I want to take a moment to wish all my subscribers a very festive Christmas season for 2012. Last year I didn’t get around to doing any kind of Yuletide-related post, so I have added some new items to my Four Square Christmas post of 2010 here.
Also, earlier this month Longwhitekid passed its two year milestone. I don’t know if I was expecting to still be around because I never really had any clear-cut plan when I started this project, one way or the other. In point of case, it wasn’t even any sort of “project” at the beginning. Here’s hoping for at least a couple more – I don’t anticipate my enthusiasm for this genre dying out any time in the near future and I have a fairly long list of topics I’d like to cover as well as ideas I’d like to see through. Although, you’ve probably noticed I’ve slowed down a lot lately and I’m no longer posting weekly. Two weeks at a stretch is about as much as I can manage. In fact I just had a month where I did not put up anything new, which I feel bad about, but moving right along.
This year was kind of a trial to say the least in a couple of parts – but 2013 is shaping up to be crazy. Definitely from July 2013 I am not going to have time to blog for a good six months – but the whole year is looking dodgy. I am hoping to keep going but in order to achieve what I consider my “standard” now it takes a hell of a lot more work than I was bargaining for at the beginning. It is very different from when I started out in early December 2010 – in fact looking at the formative days what I was doing is pretty laughable. I wouldn’t go back and change it though – it documents the journey I’ve taken into this new area. I’ve learned a lot about researching and writing, and as such my expectations are now way higher of my own articles, not to mention what my readers are expecting. Now it takes a great deal more effort to get it right, and a lot of focus do it well.
By the way, the image above is an extremely rare item that was the wrapper for a promotional tea towel issued by the Peter Pan Frozen Foods company in the mid-late 1960s. It has been lent to me by the family who founded the business – and likely is the only one in existence. But since I probably won’t use it I am posting it here where it is relevant and appropriate. If you want to learn more about Peter Pan just find the category in the archives where I have done at least three stories on this brand – which was at one point one of the three biggest ice cream concerns in New Zealand. Otherwise you can either buy the first 2013 issue of NZ Legacy Magazine which has a 2000 word article, or wait until late next year when I post the full (and definitely final) 8000+ word article online here.
The artwork was all done by Bob Godfrey (including this) in his signature quirky style (not to be confused with the famous British cartoonist Bob Godfrey) but as yet I have not been able to find out anything further about him even after sending out letters to dozens of Kiwis with that surname. It’s like the guy never existed before or after his stint at Peter Pan. I suppose what I was really hoping for was to find a further fabulous cache of his artwork – but so far no luck at all. Somebody must have it – or know something about him. I’ve pretty much exhausted all avenues of this particular inquiry. Maybe between now and the middle of 2013 some kind of break will turn up – but I get a feeling not with this one.
Have a great holiday (if indeed you get one) whatever you’re doing – and I’ll be back fairly shortly with a lengthy article on old Auckland foodstuffs manufacturer Brown Barrett Ltd. And by fairly shortly, I mean tomorrow at the latest.
All content of Longwhitekid copyright Darian Zam © 2012. All rights reserved.
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