallett – see the painting below.)

1958-0007-1; Hallet Bay, Antarctica; Peter McIntyre. Te Papa. Purchased 1958 with T G Macarthy Trust funds

Hillary’s team was tasked with laying out food and fuel depots for Fuchs’s party which was to cross the Antarctic continent from Shackleton Base over on the Weddell Sea to Scott Base via the South Pole.

But ignoring instructions, Hillary and his team kept on going, ‘hell-bent for the Pole – God willing and crevasses permitting’. They reached their target on 4 January 1958. Over two weeks later, Fuchs and his party arrived at the Pole.

The Commonwealth-sponsored expedition successfully completed the overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole, on 2 March 1958. The journey had taken Fuchs 99 days.

Hillary’s independent ‘dash to the pole’ was criticised by some observers, who thought he put adventure ahead of other, scientific aims. However, Fuchs remained on good terms with Hillary, even though the Kiwi mountaineer had pipped him at the post. And Hillary remained an international hero, the conqueror of Everest.

CT.033011 Sir Edmund Hillary 1960s-80s. Photograph by Brian Brake. Gift of Wai-man Lau 2001. Te Papa

Read more about Hillary and his 1953 achievement in Slice of Heaven.

Read more about Hillary in Antarctica on NZHistory.net.nz

By Kirstie Ross | Also posted in History | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

December 1953: This month last century

19 December 2010 – 5.09pm

57 years ago – Queen Elizabeth arrives in Auckland, becoming the country’s first reigning monarch to visit New Zealand (23 December 1953)

The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, arrived in New Zealand just before Christmas in 1953 for a 39-day tour. In the past, only sons or brothers of monarchs had visited the country, such as the Duke of Cornwall and York who visited in 1901. The Duke was the son of King Edward VII and grandson of the late Queen Victoria.

GH009568 Invitation to the hui at Rotorua put on for the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, 1901, by Benoni White. Te Papa.

 New Zealanders had been waiting patiently to see a reigning royal in their homeland. At long last, over the summer of 1953-1954, we had the opportunity to express our loyalty to the Queen and the British Commonwealth.

It was as if all our Christmases had come at once. Altogether about three-quarters of New Zealand waved Union Jacks and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II.

A.008487 The Queen at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, 16 January 1954 by Leslie Adkin. Te Papa

Finally, the Queen was face-to-face with her subjects. Her Christmas message, broadcast from Auckland, touched on the importance of this:

‘I want to show that the Crown is not merely an abstract symbol of our unity but a personal and living bond between you and me.’

Elizabeth and Philip had sailed south to New Zealand after visiting Fiji and Tonga. Brian Brake took personal photographs of this leg of their tour, while he was covering it for the National Film Unit.

CT.045267 Fiji - Royal Tour 1953 by Brian Brake. Gift of Raymond Wai-man Lau. Te Papa

The Queen’s first port of call in New Zealand was Auckland. According to one newspaper, the day she arrived ‘was the best day in Auckland’s history’.

While they were in New Zealand, the Queen and Prince Phillip passed through 46 towns and cities from the Far North to Bluff. And after the Queen and Prince Philip sailed off in the Gothic, the Prime Minster Sid Holland proclaimed that ‘New Zealand has known nothing like this before’ – and probably not since.

GH13242 Beer tankard made as a souvenir for the 1953-54 royal tour. Te Papa

Many New Zealanders made or bought souvenirs to keep the memories of the royal summer alive. There were tour souvenirs to suit all tastes and budgets. Regardless of a souvenir’s cost or quality, all were treasured keep-sakes of a glorious royal summer.

Collections Online has a selection of souvenirs from the 1953-54 royal visit and the 1953 Coronation.

Visit the Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa mini-site for more about these topics.

By Kirstie Ross | Also posted in Collections Online | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

In praise of darning

29 November 2010 – 11.50am

On Friday I posted a blog on the subject of darning inspired by the items of clothing that survived the Depression loaned by Rosemary McLeod for the Slice of  Heaven exhibition. A couple of comments in response to that made me think further.  

My mother taught me to start a darn with slipstitch around the hole, then stitch across and down to create a little patch of new fabric. You do need patience, but there are rewards for lovingly repairing your daughter’s black tights – although now I realise that’s another domestic skill I haven’t passed on to her.  Thank goodness for this thorough step-by-step guide!  

I didn’t know that darning mushrooms came in all colours, but why not?  And not all are called mushrooms – some are known as darning eggs.   There’s a humble, plain wooden darning mushroom – or egg - in the Slice of Heaven  exhibition amongst the displays of everyday objects through the century. Look for the room lined with grass and browse around.

Home-grown displays, Slice of Heaven. Copyright Te Papa 2010.

View darning mushrooms and eggs in Te Papa’s Collection here.

And what about this rather beautifully decorated one here? It looks much used, well-loved.

And,  just to add to our growing tribute to darning, Pamela has just sent me a link to the BBC’s fantastic A History of the World project, where there is, of course a darning mushroom! Love it.

By Prue Donald | Also posted in Collections Online, Exhibitions, History | Comments (3)

Rosemary McLeod talks about darning in the Depression

26 November 2010 – 4.16pm

How many of us are darning socks these days?

Some of the most poignant objects on display in Slice of Heaven  – 20th Century Aotearoa are items of clothing that have survived the Great Depression.  They’re such tangible reminders of how hard times were then.  Some things, especially underwear and linings, were darned and patched many, many times.

Mended clothing from Depression

Mended clothing from Depression. Copyright Te Papa 2010.

So I’m really looking forward to Rosemary McLeod’s floor talk tomorrow about these extraordinary remnants of the Depression that she loaned to Te Papa for the exhibition.

Come to Slice of Heaven – Level 4 Te Papa
Saturday 27 November 2010
12.15pm–12.45pm

By Prue Donald | Also posted in Events, Exhibitions | Comments (2)

Curious curios – all is revealed

11 November 2010 – 7.49pm
Yesterday I posted three mysterious objects from Te Papa’s history collections on the blog. The answers are below. But here’s another item to think about. 
Mystery item 4, 1900s, GH002794, Te Papa

Mystery item 4, 1900s, GH002794, Te Papa

If you’re visiting Te Papa, you’ll see other curious curios in the area covered with astroturf in Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa – an exhibiton about New Zealand last century.

There are plenty of mystery objects in the grass room – but plenty that you will recognise too. And there will be more treasures and curios on Saturday at the event on the Marae at 12 noon – Antiques: You Show, We tell!

Astroturf roof of Homegrown. Photographer Kirstie Ross

Astroturf roof of Homegrown in Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa. Photographer Kirstie Ross

Mystery object 1 is a child’s rattle. It was donated to the museum by Mr Graeme Pebbles.

Mystery object 2 is a candle wick trimmer. It’s made from brass and was donated bo the museum in 1964 by Mr David Graham. You used it to trim a candle wick if it was getting too long and the flame was getting too smoky. You could even use it while the candle was still burning.

Mystery object 3 is an apple corer. It comes from the Chatham Islands and it’s made from sheep bone. It was donated to the museum in 1957 by V Wooldridge.

By Kirstie Ross | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Curious curios: I show – you tell!

10 November 2010 – 9.43am

This Saturday at 12 noon, you can bring along a treasured object to the Marae on level 4 at Te Papa where curators and an antique dealer will look at it and tell you a bit more about it. 

Or you might have a mystery item lurking in your garage or in the back of a cupboard that you’ve always wanted to know more about. We’ll rack out brains to come up with an answer!

Or just come along and be intrigued and amazed at some the things that come out of the woodwork. Read more about the Antiques: You Show – We Tell event here. (If you’re bringing something along, remember to register it at the Wellington Foyer at 11.30 am.)

Mystery item 1, 1800s, PC002789, Te Papa

Mystery item 1, 1800s, PC002789, Te Papa

I was looking through Te Papa’s history collections and spotted some pretty mysterious and weird-looking things. Here are three to begin with – see if you can guess what they are or what they were used for.

Mystery item 2, 1900s, GH002299, Te Papa

Mystery item 2, 1900s, GH002299, Te Papa

 

Here’s a hint – you can find them all on our collection database, Collections Online. 

Keep reading the blog – I’ll have more curious curios to challenge you with tomorrow.

Mystery item 3, 1800-1852, GH003203, Te Papa

Mystery item 3, 1800-1852, GH003203, Te Papa

And check out the astroturf room in our new exhibition, Slice of Heaven: 20th Centure Aotearoa, where you can explore even more treasures and oddities from the 1900s.

By Kirstie Ross | Also posted in Collections Online | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)

November 1918: This month last century

8 November 2010 – 4.47pm

92 years ago – an armistice (truce) between Germany and the Allies was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest in France (11 November 1918).

The armistice marked the end of fighting in World War One on the Western Front in France and Belgium. This occurred on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Back home, New Zealanders took to the streets to celebrate the event.

The armistice marked the end of fighting in World War One on the Western Front in France and Belgium. This occurred on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Back home, New Zealanders took to the streets to celebrate the event.

Mr W G Vickers dressed up as John Bull at Levin's Armistice Celebrations, 13 November 1918, Leslie Adkin (1888–1964), Levin. Gift of Adkin Family, 1997. Te Papa

However, the joyful moment was diminished by the influenza pandemic sweeping through the country and the loss of over 12,000 lives during the war.

Peace with Germany was not officially settled until the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919. New Zealand photographer Bert Green was in London at the time at and took photos of the celebrations.

Untitled (women dancing), 1919, Bert Green, Green and Hahn. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

Two women celebrating the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, 28 June 1919, Bert Green. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

See a pressure sprayer that was used to fight the flu in 1918

See a poster that celebrated the Peace in 1919

Read more about events and objects from November 1918 in Collections Online

By Kirstie Ross | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (9)

A life shaped by C20th New Zealand

29 October 2010 – 2.15pm

“For over half a century I wrote about and taught the history of this country. However, my reasons for standing here today owe more to a sense of belonging, of having enjoyed a long life shaped by twentieth-century New Zealand.”

Bill Oliver
Bill Oliver at opening of Slice of Heaven. © Te Papa

With these words, Professor Bill Oliver officially opened Slice of Heaven – 20th Century Aotearoa.  Influential historian and poet, Professor Oliver is credited with defining the study of history in this country.  He was also the founding general editor of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography - which was an invaluable resource for researchers during the making of the exhibition.

Professor Oliver expressed perfectly the sense of connection many people feel when they visit the exhibition – for many different reasons.        

“ My father came here as a 20 year old immigrant in 1910, and journeyed back to the old world’s wars a few years later.   In 1919 he returned in a ship filled with soldiers and their new wives, one of them my mother.

In the next six years they established a family, one I can now recognise as essentially a colonial family.  In it I was the third child, born on the day they buried William Massey – Prime Minister, ‘Farmer Bill’.   I seem to have been named, more or less inevitably, after him – itself a small colonial irony.

In the lives of my parents, and of their parents, and in my own life, I have had some experience of the history recalled and celebrated by this exhibition.

It is with great pleasure and a deep sense of belonging that I declare this exhibition open, and warmly congratulate all those who worked to bring it about.”

By Prue Donald | Also posted in Exhibitions, History | Comments (0)

October 1943: This month last century

21 October 2010 – 4.48pm

This is the first in an ongoing series of blogs about New Zealand history. These blogs are going to focus on 20th century events and objects as well as topics in Te Papa’s history exhibition Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa.

Following from the recent blog about the diarama in the exhibtion showing a New Zealand family during at World War Two I’ve chosen to start with an event that affected Kiwis during the war.

67 years ago: butter rationing begins (on 28 October 1943)

A weekly butter ration of 8 ounces per person (225 grams or 16 tabelspoons) was introduced by the New Zealand government in October 1943. This almost halved the average weekly consumption of butter, which was around 415 grams. It followed the rationing of other basic food items such as sugar and tea. Meat rationing followed 6 months later in March 1944. People had to use coupons like these to purchase these items.

Sugar coupons from ration book, 1943, GH12052 Te Papa

At the time, butter was used daily and often very liberally in practically every kitchen around the country. Suet and dripping were the alternatives, not olive oil or margarine.

Butter rationing meant that many favourite foods and baked goods were affected, even the humble sandwich. One frustrated mother wrote to a newspaper, declaring that: ‘It is bad enough to be without or very short of sultanas, bananas, raisins, baked beans, dates, honey and eggs for school lunches, but without butter too, it is a bit too much.‘

Food rationing was introduced so ensure that New Zealand’s agricultural products were sent overseas to feed Britons, whose diets were suffering because of the war.

This poster, which dates from the 1940s, highlights the importance of New Zealand’s contributions to the British Empire’s war effort.

Poster 'The Empire's Strength' 1940s GH15353 Te Papa

In fact food production was just as important as New Zealand’s military efforts overseas. This was summed up by the slogan ‘Farm or fight! Let us organise victory on both fronts.’ New Zealand also supported Britain’s post-war recovery so butter, like many other commodities, continued to be rationed long after the war ended in 1945. In the case of butter, it was not until June 1950 that restrictions were lifted.

Read more about WWII in Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa

See more WWII posters in Collections Online

By Kirstie Ross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Family at war – Slice of Heaven exhibition

15 October 2010 – 3.33pm

It’s just 2 weeks now since Slice of Heaven opened and the word from Te Papa’s hosts is that it’s “what New Zealanders have been waiting for!”  This is my first blog – ever.

I was one of the team working behind the scenes to bring the stories from 20th Century Aotearoa into the museum.  After 2 years of intense work, I’m excited to be able to record my own impressions of this amazing journey.

Today, I took a moment to stand on the bridge and watch visitors explore things below.  It’s a fantastic feeling to see everything come to life, observing people from different backgrounds, different generations, really engaged with the displays, absorbed in reading or watching, talking to each other about things familiar, a memory recalled, an experience shared – things that connect us all together.  

Revisiting World War II.
Revisiting World War II. Copyright Te Papa, 2010.

 I find myself returning to the World War II section, to the exquisite recreation of a scene depicting a New Zealand family in their living room in the winter of 1942, when American Forces arrived to protect us from the threat of Japanese invasion. 

Every detail is considered, from the wallpaper to the gas mask.  The mother holds a ration book in hand as her daughter appears to be ready to go out to a dance, and the young son in his pyjamas plays with a jigsaw puzzle.  Dad is due at Home Guard practice.  For me, imagining the lives of these lifelike mannequins is not the only thing pulling me back there, though.

On the wall of their room is a framed photograph of a handsome, smiling young man in his early twenties.  He wears a Royal Navy uniform confirming his recent commission.  He’s there to represent all New Zealand men and women who left home to serve overseas during the war. 

 

Bruce Donald, 1945

Bruce Donald, 1945 Courtesy the Donald Family archives.

His name is Bruce Reginald Donald.   I am so proud to be his daughter.

I can’t wait to hear Alison Parr talking about the experiences of New Zealanders on the home front during WWII.  Alison is a senior historian with the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and her wonderful book, Home, is based on interviews with many men and women who kept the home fires burning.  It’s a powerful read.

Alison Parr gives a floortalk in Slice of Heaven tomorrow, Saturday, 16 October at 12.15pm. Don’t miss it!

By Prue Donald | Also posted in Exhibitions | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (7)
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