Noel Recollection

 

T.J. Edmonds advert for their 70th anniversary, showing different lines under the brand at that time.

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I’m now truly in the habit of filing any Christmas-related items I run across in my travels for these annual Yuletide posts. This seems in keeping with my noticing an increased efficiency in my personal habits, as opposed to leaving things to the last minute, something I’ve always been known for! No more of that “I work best under pressure” nonsense. Nobody is buying it any more, least of all me! I think it has been something to do with going back to tertiary education meaning I have to be much more organised to make sure everything happens in a timely manner.

This is the fifth Xmas post I’ve done over time…I think, don’t hold me to having done it religiously every year. The 1st of December marks the anniversary of the day this blog was tentatively started in 2010 – with in retrospect – some seemingly awkward, and quite noncommittal posts. Speaking of commitment, at least I was more dedicated to it back then.

By the time 2015 is here I would have only hit the publish button a measly fifteen times for this year. Pretty slack, huh? As time goes on it seems harder and harder to find the space to publish stories between studying and other projects. In my defence this is perhaps because often the stories are far more involved, with complex preparation which can include multiple recreations from scratch of packaging graphics.

Rather than talk about the Longwhitekid year now – I will discuss which posts were the most read, and all things interesting, annoying, and otherwise – when I again rank the annual top-rated images as voted by readers. I will make sure to publish the fifty most popular pictures for the new year. This previously turned out to be a very appealing post and got a great response from readers with lots of discussion and reminiscing.

Also coming up in the near future are posts on Elbe’s ice cream, Heard’s confectionery, known as “the home of good candy” to many, and I’ll also be branching out into some 3-D ideas for 2015. Wait…what? You’ll just have to use your imagination on how I am going to undertake the latter. I’m not anywhere near bored with Longwhitekid yet – but it’s definitely time to start changing things up around here with some different and innovative ways of presenting research and history, as well as some crazy ideas!

A glass cinema advertising slide, designed by Lindsay Russell, from Tauranga’s Regent Theatre, likely dates from the 1930s.

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This 1901 Christmas issue of the Auckland Weekly News originally sold for a shilling and was reprinted as a novelty in 1967. Image courtesy of the Auckland Museum Collection.

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 Chromolithograph poster or banner,  published by A. R. Hornblow & Son of Wellington, circa 1920. Image courtesy of the Manuscript and Pictorial Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, ref Eph-D-CHRISTMAS-1920-01.

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Aulsebrook’s Xmas products, Evening Post, November 1923. Image courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand.

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George Frederick Hose Taylor (1927-2008) was a New Zealand cartoonist who specialized in science fiction titles and annuals, as well as sign writing and display work. Some of his better known serials were “Little Hongi – Adventures in Maoriland”, “Dick Astro of Space Patrol” and “Thrilling Adventures.”  Image courtesy of Matt Emery collection. You can see more of George Taylor’s work at Pikitia Press.

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Woolworths Christmas advert, including Swastika charms for puddings. Prior to WWII the Swastika was common iconography for these trinkets – indicating future good fortune. This ad would have been just before they came to represent the exact opposite under Hitler’s Nazi regime and disappeared from use forever. Evening Post,  November 1938. Image courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand.

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Hazelwoods department store coupon, Upper Hutt Leader,  November 1956. Image courtesy of Upper Hutt City Library archives.

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Cover of The New Zealand Illustrated magazine, image courtesy of Peter Alsop collection. 

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Christmas advert for the Self-Help chain of stores, Evening Post, December 1935. Image courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand.

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Christmas time issue of  a Cinderella stamp to raise money for Tuberculosis organisations under the auspices of the Crippled  Children Society, 1950s.

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Why Santa is riding a gigantic mustard-squirting, holly-decorated frankfurter will probably never be known – and we can only guess. A E. Ellingham & Co.’s Christmas float, by Sparrow industrial Pictures. Image courtesy of the  Auckland War Memorial Museum Pictorial Collection, ref PH-NEG-SP-2-2235ai.

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A  Christmas issue Cinderella stamp to raise money for the Otago P.S.S.A in 1952; this organisation provided  homes for orphaned or neglected children.

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Christmas Club card for Tiger Tea, a very popular South Island brand which has been around since the 1890s – and is still available today in a couple of selected stores.

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A postcard of Farmers’ department store, Hobson Street, at Xmas time with the classic (no longer) winking and beckoning Santa – who is now ensconced on  the Queen Street Whitcoulls store. The photo looks to have been taken in the 1960s.  Image courtesy of Lisa Truttman collection. 

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 ‎”When Santa was real.”  Farmers’ Store, Auckland 1957. Image courtesy of Peter Levarre-Waters collection. 

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From an advert for the Marriotts chain of grocery stores; they were present from at least the 1920s to the 1940s and had a chain of fifteen premises by the year this ad ran in the Auckland Star, December 1932. Image courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand.

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All content of Longwhitekid copyright Darian Zam © 2014. All rights reserved.

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Coupon Conquest

I previously wrote about “Big Swap” coupons here in September 2011. Finally I was able to purchase my own set a couple of weeks ago, after missing out numerous times over the past five years – and get a really good look at them. I didn’t realize that the Lushus Jelly coupon was missing from the set when I bought them until I was about to post – so I had to quickly recreate the artwork for it to match the rest of them.

North Island mail order catalogue from company H H Brandon, advertising the N Z Big Swap, 1954. Courtesy of the Turnbull Library collection, Reference Number: Eph-B-RETAIL-1954-01-16/17

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There’s some products that have become classics in the time that has lapsed over the decades (such as Griffin’s biscuits) and also some I have never seen before . Trinidad Juice was a new one for me. It appears that it’s still going – a Trinidad and Tobago-based brand that was launched in 1930. I can’t find any information on Linella at all – perhaps it was their one and only product and disappeared off the market after a few years. Linnell & Co Ltd were a Hawera-based company and the product, containing butter and eggs – was essentially that Antipodean classic lemon cheese, except Linella came in Orange and Banana flavours as well as Lemon Delight. That’s all I know.

It’s possible the “Big Swap” competition was the promotional brainchild of mail order company H H Brandon, but not entirely – as squinting I can make out that the endeavour was sponsored by “The Auckland Public Relations Office” (office of what it doesn’t specify). Previously I stated that these were “Big Swap” coupons from 1954, but in fact when I take a closer look at these and compare them to what’s in the Alexander Turnbull manuscript and pictorial and collection – they may not be.

Some of mine are the same (Steelo, Sellotape, Lushus, Taniwha) as the “Big Swap” set, and some are different (Berger, Kiwi, Gilbey’s). So I am afraid that what I wrote previously may be incorrect – it seems upon closer examination the ones I have purchased may not be the same, they were possibly called “Woppa Swappa”, and were issued for a similar competition. Linnell states on the back of their advertising coupon, a competition for their company closing on the date January 14, 1955 – so that pretty much solves the mystery about any dates – they must have been issued later the same year as the “Big Swap” competition. It will be interesting to see if any other versions turn up. Still, it’s a nice little snapshot of some of the household products of the time.

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Addendum early Sept 2012: After having an on-going “maybe I’m wrong again. No, actually, I think I AM right…no, maybe not, after all…” conversation with myself for some time, I actually discovered that my theorizing is in fact RIGHT. Since I wrote this article I have turned up at least two more competitions that issued some, or all, as well as additional coupons during  that decade. There was a  promotion in 1957 that was called “The Big Y Swopper” and was sponsored by the Optimists Club of the YMCA in Christchurch. Also, again in 1954 – was a competition named  “Jaycee Swap’em”, under the auspices of the  Wellington Junior Chamber of Commerce. I have never seen another example of these yet. The full sheet set of the latter, totalling 44 coupons, is in the Turnbull manuscript and pictorial collection in Wellington:

“Jaycee Swap’em” competition, by Wellington Junior Chamber of Commerce, 1954. Alexander Turnbull Library. Ref: Eph-D-RETAIL-1954-01

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Addendum mid Jan 2014: A Dunedin collector and reader of this blog kindly sent these images to me as a contribution the article. These arrived some months ago and I haven’t had time for quite a while to do all the updates I need to get around to. This is a set of coupons from the “Swoppers” competition, published in Christchurch in 1957 (Possibly this is “The Big Y Swopper” mentioned earlier). This set again has some repeat designs of others, proving that all the competitions were somehow linked, but what exactly the common factor associating them was, apart for the obvious fundraising/charity aspect- I am not sure. However this set is more focussed on local business but does showcase a few household products.

The only exception is the Forestry Service “Keep New Zealand Green” coupon which is yet another missing one from my “Big Swap” set at the top of the article. I just placed it in the middle of the “Swoppers” set to keep things kind of tidy.  I wonder how many others there are that I don’t know about? And how many other competitions there were around the country during that period? Like the “Jaycee Swap’em” coupons, I’ve never seen another example of the “Swoppers.” Whereas, more regularly “Big Swap” coupons come up for auction, and by “regularly” I actually mean about once a year or so (but rarely a full set).  All following images are courtesy of Owain Morris collection.

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Addendum mid June 2015: Evidence that people were actively swapping in an organised manner, to complete collections. This clipping from the Otago Dunedin Times, December 1 1973. Image courtesy of Owain Morris collection.

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All content of Longwhitekid copyright Darian Zam © 2014. All rights reserved.

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All content of Longwhitekid copyright Darian Zam © 2014. All rights reserved.

Bite Size: With Bells On

Here’s another “family” from the set that was issued as a promotional gimmick by the Four Square store chain. I previously wrote about this item here:

https://longwhitekid.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/bite-size-game-on/

and noted I am working my way through digitally restoring them (they are in pretty bad shape, which seems to be a common problem that the earlier sets of cards haven’t suffered – the type of materials used later, I suspect ).

Someone has since noted that they believe this card set was issued between 1979-1981. That tees up with what I remember about the products pictured. I would have said the same since this is what packaging of these items looked like around 1980 and I recall all of them very clearly. Many of these items have not yet tuned up at auction – I guess that there’s not a level of interest in that era there yet, certainly not the interest that there is in anything that’s pre mid-1970s. But it is creeping up slowly. Like all collectables, it’s all a matter of how much time has lapsed – even over and above “rarity” issues. It’s pretty obvious most of it is still going to the tip instead of up for sale.

This set features Bell Tea, which is very much a New Zealand institution going back to 1898 when the trademark was registered (Although the beginnings of R Wilson and Company, before they formed a partnership with Norman Harper Bell, dates to the early 1860s). It’s one logo which actually hasn’t changed remarkably in all that time. Generally the boxes (first introduced in 1937) were red – with a yellow, blue and white print in the 1970s, which I don’t have any pictures of yet. The larger boxes of bulk bags in the late 70s to early 80s looked like this.

Bell is of course still going today, and along the way they acquired a few other brands such as Edglets, Tiger and Amber Tips . I will do a proper post on Bell in the future when opportunity presents its self.

Addendum: The people at Bell Tea have given longwhitekid a nice little plug over at their Facebook page by featuring this post.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.342892852437408.78036.169793223080706&type=1