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‘A Long Day in a Tin Can’ New Zealand Railways hostesses recall working the main trunk line in the 1970’s and 80's.
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Open access: Glass plate & lantern slide collection As we are all adjusting to increasingly ‘virtual’ means of learning, exploring and engaging with the world’s heritage, we’d like to highlight a collection recently digitised by the Walsh Memorial Library’s Assistant Librarian for Digitisation, Andrew Pettengell. This recent project is part of MOTAT’s continuous process to improve the access information available on Collections Online. We’ve recently uploaded copyright terms for over 7,000 photographic records now in the public domain. Over 3,000 of these have images attached, including ones from the rich glass plate and lantern slide collections cared for by the Walsh Memorial Library. Read on to uncover the process to catalogue, digitise & preserve this rich collection and showcase some of the various subject highlights.
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Open Wide: A Short History of the Murder House in New Zealand Many businesses such as dentists and hairdressers have been overwhelmed with bookings after the return to ‘normal’ life post Covid-19 lockdown here in New Zealand. It makes you wonder: a rush to the dentist is usually unheard of because, for many, the idea of the dentist conjures up images of pain and cold, clinical sights and smells. But where did this anxiety come from? This article aims to delve into the history of the School Dental Service (SDS), the school dental clinics also known by my parent’s generation as the ‘murder house’, and bring our worst fears into the light. Did it succeed in improving children’s oral health? Was the ‘murder house’ really a place of trauma and pain?
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A Polarising Sauce: The Essence of Anchovies In 2017, MOTAT received the donation of an unopened bottle of sauce carrying the title “Essence of Anchovies”. At first it may seem an unusual object for MOTAT's Collection, so let’s take a closer look at the unique history of this object.
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In Stitches: A Selection of Sewing Machines In use since the late 1700s, sewing machines have been a key component in both domestic and industrial technology. Contributing to the industrial revolution, providing uniforms for war, and altering domestic duties; sewing machines have evolved with social change throughout history. Often associated with the popular Singer name, sewing machines have become a symbol of women’s work, clothing production and factory jobs. It is interesting to note sewing machines were not manufactured in New Zealand but imported and sold under license by New Zealand retailers. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) Collection has a variety of sewing machines, which represent New Zealanders links with these, once essential, domestic appliance and reveal a unique side business for vehicle manufacturers.
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Time Flies When Having Fun During an exploration of timepieces within MOTAT’s Collection, we rediscovered several unique and kooky clocks. Here’s what author Emily Hames found…
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Preserving Time During the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend that re-emerged was the appreciation of a more slow-paced life. This resulted from having more time at home due to people’s movements being restricted to their neighbourhoods. People had more time to spend in the garden and exercise through, walks, running, biking and/or scooter rides within their bubbles. With the lack of takeaway options, home cooked meals and baking became more common;, this also included the act of preserving food.
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A New Topdressing Aircraft The Walsh Memorial Library hold eight logbooks of Banks Peninsula-born pilot Harold Lord Piper (1899–1965). Log books are an invaluable record for any pilot — tracing the different aircraft types flown, distances and conditions they flew in.
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Lime e-scooters: Shared Micromobility Hits Auckland's Streets. Lime played a pivotal role in the introduction of shared-use scooters to New Zealand in 2018.
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Going Viral: Polio and the Iron Lung New Zealand has a long history of epidemics and pandemics - from the influenza epidemic that was reported by Māori in Foveaux Strait in 1817-20, to today’s COVID-19 pandemic. Protocols such as social distancing and the closure of schools and public venues has previously been seen in New Zealand’s history, affecting Kiwis throughout the early 20th Century due to a reoccurring epidemic - the Polio (poliomyelitis) virus.
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‘You’ve kicked me’: Tram Conductresses Auckland’s tramway was initially a public/private venture by the British Electric Traction Company in London and the Auckland Borough Councils but was taken over by the Auckland City Corporation in 1919. It flourished for 40 years but street tramways fell out of favour and were replaced by diesel and trolleybuses in a modernisation programme after the Second World War. Auckland’s last trams ran on 30 December 1956 (although they run regularly at MOTAT).
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Contemporary Collecting: The Pear-1 Ventilator Prototype A look at one object, the Pear-1 ventilator prototype, acquired by MOTAT as part of quick response collecting during New Zealand's 2020 Level 4 lockdown - why this object?
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Christening the Collection An important aspect of the Registry team’s role is reviewing the Collection. Here is what we have discovered about our assortment of christening gowns…
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Choysa Tea Trolley Bus During the 1960s and 1970s, Auckland had New Zealand’s largest trolley bus system, with 133 vehicles operating over 14 routes. The trolley bus, for the uninitiated, was the next step in the evolution of electric trams, a virtually trackless tram. This is a tall tale but true, of Auckland’s “Teetotal” Trolley bus...Trolleybus #115.
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The Flying Kiwi: A Photo Essay The Walsh Memorial Library currently has a selection of objects and archival material on display to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Cliff Tait’s round the world flight in New Zealand manufactured, AESL Airtourer 115 “Miss Jacy.” The Library cares for the extensive photographic collection compiled by Cliff during this flight, which saw him away from his family from May — August 1969, something we’re all learned to grapple with during the COVID pandemic.
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Redressing the Balance – A Brief History of Letter Balances and the Penny Post During my recent research of MOTAT’s Weights and Measures Collection, the letter balances, or postal scales, stood out – when did they first become popular and how are they relevant to New Zealand’s history?
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Harold Piper — What’s in an Aviator’s Logs? The Walsh Memorial Library hold eight logbooks of Banks Peninsula-born pilot Harold Lord Piper (1899–1965). Log books are an invaluable record for any pilot — tracing the different aircraft types flown, distances and conditions they flew in.
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Morris’s Marquetry Masterpiece — The Story of MOTAT’s Half-Tester Bed One of the Registry team’s major projects for the year has been Collection Review. This is an ongoing process which assesses MOTAT’s Collection for its significance and relevance to the Mission and Strategy. My research focus was on the Furniture and Fittings Department. A stand out object from my research was James Morris’ Half Tester Bed (1967.437). The bed was donated to MOTAT in 1967 by a descendant of Morris.
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The Human Story of an Adana Press <p>Researching the MOTAT collection often uncovers the story behind the object. A small printing press currently on display in MOTAT&rsquo;s Print Shop, has an interesting gem of a narrative connected to it via its donor. The press was used during the donor&rsquo;s notable career, which happened in the context of events in national and world history.</p>
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To the South Pole in a farm tractor Read more