MOTAT oral history interview with Mary Best

Maker and role
Mary Best, Interviewee
Megan Hutching, Interviewer
Production date
16 Jun 2009
See full details

Object detail

Accession number

09-0889

Maker

Mary Best
Megan Hutching

Description

Oral history with Mary Best about her working life as a stewardess for TEAL [Tasman Empire Airways Ltd] in the early 1950s, flying to Rose Bay, Sydney, Australia and Papeete, Tahiti on Short S45A Solent flying boats. Interview covers her previous work in Auckland’s Public Relations Office, her duties as a stewardess, experiences flying the Coral Route to Papeete, and the stewardess uniform.

Media/Materials

Processed Material/Synthetic/Plastic
Processed Material/Synthetic/Plastic
Processed Material/Synthetic/Plastic

Physical description

1 sound disc (ca. 84 minutes) : digital

Credit line

Mary Best et al. 16 Jun 2009. MOTAT oral history interview with Mary Best, 09-0889. Walsh Memorial Library, The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).

Current rights

My shortlist

Classification

Disk, Optical Videodisc, Digital Tools & Equipment for Communication Data Processing T&E Data Processing Media

Production place

Auckland New Zealand

Subject: all levels

Interviews Best, Mary Anecdotes Social life and customs New Zealand Anecdotes World War, 1939-1945 Anecdotes Tasman Empire Airways Limited Anecdotes Employees Anecdotes New Zealand Flight attendants Anecdotes Uniforms Anecdotes Menus Anecdotes Safety measures Airplanes Anecdotes Passenger traffic Airlines Anecdotes Coral Route Anecdotes New Zealand Education Sound recording and reproducing

Collection type

Audio Visual Walsh Memorial Library

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Group object

Related exhibitions

Exhibition: Love/Science Opening date: 08 Jul 2021 Closing date: Aug 2022 Venue: MOTAT Status: On Show See full details

Related topics

Name: ‘We were novelties’: TEAL Solent Flying Boat Stewardesses Summary/Abstract: MOTAT has the last remaining Mark IV Short Solent flying boat in the world in its collection. In the Walsh Memorial Library’s recorded sound archive, there are a number of interviews recorded by members of the Solent Preservation Society in the 1990s. In the late 2000s we recorded some interviews with stewardesses who flew on the Solents between Auckland and Wellington and Sydney, and from Auckland up to the Pacific to Tonga and Fiji, and on the Coral Route which went via Fiji, Samoa and the Cook Islands to Tahiti. The Auckland-Sydney route started in 1949, the Wellington-Sydney one in 1950. In 1951 the Coral Route began — at first monthly and then fortnightly. Subject category: Flight attendants, New Zealand, Anecdotes, Tasman Empire Airways Limited, Employees, Anecdotes, Oral history See full details

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