POSTCARD PILLAR News & Views November 2008

Journal of the New Zealand Postcard Society Inc

The Postcard Pillar News & Views is a journal aimed at increasing the appreciation of collecting picture postcards. The Journal is free to members of the New Zealand Postcard Society. Membership details can be found on page 1.

See pages 3-4 and 11 for the stories on these two fascinating postcards.

N Z Post Office Greetings Telegraph Cards

Page 3 of the May 2008 issue of the Postcard Pillar briefly featured an example of one of these cards, provided by Kevin Mills, who said he had found only two of these in ten years of dealing. Safari has provided more information about these cards, courtesy of an article by R B Ritchie of Oamaru published in The Mail Coach, journal of The Postal History Society of New Zealand, in May 1979.

The Lighthouse on Somes Island, Wellington

by Lindsay Sim

(Ed: the lighthouse is pictured on the front cover of this Postcard Pillar News & Views)

The New Zealand Souvenir Co Ltd

Members will remember that we visited this company when we held our annual convention in Hastings in 2003. Unsolicited by the Company, we illustrate some of their latest offerings.

Exhibitors’ Corner

This section will be a regular feature of News & Views, and we start with putting forward some reasons why you may like to develop an exhibit, and the main types of exhibits. Any member who would like to get to grips with exhibiting faster than in quarterly instalments is welcome to contact the editor at jeff.long@paradise.net.nz and request a full set of the papers in advance. Send an A4 self-addressed envelope and we will fill it for you, free!

Why create an Exhibit ?

Exhibiting adds to the enjoyment of collecting:

You get to show your collection to other collectors.
Most people collect cards because they have already an interest in the topic. Putting an exhibit together is a way of combining your knowledge of the topic with the cards you have collected. And you will also learn more about your topic as you continue to research.
Exhibiting gives direction to your collecting as you start to look for cards to fill the gaps in your story.
You develop contacts with other collectors and dealers who come to know what you collect, and look for material for you

Classes of Exhibits

TOPOGRAPHICAL

An exhibit depicting the features and history of a town, city or geographical region.

PHOTOGRAPHER / PUBLISHER

Photographer, Photographic Partnership, or Publisher that produced or published cards. These may be of a particular category such as documentary, social, industrial, pictorial, fantasy or scientific.

THEMATIC

An exhibit illustrating a theme, subject or concept, such as transport, farming, sport or occupations. Cards from any period/country may be used to illustrate the theme.

ARTISTIC / INCLUDING COMIC

An exhibit where the majority of the cards are either drawn or painted images by individual artists or commercial agencies.

SOCIAL

An exhibit mainly about the affairs of people and human resources. It should develop around a theme or statement, such as poverty, politics, or services. Particularly in this class, it may be relevant to mention, and perhaps illustrate, aspects of the message, postal markings, cachets etc which add to the development of the storyline.

Cards from any period/country any be used to illustrate the theme.

Such as exhibit may contain a maximum of 25% of related peripheral material, as measured by the number of items

MODERN

An exhibit in which all of the cards were published after 1980. Note that this class has a different points structure to all the other classes, with less marks for Condition and Rarity and 10 for Plan, 10 for Appeal and 20 for Treatment (giving a total of 40 for Treatment and Plan, rather than 25)

New Zealand Postcard Society Inc DirectoryPatron Chas Lilley: P O Box 372 New Plymouth chas@stampshop.co.nzPresident Jeff Long: 160 Soleares Ave, Mt.Pleasant, Christchurch 8081 jeff.long@paradise.net.nzVice-President Laurence Eagle: 55 Ravensdale Rise, Westmorland, Christchurch (03)332 4238Secretary-Treasurer Donal Duthie: 5 Ellerslea Lane, Feilding 4702 (06) 323 8527 donalduthie@paradise.net.nzSales Mgr/Auctioneer Chris Rabey 55 Apuka Street, Brooklyn, Wellington (04)384 9293 ships.pubs@paradise.net.nz‘Annual’ Editor Bill Main: 93 Burma Road, Wellington 6035 (04)971 3535 wmain@paradise.net.nzCommittee Geoff Potts: 102 Fox Street, Wanganui Ray Staal: Villa 73 Summerset Village, 40 Burton Avenue, Wanganui John Eccles: PO Box 1174, Wellington. john.eccles@xtra.co.nz Chas Lilley (details above)The Postcard Pillar News & Views is produced three times a year under the editorship of Jeff Long and Laurence Eagle. Contributions are very welcome at any time; please email or post to Jeff Long (details above) Membership of the Society can be obtained by sending a cheque for $35, families $40, overseas $NZ40 payable to N.Z. Postcard Society Inc. to the Secretary-Treasurer, with your name & address, telephone number, email address and collecting interests

Editorial: Members will be aware the Bill Main has stepped down from producing a quarterly Postcard Pillar and will focus on a more substantial annual production for the Society. In future years, this will appear as an early Christmas present! The Postcard Committee has decided to fill the gap by producing a Postcard Pillar News & Views, of which this is the first. It has been produced by Jeff Long and Laurence Eagle and, apart a section on exhibiting and another on early postal information about postcards, consists entirely of material sent in by members. Good effort!! Laurence and I are not professional editors, although no doubt we will get better, but what we need are your contributions. It is preferable if they are in electronic format, but perfectly fine if this is not possible, as you can see from this edition which is mainly a ‘cut and paste’ job. The main aim is to get your words and pictures and ideas out to our membership.

From the Committee: Our Annual Convention has now been and gone, this time held at Wanganui. Geoff Potts and his team did a fantastic job organizing venues and material and a great day of visits around Wanganui. There are reports and pictures about the Wanganui Convention in the centre of this News & Views. Next year’s Convention will be in Christchurch, so plan to be there!

Many congratulations to Bill Main and Evie South who were made Life Members of the Society at the Wanganui AGM.

Don’t forget to pay your subscription if you not already done so. If you have paid already, then you should have received a copy of Bill Main’s Facing an Era. Bill provided copies of this publication to the Society at no cost, and we thank him for his generous donation.

Chris Rabey has run his first auction since taking over from Evie. It went very well and Chris is planning another for early in the new year. As usual, cards and similar material is wanted to make for a good-sized auction, so send Chris your material sooner rather than later.

Donal has asked a question about a list of members’ interests (page 14) so how about sending him a response?

Cover illustrations

Somes Island lighthouse (refer article by Lindsay Sim on pages 3-4)

Public Works Stone Crusher at Mt Maunganui (refer article by J A T Terry on page 11)

The Wanganui Postcard Convention

While many members were able to attend, not everyone could get there, so we have included some details in this first News & Views. This year, the convention itself had an extra day which Geoff Potts and his team organized as a tour of some Wanganui landmarks and places of interest.

This was a full-day affair, starting with a visit to the grave of John Ballance, former Premier of NZ, then through Moutua Gardens to the Whanganui River for a trip on the paddle-steamer Waimarie. Unfortunately, this didn’t eventuate as the river was very high due to heavy rains the previous few days, but we did enjoy a tour of the boat and a fascinating talk by one of the captains. This gave us time for an unplanned visit to the tram restoration project just down the road, and a quick visit to the local Sarjeant Art Gallery. Much of the latter part of the afternoon was at the home of Geoff and Judy Potts, with time for a tour through their amazing private museum. The collection has a focus on maritime memorabilia, but that hasn’t stopped Geoff accumulating all sorts of items, and filling his dedicated building to the gunnels! If you haven’t been to this museum before, I suggest you contact Geoff prior to your next visit to Wanganui.

The Public Works Dept Stone Crusher at Mt Maunganui

By J A T Terry

Preparatory work by the Public Works Dept on the Tauranga-Paengaroa section of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway started in July 1910. By June 1911 earthworks were so far advanced for the first six miles that the permanent way could start to be laid. Various rock deposits at and in the vicinity of Mt Maunagnui were examined, and it was decided to obtain rock from Moturiki Island and crush it for ballasting purposes.

As the island was partly owned by Native owners, and partly vested in the Mt Maunganui Domain Board for recreation purposes, it was necessary to take the land under the Public Works Act for railway purposes. Authority to do this by proclamation was contained in sec 16 of the Reserves and Land Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act of 1911 (28.11.1911), whereby the whole or any part would be taken as a ballast pit. No compensation would be payable, except to the Native owners. The Proclamation was dated 13.12.1911 and published in the N Z Gazette of 14 December 1911.

One mile of line was constructed, and a crusher, elevator and bins erected. The adjoining Talama postcard shows the features with the line running to the island. Note on the right hand side of the crusher the full wagons with rock ready for crushing, and to the left the empty wagons ready for the crushed material.

By June 1913, with rails having been laid to Te Puke, it was considered no longer economical to carry ballast from the island, and a new pit was to be opened at Te Puke. Authority for a line of 2¾ miles to the quarry was in the Railways Authorisation Act 1913 (22-11.1913), but it was not until the second half of 1914 that the quarry was in operation.

By June 1915, Moturiki was still crushing and a crane had been erected for removing stone for protective work on the long bank across the harbour. A year later, the Engineer in Chief stated that stone crushing operations at the island had ceased, though it was still supplying stone for the harbour embankment. This was the last occasion the island ballast pit was to be mentioned in the Public Works reports.

(Ed: the postcard relating to this item is on our front cover)

Upcoming National Exhibition with Postcard Class!

The Timaru Philatelic Society is hosting an exhibition from Oct 16-18 2009. It includes classes for postcards, either 1-2 frames (a good idea for new exhibitors or exhibits) or 3-5 frames. A frame consists of 16 pages. Why not give it a go? There were 55 frames of postcards exhibited at the recent Tarapex exhibition in New Plymouth, and they attracted a lot of attention. A number of new exhibits are already ‘on the drawing boards’ and the public no doubt would look forward to seeing yours !

Details will be on the web shortly, but in the meantime, feel free to obtain a paper copy from the Editor (contact details on page 1)

Wanganui Convention postcards – members’ items of interest

Geoff Potts early years of the Society

Alison Dysart “Old Wellington in Postcards” by Hugh & Susan Price

Brian Vincent rugby football

Dianne McKoy the Wanganui River

Ross Needham M & M Playing Cards, 1908

Bruce Isted old Wanganui views

Chas Lilley Tarapex, and ‘old city’ views

Heather Smart John Balance House in Ulster

Laurie Dale W W I Bamforth cards

Bill Main Edwardian NZ – Joseph Zachariah book

Barry Hancox Pacific Islands cards

Leo Haks N Z Lettercard with Maori portraits

Laurence Eagle Aristophot ‘flag’ cards, Gladys Goodall 100 years card

Norma Willis Wanganui, and gold-mining cards

Eric Diamond Hamilton ‘dump’ collector sales

Wanganui Convention – members’ other collecting interests

Bernie Willis and Norman Willis and Geoff Potts a fantastic display and talk about the AD Willis, early Wanganui printer, and Benoni White, one of the Willis artists

Bruce Isted Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, and post memorabilia

Ray Staal Edmund Hilary envelope & banknote & funeral notice

Laurie Dale letter scales

Bill Main a postmaster’s scrapbook

Barry Hancox A D Willis material, passports, & N Z Society of Ephemerists

Laurence Eagle Mt Everest

Jeff & Robyn Pyle computer database postcards

Donal Duthie gardening books of John Claudous Loudon

Jeff Long Eric Gibbs: One Man’s Journey

Regulations from the Past – NZ Post & Telegraph Guide 1903

What follows is a verbatim extract about the regulations relating to Postcards in 1903.

Note that the ‘face’ of the card is that side used for the stamp and address, and that the ‘reverse’ is the picture side. ie the ‘wrong’ way around for postcard collectors! I have omitted para 5 which deals with reply-paid cards. Note that the Post & Telegraph Dept produced its own cards at this time, so for deltiologists (picture postcard collectors) the most relevant section is para 9. A future article will deal with changes to the regulations, including when ‘divided-back’ regulations came into being.

POST-CARDS

Rates of Postage

The rates of postage are-

All Places {Each single post-card, 1d.

{Each reply-paid post-card, 2d.

How Treated

The face is reserved for the postage stamp, for date-stamp impressions, for inscriptions relating to the Postal Service – such as “Registered,’ “Acknowledgement of Delivery,” &c – and for the address, which may be written or shown on the gummed label not exceeding 2in. in length by 1in. in width.
Engravings or advertisements may be printed on the face as well as the back of the cards, provided sufficient space is left for a clear address and for date-stamping. The name and address of the sender may also be written, printed or stamped on the face or back.
On the reverse side any letter or other matter may be written, printed, engraved, or designed. Excepting stamps for prepayment and the address-labels above mentioned, nothing whatever may be joined or attached to a post-card for a place beyond the colony. For delivery within the colony receipt-stamps or slips of paper may be attached to post-cards, provided the total weight does not exceed ½oz. Stamps cut from post-cards or newspaper-wrappers cannot be used for postage on letters, packets, or newspapers, or for payment of telegrams.

Irregular or Unpaid

Any post-card exhibiting anything of an obscene, libellous, or obviously objectionable character will be detained and sent to the Dead Letter Office.
Post-cards infringing any of the above rules, except the last, are treated as unpaid letters.
Post-cards insufficiently prepaid or unpaid (such as private cards or post-cards not issued by New Zealand, or cards which have already been used for transmission) will be charged double deficiency at post-card rates.

Private Cards

Private cards, including pictorial cards, bearing adhesive stamps may also be used as post-cards. They must be composed of ordinary cardboard not thicker than that used for post-cards of the post-card pattern. The size must not be more than 5½in. by 3½in., and not less than 3¼in. by 2¼in. For inland transmission the cards may be entirely plain; but for transmission to places beyond the colony single cards must bear the words, printed or written, “Post-card,” and reply-cards the words “Post-card Reply.” To other than English-speaking countries these words must appear in French, “Carte Postale,’ “Carte Postale Résponse.” They are otherwise treated like officially issued post-cards. Private cards will be received from the public, and impressed with the penny postage-stamp. The rates for impressing are the same for embossing envelopes.

D.I.Y. – Publish Your Own Postcards

Gerard Morris

For years I’ve been collecting aviation postcards produced by airlines or publishers, and the opportunity to be involved in the publication of one myself came a few months ago. In May, I met with a couple of friends John Moody and Tracy Holmes for a regular chat on the latest aviation collectables.

Tracy mentioned the forthcoming 40^th anniversary of the arrival of the first Boeing B737 to New Zealand. NAC had chosen, after much debate, the American jet over its British competition and the first, ZK-NAC, crossed the Gisborne coastline on 18 September 1968, over-flew the city then carried on to Wellington for a historic welcome. Later that day it continued to Christchurch. It made its first commercial flight on 7 October 1968, from Christchurch (via Wellington) to Auckland.

I suggested the anniversary could be celebrated with a postcard, and we agreed to hunt through our photographic collections for suitable images representing the various airlines and the changing colour fashions of each decade. To make the card more interesting and worthy of collecting all images were chosen show the aircraft airborne and at different angles. We chose the six images at our next meeting in early August, and I drew up the design for the card, the logo and wrote the text front and back. The drawing in the logo (probably by Dave McKinley) is from a 1968 NAC timetable.

I discussed the project with Steven McLachlan and he agreed to publish it. He gave some very good advice about the text – keep it brief. So, after much revising to make it concise, I hope it is interesting. In late August I made a small number of visits to Ken’s Digital in Christchurch and after about an hour of computer work both sides of the card (including the logo) were finished and ready to go to the printer. 500 were published and 100 of these were date-stamped in Christchurch on Tuesday morning 7 October 2008. With only minutes to spare the cards were delivered to Christchurch International Airport and given to John Moody. 40 years to the day he flew from Christchurch to Auckland and, whilst in flight, using all his Toastmaster’s skills and a little bribery (some postcards), secured the signatures of the two pilots plus the training captain on 25 of the date-stamped postcards.

Fortune again smiled on us, as 7 October 2008 was a day of terrible weather in the North Island, Wellington airport was closed late in the morning - John’s Christchurch flight was the only one to get into Auckland. John was met by Margaret Ingley who arranged to have the cards date-stamped and couriered back to Christchurch.

For the record:

Date: Tuesday 7 October, 2008

Flight Number: Air New Zealand NZ0514

Departed: Christchurch 9.20am

Arrived: Auckland 10.35am

Aircraft: Boeing B.737.300, serial number ZK-NGO

Carried on flight – 100 postcards with Christchurch date stamp (4 were given away by mistake, so have no Auckland date stamp), 200 maxi cards (several given away to crew) and 100 FDCs.

Pilots: Dave Bennett (Captain), Geoff Stewart (First Officer) and Captain Martin

(Training Officer)

Cabin Crew: Alan Matheson (Purser), Rohini Jacobs (Senior Flight Attendant) and Colleen Wegener (Senior Flight Attendant)

Steven also suggested a maxicard and a postage stamp known as a CAL (customised advertising label) be published. The maxicard (my design) took about another 20 minutes of digital work and the stamp, of a B737 taking off from Invercargill Airport (I took this in 1986) was designed by New Zealand Post. Steven designed and published the First Day Cover (100 published) to complement the postcard and the maxi card (200 published). I also designed a rubber stamp cachet with details of the first commercial flight Christchurch (CHC) to Auckland (AKL) on 7 October 1968.

In late September I contacted Air New Zealand and sent them a copy of the card to let them know what we were doing. They had no objections and in fact ordered a further 1,000 cards from me. A mistake by the printer has seen these cards published larger than expected, as oversized postcards, and in their own right a new collectable. The airline is using the proceeds from these cards to support their Koru Care charity.

It was certainly a team effort and I think it proves that the humble postcard can still make a significant contribution today through the recording of historical events. New possibilities are there for you, to produce postcards. Consider your local school, church, or community’s anniversaries. You could publish a postcard to celebrate the day and the proceeds can be put to good use. The printing costs are relatively low and with a little imagination you to can have the fun that John, Tracy, Steven and I have had with our project.

SHADES STAMP SHOP LTD

1A SHADES ARCADE, 108 Hereford St, CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND.8011

Phone (03)366-6390 Proprietor: Steven M^cLachlan

Members of: New Zealand Stamp Dealers Association & New Zealand Phonecard Dealers Association.

Email addresses: steve@philatelic.org.nz or steve@phonecards.co.nz Web URL: http://www.newzeal.com/

Being keen postcard collectors and having handled many thousands of cards over 30 years this experience has hopefully given us a good understanding of what makes a particular postcard appealing. In recent years we have started to produce contemporary postcards in small print runs celebrating historic or current events. We have been very pleased with the great response from collectors. Here are a few of our recent offerings which we have issued as maxi-cards where the special postcard has an appropriate postage stamp applied to the picture side and then postmarked on the first day of issue.

2007 Andrill maxicard. $8.

2007 Nimrod maxicard. $8.

2008 Boeing 737 maxicard. $8.

2008 Husky maxicard. $8.

As a special for Postcard Society members we can offer one of each of the 4 postcards for $30 postpaid.

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