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Name Summary/Abstract Subject category
Amateur Radio Operations Aid the 1933 Tasman Crossing by the Southern Cross Amateur Radio Operations Aid the 1933 Tasman Crossing by the Southern Cross
Aviation tours captured the imagination of the New Zealand public, with Tasman crossings increasingly carried out in the 1930s after the first successful crossing in 1928 by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. In January 1933 Kingsford Smith made another crossing, flying between Sydney and New Plymouth in Fokker F.VII ‘Southern Cross’ with co-pilot Patrick Gordon Taylor and radio operator John Stannage.
Shortwave radio
Radio stations
Radio operators
Radio
Flight radio operators
Radio equipment
Southern Cross (Airplane)
Fokker Tri-Motor F.VIIB-3M (Southern Cross)
2020.38_p2 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.
Sewing
Sewing-machines
Manufacturers
Tram 100 on Rail Live Day 2018 The Life & Times of a well-travelled Steam tram Engine - No.100 - celebrating 130 years of age
Built in 1891 by the well-known engine manufacturers Baldwin Locomotive Works, read about the history of MOTAT's Tram 100.
Australia
New Zealand
Conservation and restoration
Wanganui Corporation Tramways
1964.153_p1 Tram No. 135 and its century of travelling the tracks
Built in 1921, Tram No. 135's history of service in Wellington and journey to MOTAT is outlined.
New Zealand
Wellington City Corporation Tramways
Conservation and restoration
2017.23.2_p1 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.
1964.146_p40 Short Solent Mk 4, ZK-AMO "Aranui"
The Short S45A Solent Mk 4 Flying Boat ZK-AMO "Aranui" has been a feature in MOTAT's collection since 1964. Read more to learn about how "Aranui" came to be at MOTAT.
Coral Route
Tasman Empire Airways Limited
Short Solent
Leo White: The Man Behind The Whites Aviation Collection Leo White: The Man Behind The Whites Aviation Collection
The Whites Aviation Collection spans some 70 years of history with categories covering the early aero clubs, trans-Tasman flights, the formation of the early airlines in New Zealand and other aviation events up to the 1970's.
Whites Aviation Limited
Photographers
Photography
Aerial photography
Harold Piper — What’s in an Aviator’s Logs? 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.
Aviators
Log books
2018.30_p1 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.
Canning and preserving
Glass
Glass manufacture
1981.428.6_p1 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?
Postal service
Postage stamps
Scales (Weighing instruments)
1967.437_p1 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.
Carpentry
Wood
Woodwork
Art, colonial
<C> Art, New Zealand
Cabinetwork
Kauri
TOP-2020-12_p1 First Contact: Eugene Hirst and New Zealand’s Innovative History of Contact Lens Production
Located at number 9 High Street in Auckland is the flagship store of Mortimer Hirst, an eyewear company associated with a rich history of contact lens innovation in New Zealand. The company is result of a partnership set up between optometrist Douglas Mortimer (1918–2005) and dental technician Eugene Hirst (1911–1989) in 1949, joint directors of both Mortimer Hirst and Hirst Contact Lens Limited.
Contact lenses
‘We were novelties’: TEAL Solent Flying Boat Stewardesses ‘We were novelties’: TEAL Solent Flying Boat Stewardesses
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.
Flight attendants
New Zealand
Anecdotes
Tasman Empire Airways Limited
Employees
Anecdotes
Oral history
A Platform for the Future: Auckland Rapid Transit A Platform for the Future: Auckland Rapid Transit
The plan for Auckland’s electric metro rail that included an underground CBD loop from 50 years ago.
Railroad engineering
Railroads
2010.423_p2 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>
Printing presses
Printing industry
Printing
Tangiwai
1982.770_p15 Short Sunderland NZ4115
MOTAT's Short Sunderland NZ4115 was officially presented to MOTAT in September 1966 and arrived the summer of 1967. Read on for more about its history and delivery to MOTAT.
New Zealand
Airplanes, Military
New Zealand
New Zealand. Royal New Zealand Air Force
Seaplanes
Short S.25 Sunderland Mk.III
Short Sunderland
1978.710_p3 Some Assembly Required: A Brief History of Early Ford Assembly in New Zealand
In the 1930s, New Zealand had a thriving car assembly industry. While this is no longer the case today, New Zealand still has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world. In 1939, New Zealand was second only to the USA for car ownership.
Automobile factories
Ford automobile
2006.349_p3 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.
Aerial fertilization
New Zealand
Unknown photographer. Barclay 1270, 04-3778. Walsh Memorial Library, The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT). MOTAT's Barclay 1270
Barclay 1270 is an industrial steam locomotive built by the firm of Andrew Barclay and Sons (now Brodie Engineering) in Kilmarnock, Scotland. The company manufactured steam locomotives from 1870 before moving on to produce fireless and, later, diesel locomotives. Many examples of Barclay locomotives have been preserved at museums and heritage railways in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, including Barclay 1270. MOTAT’s Barclay had an interesting history with New Zealand’s forestry, energy and mining industries in the 20th century - read on for more.
North Island
Great Britain
Railroads
Locomotives
05-2556_001 The Arrival of a MOTAT Icon
As part of the Registry team's Collection Review we delve into researching the MOTAT Collection. Here is some research I have been undertaking.
K (Locomotive)
New Zealand Railways
Locomotives
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