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New Zealand Postcard Society (Inc) Directory Patron Chas Lilley: P O Box 372 New Plymouth chas@stampshop.co.nzPresident Jeff Long: 160 Soleares Ave, Mt.Pleasant, Christchurch 8081 jefflong@xtra.co.nz (03) 3848463Vice-President Laurence Eagle: 55 Ravensdale Rise, Westmorland, Christchurch (03)332 4238Editors Jeff Long &Laurence Eagle (details above)Secretary Jenny Long: 160 Soleares Ave, Mt.Pleasant, Christchurch 8081 jenny.long@paradise.net.nz (03) 3848463Treasurer Ross Alexander: 110 Aikmans Road, Merivale, Christchurch 8001 rossalexander@xtra.co.nz 03 355 5357Sales Mgr/Auctioneer Chris Rabey 55 Apuka Street, Brooklyn, Wellington ships.pubs@paradise.net.nz (04)384 9293‘Annual’ Editor Bill Main: 93 Burma Road, Wellington 6035 wmain@paradise.net.nz (04)971 3535Committee Geoff Potts: 102 Fox Road, Wanganui pottsfamily00@hotmail.com Ray Staal: Villa 73 Summerset Village, 40 Burton Avenue, Wanganui John Eccles: PO Box 1174, Wellington. john.eccles@xtra.co.nz Donal Duthie: 5 Ellerslea Lane, Feilding 4702 donalduthie@paradise.net.nz Chas Lilley: P O Box 372 New Plymouth chas@stampshop.co.nz 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 payable to N.Z. Postcard Society Inc for $30 (families $35, overseas $NZ40) to the Secretary, with your name, address, telephone number, email address and collecting interests
Editorial: This is the fifth edition of the Postcard Pillar News & Views. Remember we need your contributions, preferably in electronic format, but it is perfectly fine if this is not possible. The main aim is to get your words and pictures and ideas out to our membership. This issue we have interesting and significant articles by Laurence Eagle, Diane McKoy, Chas Lilley, Derek Pocock, Donal Duthie and ‘Safari.’
News: A postcard ‘special interest’ group has been formed in Christchurch, under the auspices of the Christchurch Philatelic Society. The first meeting was held earlier this year, with well over 20 people attending, and the next meeting will be on April 20th at 7.45pm at 67 Mandeville St.
The 2009 issues of the Postcard Pillar News and Views were entered n a philatelic literature exhibition in Canberra earlier this year, and we were awarded a silver medal !
Cover illustration: This edition’s cover picture is related not to an article inside the magazine, but to a fantastic auction of Maori postcards the Society is privileged to offer. See the auction list enclosed with this issue.
The next Postcard Convention will be in Palmerston North
on 18 and 19 September 2010 – be there!
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Just after Christmas last year, Hugh Price passed away. Hugh was a quiet member of the Society, but made an impact when he talked about how to put together a full-colour book showing postcards at a cost of not much more than $20. To prove it could be done, he produced his own book of favourite Masterton postcards, and generously donated some copies to the Society.
The obituary on the Christchurch Press was headed ‘a life built among books.’ Hugh and his friend Jim Milburn, founded the Price Milburn company in 1957; Hugh’s £25 stake was half the firm’s capital, but by the time of the firm’s sale in 1982 it was New Zealand’s principal publisher of educational books. The learn-to-read and storybook list ran to more than 400 titles, all edited or written by Hugh’s wife, Beverley Randall, and sales ran into the millions.
He was an important figure in the establishment of the Victoria University Press, and in 1982, with his wife and daughter Susan Price, established Gondwanaland Press. Susan continues as a member of our Society.
In what passed for retirement, Hugh wrote or co-wrote about twenty titles, served on the Book Council, and was a consultant to the Alexander Turnbull Library.
In 2009 Hugh was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and was further honoured in the same year when Victoria University made him an honorary doctorate of literature. In his acceptance speech, High commented “it has been said that a book publisher must be an optimist with a short memory – with a fair share of very late nights, or hours at chilly dawn, trying to sort out a knotty editorial problem or a funding mix-up,” but also that he had been involved with book publishing for 50 years, and had enjoyed very moment of it.
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Rawhiti doing tourist work , gliding along Sailor’s Rest.
E A Phillips photo, about 1925
Rawhiti being used as a diving platform
E A Phillips photo, about 1925
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Did you know New Zealand Post Ltd is in the postcard business ???
The company now has a Send-a Card online service, launched in November 2009. The service allows customers to go online and design their own postcards, greeting and special occasion cards, and have them sent directly through the mail. You can also send cards to multiple customers, and POST reports that more than 20% of the mailouts of Christmas cards from business customers were Send-a Card products.
Check it out at www.nzpost.co.nz/sendacard
(reported in Post’s Connected magazine March 2010)
some of the very best Victorian artists. The collection is still housed in the College.
In 1900 the College was admitted to the University of London as a teaching college. In 1965 males were admitted as undergraduates, but the commitment of the colleges was still to women’s higher education.
In 1985 Royal Holloway College merged with Bedford College, a similar college for women, and became the ‘Royal Holloway and Bedford New College.’
In 1992 the College presented itself under the shorter name of ‘Royal Holloway, University of London.’
[The postcards both illustrate Thomas Holloway’s magnificent Royal Holloway College, the design of which was inspired by Chateau Chambord in France.]
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Modern cards
“The Amazing Maze ‘n Maize” of Hastings
by Safari
Motoring south from the Hastings city boundary on SH50A, after about 2k there is a roundabout, go straight on to Pakipaki, then right towards Bridge Pa on SH50, left onto Longlands Rd, you will find the entrance to ‘The Amazing Maze ‘ n Maize” at 157 Longlands Rd West.
Here, Callum Lesley will give you a warm welcome and briefing. From 2004 they have cultivated a sp0ecially developed maizefield of about 7 hectares. The plant has been hybridised to suit the conditions and grows to three or four metres high, allowing channels to be cut in a way to perplex visitors on a 45 minute daytime walkabout. Orienteering, quizzes, souvenirs, and other attractions for the family and children are available. The motto is “get lost with attitude”
In addition, in the summer time there is a Friday-night haunted “Corn-evil Maze” including a vortex 3D tunnel. A scary R16 challenge, maybe with ghosties and long-legged beasties that go bump in the night, effects supplied by local actors. (details can be found at www.maze.co.nz ) Other such complexes operate in tandem at Sansom, Edgecumbe and Kingseat.
High quality picture postcards are on sale. Each year a theme is chosen for the daytime maze and cards produced to suit; 2005 Ancient Egypt, 2006 Dinosaurs, 2007 Lost in Space, 2008 Kiwiana, 2009 Lost at Sea. There have been six different cards for the haunted activities, with some already being collectors items.
The theme for 2010 has yet to be decided. Planting and preparation will take place between September and December. The hardworking team were the winners of the 2008 Hawkes Bay Wine Country Tourism Board award.
Well worth a visit. You will be amaized as well as adding to your collections.
Aerial view of the 2008 maze with the theme “Kiwiana.”
The left hand part of the maze is the ‘Corn Evil’ haunted section, and the
daylight maze is at the right.
Aerial view of the 2009 maze with the theme “Lost at Sea.”
As with the 2008 card above, the left hand part of the maze is the ‘Corn Evil’ haunted section, and the daylight maze is at the right.
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Charles Octavius Hawke
By Chas Lilley
This is the story of C. O. Hawke, a New Plymouth shop keeper and postcard publisher. I received an email from a Kiwi now living in Queensland searching for information about her great grandfather who owned shops in and around New Plymouth. After exchanging emails and sending her some postcards, I asked her if she would write an article for us to publish. She agreed, and the article is below, along with some C O Hawke postcards.
The card below portrays the "Criterion Hotel” and the shop next to this hotel was Hawke’s shop, and coincidently, this was also our "THE STAMP SHOP." We were the last tenants there before this part of Devon St was demolished. The shop hadn’t changed in the hundred years or so, only the rent!
On the backs of the cards it says that Mr Hawke was the photographer, but the photos look mighty familiar to me, a bit of piracy perhaps; as they were printed overseas we will blame it on them.
The article from Charles Hawke’s great grand-daughter
Charles Octavius Hawke was the son of Samuel Gribble Hawke and Mary Caroline Hawke, (nee Blake). He was born on 27/10/1855 and was named after Mary Caroline's brothers, Charles and Octavius. Charles was born at 76 Harrison Street, St Pancras, London (off Grays Inn Road near Kings Cross Station).
The 1861 census notes Charles, aged 5, living at 76 Harrison Street with his mother Mary C Hawke, aged 29, his father Samuel G Hawke, aged 32, and his siblings Emma S, (two), Frederick R, (eight months), George S, (six), and Mary E (three). In 1862, Charles was nearly 7 when his father died of Typhoid fever. By 1871 Charles and his family were living at 41 Harrison Street which had been Mary Caroline's family home.
In 1874, at the age of 18, Charles left his family in England and moved to New Zealand aboard the La Hogue, leaving Gravesend on 20/02/1874 and arriving in Wellington on 26/05/1874. Charles's occupation was noted on the passenger list as a porter.
Charles worked for a few weeks at Palmerston North in the employment of Brogden Bros, railway contractors. Shortly afterwards he joined the Armed Constabulary serving at Wellington, New Plymouth and Poverty Bay. He married Emily Belcher on 27/11/1889 in Cardiff, near Stratford, at the home of James and Mary Belcher.
He resigned from the Constabulary in about 1896 and moved to New Plymouth where he lived for about 40 years. (Charles’ article about his time in the constabulary is held by the Taranaki Museum).
In 1897 Charles was the proprietor of the Moturoa Hotel at the breakwater in New Plymouth. He lived at the hotel with his wife Emily and their 5 children, Fred, Evelyn, Samuel, Annie and Dora. At 5am on the morning of 9/8/1897 Charles awoke to find the hotel ablaze. He at once set about to rescue his family from the bottom floor of the hotel. He then tried to rescue 2 boarders who were sleeping on the upper floor, but the overpowering effects of the smoke drove him back. The two men perished in the fire and the hotel burned to the ground. (Taranaki Herald 9/8/1897)
After the fire, Charles took up business in town, owning a number of general stores. The stores sold stationery, books, toys, crockery, cutlery, china, glassware, fancy goods, furniture and the like. In 1904 Charles had stores in Devon and Egmont Streets in New Plymouth, as well as in Inglewood and Stratford. In 1909 there were Hawke stores at Queen Street Auckland, New Plymouth and Inglewood.
Charles also owned a number of farms and properties in Taranaki. He was for many years a successful breeder of pedigree jersey cattle. The cattle stud was situated at Bell Block. It was called Te Kahu which means ‘the hawk.’ In 1903 Charles produced a set of Taranaki picture postcards which were specially printed and imported by him. The pictures included views of the New Plymouth Post Office, the railway station, Mount Egmont, Devon Street, the recreation grounds, and Broadway in Stratford.
Charles and Emily Hawke
Charles also published two books which are held in the NZ National Library:
1) Views of Stratford and other parts of Taranaki (ref 919.31VIE CA1905)
2) Photographic view album of Taranaki "The Garden of New Zealand" (ref p919.31
PHO 1900)
It would seem that Charles prospered in NZ. However, times were more difficult for his family in the crowded and unsanitary conditions of London. In 1871 Charles's younger sister Mary Emma died. In 1880 his younger brother Frederick died. Then in 1899 his sister Emma Susan and his brother Samuel Benjamin died within a few months of each other. This must have been devastating for Charles's mother, Mary Caroline (known as Caroline). Shortly after the death of Emma and Samuel, Charles and his son Fred travelled to England for business and to visit Caroline and his only living sibling, George. When they returned to NZ in Nov 1900 Caroline and George came with them. It is not known when Caroline and George returned to England. Mary Caroline died in London in 1918, and to date no other records have been found for George.
Charles Hawke died on 5th Feb 1936 at age 80 in New Plymouth Hospital.
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Fire! Fire! (A personal Wellington Story)
By Chas Lilley
I arrived in New Zealand very early in January 1952, having travelled from Sydney to Auckland on the old Wanganella. I didn’t have a great deal of money, but enough to buy a ticket on the overnight train to Wellington. I stood all the way, and arrived at the Wellington railway station very early on the Sunday morning. My future wife, Ruby, was there to meet me and show me the hotel she had booked me into.
Monday morning arrived and with no job at that stage, I bought the morning paper and saw a job advertised that I thought I could handle. So I jumped on a tram for Adelaide Road just past the Basin Reserve and went to an electrical firm called P.C.Blenkarne. I got the job and was working within 10 minutes, and looking forward to morning tea!
One day, an electrician walked in to say there was a job going with Swan Electrical, with better wages and a good bonus. So I went to see them and got the job, which consisted of testing loudspeakers which they made for radios throughout NZ, and although the firm was located at Thorndon Quay, I worked in the Hope Gibbons building on Dixon Street. The Hope Gibbons building (on the right of the postcard below) was built in 1923 by Hopeful Gibbons, who came to Dunedin from Tasmania in 1862 with his family, and became very famous in the business world.
Soon after lunch one day someone shouted FIRE! A small fire had started next to my test room, in the spray booth. I had a little look, but there seemed nothing to worry about. The foreman was running around with an extinguisher, so I carried on working. But the fire wouldn’t go out and it was getting a bit more serious. A phone call to the brigade just down Courtenay Place, saw them come and kick everyone out of the building, including the radio station 2ZB on the ground floor who went off the air.
Out on the pavement the manager told the staff not go too far as there was going to be a bit of cleaning up to be done. So I hung around, but by about 5.30 I was getting hungry and thinking there would be no cleaning up that day, I went to Lambton Quay to get my tea. I came back at about 6.30 to find the fire blazing away stronger than ever, and a lot more serious than we imagined.
I watched for about another hour, then Ruby caught up with me as I had arranged to go to the pictures with her that night. Now that was a hard decision to make, but she wasn’t interested in the fire so the Roxy picture house it was. When I came back to the fire about 10.30, it was bigger than ever, so I stayed till about midnight, when most of it collapsed.
This all happened after being in the country only seven months and so it looked like I would be looking for my third job. The next morning at a staff meeting on the pavement, the manager gave us the sad news that every employee would be getting 2 weeks pay and the job was finished. Except the manager the foreman and me! Was I hearing right? I would be kept on with full pay and full bonus. Wow, this is a great country I told myself!
The only trouble was boredom after one week. I didn't even have a garden I could dig, so I went looking for another job and found one with Kempthorne and Prosser. It was yet another great job, with no trouble getting a little time off to collect my other lot of wages and my bonus too. When you’re young you don’t mind taking money for doing nothing, especially with marriage looming.
I had to hand in my resignation to both jobs in December as we were getting married in that month and going to live in New Plymouth. The sad outcome to this fire was that a massive amount of documents were stored there from many Govt departments, and all had gone up in flames. I often hear on the radio how all this fabulous information was destroyed in 1952. I think nearly all NZBC records disappeared.
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Member Laurie Dale has sent this postcard. Not good practice I know, but I have shown the reverse of the card since it has the details re availability of a series of repro cards. The card itself is an attractive scene in darkish sepia tones. Please contact Laurie direct if would like further details, or want to purchase a set. (Ed)
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“THE UNLUCKY KAPANUI”
By Diane McKoy
This was a sentiment expressed on the back of the postcard of the Kapanui burning at Warkworth. It seemed to be the general feeling at the time as she had been involved in several serious incidents in her short life on the Auckland Harbour and Hauraki Gulf.
The Kapanui was small steamer built in Auckland by R. Logan in 1898 for the Coastal Steamship Company which was taken over in 1905 by the Settlers Company which was later taken over by the Northern Steamship Company in 1908.
THE KAPANUI ON AUCKLAND HARBOUR
F.C.W.68 Real photo postcard
The earliest of the unfortunate incidents was a violent collision with the Rose Casey on 22nd March 1899, which was caused by the intense unlicensed competition to pick up passengers from coastal berths. The two ships were racing to Lushington’s jetty at Mahurangi Heads. There was no serious injury or loss of life. The court case over this resulted in both sides being warned that serious accidents could occur if the racing continued. Not a lot of heed was given to this warning and the Kapanui later had two collisions with the Claymore, the second collision having serious consequences.
On approximately 9.15pm on 23rd December 1905 the Kapanui was rounding Devonport bringing passengers from Warkworth and Waiwera when she was run down by the Claymore heading to Waiwera. It appears from witnesses statements that the red light on the Kapanui went out and the green light was obscured by the S.S.Gael which was rounding North Head in front of the Kapanui which turned inwards to take a shortcut. She was not seen by the larger, steel hulled Claymore which was following the Gael, her steel bow striking the port side of the wooden Kapanui, leaving a large gash. The sea started pouring in and the vessel sank in 5 minutes. Five passengers were killed and many passengers were injured. The Claymore, with no passengers hurt, lowered her lifeboats to look for survivors and after searching for two hours returned to Auckland. The S.S. Gael also returned to give assistance. Survivors who were not found that night, dead horses, luggage and parts of the Kapanui were found along the shore at Devonport the next day.
THE DAMAGED KAPANUI
Empire Real Photo Postcard
The Captain James Southgate was charged with manslaughter for the death of the four men and one boy who lost their lives in the collision. He was later acquitted of this charge, but a Nautical Court found that the collision with the Claymore was due to “improper and negligent manner in which Captain Southgate navigated his vessel” and his licence was suspended for two years.
Captain Mewitt of the Claymore denied at the Nautical Court enquiry that he was racing at the time. Although he was vindicated by the Nautical Court he was dismissed from the service of the Settlers Steamship Company.
CROWDS LOOKING AT THE DAMAGED KAPANUI
New Zealand Printed Postcard
The Kapanui was berthed at Warkworth on 12th August 1909, when at 5.00am in the morning she was found on fire. Attempts to put out the fire were unsuccessful and as the tide was out she could not be scuttled to quell the flames. She remained afloat and was pushed clear of the wharf. The whole ship was gutted and damaged beyond repair. The cause of the fire was not found and there were rumours of sabotage, as the fires under the boiler were out at the time which was unusual as they were normally kept going to raise steam for the engine. The “Unlucky Kapanui” was towed to Auckland for the last time, where the boiler and engines which were still serviceable were removed.
THE “UNLUCKY KAPANUI” ON FIRE AT WARKWORTH
A.W. Rayner, Photographer, Warkworth
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The back of the postcard
Whilst many philatelists may look at the back of postcards for the postmarks, it is this side of the card which is of great assistance to the cartophilist (postcard collector). It is from the back that sets, series numbers, location of printing and sometimes dating of the issue can be obtained.
Firstly dating: if the postcard back is not divided even symbolically by a line which allows correspondence over one half, then the card is an early one. This is because early picture postcards were required by the postal authority to keep the whole of the back reserved for the address. Hence any writing was scribbled somewhere wherever possible on the picture side of the card. Countries vary in the timing of when only half the back was to be reserved for the address but generally it ranges from late 1902 to 1904 when it became pretty standard for this development to be accepted.
Turning to other features: postcard sets are usually defined by the standard printing of the back of the card - i.e. ‘Postcard’ is the same length, colour, one or two words and printing font. Then the dividing line is the same length or other wording like ‘correspondence’, ‘address to be written on this side’ in the same type. Minor variations such as with and without full stop after ‘postcard’ or length of ‘correspondence’ for example will subdivide sets.
Then the manufacturer is often given somewhere on the card either by a logo e.g. Tuck’s, an Anchor for John Walker & Sons, and numerous others which are listed in ‘Picture Postcards and their Publishers’ by Anthony Byatt pp.305 – 316.
Some times the title of the card only appears on the back whilst the picture is devoid of any description. Occasionally the location of the printer is given like ‘Printed in Saxony’ Many early cards were printed in Germany where the technique of printing was more advanced. It is here that numbers can help with classification of cards. Some cards will be numbered which helps in assessing the number of cards in a set. Small sets were usually 6, 10, 12, 16 or 32 in issue size as much depended on the size of the printing plate. Some German cards have 5 or 6 figure numbers in the bottom right corner which gives an indication of when the card was printed by a firm called Roder.
If the card is mint (or the stamp has been soaked off), the ‘stamp box’ may reveal details which help classify the card. Directions here may vary from “affix stamp here” to giving the rate of postage locally & to overseas. With the latter, changes as rates changed can help date the issue.
The printer may be found on the back by name usually vertically printed on the extreme left or against the divider line
The address half may be lined for writing the address and this may very from solid to dotted lines to subdivide different sets of cards.
Another finding may be “card printed for ……..” This may be for a newsagency , bookseller, newspaper or other local outlet and can each give rise to a series of cards which form an identifiable set.
Many sets of postcards defy the collector in their classification. When there is nothing to identify printer, publisher, or even a number nor any feature to ally the cards with a similar style, the collector is left with trying to define the set for sheer identification purposes. Here the style of the picture, the printing or font used for title or other common feature may be used so that the series can be identified by other collectors. Such titles may be “offset rectangle” for the position of the picture, “gold beaded” for the outline of the picture or “squiggly ‘T’” for a feature of the dividing line. Then the title script may be needed for classification such as “white italics” or “gothic ‘postcard’” etc so that fellow collectors have a means of identifying cards in a set.
So both sides of a postcard are important to the postcard collector particularly when listing and when communicating to fellow enthusiasts. Similarly when selling/buying, a simple title name nor even just the publisher when deciding are not enough in deciding whether the card being described is already owned. Even the illustration of the front/picture side may not be sufficient for the serious collector when the back may be the only way to define the card.
Derek Pocock.
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