selling the dream
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The art of early New Zealand TourismTRANSCRIPT
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The Art of Early New Zealand Tourism
Selling the Dream
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This groundbreaking book celebrates the remarkable range of tourism posters and other publicity that helped promote New Zealand – both locally and to the world – until the 1960s, before television and colour photography changed the publicity landscape forever. With close to 1000 images and a range of important essays, Selling the Dream is the first dedicated and extensive celebration of this valuable material. The imagery is some of the finest graphic art ever produced in New Zealand, and as arresting and impressive today as when it was first created. The book will leave you in no doubt that the art of early tourism was highly significant in New Zealand’s art history, and in the development of New Zealand’s tourism industry and sense of national identity.
‘What an unbelievable avalanche of images! To see such a beautiful and painstaking catalogue is quite literally breathtaking. One superficially knows the works are “hand-done”, but not until you go deeper into the images with this in mind can you really appreciate the exemplary craftsmanship. It makes me dizzy and a little bit inadequate just thinking about it, and I’m amazed we even had artists and designers of this calibre operating in New Zealand! I can’t praise the book highly enough.’
Dick Frizzell Artist
‘This inspiring book underscores the fantastic product that New Zealand’s tourism industry has offered from the outset, as well as the creativity and passion of the people in the industry. The images speak as loudly and positively about New Zealand today as when they were first made. This book fills me with pride as a New Zealander and with huge energy to further lift our tourism potential and success.’
Martin SneddenChief Executive Tourism Industry Association New Zealand
‘I am so glad these images have been brought together in this beautiful book. It is a wonderful acknowledgement of the importance of graphic design within the history of New Zealand art. I know a lot of people will get enormous pleasure from rediscovering how the world saw us and how we saw ourselves.’
Fran WalshWriter
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This book is dedicated to the artistic pioneers who designed and created the inspiring images ahead, pioneers who deserve to be better recognised and admired for their contribution to New Zealand’s art history and pivotal role in shaping New Zealand’s national identity.
Selling the DreamThe Art of Early New Zealand Tourism
Peter AlsopGary StewartDave Bamford
Foreword by Fran Walsh
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Vintage New Zealand travel posters are part of my earliest memories. They are as familiar and comforting to me as the view out my window. The rich colours speak of a bygone age, and the spectacular imagery evokes the romance of travel. But beyond the nostalgia they conjure, I have come to appreciate these graphic illustrations for what they are – unique, beautifully crafted works of art.
Miramar has been home to filmmakers and film studios long before the sound stages at Stone Street were built, or Weta Workshop or Park Road Post took up residence in Wellington’s eastern suburbs. Filmcraft Ltd, a private company that built the Miramar Film Studios in the late 1920s, primarily made scenic short films for the government’s Tourist Department. They also became involved in the creation of some of the earliest examples of hand-printed, silk-screen posters to advertise ‘the wonders’ of New Zealand to the world.
As this comprehensive collection shows, these early tourism posters represent a formative part of this country’s search for its own identity. They speak to what we, as New Zealanders, love most – from snow-covered Alpine slopes to bubbling thermal mud pools, from towering native trees to our unique plant and bird life. This is still what draws people to New Zealand today – a life lived out of doors, full of natural beauty.
Back in the pioneering poster days, it was no mean feat to lure people to the bottom of the world; it took the best part of six weeks travel by sea to reach these shores. But such was the power of these images that people did indeed come – they came as tourists, as immigrants and in some cases as refugees from the gathering storm clouds of war in Europe. These images of a green, unspoilt and youthful country, far away from the conflicts of the old world, represented the promise of a new life.
I also think of the many Kiwis who would have happened upon these images whilst overseas – posters which were perhaps hanging in some travel agent’s office in London, or on an ocean liner sailing the Atlantic. Looking at these posters, I can imagine they would have felt that same gentle pull of the familiar that I still feel, that sense of belonging to a place that will forever be ‘Home’.
I am so glad this art has been brought together in this beautiful book. I know a lot of people will get enormous pleasure from rediscovering how the world saw us and how we saw ourselves.
Fran WalshWriterMiramar, Wellington
Foreword
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Introduction
Essays
Scenic Playground
Thermal Wonderland
Unique Maoriland
Sportsman’s Paradise
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Ships)
Celebrations and Exhibitions
Pastoral Paradise
Essay Endnotes
Image References
Acknowledgements
Contents
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This book is brought to you by three people seduced by the publicity used to promote New Zealand until about 1960 – what we’ve called the art of early New Zealand tourism. This was a pivotal period in the history of New Zealand publicity, creating not only a tourism marketing proposition but a sense of national identity as well. Beyond this time, with television and colour photography becoming advertising realities, the print-based publicity landscape would never be the same again.
Our key goal is to celebrate a diverse body of tourism publicity and its associated artwork. We have also, with the help of a number of talented authors, sought to complete a collection of essays to increase the body of tourism publicity research.
Tourism publicity is generally regarded as ‘ephemera’, an unsatisfactory word for published material other than books. It conveys impermanence – the ephemeral – and speaks of things generally produced for a reason external to their own existence (to advertise or sell something) and implied to lack literary or artistic value. For this reason, the survival of ephemera reflects serendipity or someone’s exceptional foresight in being seduced by its visual impact or message. Survival of material for this book – over 50 to 125 years, through wars, Depression and much more – is even more remarkable.
To create enticing images in an age before colour photography and automated large-scale printing the work needed to be beautiful, carefully crafted and clever. Ground-breaking artists – like Leonard Mitchell and Marcus King – simply, it seems, had an eye for it: an eye for the effective use of colour and composition to create timeless representations of the best of New Zealand.
As with most successes, however, the environment was also ripe. While posters and other publicity were becoming more widespread in the 1900s, the ‘art of the street’ would have surely impressed. There was a marked shift in style from typography to eye-catching graphic work. Transportation, including international travel, was also on the rise – itself leading to reciprocal display arrangements abroad. Outdoor advertising was heralded as beautifying railways stations and the increasingly hoarding-laden landscape. New Zealanders, an enthusiastic marketing force, also
addressed envelopes to friends and distant relatives with decorative ‘Cinderella’ poster stamps. Publicising New Zealand was ‘in’.
Out of such developments came myriad stories, such as President Roosevelt gifting 10 elk to enhance ‘The Sportsman’s Paradise’ in 1905, alongside the Tourist Department’s own possum importation. Ironically, by 1953 the Tourist Department’s Publicity Division, then providing services across government, was designing posters encouraging the possum’s destruction. You will also read of a savvy publicity workforce impressively focused on value-for-money and innovative ways to sell the dream. This includes the Tourist Department first mentioning ‘poster’ in 1915, at about the same time the Railways Department established a stand-alone Advertising Branch, having not previously discussed publicity in its reports. Amongst these and other stories are landmark events in New Zealand’s art, design and social history.
Let’s come back to the fact that these artworks, with lasting historical significance, were designed only for momentary appreciation. The imagery never possessed high art’s aspiration to outlive its own time, yet it does, often with wider public appeal than high art itself.
Having looked time and time again at the representations – many stripped back to a small number of colours and lines – we still marvel at how warm, intense feelings can emerge from such simplicity. If you think it looks easy, give it a try. In this denuded technique, it is easy to see the conception of pop art (coming decades later) and many facets of modern advertising. We also love the textures of the papers and inks, and the high craft embodied in the images, many produced using artisan techniques now endangered such as stone lithography and silk-screen printing. The contrast between the work of contemporary graphic designers and that of the pioneers is immense. Our tap of a key meant, for them, the creation of a font, an original painting (perhaps the third iteration), a hand-cut stencil or a careful drawing with greasy ink on a lithographic stone.
Thanks for paying your tribute to the art of early tourism, a body of work pivotal in developing New Zealand’s tourism industry and national identity. We hope you enjoy this book as much as we’ve loved creating it.
Introduction
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Essays
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Editor’s NotePeter Alsop
Creating a Tourism Industry: The Backdrop for Tourism PublicityMargaret McClure
Shaping New Zealand’s Identity: The Role of Tourism PublicityRichard Wolfe
Against the Odds: Attracting Visitors in the Golden Age of Travel PostersDavid Pollack
Happy Marriage: Aligning Tourism and PublicityRichard Wolfe
Selling Maoriland: Maori at the Centre of Tourism PublicityMark Derby
Publicising Peaks: Early Promotion of Mountain TourismLee Davidson
Apprentice Dream Makers: Teenage Commercial ArtistsGail Ross
High Art: The Fine Art of Commercial ArtWarren Feeney
Lasting Images: Photography and Tourism PublicityBarry Hancox
Scintillating Cinderellas: New Zealand Tourism Poster StampsGail Ross
Splendid Naturalism: New Zealand’s Posters in a Global MovementNicholas D. Lowry
Tracking Developments: A Tourism Publicity TimelinePeter Alsop
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In 1900 one writer felt it was too early to detect any national traits in New Zealand, but suggested its future citizens would be ‘rich in mental and physical endowments ... and all forms of intellectual ingenuity’.1 There was now growing appreciation of the local tourism potential, demanding a need to publicise an image that this country would feel proud of and others would recognise as being distinctly ‘New Zealand’. National identity can be an elusive quantity to define, but there is little doubt that early tourism publicity had a significant impact on New Zealand’s sense of who and what it was.
The establishment of the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts in 1901 coincided with several other significant landmarks. In October 1899 this country had dispatched the first of 10 contingents of troops to fight alongside Britain in the war in South Africa, surely evidence of its growing maturity and sense of responsibility. But this loyal member of the Empire chose to go it alone and declined the invitation to join the Federation of Australia, which came into being on 1 January 1901. Six years later, New Zealand graduated from a colony to a dominion, a further step towards achieving self-reliance. A more graphic indication of identity was its official coat of arms, granted in 1911, which paired Zealandia holding New Zealand’s national flag (since 1902), and a Māori warrior brandishing a taiaha.
Musing on ‘Maoriland’An early insight into the evolution of this country’s identity is offered by the choice of ‘Maoriland’ as the cable address for the new department. The term was symbolic of the significance of Māori culture, and had made its first appearance in the 1860s as an alternative name for New Zealand. In 1880 one enthusiast considered Maoriland more suitable than New Zealand, being pleasing to the ear and ranking with other sonorous trisyllabic names such as Switzerland and Maryland.2 Shortly the idea was taken up by New Zealand poets and writers, beginning with Thomas Bracken’s Musings in Maoriland, published in 1890. There was no shortage of alternative identities for the country during this period, when Bracken’s other
publications included Lays of the Land of the Maori and the Moa (1884) and God’s Own Country (1893), the latter a term which would be popularised by Prime Minister Richard John Seddon.
As documented by Jane Stafford and Mark Williams, the central feature of ‘Maoriland’ writing was the use of Māori sources to ‘provide the descendants of the settlers with a history peculiar to themselves’.3 It was essentially a Victorian concept, drawing on a romantic view of the past and occurring at a time when Māori were viewed as a ‘dying race’. But it also anticipated New Zealand’s sense of its own modernity and development, as reflected in its 1907 graduation from colony to dominion. This development was also reflected by New Zealand’s adoption, in 1901, of universal penny postage, intended to encourage the country’s letter-writers to keep in touch with people overseas. The stamp issued for this landmark initiative depicted yet
another form of national identity, the female personification known as Zealandia. A daughter of Britannia, Zealandia was a classical figure who had first appeared as a book title in 1857,4 but, like ‘Maoriland’, she would soon be considered old-fashioned and retired from service.
‘God’s custodian’‘God’s Own Country’ seemed especially applicable to New Zealand as a tourist destination. There was a sense that this country had it all: an unbelievable range of incomparable scenery. Charles N. Baeyertz wrote in The Scenic Paradise of the World of the ‘myriad prodigies of “our Good Mother Nature”, [among them] glorious lakes girt about with bush-clad hills ... snow-capped mountains frowning through the clouds ...[and] sublimely noble fjords, in all their solitary grandeur’. At the same time, he was mindful of the inability of ‘mere words’ to convey any idea of the ‘splendid magnificence of this wondrous country’.5
Shaping New Zealand’s Identity: The Role of Tourism PublicityRichard Wolfe
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New Zealand’s appeal to the highest authority of all continued to at least 1932 when it was referred to as ‘God’s custodian’ and, as such, responsible for no less than ‘the noblest of noble mountains, majestic forests, torrential rivers, roaring waterfalls, emerald, turquoise and aquamarine snow-fed lakes, glow-worm and stalactite icicle-like caves, reverential thermal regions, glittering glaciers, thundering avalanches, rolling downs, green pastures, crystal-clear running brooks, invigorating air, plenteous rain, and a sublime climate’.6 This country may have been one of the remotest on earth, but it had been truly blessed by Nature’s bounty.
‘The Pocket Edition of the World’Until the early decades of the new century, New Zealand remained in the shadow of the Old Country.
Out of deference it was known as ‘The Britain of the South’, a term coined in 1857,7 while later variations used by the tourism industry included ‘Britain’s El Dorado of the Southern Hemisphere’8 and ‘The Brighter Britain of the South’.9
But New Zealand now had growing confidence in its own attributes, and began to claim natural wonders that were superior to their equivalents overseas. It therefore had sounds ‘grander’ than the fiords of Norway, lakes ‘more beautiful’ than those of Switzerland or Scotland, and Alps with ‘a far greater height of rock and snow’ than those of Europe. Further, it possessed ‘the most remarkable region of geyser activity on earth’. There was, allegedly, no other country of equal size that was ‘so varied and so complete’ as New Zealand; it was, in fact, ‘a miniature of the whole world’,10 and even ‘The Pocket Edition of the World’.11 This comparison with other countries was all very well, but in 1927 one citizen agreed with the Prime Minister, who didn’t want New Zealand turned into ‘a second Switzerland’.12 Even the Consul-General for the United States in New Zealand believed this country had all Switzerland had to offer and more, and to prove it he had a photograph of 18 trout caught, by himself, before breakfast.13
The world of the Māori, as centred on Rotorua, was an important part of the image of New Zealand projected overseas. It was the subject of a 1928 Tourist Department publication which explained that this country’s original settlers ‘were no longer a dwindling race ... [but] an important and respected part of the Dominion’s life’. In fact, the Māori population was now growing at a faster rate than that of European New Zealanders.14 The Māori was described as ‘socially and politically ... the full equal and trusted comrade of his fellow New Zealander, the pakeha’, while this ‘union of mutual confidence and respect [was] a source of national strength’. But while presenting a contemporary perspective, this publication maintained a quaintly romanticised view, with such photograph captions as ‘Reflections of a Maori Maiden’, ‘Arawa Canoe Maidens’ and ‘Pleasure Makers of the Kainga’.15
‘Playground of the Pacific’Ever mindful of its youthfulness in terms of European settlement, by the early 1920s New Zealand claimed it had already ‘reproduced the wealth and culture of older countries’.16 It now began taking a more playful approach to the serious business of tourism, describing itself as ‘essentially a land of magnificent playgrounds’;17 ‘The Scenic Playground of the Pacific’;18 and, as ‘The Sportsman’s Paradise’, it could offer the ‘world’s best sport (particularly angling) in the midst of the world’s best scenery’,19 with swordfish ‘ready for action’.20
Thomas Donne, the first head of the Tourist Department, had recognised the potential of sporting attractions from the outset. The initial emphasis was on hunting and fishing, but there had been earlier initiatives. Guided walks on the Milford Track were offered in 1891, and followed by the development of scenic reserves and national parks.21 Such natural charms were promoted overseas, and at the same time appealed to the outdoor lifestyle that was increasingly regarded as New Zealanders’ birthright.
This emphasis on outdoor and sporting facilities was apparent in the title and contents of a 1936 publication, New Zealand: Scenic Playground of the Pacific. Of its four full-colour illustrations (all by Leonard Mitchell), three depicted active tourism – swimming in Rotorua’s Blue Baths (p.192), climbing on the Franz Josef Glacier (p.290) and picnicking beside Lake Waikaremoana (p.154) – while only one – of Lake Fergus, near Milford Sound – was concerned solely with scenery (p.149).22 Well-stocked lakes and rivers attracted anglers, and in 1939 the Tourist Department enthused over another national sporting
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interest, horse racing. In this regard, New Zealand claimed to be second only to England in the Empire, while children here were said to be ‘born with the names of equine heroes in their ears’.23 If so, they were equally likely to know the names of leading players of this country’s other sporting obsession, rugby (football). A decade earlier it was suggested that the presence of New Zealand footballers and soldiers had been this country’s most effective form of publicity in Britain.24
Perfect colonising materialBy 1932 New Zealand could claim to have enjoyed a rapid development, and one attributed to the ‘grit, perseverance and faith of the pioneers’.25 This progress seemed to be fairly reflected by the motto on the Dominion’s coat of arms, adopted in 1911: ‘Onward’ (which would be replaced by the less military-sounding ‘New Zealand’ on the updated arms in 1956). Among the innovations already claimed by ‘the youngest of nations’ was the introduction of parliamentary votes for women, non-contributory old-age pensions and the previously mentioned universal penny postage.26 Perhaps as a result, by the end of the 1930s, official tourist publicity suggested that New Zealanders could claim a certain distinctiveness, the product of two factors. In the first instance, adventurous Anglo-Celtic stock with ‘stout hearts and willing hands’ had sailed halfway around the world to help break in this ‘new and savage country’. Secondly, that land now provided for an abundance of food and fresh air, encouraging a physique in children that was in ‘remarkable contrast’ to that of children in Mother Britain. As a result, ‘heredity ... was conjoined to environment in the making of perfect colonising material’.27
A significant development in the forging of a national identity was the appearance of a kiwi on the cover of a 1930s tourism booklet. Placed between two other highly recognisable images of this country,
a Māori meeting house and a tiki,28 the bird was enjoying growing popularity, and was well on its way to becoming an unofficial national symbol. This association was strengthened in the late 1930s when the kiwi became the dominant element in the
Government Tourist Board’s logo, book-ended by the letters N and Z and surrounded by details of Māori carving.29
While the great outdoors were being promoted to overseas visitors, the Railways Department was also making it accessible to ordinary New Zealanders. The train was an affordable way to travel, and hoardings and newspaper advertisements urged New Zealanders: ‘Do not deny yourself’ the chance to see the countryside. They received further encouragement with the film Glorious New Zealand, produced by the Publicity Office of the Department of Internal Affairs.30 The late 1930s saw the suggestion that skiing – now enjoying worldwide popularity – should become a sport for the masses in this country. Such ideas were in line with the policies of the new Labour government, which had shortened the working week and actively encouraged the nation’s involvement in sport.31 But the outbreak of war was a critical blow to such recreational activities; New Zealand families who had been increasingly able to travel about the country in their own motor cars were now thwarted by petrol rationing and other restrictions.32
A nation comes of ageThe approach of New Zealand’s Centennial in 1940, marking 100 years since the establishment of British sovereignty, presented a unique opportunity for a major publicity drive. Planning for what was considered its ‘national coming-of-age’, the country anticipated being on show to the world ‘at the most agreeable season for travel, sport and pleasure in the Southern Hemisphere’.33 Alas, the outbreak of war in September 1939 resulted not only in lost tourism potential for the show but also a dramatic reduction in overseas visitor numbers. However, the occasion provided another opportunity for self-congratulation on the quality of the country’s first British settlers: ‘English, Scottish and Irish, they were the best of their breed ... [and] nearly all the stuff of which the proper founders of a nation are made’.34
While Centennial celebrations took a largely Eurocentric approach, focusing on the benefits which had followed colonisation in 1840, there were numerous significant references to Māori, the original New Zealanders. One official view of the Dominion’s development was provided by a special issue of postage stamps. The 12 designs acknowledged historic links with Britain, depicting the five monarchs who had
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reigned since 1840, along with important events in New Zealand history, beginning with the arrival of the Māori, then dated to 1350. But perhaps
the design which best symbolised the period under review was the largest (one-shilling) denomination, showing Tāne Mahuta, the giant kauri from the Waipoua Forest in Northland. This magnificent tree was believed to have been in existence since the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, and had therefore witnessed New Zealand’s conversion from bush and swamp to pastureland and nationhood. Otherwise, the sense of progress was a recurring theme in this stamp issue, as emphasised by contrasting a colonial bullock wagon with the modern trio of airliner, ocean liner and steam locomotive.
In anticipation of the Centennial celebrations, the government decided to update and reprint several publications. Among them was The Maori, which
had proved popular overseas when first issued in 1928.35 But more striking was the Certificate of Attendance produced for the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington, designed by Leonard Mitchell. This depicted a reinstated and modernised Zealandia looking purposefully
toward the future, against the now familiar panorama of progress, and flanked by representatives of local flora and fauna. Significantly, placed centrally at Zealandia’s feet was a kiwi. New Zealanders themselves were now increasingly known as ‘Kiwis’, happy to embrace an association with this most peculiar of flightless and nocturnal birds.
Making the most of itThe spirit of the ‘Playground of the Pacific’ gathered momentum as New Zealand’s tourism publicity
entered the second half of the 20th century. It reflected the nation’s adoption of an increasingly informal and outdoor lifestyle, made possible by its geography and climate. Māori continued to be a major selling point, and while there was still a dependence on images of attractive women, they were now spared the romantic descriptions of the past. With the spread of international air travel from the 1950s, fresh and vibrant imagery was needed to appeal to a broader and younger market. Perhaps in fulfilment of the 1900 prophecy that New Zealanders would one day be ‘rich in mental and physical endowments’, there emerged the idea of a national characteristic known as ‘Kiwi ingenuity’. This ‘no. 8 fencing-wire’ mentality typically involved ‘making do’ with what was at hand, and in the case of tourism it simply meant capitalising on what Nature had already supplied in abundance.
Collectively, the resulting publicity material represented an earnest attempt to portray the best New Zealand had to offer, but it was not without the occasional hitch. Unimpressed by the set of pictorial postage stamps to be issued in 1935, one critic suggested that they should have been designed by the ‘experts’ in London,36 while another felt the proposed eightpenny tuatara stamp (designed by Leonard Mitchell) misrepresented New Zealand by suggesting it was a land of monsters.37 In addition to its visual appeal, publicity material also made good use of catchy and extravagant slogans, hardly surprising in a country which had seen itself both as a form of ‘Paradise’ and, quite simply, ‘God’s Own’. And in getting the message out to the rest of the world, this promotional material also encouraged New Zealanders to take to their bush tracks and ski slopes, thereby both initiating and supporting activities that became central to the sense of a national identity.
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For many a New Zealand artist, the landscape has provided a foundation, the primordial granite on which all other layers have been applied. This inspirational scenery ranges from extensive thermal activity and trout-laden rivers in the North Island to the Southern Alps and the exquisite lakes, glaciers and lush sub-tropical forests of the South Island. All are within a few hours’ drive of main centres, in a land further blessed with a temperate and congenial climate. With such a spectacular and diverse range of natural wonders on its doorstep, it is hardly surprising that early 20th-century New Zealand was termed ‘a world in itself’.
Long before the emergence of a tourism industry, many features of the natural landscape were invested with great cultural or spiritual significance, and seen as manifestations of the spirit of the earth or of the gods. New Zealand’s first settlers, the Māori, venerated certain lakes, rivers, forests and even individual trees, mountains and this country’s highest peak, Mount Cook (‘Aoraki’, though originally referred to in publicity as ‘Aorangi’) – the Cloud Piercer.
From the time of earliest European contact, images were made of both the New Zealand landscape and Māori. By the early 19th century, certain of the more popular subjects came to be seen as representative,
thus beginning the search for suitable emblematic imagery. Until the 1920s this output was dominated by landscapes associated with the limited range of government tourist resorts and designated tourist activities, particularly the geysers of the ‘Hot Lakes District’, the Waitomo Caves and Mitre Peak in Fiordland. At that time the majority of these images were designed to appeal to the resort-focused international traveller, an emphasis that shifted markedly in the 1930s with the appeal to New Zealanders to ‘see your own country first’.
While some of these early tourism images have endured, others – among them the once internationally known Whanganui River ‘drop scene’ and the rippling waters of Lake Waikaremoana – now hold little general appeal and have, in terms of publicity effort, been all but forgotten. Like the seasonal changes to the landscape itself, tourism publicity does not stand still. Instead, it must evolve in response to the demands of a constantly changing market.
While the main aim was to attract overseas visitors – by the simple attribution of lakes, rivers, fiords, mountains, birds, flora and fauna as belonging to ‘New Zealand’ – certain locations and activities were also promoted specifically to encourage provincial progress, such as Napier for its summer carnival and Tauranga ‘for Winter Sunshine’. New Zealanders too were now encouraged to take the train and enjoy their own scenic playground.
Scenic Playground
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The ‘thermal wonderland’ of Rotorua has long been central to the concept of New Zealand as a tourist destination, complete with a ‘welcoming’ whiff of sulphur to signal a unique visitor experience. Also known as the ‘Hot Lakes District’, the region has always offered a dramatic 24-hour programme of geothermal activity that includes geysers, steaming vents, bubbling mud pools and boiling springs. These unique attractions became an early tourism emblem and were promoted as the best of their type in the world – superior even to Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
Rotorua’s profile and popularity were improved with the arrival of rail in 1894. Like geothermal energy, its tourism potential was waiting to be tapped, and government intervention was the way to do it. In 1901 New Zealand established a Department of Tourist and Health Resorts, the world’s first national tourism organisation. It focused on developing Rotorua’s ‘metropolis of Geyserland’ as a European-style spa and a Māori culture centre, claiming there was no better way for an adventurous tourist to soothe the aches and strains of hunting in ‘The Sportsman’s Paradise’ or fishing in ‘The Angler’s El Dorado’ than a soak in the healing waters of a mineral spring.
Rotorua could also claim to have initiated New Zealand’s adventure tourism industry. Although mild by today’s standards, it offered an element of danger to the late 19th-century visitor. The region was mindful of its restless geology and the relatively recent (1886) eruption of Mount Tarawera, a cataclysmic event that destroyed the Pink and White Terraces. Intrepid visitors were no longer able to enjoy that attraction, once claimed as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, but could still thrill to the region’s dramatic history and extraordinary display of perpetual thermal activity. The Terraces were gone, but a new
attraction was a spectacular geyser at Waimangu that began performing in 1900. With very few geysers in the world, Waimangu spouting to 500 metres was guaranteed to quickly achieve international fame.
Rotorua also lay at the epicentre of Māori life and culture, one element of which was a contentious model village constructed at Whakarewarewa. The combination of natural and human exoticism was a world-beating recipe for escapism and intrigue, and the thermal wonderland became a major element – if not the primary feature – of New Zealand’s tourism promotion. Rotorua quickly became this country’s equivalent to Kata Tjutja (known as Uluru or Ayers Rock), Angkor Wat or the Grand Canyon, and its many overseas visitors included the Duke and Duchess of York and Cornwall in 1927. By then a new carving school had been established, thanks to the initiative of Sir Apirana Ngata, further consolidating the link between Māori culture and tourism.
Rotorua was – and remains – a destination for the curious and adventurous. The thermal region played a formative role in the development of New Zealand tourism and a central role in the publicity images that helped build the tourism industry.
Thermal Wonderland
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Pastoral Paradise
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New Zealand’s well-watered and fertile land, nurtured by a temperate climate, enables the cultivation of food crops and animals as productively as anywhere in the world. The agricultural sector has been, and remains, the foundation of this country’s prosperity.
It is no surprise, therefore, that agriculture became an important element in the way New Zealand projected itself both domestically and to the outside world. But what is surprising is just how long it took this agricultural theme to find its way into the local graphic imagination. In fact, it seems others were initially doing it for us. In the early 1920s and 1930s, for example, the British Empire Marketing Board in London commissioned many posters (often in series) to represent the significance of the British colonies and dominions for Mother Britain. In New Zealand’s case, there was a vision of this country as a pastoral and horticultural utopia, a veritable land of milk and honey.
But the Marketing Board profiled other assets as well. For the Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, renowned English poster artist Gerald Spencer Pryse was commissioned to produce an Empire
suite, including two for New Zealand. Owing to a misunderstanding or change in policy, the entire set was never used, with litigation resulting in damages and costs being paid to Pryse. The glorious New Zealand pastoral scene lives to tell the tale, but the second – of a Māori canoe, described at the time as one of the most aesthetically pleasing posters
– was, bar a few proofs, unfortunately lost when the lithographic plates were destroyed.
Wool was a significant early export, as was the first successful shipment of frozen meat to Britain in 1882, often described as the single most important event in New Zealand’s economic history. In 1894
New Zealand’s Year Book referred to ‘that most valuable of animals – the sheep’, and further official recognition of sheep’s primary importance came with the inclusion of a (golden) fleece representing farming on the nation’s first coat of arms in 1911.
In 1936, sheep – represented by the Southdown breed – and wool were the subjects of a pair of postage stamps designed by Leonard Mitchell. But while the animal had entered popular iconography, it had taken longer
to appear in graphic art associated with tourism. Sheep droving by a farmer on horseback with his dog was showcased on a 1930s poster designed by
Marcus King (p. 368), alongside another image of cattle in South Westland. In both cases much was made of farming’s spectacular mountain backdrop. Interestingly, the sheep poster also included electricity pylons, presumably to reassure tourists that, for all its areas of untouched wilderness, New Zealand was a modern and civilised society as well.
Given agriculture’s significance and visual appeal, magazines like the Journal of Agriculture and Dairy Exporter (including its Tui’s Annual) presented romanticised pastoral scenes as scenic covers, reinforcing an idyllic notion of the rural landscape in lounges around the land. Gilbert Meadows’ inaugural Tui’s Annual 1927 cover – a bather in front of a lake and mountain – was one of the very best (see p. 109). The fact that Meadows was commissioned by a rival ad agency (Charles Haines) to design the cover, while Meadows worked at Clark & Matheson Ltd, is testament to the high regard in which he was held.
New Zealand’s agricultural sector has faced enormous challenges over time, yet it remains at the heart of this country’s productive and tourism sectors.
Pastoral Paradise
370
need bigger rez
371
need bigger rez
378
379
392
All efforts have been made to correctly reference the images, which are ordered by page number in the book. Please note the following:
• Image sources – All images are from private collections unless otherwise noted.
• Titles – Only a small number of the images (mainly books) have definitive published titles. In large part, therefore, the titles in the references are a short-hand image identifier.
• Numbering – Multiple images on a page are numbered ‘page.row.column’, from left to right in each instance (including in the essays, even though the text is in vertical columns). For example, on a page of brochures, the 3rd image from the top left on page X would be X.1.3. We have introduced the row and column identifiers only when necessary; a single image on a page is referred to by page number only. The exception to this approach is the timeline on pages 90–95, where the image references are linked directly to the timeline entries by year.
• Dates – For many images we have made an informed judgement, drawing on our own and others’ collecting experience, as well as an in-depth understanding of the development of the tourism industry. We have given exact dates where we are confident they are correct; in other cases, we have indicated an estimated date based on our informed judgement. In a small number of cases, even an indicative date has proven difficult to establish. We have not referenced by way of decades (e.g. 1930s), instead focusing on estimated dates (c. 19xx) which recognise a margin of error of a few years either way.
• Dimensions and technique – We have provided dimensions and production techniques for posters as the primary art form in the book, while not meaning to detract from the significance of artwork in other media (e.g. brochures, magazines). Dimensions are in millimetres (mm), height x width. With respect to technique, we have primarily focused on identifying posters as a lithograph or screenprint. Particular variants of those techniques are in most cases very difficult to judge.
• Abbreviations – ATL for the Alexander Turnbull Library, and ANZ for Archives New Zealand. We appreciate organisations prefer use of full titles but, with space restrictions, some shortcuts have been required.
Given the number and age of the images, there are inevitably some gaps and, in all likelihood, some errors in our referencing. Any queries or corrections should be directed to Peter Alsop ([email protected]).
Lastly, please note the following full reference for image 73.2.1: Colin McCahon, French Bay, 1956; Oil on canvas, 1270 x 965 mm; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Gift of the Friends of the National Art Gallery, 1983; Courtesy of the Colin McCahon Research and Publication Trust.
Image References
Cover PosterTitle New ZealandArtist, Yr P.G. (Paul) Lawler, c.1940 Publisher Pan AmericanSize, Tech Approx 800x500, Lithograph Image Swann Auction Galleries
Inside cover Photo (cropped)Title National Publicity StudioPeople Eric de Lacy (L); Gerald Phillips (R)Artist, Yr B. Clark, 1957Publisher Tourist DepartmentImage ANZ: AAQT 6401/26 A51164
6 PosterTitle NZ Centennial ExhibitionArtist, Yr L.C. (Leonard) Mitchell, 1939Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1000x600, Lithograph
8 PosterTitle Agents for NZ Govt Tourist Dept Artist, Yr Unknown, c.1955Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1000x600, Screenprint
11 PosterTitle For the World’s Best SportArtist, Yr M. A. (Maurice) Poulton, 1936Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1000x600, Lithograph
12-13 PhotoTitle Govt Tourist Bureau, Rotorua Artist, Yr Unknown, c.1937Publisher Tourist DepartmentImage ATL: 1/1-012014-F
14 PosterTitle Kowhai BlossomArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1955Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 765x508, ScreenprintImage ATL: Eph-D-TOURISM-1940s-01
18 PosterTitle Scenic Gems of the South PacificArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1950Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1000x600, Screenprint
19 PosterTitle Fly TEAL to Nearby New ZealandArtist, Yr B. Haythornthwaite & G. Moore, 1952Publisher TEALSize, Tech Approx 900x550, Screenprint
20.1 PhotoTitle Māori ChiefArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1912Publisher Unknown
20.2 IllustrationTitle Pink and White Terraces Artist, Yr Unknown, c.1921Publication A Weird RegionAuthor Thomson W. LeysPublisher Brett Publishing
21.1 PhotoTitle Thomas Donne in 1908Artist, Yr Unknown, 1908Publication Greeting to the Great FleetPublisher Tourist Department
21.2 PostcardTitle Tourist DepartmentArtist, Yr Unknown, 1902Publisher Tourist Department
21.3 PhotoTitle R. Wigley c.1915Artist, Yr Unknown, 1979 (book)Publication The Mount Cook WayPublisher William Collins
22.1 PhotoTitle Tauranga hoardingArtist, Yr Unknown, c. 1930Publisher Railways Department
22.2 BrochureTitle Official Guide to the Govt. CourtArtist, Yr Unknown, 1939Publisher Internal Affairs DepartmentImage NZ Electronic Text Centre
23.1 Photo (cropped)Title Haythornthwaite studiosPerson UnknownArtist, Yr Whites Aviation, 1949Publisher Whites AviationImage ATL: WA-20398-F
23.2 Photo (cropped)Title Wellington Airport restaurantArtist, Yr Unknown, 1959Publication Wellington Airport Official SouvenirPublisher Stanton Smith and Co.
24-25 MagazineTitle The 7 Issues of Wanderlust issuedArtist, Yr Unknown, 1930Publication WanderlustPublisher Wanderlust Magazine Ltd
26-27 Fun MapTitle Map of New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1960Publisher Pictorial Publications Ltd
28.1 StampTitle ZealandiaArtist, Yr Unknown, 1901Publisher Post & Telegraph Department
28.2 BrochureTitle Haere Mai, WelcomeArtist, Yr Unknown, 1906Publisher International ExhibitionImage ATL: Eph-B-EXHIBITION-1906-02-
cover
29.1 BookTitle Guide to New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, 1903Author C. N. BaeyertzPublisher Cole
29.2 BrochureTitle The Britain of the SouthArtist, Yr Unknown, 1934Publisher Tourist Department
29.3 BrochureTitle A World in Itself New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1950Publisher Tourist Department
30.1.1 Brochure (cropped)Title Scenic Playground of the PacificArtist, Yr Unknown, 1934Publisher Tourist Department
30.1.2 LogoTitle Tourist Department LogoArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1939Publisher Tourist Department
30.2 Cinderella stamps(2)Title Centennial CinderellaArtist, Yr Unknown, 1939Publisher Unknown
30.3 Brochure (cropped)Title Wonderland of the PacificArtist, Yr Unknown, 1934Publisher Tourist Department
31.1.1 StampTitle Coming of the MaoriArtist, Yr L.C. (Leonard) Mitchell, 1939Publisher Post & Telegraph Department
31.1.2 Brochure (front and back)Title Three Scenic Gems of New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1935Publisher Tourist Department
31.2 StampTitle Tane Mahuta (Centennial stamp)Artist, Yr L.C. (Leonard) Mitchell, 1939Publisher Post & Telegraph Department
31.3 BookTitle The MaoriArtist, Yr L.C. (Leonard) Mitchell, 1936Author J. (James) CowanPublisher Tourist Department
31.4 StampTitle Tuatara stampArtist, Yr L.C. (Leonard) Mitchell, 1935Publisher Post & Telegraph Department
31.5 CertificateTitle Centennial Certificate of AttendanceArtist, Yr L.C. (Leonard) Mitchell, 1939Publisher Centennial Exhibition
32.1.1 Magazine advertTitle Varied as a World TourArtist, Yr M. (Melbourne) Brindle, 1938Publication House BeautifulPublisher Hearst Corporation
32.1.2 Magazine advertTitle Dominion of DiversityArtist, Yr Signed but illegible, 1939Publication House BeautifulPublisher Hearst Corporation
32.2.1 Magazine advertTitle Beyond 30° South LatitudeArtist, Yr M. (Melbourne) Brindle, c.1938Publication UnknownPublisher Unknown
32.2.2 Magazine advertTitle Highlights of a World TourArtist, Yr Signed but illegible, 1938Publication UnknownPublisher Unknown
33 BrochureTitle See All of New ZealandArtist, Yr M. (Melbourne) Brindle, c.1938Publisher Tourist Department
35.1 PosterTitle MarseilleArtist, Yr R. (Roger) Broders, 1929Publisher Lucien Serre, ParisSize, Tech 1000x620, LithographImage David Pollack Vintage Posters
35.2.1 PosterTitle Monte CarloArtist, Yr R. (Roger) Broders, c.1920Publisher J. Langlois, ParisSize, Tech 1070x773, LithographImage Swann Auction Galleries
35.2.2 PosterTitle Étoile du NordArtist, Yr A. M. (Adolphe) Cassandre, 1927Publisher Hachard & Cie, ParisSize, Tech 1055x755, LithographImage David Pollack Vintage Posters
35.3 PosterTitle Normandi Voyage InaugralArtist, Yr A. M. (Adolphe) Cassandre, 1935Publisher Hachard & Cie, ParisSize, Tech 990x620, LithographImage Swann Auction Galleries
36.1 Poster (lithographic build)Title Jura – Environs de PontarlierArtist, Yr R. (Roger) Broders, 1930Publisher de Vaugirard, ParisSize, Tech 990x620, LithographImage Swann Auction Galleries
36.1.1 PosterTitle Trout FishingArtist, Yr M. (Marcus) King, c.1950Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1000x625, Screenprint
36.1.2 PosterTitle Winter Sports at TongariroArtist, Yr M. (Marcus) King, c.1960Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 765x510, ScreenprintImage Dunbar Sloane
37 Poster (cropped)Title The Sportsman’s ParadiseArtist, Yr H. (Harry) Rountree, c.1930Publisher Internal Affairs DepartmentSize, Tech 920x660, LithographImage ATL: Eph-E-TOURISM-1925-01
38 Magazine advertTitle Unique Attractiveness of New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, 1929 (Christmas Number)Publication Auckland Weekly NewsPublisher Wilson & Horton Ltd
39 Magazine advertTitle New Zealand Welcomes YouArtist, Yr Unknown, 1938Publication New Zealand IllustratedPublisher Christchurch Press Company Ltd
40 PaintingTitle Mount Egmont from the SouthwardArtist, Yr C. (Charles) Heaphy, 1840Image ATL: C-025-008
41.1 StampsTitle Pink & White Terraces & Mitre PeakArtist, Yr Unknown, 1898Publisher Post & Telegraph Department
41.2 MagazineTitle Big Game FishArtist, Yr H. (Howard) Brown, Aug 1928Publication Scientific AmericanPublisher Scientific American Publishing Co
393
41.3 StampTitle SwordfishArtist, Yr Unknown, 1935Publisher Post & Telegraph Department
41.4 BookTitle Guide to New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, 1906Author C. N. BaeyertzPublisher Cole
42.1 SouveniorTitle Centennial Photographs (cover)Artist, Yr Unknown, 1939Publisher Unknown
42.2 MagazineTitle TrainArtist, Yr Unknown, March 1929Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 3 No. 11)Publisher Railways Department
43 MagazineTitle Coastal picnic sceneArtist, Yr Unknown, 1936 (Christmas Number)Publication Christchurch Star Publisher Lyttelton Times Co
44.1.1 MagazineTitle Wellington Railway StationArtist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1929Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 4 No. 6)Publisher Railways Department
44.1.2 MagazineTitle Boy with engineArtist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1930Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 4 No. 12)Publisher Railways Department
44.1.3 MagazineTitle Raurimu SpiralArtist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1927Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 2 No. 7)Publisher Railways Department
44.2.1 MagazineTitle Beach sceneArtist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1927Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 4 No .7)Publisher Railways Department
44.2.2 MagazineTitle What did the parrot say?Artist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1928Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 3 No. 1)Publisher Railways Department
44.2.3 MagazineTitle ShipArtist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1930Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 4 No. 11)Publisher Railways Department
44.3.1 MagazineTitle Check!Artist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1928Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 2 No. 12)Publisher Railways Department
44.3.2 MagazineTitle Railway travel sceneArtist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1928Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 2 No. 9)Publisher Railways Department
44.3.3 MagazineTitle Farming sceneArtist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1930Publication Railways Magazine (Vol .4 No. 10)Publisher Railways Department
45 MagazineTitle Time!Artist, Yr S. (Stanley) Davis, 1931Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 6 No. 1)Publisher Railways Department
46.1.1 MagazineTitle Lake and mountain sceneArtist, Yr Unknown, 1936Publication ODT & Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
46.1.2 MagazineTitle Ao Tea OraArtist, Yr P. McIntyre, 1926Publication Otago Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
46.2.1 MagazineTitle Building & WarriorArtist, Yr Unknown, 1925Publication Otago Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
46.2.2 MagazineTitle Lake camping scene Artist, Yr S. Hewell, 1939Publication ODT & Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
47.1.1 MagazineTitle Beach Belle Artist, Yr Unknown, 1928Publication Otago Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
47.1.2 MagazineTitle Man and WomanArtist, Yr R. Hawcridge, 1905Publication ODT & Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
47.2.1 MagazineTitle CampingArtist, Yr P. McIntyre, 1930Publication Otago Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
47.2.2 MagazineTitle GlacierArtist, Yr Unknown, 1912Publication Otago Witness Christmas AnnualPublisher ODT & Witness Newspapers Co
48.1 PostcardTitle Māori New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, 1902Publisher Tourist Department
48.2 Glass slideTitle Whānau gatheringArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1930Publisher Tourist Department
49 Glass slideTitle GeyserArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1930Publisher Tourist Department
50.1 PhotoTitle Guide RangiArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1935Publisher Tourist Department
50.2 BrochureTitle New ZealandArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1939Publisher NZ Shipping Co. Ltd
51.1.1 PostcardTitle Te HongiArtist, Yr L. Biggar, c.1910Publisher Whaka Treasure HouseImage ATL: Eph-A-TOURISM-Rotorua-1910s
51.1.2 PosterTitle Hei TikiArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1955Publisher Qantaswith TEALSize, Tech 490x360, OffsetImage Charles Leski Auctions
51.1.3 PosterTitle Māori Warrior Artist, Yr Unknown, c.1955Publisher Qantaswith TEALSize, Tech 490x360, OffsetImage Letitia Morris Gallery
51.2.1 PosterTitle Tiki TourArtist, Yr Unknown, 1962Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 745x658, Lithograph
51.2.2 BrochureTitle Is to Fly NACArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1950Publisher NAC
52 MagazineTitle Poster Design by G. F. BridgmanArtist, Yr M. (Marcus) King, April 1949Publication Design Review Vol. 1 Issue 6Publisher Architectural Centre IncImage NZ Electronic Text Centre
53 PosterTitle Maori ArtArtist, Yr M. (Marcus) King, c.1947Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1010x630, Screenprint
54 PosterTitle Maori Chief Artist, Yr Unknown, c.1950Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1015x635, Screenprint
55 Glass slideTitle Topia Peehi TuroaTribe Chief of Ngati Patu-tokotokoArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1900Publisher Tourist Department
56.1.1 StampTitle Mount CookArtist, Yr Unknown, 1898Publisher Post & Telegraph Department
56.1.2 PostcardTitle New Zealand MountainsArtist, Yr Benoni White, c.1900Publisher A. D. Willis
56.2 BrochureTitle Mt Cook Motor Car ServiceArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1912Publisher Mt Cook Motor Company
57 Brochure (cropped)Title New Zealand Country and PeopleArtist, Yr Unknown, 1925Publisher Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd
58.1.1 Brochur (cropped)Title A Magnificant Motor TourArtist, Yr W. (Walter) Leslie, c.1912Publisher Mt Cook Motor Company Ltd
58.1.2 BookTitle Map of Mt Cook & Cold Lakes
DistrictArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1912Author UnknownPublisher Christchurch Press Ltd
58.3.1 PosterTitle Mount CookArtist, Yr L.C. (Leonard) Mitchell, c.1935Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 1000x600, Lithograph
58.3.2 BookTitle Mt Cook and the Grand Motor TourArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1912Author W. (Will) LawsonPublisher Unknown
58.4.1 MagazineTitle Woman skierArtist, Yr Unknown, 1928Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 3 No. 6)Publisher Railways DepartmentImage NZ Electronic Text Centre
58.4.2 BrochureTitle To Arthur Pass and Otira Artist, Yr Unknown, 1950Publisher Railways Department
59.1 Artist sketchTitle Mount CookArtist, Yr Railways Studios, c.1935Publisher Railways DepartmentImage Archives New Zealand (research
photo)
59.2 BrochureTitle Merry Winter SportsArtist, Yr Unknown, 1929Publisher Railways Department
60 MagazineTitle Woman skierArtist, Yr Unknown, 1937 (Christmas Number)Publication The Weekly News Publisher Wilson & Horton
61 Magazine advertTitle Coming CarnivalArtist, Yr Unknown, 1931Publication Railways Magazine (Vol. 6 No. 3)Publisher Railways Department
63.1 Brochure (cropped)Title Artists of IllotsArtist, Yr Unknown, 1920Publisher Illot’s AdvertisingImage ATL: MS-Papers-3913-4/1
63.2 Newspaper adverts(2)Title Railways Advertising StudiosArtist, Yr N/A, 3 Dec 1942Title Signwriters & BillpostersArtist, Yr N/A, 14 Aug 1942Publication Evening PostImage Papers Past
64.1 & 64.2 Brochure (front & back cover)Title NZ Advertising ExhibitionArtist, Yr Unknown, 1927Publisher Auckland Advertising Club PapersImage Auckland Libraries
65 Photo (cropped)Title Gerald Phillips (R)Note Showing Tourism Minister Dean
EyreArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1966Publisher Tourist Department
66-67 PaintingTitle SpeedoArtist, Yr G. (Gilbert) Meadows, c.1930Publication UnknownSize, Tech 320x490, Unknown
68 Magazine adverts (4)Title Outdoor AdvertisingArtist, Yr Railways Advertising Dept, 1936-37Publication Railways Magazine, Vol 11, No 8, 4, 12, 5Publisher Railways Department
69 Magazine advertTitle Dominion Wide AdvertisingArtist, Yr Unknown, 1928 (Christmas Number)Publication Auckland Weekly NewsPublisher Wilson & Horton Ltd
71.1 MagazineTitle Art Noveau art sceneArtist, Yr C. Kingsley-Smith, 1907Publication New Zealand GraphicPublisher Brett Printing & Publishing Co
71.2 PostcardTitle Lake TaupoArtist, Yr B. (Benoni) White, 1902Publisher A. D. Willis
71.3.1 Calendar extractTitle Papakura GeyserArtist, Yr Unknown, 1933Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 267x167, PhotolithographImage ATL: Eph-B-MAORI-1933-01-11
71.3.2 PosterTitle Chateau TongariroArtist, Yr E. (Edgar) Lovell-Smith, 1931Publisher Railways DepartmentSize, Tech 1010x642, LithographImage Van Sabben Poster Auctions
72.1 PaintingTitle Town and CountryArtist, Yr M. (Marcus) King, c. 1950Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 126x489, Watercolour on paperImage Jonathan Grant Galleries
72.2 PosterTitle Right Away for Town or CountryArtist, Yr Unknown, 1935Publisher Railways DepartmentSize, Tech 890x574, Relief printImage ATL: Eph-E-RAIL-1935-01
73.1 PaintingTitle Wellington harbourArtist, Yr M. (Marcus) King, c. 1948Publisher Tourist DepartmentSize, Tech 151x522, Watercolour on paperImage Jonathan Grant Galleries
73.2.1 PaintingTitle French BayArtist, Yr C. (Colin) McCahon, 1956Size, Tech 1270x965, Oil on canvasImage Te Papa TongarewaNote See full ref at start of references
73.2.2 Photo (cropped)Title Erecting mural sceneArtist, Yr N/A, 1950Publication Evening PostImage ATL: 114/202/04-G
73.3 PosterTitle For Sport in High PlacesArtist, Yr H. (Howard) Mallitte, c.1950Publisher UnknownSize, Tech 1015x640, ScreenprintImage ATL: Eph-E-TOURISM-1950s-02
74 PaintingTitle Mitre PeakArtist, Yr L. C (Leonard) Mitchell, UnknownSize, Tech 500x300, Gouache on board
75 PosterTitle New Zealand FiordsArtist, Yr L. C (Leonard) Mitchell, c.1930Publisher Internal Affairs DepartmentSize, Tech 1000x600, Lithograph
76.1 Photo (cropped)Title Cattle DrovingArtist, Yr Unknown, c.1930Publisher Tourist Department
76.2 PosterTitle Cattle Droving South WestlandArtist, Yr Marcus King, c.1930Publisher UnknownSize, Tech 1012x632, Screenprint
77 Glass slideTitle Whanganui River drop scene Artist, Yr Unknown, c.1890Publisher Tourist Department
78 Glass slideTitle Pink and White TerracesArtist, Yr Burton Bros, c.1880Publisher Unknown
408
409
‘For over a century now, New Zealand has pioneered many advances in tourism marketing, with the hope and enthusiasm of the world’s youngest country on show. This is a fantastic pictorial record of how New Zealand developed the essential foundations of the tourism industry we enjoy today.’
George HicktonChief Executive Tourism New Zealand 1999–2009
‘Having crafted some of these images and supported the creation of many others, I was thrilled to read this book. It is a timely and timeless celebration of almost-forgotten New Zealand art. We did our utmost in the day to faithfully portray the best of New Zealand, and in a creative and alluring way to grab attention both here and abroad. This wonderful publication will similarly arrest and, like the art, impress for a long, long time.’
Alan CollinsArt Director and Manager National Publicity Studio 1944–86.
‘New Zealand artists have celebrated the landscape for its unique forms and sharp, clear light. They have also used those qualities to represent the greater concerns of their art. But it is in the art of the poster that artists use their imagination and invention to unashamedly celebrate and reveal the uniqueness of the New Zealand landscape and the New Zealand scene. Quite by chance they began to do that here in what was a golden age of the tourist poster. Who those artists were and what wonderful things they made this beautiful book richly reveals.’
Hamish KeithCultural Historian
‘This is the stuff of Kiwi dreams. These images instinctively yank at why we love this great country. This is a book of lasting enjoyment that will rekindle your favourite holiday memories.’
Al BrownChef and Writer
‘You’ve sold me this particular dream alright. Ka kite ano Toss, Colin and Ralph; kia ora Marcus King and Leonard Mitchell! This book is one fantastic contribution to New Zealand art history.’
Mark Stocker Associate ProfessorDepartment of History & Art History, University of Otago
I’m amazed we even had artists and designers of this calibre operating in New Zealand! I can’t praise the book highly enough.
Dick Frizzell – Artist
This book fills me with pride as a New Zealander and with huge energy to further lift our tourism potential and success.
Martin Snedden – Chief Executive, Tourism Industry Association New Zealand
This is the stuff of Kiwi dreams.
Al Brown – Chef and Writer
It is in the art of the poster that artists use their imagination and invention to unashamedly celebrate and reveal the uniqueness of the New Zealand scene.
Hamish Keith – Cultural Historian
This beautiful book is a wonderful acknowledgement of the importance of graphic design within the history of New Zealand art.
Fran Walsh – Writer
This is a fantastic pictorial record of how New Zealand developed the essential foundations of the tourism industry we enjoy today.
George Hickton – Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand 1999–2009
9 7 8 1 8 7 7 5 1 7 7 7 8
ISBN 978-1-877517-77-8