Interflora is a worldwide organisation which transports flowers. Founded in the 1920s, they now handle seventy five orders a minute for 58,000 shops in around 140 countries! The Interflora name has been around since 1953.

In 1954 shop was built in Levin's Oxford Street for florist Jean Findlay and she was still occupying it in 1981. According to an old jubilee publication, Jean Findlay's shop was recessed back from the street in anticipation of road widening. This slide was shown in cinemas (usually at the end of intermission) and it looks like Interflora made a generic florist's slide with a space at the bottom for details of the local business. Quite a few organisations (such as cosmetics companies) did this. 

This slide probably dates from the 1960s judging by it's 'widescreen' format. Sending flowers anywhere in the world from Levin must have been quite the news back then! Compared to many of the slides in MAVtech's collection this one does not make use of colour. However, that may have helped it stand out when it was first screened.

A 1950s advertisement (also on Kete) for Findlay's shop has the Interflora logo.

For decades radio 2ZA was a central part of Palmerston North. Founded in 1938 as part of a new and growing network of Government owned commercial stations, 2ZA did radical things like actually naming their announcers (who were anonymous in the non-commercial stations) and even building a personal brand around them in the 1950s. 

This slide continues this personality branding with a photo of 2ZA staff (presumably announcers) beside the station's logo. The 940KHZ frequency dates this slide to before 1978, and the 'Radio New Zealand' logo to after 1975. By the 1980s the 'call sign' frequencies of radio stations ('Z' for commercial, 'YC' for concert, 'YA' for Government non-commercial etc) were phased out in favour of today's numbered frequencies. Before then the lettered callsigns were often printed on radio tuning dials- which worked as long as the frequencies never changed! 

Radio New Zealand's commercial stations were privatized in 1996 and 2ZA (then known as 'Classic Hits') was no exception.  While not a Horowhenua based station, many locals will remember hearing the songs and voices of 2ZA, and the MAVtech Museum in Foxton has some 2ZA equipment on display. 

In 1941 the musical film 'Nice Girl' was released. It was American made at a time before America had entered the Second World War- but the war still cast a shadow over its script. In the US version of the film, the final scene concludes with the song 'Thank You America'. But for the British release (which New Zealand also saw) the song 'There Will Always Be An England' was added, performed under the Stars and Stripes as well as the Union Jack.

Britain was under the terror of bombing raids and the threat of a Nazi invasion. While America was not fighting alongside Britain at the time, they were about to start supplying ships and arms to the war effort under the 'lend-lease' scheme. 

When the slide was screened during intermission in New Zealand, the war was both terrifying but also far away. The attack on Pearl Harbor gave the British Empire an ally in the form of the USA- but it also brought the war to the Pacific. By the end of 1942, Japanese submarines were sighted in New Zealand waters. Films like this did a lot for morale!

 Prior to 1949, New Zealand's gambling laws were very restrictive. Most forms of gambling were outlawed either in the letter of the law or by the near impossibility of actually getting a permit to do it. This led to many illegal 'raffles' and some New Zealanders entering offshore lotteries. 

One of the few groups to offer legal gambling were 'art unions'. These were named because they started as raffles for art societies before growing and diversifying into other community causes like new aerodromes. To keep within the regulations, these 'unions' paid their prize money in alluvial gold. So instead of winning 2000 pounds in cash, you got its equivalent value in gold. Which is how 'Golden Kiwi' got its name- older players would have remembered the old art union prizes!  

This 'Art Union' cinema slide is from 1945. Back then, the Minister of Internal Affairs would supervise how the prize money was spent.

In the golden age of Kiwi cinemas many theatres had a well stocked intermissions full of food, drinks and ice creams. The Kerridge-Odeon cinema chain called their's 'Nibble Nooks'- but this slide looks like it came from an independant cinema. It would have screened during the interval itself as a reminder for hungry film-watchers.

Times changed, and times grew tough for picture theatres across New Zealand. Intermissions were phased out by the end of the 1970s (for the most part) as were 'God Save The Queen' and newsreels. All of a sudden going to 'the pictures' was less of an occasion. 

So it seems like this theatre cut back on it's interval offerings. The slide once added 'Milk Shakes' and 'Ice-creams' to the menu- but tape covers up all but 'Drinks'.  Intervals were big business for the concession stands- and there was evidence that some chains cut their intermissions down to force independant contractors out of business so they could take over the market for themselves!

We do not know the cinema this slide came from- but it probably didn't survive for long after this slide was made....

In 1908 work proceeded on the Coal Gas Scheme.

John Duthie and Co was contracted for the supply of gas pipes at £1770 ($3540). The retort house cost £775 ($1550) when built by Mr Whitaker. The 20,000 cubic feet building was built by Coward and Co for £1195 ($2390). Mr Black’s man was the engineer of the scheme and Peter Arcus was clerk of works.

R.Baylis was contracted to dig the gas pipe trenches at 15s 6d ($1.55) for six inch (155mm) and 14s ($1.40) for four and three inch 100 and 80mm pipes. After starting he requested cancellation which was done.

A house costing £356 ($712) was built at the front of the site on Cambridge Street and also a showroom was built on the site. C.E. Shaw was appointed manager at £3 ($6) a week with £2.10s a year allowance for maintaining his bike. Mrs Shaw was paid 15s ($1.50) a week for attending to the showroom.

In April 1909 elections were held with Mayor Gardener being elected unopposed. The new council was Crs Palmer, Cameron, Hudson, France, Levy, Prouse, Lancaster, Hannan and MacKenzie.

The town clerk’s salary was raised to £5.15s ($11.50) a week with the overseer’s wage being raised to £3 ($6) a week with £3 ($6) a year granted for bike maintenance. The overseer was appointed inspector of vehicles and heavy traffic.

The Bartholomew Road pit was now being excavated for road metal and the overseer was instructed to only excavate it five feet (1.7m) deep so as to form a swimming pool for boys in the summer, but this was cancelled later.

The Mako Mako Road, now Liverpool Street, and Bath Street railway crossings were opened.

Cr Levy resigned in June 1909 and Peter Arcus was elected in his place.

The Levin Municipal Coal Gasworks was opened on 21/7/1909. One hundred houses or businesses were connected to the supply for lighting, heating and cooking, with 40 street lamps.

Work proceeded with the water system. Mr Climie was the engineer planning it. The water was taken from the Ohau River near the entrance to the present Ohau Track in the bush of the Ohau Valley. It flowed by gravity through 11 chains (72m) of tunnel to Tunnel Creek where it entered large mains flowing to the twin settling tanks holding 200,000 gallons (about 750,000L). Then the pipes led down to the Pipe Bridge and on down Gladstone Road to Queen Street east.

The tunnel was excavated by E.J. Williams costing £467 ($934). The cost of the settling tanks was £1229 ($2458) built by D. Roberts.

The Pipe Bridge was built by Swainson and Bevan costing £1000 ($2000). The Spiral Steel Pipe Co supplied the water pipes at a cost of £8090 ($16,180) for the 15 inch (380mm, 300mm and 250mm) pipes. Smaller pipes cost £4637 ($9274) from Stewart and Lloyd.

An extra loan of 10% of the original loan had to be obtained £2200 ($4400), bringing the cost of the scheme to £24,200 ($48,400). The water was turned into the mains on 16/4/1910 with over 100 consumers and 450 within a year, when more reticulation had been done. There were 600 rate-payers in Levin then.

Six hundred acres (240h) of bush above the intake were bought at £1.7s ($2.70) as a watershed. The Government paid £135 ($270) a year on the £18,000 loan ($36,000) for the period of the loan.

After much consideration, over a year, the council decided on the leases of the gravel reserve. This had originally been vested only in the local authority and apparently it had been inherited from the county council and now with Mrs Ostler surrendering her leases, the borough completely owned it.

The Oxford Street sections from the now Deka shop (inclusive) to Bath Street were set at upset prices of £1 ($2) a frontage foot and from £10 to £22 (20 to $44) for the rent of shops that were on the reserve. The buildings had been owned by Mrs Ostler.

The Chamberlain Street section were set at 15s ($1.50) a foot. These leases were to be auctioned later.

Through 1910 the council discussed the building of a library. A site on the corner of Bath Street and Oxford Street (where Warnocks and Brenmuhls are now) was finally chosen. The Weraroa Library had been taken over by the council with Miss Palmer being the librarian. The Carnegie Trust gave money for building libraries all over the world.

Dale Carnegie was a steel and railway magnate in the United States of America. The council applied for a grant of £1500 ($3000). Applicants for designs were called for, and 23 were received. James Bennie’s design was selected.

With the formation of the borough, the county council had control over the area surrounding the borough only. The Whirokino Road Board was dissolved about 1906 leaving the county council completely in charge of the county.

The first motor car, a De Dion Bouton, was brought to Levin by Dr MacKenzie in 1903 and the cinema had arrived.

In a photo of the Byko shop on the north east corner of the Queen and Oxford Streets intersection shows a sign Bouttells pictures every Friday night at the Century Hall. This was in 1910 or before. One programme advertised was Old Oxford, Rich Man Bought a Bucking Donkey and a French play. The late Hector McDonald related that in the film The Battle of Gettysburg, he and others stamped their feet imitating the sound of galloping horses and threw stones on the wooden floor for gunshots. Later in the year the Max Picture Co was showing films in the town hall (where Kent and Little’s building is now).

Field Marshal Kitchener was in Levin in 1910 advocating military preparedness.

In an editorial on 8/7/1910 The Chronicle deplored that the Chinese had descended on Levin. A laundry (probably just north of The Chronicle office) had opened and it was taking the bread out of the mouths of mothers and children. Widows took in washing for income in those days.

It also said respectable people had been seen going into a greengrocery shop. Ghing Lee had a greengrocery shop then where Levin Shoes is now.

The Levin Hotel had an extension of two storeys built in 1902 by the then owner Dan Hannan. The Britannia Restaurant is now on the site.

The shop at Byko Corner had a second storey added and it advertised that it was generating electricity with a water motor for lighting and charging accumulators.

Prouse’s sawmill closed down in 1907 having cut all the timber available near Levin. The West Coast Timber Association (Bartholomews) had built a sawmill in the Ohau Valley near the Pipe Bridge and was bringing the partly milled timber down by trolley line to the Weraroa mill.

A subdivision was made in Cambridge Street south by Mr Wilton who owned five acres (2h) there, creating the original short lengths of Wilton and Power Streets in 1910.

An extension of Princess Street was formed by the Setter Estate subdividing their block.

The Weraroa Post Office was opened on 21/4/1910 by the Premier, Sir Joseph Ward, costing the borough council £18.10s ($37), of which the county council paid £7 ($14). The new railway station was built in 1910, opening on 2/5/1910 without ceremony.

Halley’s Comet was visible in 1910 being a most spectacular sight in Levin.

King Edward V11 died in May and a very elaborate commemoration was held in the “Square” with cadets and Weraroa Boys Training Farm Band parading.

Clarry Keedwell took over Day’s Pharmacy (at the front of where the Britannia Restaurant is now). This was a link in the chain of pharmacies from Southgate, Day, Keedwell, and Nockels to the present Bennetts Pharmacy.

The News, December 20, 1989

In January 2023 the Royal New Zealand Airforce's P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft made their last flight across Manawatu and Horowhenua. This advertising slide dates back to the 1960s when the Orions were 'exciting new aircraft' and the Air Force was looking for recruits to maintain them.

The Orions undertook Exclusive Economic Zone patrols, search and rescue missions and assisted Customs, Police, Fisheries and The Department of Conservation. They even helped our pacific neighbours in times of crisis.

The first of the RNZAF's P3s arrived in 1966 and by the time they retired they had undergone lots of upgrades. This slide shows where the twelve members of crew sat. Pilots, communications technicians, weapons officers and ordnance specialists were part of the team.

But note that the recruits wanted were all men. In the 1960s women were not part of 'main' Air Force, and the Women's Royal New Zealand Airforce would not merge with the regular service until 1977. Even then, women were not allowed to be on operational air crews until the 1980s, with the first women pilot in 1988.

As of 2024 a fleet of four Boeing P8 Poseidon  jet aircraft perform patrol duties at sea and both men and women can fly and maintain these critical parts of the Air Force. But we doubt you'll see a recruitment ad in the cinema! 

This cinema advertising slide shares the benefits of radial tyres. First introduced in 1946 (but patented as far back as the 1910s) the radial tyre has its supporting 'cords' (inside the tyre) at 90 degrees to the direction of travel. Other tyres were cross-ply and 'criss - crossed' each other. Radial tyres provide a quieter, more comfortable ride as well as improved fuel economy. 

In America a consumer report proved the superiority of radial tyres in 1968, and by 1976 they were the standard. Virtually 100% of tyres made today are radials. 

Given that this slide had to sell the benefits of radial tyres it was likely made at a time before they became the standard. The design of the slide suggests that this ad came from the 1960s. Dunlop was a major local manufacturer of tyres in Aotearoa and started making radials domestically in the 1960s- around the time of this slide. By 1970 they bought Reliance (mentioned here) and entered the retread business.

Murray's Jewellers wanted to be known for more than just fine jewellery- this slide (seen at the cinema) highlights their expertise in watches and clocks. The clock pictured was a popular mantlepiece design from the 1940s and 1950s, as is the ladies watch.  

A fine timepiece was an expensive purchase so when they wore out they were often repaired rather than replaced. MAVtech has cinema advertising slides from quite a few clock repairers which shows the demand for this service. 

If you look closely at the watch in the ad you'll notice that the hands are set near ten minutes past ten. Most ads for analogue watches show this time as it looks like a smiley face. Studies have shown that it makes people view the product more favourably- and it was first widely used in the 1950s! Was this ad one of the first in New Zealand to use this trick? You can find out more about the effect via the link below...

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/science-says-1010-hands-in-watch-ads-are-a-subliminal-soft-sell

No details can be found at the time of writing about Murray's Jewellers but their address suggests they traded in Levin- as does the fact that this slide was found amongst others from the town. This is one of many slides MAVtech has from Murray's Jewellers so they must have either been very popular or wanted to be! 

This slide proclaims that Murray's were specialists in diamond rings- and another one of their slides (searchable on Kete) is advertising them.

New Zealand's marriage rate was high throughout the 1950s and, after a small decline in the early 1960s, climbed steadily until the early 1970s. This meant that many functions centres, jewellers and dress makers used weddings in their advertising. Murray's Jewellers was no exception! 

The photograph in the slide was a popular wedding style up until the 1970s. Until then, it was common for couples to have wedding photographs taken in a studio instead of the actual wedding venue. 'On location' photography became popular in the 1940s but the studios persisted for a while afterwards. 

No details can be found at the time of writing about Murray's Jewellers but their address suggests they traded in Levin- as does the fact that this slide was found amongst others from the town. This is one of many slides MAVtech has from Murray's Jewellers so they must have either been very popular or wanted to be! 

Released on the 20th of October, 1933 'The Way To Love' is a Hollywood movie starring Ann Dvorak and Maurice Chevalier. It's plot revolves around carefree drifter who has to save a beautiful performer who is threatened by her partner in a knife throwing act.

This film is one of the last of the 'pre-Code' Hollywood films. These were made between the introduction of the sound 'talkies' in 1927 and the enforcement of the moralistic 'Hays Code' in 1934. With the expanded possibilities of adding dialogue to films (and the need to keep audiences paying during the Great Depression) Hollywood gravitated towards sensationalistic plots with sex appeal, violence and drama.

In response to these films many US states threatened to make their own individual censorship laws meaning that multiple 'cuts' of a single film would have to be made. In response, Hollywood adopted their own, internally enforced moral code which headed off this threat.  The Hays Code would be enforced until the 1960s. 

This film was screened in Foxton on the 4th of August 1934. The 'Manawatu Times' had the following write up on it...

MAURICE CHEVALIER'S “THE WAY TO LOVE”

Bringing new songs and new smiles as a handsome guide of a Parisian tourist agency, Maurice Chevalier Is playing at the Foxton Town Hall to-night in his newest starring Paramount picture, "The Way to Love.” With him are Ann Dvorak and Edward Everett Horton. Maurice takes us on a tour through Paris where he knows all the beauties both scenic and human. His adventures supply all with a delightful hour's entertainment. The new songs he introduces are "It’s Oh, It’s Ah!”, "I’m a Lover of Paree,” “In a One Room Flat” and “The Way to Love.” A selected list of short subjects includes the Mickey Mouse cartoon “Mickey’s Orphans.” 

The theatre was the 'Coronation Hall' and it still stands in Foxton today as the home of the MAVtech Museum. It is still a working cinemas as well! This slide would have been screened during  other films to advertise 'The Way To Love'. Soon to be released features were known as 'coming attractions'. The projectionist has written the day the film was to play in removable ink at the bottom of the slide. 

The slide mount was made by 'Consolidated Film Industries' which was a company specialising in making projection grade copies of films as well as advertising slides- so they probably made this slide too! 

In the 1950s and 1960s New Zealand's home ownership rates were steadily growing. Aspiring to own your own home was a natural part of family life and this slide shows this perfectly- the young family are dreaming of a large house with a decent lawn. A house that size was a big ambition back then and even harder for most families to afford now! 

Unlike a bank, building societies are owned by their members but offer many of the same financial services. The Societies are able to offer 'ballots' where members who bought shares in a special fund were eligible to receive prizes generated from the fund's interest. Few people won prizes but those who did won more than an equal share from the interest would provide. This was like the former 'Bonus Bonds' scheme which concluded in 2020. For many Society Members the biggest financial goal was to raise enough money for a house deposit. 

This Society was based in Auckland but it appears that Maurice Mead was the local Levin agent who represented them. MAVtech cannot find any information about Mister Mead. Interestingly, despite the invitation to call him there is no phone number on the slide! Was this a mistake, or was the slide one of a pair? If it is the latter that would make it very rare! 

Print advertisements for Langtry's Pharmacy date back to the 1950s and they were in the government Register of Pharmacies in 1960 (although at the different address of 281 Oxford Street at that time).  Langtry was at one location on Oxford Street (probably 177) between 1962 and 1967. MAVtech has another Langtry's slide from a similar era as this one which advertises Kodak photographic film (also searchable on Kete). 

Shiseido was founded in Tokyo by  Arinobu Fukuhara in 1872. At first it was a pharmacy chain, but it started producing cosmetics in 1916. It began selling products outside of Japan from 1957.  A similar slide from Langtry's advertises Shiseido's 'Koto' perfume which was launched in 1967 and it is likely that this slide is from around the same time. 

The model in this slide looks to the side and away from the viewer. This is an 'objective' pose which minimises a 'connection' with the viewer and her eyes lead toward the text and it's 'promise of beauty'.  In this slide Langtry's is merely a stockist- it is Shiseido which is the main product here.

In the late 1960s there were a lot of films which featured a (very stereotyped!) version of 'the mystic East'- with the James Bond film 'You Only Live Twice' being a notable example released in 1967- the same year as 'Koto'. A nice bit of marketing from a local business- or just a coincidence? Either way, products which offered a slice of the 'life' seen on screen were bound to be big sellers.

 

According to a 1980s Levin Jubilee publication, the first sports centre at 313 Oxford Street opened around 1937 and passed through various owners until Rex Cederwall bought it in 1962. He in turn sold it in 1969. In 1981 the business was still trading, but in a different location.

A common saying in 1960s New Zealand was that the country was build upon 'Rugby, Racing and Beer'. The number of pubs and sports centres in 1960s Horowhenua seems to support this assertion and MAVtech holds an old music record based around these three 'past-times'. 

Little surprise that rugby was one of the sports pictured (along with soccer) with other sports having a bullet point only.

Kindergartens are where pre-school children learn based off play, song and practical experiences. Kindergartens have operated in New Zealand since the 1880s, with a Kindergarten Union being formed to represent them in 1926. After the Second World War the government provided funding for kindergartens and their numbers increased.

This post-war slide would have been shown in cinema intermissions. It is not explicitly mentioned where this kindergarten was located, but Johnston Street in Foxton is the most likely place. The 'Gaetime' name suggests happiness and play with each 'step' the child takes bringing them closer to success. It is likely that this slide was made in the 1950s during New Zealand's 'baby boom' which resulted in demands for more schools across the country.

Judging by the size of the steps compared to the children the next generation had a steep climb ahead of them! 

The first commercial photographer in New Zealand (Isaac Polack) set up shop in Auckland in 1848.  Photography has changed a lot since then with the formal portraits taken by Polack no longer as popular as they once were. But in the 1950s wedding photography was still a lucrative business. Amy Harper, a specialist in weddings, sometimes had bridal limousines in a queue outside of her studio on a Wednesday (one of her busiest days of the week!)

Mister J. Cumming, a Levin photographer, undertook weddings as well. Wedding photography 'on location' became increasingly popular after the Second World War. In England, former army photographers would wait outside of churches ready to offer their services to the happy couple on the off chance they would be interested! But studio based wedding portraits were in demand as well.

Mister Cumming didn't just photograph weddings. In a 1960 Levin Industries Catalogue he advertised his services for commercial and industrial photography (then based in Trafalgar Street), and many photographs taken by him are of local events. The National Library states he was active between 1955-1968. 

The photograph on the slide is hand coloured. This was another service photographers offered, but one which would soon become obsolete as better colour films, papers and printing became available.

This 1932/1933 British musical comedy featured a hapless journalist, a millionaire and a lie about being married which quickly gets out of hand. Musical farces like this were popular in the early 1930s as they made full use of the recently invented sound cinema systems (popularly known as 'talkies'). 

And cinemas needed every advantage they could get! The Great Depression cut household incomes to the bone, and regular cinema visits needed to be justified. Enter the 'double feature'- two films played back-to-back with a single admission price. One of the films in this double billing was a 'B-movie' made with lesser talent and a small budget and served as the warm-up act to the better-known main feature.

In New Zealand, cinemas had to show a minimum percentage of British films- a rule found in many places in the Empire. This led to the 'Quota Quickie' - a low budget, poorly made British film produced in the knowledge it would be needed to fill the quota. In Britain some of these films had such a bad reputation that they played to empty cinemas while the cleaners prepared for the next film. Viewer beware!   

This slide advertised 'Sleepless Nights' on the cinema screen and still has the hand-written notes showing the next screening time. It wasn't a 'Quota Quickie' with ads in the papers calling it a 'Fast and Furious Fun Frolic' and recommending that 'if you are human.... you'll love it!' But not if you were a young human- although there were no legal restrictions the Censor recommended it for adults.

While this slide is for a Palmerston North business, Leader & Watt have since opened branches in both Levin and Foxton. But what makes this slide more interesting is what it says about how the Kiwi idea of 'home' was seen.

In postwar New Zealand home ownership was booming. In fact, owning a home was seen as a rite of passage and if you didn't own one by the time you were forty you were seen as rather suspect. Owning a home also meant maintaining it- the Black & Decker portable drill was invented in 1916 and has since gone through many different versions. This slide suggests that it would make a perfect gift for someone who has their own home (a young family starting out in their first home would need power tools- and fast!).

But this drill was sold to men- with the vision of the 'man of the house' being responsible for fixing and extending the home then accepted as normal. Until a couple of years ago a powertool retailer had a radio jingle saying that their stores were '...a man's world' showing that these outdated ideas have lingered.....

Yates started selling their packets of seeds in 1893. At the time, Aotearoa was slowly becoming an urban country- while the rural sector remained the country's economic powerhouse more of the population was living in the cities and towns. People were proud of their houses, and photography of families posing outside of their homes was second only to portraits in the family albums.

This slide was made much later (probably in the 1950s) but it shows the pride people had in their garden. No garden was shown- this could be any family anywhere in the country. 

The man and women in the slide grip their garden tools like rifles- and this orginally was done on purpose. With food supplies tight during the Second World War, Yates joined the Government in calling gardening a public duty. Images of gardens were displayed next to scenes from the front and the home gardener was drawn like a soldier in overalls. 

This slide may have used leftover imagery from the war to encourage people to keep planting (home gardening remained popular until the rise of the supermarkets in the 1960s). It may have dated from the war itself, but usually these slides mention the war or victory in some way. The 'Reliable Seeds' slogan has been seen in New Zealand newspapers from 1906 to 1962 so doesn't narrow it down much.....

Cinema advertising was big business in the 1950s and early 1960s when over thirty million tickets were sold each year. The sales of advertising made up around 2%-5% of a cinema's profits- but they meant much more to the cinema managers who got commission on each ad sold. Managers were often seen around town visiting shops to sign owners up to an advertising package. Free tickets to a popular film were often supplied to sweeten the deal. 

Even projectionists got a piece of the action as the advertising slide companies (often owned by the cinema chains themselves)  paid a yearly bonus to make up for the hassle of screening dozens of slides with every film. The assistant projectionist who was delegated this job usually was none the wiser about this bonus.

But by the 1970s the gloss was coming off cinema advertising. The commission given to managers was reduced to a small bonus. Local radio was able to change ads on short notice, unlike cinema advertising slides which took weeks to be made and approved. Audience numbers were falling in the face of television and a new culture of going to see a particular film and not visiting the cinema  anyway and seeing what was on. 

Teleslides was the last gasp of the cinema advertising slide. These were static images projected onto the screen but with a few seconds of audio played through the speakers. The audio for all slides were put onto a vinyl record but it was up to the projectionist to make sure they kept changing the pictures in sync with the words. The slide screenings sometimes became unintentional comedy for the audience!

By the end of the 1970s the era of the advertising slide was all but gone. They were replaced by reels of motion picture film advertising businesses instead.

'Shop Local' campaigns are not just a modern thing! Long before the internet made your computer a virtual department store, the motor car was quite literally driving people away from the local Main Street and into the big cities. Small cinemas often carried ads for local shops and in this Ashhurst example, a slide screened before these ads had a general 'shop local' message.

Who paid for this slide? The local business owners? The cinema manager- who got commission on every cinema advertising slide bought? Or was it a local business association who convinced the cinema manager to make a 'free slide' for the good of the town? We may never know. But we do know that by the 1970s many local cinemas had closed down as a night out became a night out of town. Many Horowhenua towns did not escape this trend.

Pyramid Concrete Products was  granted a wholesaler's licence in 1940 and was advertising for staff in 1942, with both documents showing them as trading in Hamilton.  MAVtech cannot find any information about the 'Levin Brick & Pipe Co. Ltd' who were acting as their local agents in Levin.

It is difficult to precisely date this slide, but it may have been made during the post-war 'building boom' of the late 1940s/early 1950s'. According to BRANZ, many New Zealand houses in the 1950s/early 1960s were built using brick so this Levin company may have been very busy indeed- even if this slide is advertising concrete masonry! Still, nothing like being the most unique house on the street - especially as government loans for families building a home mandated 'state house' style designs....

According to a 1981 Jubilee Issue of the 'Horowhenua Chronicle', Lambles Ltd. had a shop on Oxford Street between 1960 and 1968, which looks to be the era of this slide. The house in the picture would have been very trendy in the 1960s with a large fireplace surrounded by interior brick.

Levin's Regent Theatre was also on Oxford Street, so it was just a short walk from the screening down to Lambles for the latest in carpet and furnishings! 

Is it ironic that an ad for make-up is marred by blemishes? This slide may just have been left by the projector's heat for too long! However, there's enough writing left untouched to know that it was made for the Oxford Pharmacy. An old newspaper ad displays the pharmacy on Oxford Street in 1981 as one of six pharmacies in Levin.

This slide looks to be a bit older than this though. An 'Oxford Pharmacy' was in the New Zealand Register of Pharmacies in 1960, albeit on a different end of Oxford Street.

The 'Chronicle' referred to in the slide was the local newspaper, known at various points as the 'Levin Chronicle', 'Daily Chronicle' and 'Horowhenua Daily Chronicle". At the time the slide was made the paper was published six days a week and was a paid newspaper. In 2008 it was renamed the 'Horowhenua Chronicle' and became a free community newspaper which is still being published at the time of writing (September 2023). 

 Print advertisements for Langtry's Pharmacy date back to the 1950s and they were in the government Register of Pharmacies in 1960. Online records suggest that Langtry's shop was demolished in 1975 (however, they moved at least once based off Kete documents) MAVtech has another Langtry's slide from a similar era as this one which advertises Kodak photographic film (also searchable on Kete) as well as one advertising perfume. 

The 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand stated that a pharmacist had two years of academic training followed by a two year apprenticeship- but the University of Otago was about to launch a bachelors degree which would cut the apprenticeship down to one year. This combination of a degree and a one year internship is still used today- although the University of Auckland also offers a relevant degree.

 Kete records show that this company was owned by Lance Osborne and was trading in the mid 1960s. The company no longer trades, with many competitors setting up in the last forty years. The fact that a local company in a small town could move household furniture New Zealand wide would have been quite an achievement! Another slide from this firm boasts about the CB radios each truck carried, which would have helped drivers stay in touch during long distance moves.

The truck's bumper advertises daily runs from Levin, Shannon, Foxton and Palmerston North.

The second slide (also on Kete) shows a truck carrying industrial loads, so they didn't just do furniture removal work.

This is one of multiple cinema advertising slides on Kete Horowhenua from Barnao's Music Shop.

Barnao's Music Shop was trading in Levin from 1962-1988. It was the passion of Giuseppe Antonio Barnao whose love of music began when we was gifted a clarinet in 1942. He worked in a music shop the following year and his talents saw him join dance bands and serve as an Army Bandsman. He was a member of Levin bands for decades. A web search will reveal lots of archived interviews and articles about Mr. Barnao. Barnao's shop printed advertising sleeves for the records they sold. The reference to 'the swinginest music store in town' would date this slide to the 1960s/very early 1970s! This slide would have been used to advertise the shop during a film at the cinema. 

We'll be the first to say that this slide has not aged well. Rolf Harris toured New Zealand in 1970 and this slide may date from this time. It probably screened in Palmerston North but may also have be shown in Levin's cinema as well, given that this was a national tour. We know from the label that it was screened in Kerridge Odeon cinemas- then the biggest chain in New Zealand. Cinema advertising was often used to advertise the arrival of touring acts from overseas.

Rolf Harris was convicted of twelve counts of indecent assault on the 30th of June, 2014. Victims of Harris's offending (outside of the counts he was convicted on) came forward from his 1970 New Zealand tour. 

During the First World War the New Zealand Government was fighting an internal battle with 'shirkers'- the men who (for whatever reason) were not enlisting in the forces even though they were eligible to. Shirkers were portrayed in newspapers and posters as weak men who looked unkempt and shifty, as opposed to the strong, masculine soldier. Some papers fretted that the shirkers would father children while the soldiers were away, weakening the New Zealand national character.

Of course, given the punishments and social stigma, it took as much courage to be a conscientious objector as it did to sign up for the army. In Bulls, a local blacksmith refused to serve young men who were not in the army without a good reason and many such men were accosted in the street and on public transport.

They were also accosted in the cinema via government promotional slides like this one. The expensive 'dress circle' seats were taxed to help pay for the war- but the cheaper 'stalls' below were exempt as they provided an important boost to morale. By 1917  it was stated in Parliament that “not less than 550,000 people go to picture entertainments every week." What better place to show a recruiting slide?

This slide urges uncommitted men to join the forces by emphasising the loss of pride of having others fight for them, and highlights the personal contribution they needed to make to the war effort. 

In today's world of instant world wide communications it is easy to forget just how isolated people on the 'home front' felt during the First World War. Most combat was taking place on the opposite side of the world from New Zealand, and photographs from Gallipoli took six months to arrive and be printed. Even the newsreels showing 'the front' and army camps were screened months after the events happened. So, a glimpse of the men in command of the allied armies provided some sense of control and connection.

General Foch was an innovative commander and one who was big enough to admit mistakes and learn from them. On the 26th of March 1918 this French General was appointed the head of all Allied forces- a big change from the previous squabbling between the British and French commands. Foch's authority did not extend to overruling national commands, but he could at least coordinate strategy and direction of battle and by being the 'head' of all armies he could shelter his subordinate commanders from political interference.