Tag Archives: Exhibitions

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 | Posted in Collections Online, Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

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 | Posted in Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also 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 | Posted in Collections Online, Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also 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 | Posted in Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (9)

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 | Posted in Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Building the Squid exhibition

19 November 2008 – 9.44am

Yesterday, 17 November, the exhibition team started to install the Colossal Squid exhibition. Wow – only 24 days to opening!

The Squid exhibition is going to be installed into part of an existing exhibition space –  Mountains to Sea. So yesterday the hoardings were put up to block off the space and the install team came in. First they have to deinstall what’s already there, then install the new exhibition.

Hutch Wilco, Exhibitions Preparator, explains what they will do in this short video.

By Te Papa | Posted in Colossal squid, Exhibitions | Also tagged , | Comments (3)
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