Black and white photograph.
Written on back – David Allan – District Council candidate.
Written on green paper attached to back – C M/H
David Allan, Horowhenua District Council candidate.
Black and white photograph.
Any use of this image must bcompanied by the credit “Foxton Historical Society”
Two almost identical black and white photograph.
Bettie Iwanica, leasee of the Train Station Cafe, Foxton
Two black and white photographs.
Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Foxton Historical Society”
On the 30th of November 2022 Radio Foxton's station manager Xan and announcer Zeb installed a new aerial on the top of Coronation Hall. Thanks to the aerial (and brand new cable) the signal on 105.4FM can reach Tokomaru, Linton Camp and many other towns in the Manawatu-Horowhenua districts. The old aerial was felled by a storm and the temporary replacement had a much reduced range.
This photograph was taken by Foxton photographer Jacob Brookie. Jacob used a 1984 Praktica TL3, a solid camera built in what was then East Germany. Prakticas were no frills SLR cameras aimed at the amateur, and this one had a 28mm wide angle lens fitted. The photograph was taken at the back of Coronation Hall near the old Foxton jail.
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!
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!
Teunis Bleijenberg is a trained traditional miller from The Netherlands who came to Foxton in 2023 to train local De Molen millers and volunteers. Safely operating a mill is a big job, with traditional millers usually training for two years to equip them for all types of mills- plus an extra four months learning the specifics of each new mill they work at. With Foxton's De Molen being the only traditional Dutch windmill operating in the Southern Hemisphere, expert help has to come from far afield!
This photograph was made by local photographer Jacob Brookie as part of a series of photo-stories highlighting the work of local volunteers- including the millers Teunis was training. The photo was made with a 1966 Marshal Press camera and Kodak T-Max film.
On the 28th of March 2024, Save Our River Trust and Horowhenua Pop-Up Eats combined forces to host a community Easter Egg Hunt with the support of Foxton New World and Foxton Barber and Beauty. Over five hundred people attended, and hundreds of children searched for the hidden rabbits at the Te Awahou Riverside Cultural Park.
Local photographer Jacob Brookie took this photograph of the Easter Bunny awarding chocolate treats at Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom. Save Our River Trust volunteer Pou is taking a photograph and Horowhenua District Council staff member Grayson is handing out chocolate eggs behind the table.
Jacob used a 1958 Mamiyaflex C2 to take this photograph, part of a series about Foxton's volunteers made with vintage cameras. Jacob climbed the stairs to Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom's overhead walkway to take this picture. When he did, the event was almost over and the table, once full of treats with more waiting to be placed, is almost empty.
This photograph was taken during a very cold morning in June 2022 by local photographer Jacob Brookie. It was taken in the Easton Park sportsgrounds at the back of the Foxton Pools, looking towards state highway one.
Jacob used a 1990s Seagull 4A camera to take this photograph. The Seagull was a copy of the Rolleiflex camera and was basically unchanged since the 1960s and was made well into the 21st century. During the Cultural Revolution, having one of these cameras in China meant that you were a trusted state photographer (very few owned cameras in China at the time). However, Jacob bought his used online for $90.....
Foxton's Busy Bee Dairy was a fixture of the town on State Highway One. In late 2022 it moved from the highway to a building in Foxton's Main Street.
The old dairy was full of advertising and has been photographed many times by travellers passing through. Local photographer Jacob Brookie heard about the dairy's relocation and wanted to take a photograph of the Coca-Cola bottle painted on the side of the building before it was demolished. The photograph was taken in August 2022.
It is a strange combination of advertising for a massive global company which was probably made by a local painter!
Jacob used a 1957 Lipca Rollop Automatic camera to take this photograph. This camera takes twelve photographs per roll of 120 format film, with the photographer composing the photograph by looking down into a hood on the top of the camera.
Taken with the East German Reflekta camera.
Taken with the Reflekta Camera. Black and white film was used in this series. In part, this was for a 'retro' effect but many vintage cameras have early lenses which struggle to take photos outside without lens flare. The effect of flaring is most noticeable in colour!
Foxton photographer and MAVtech volunteer Jacob Brookie uses vintage cameras from the museum's collection to take photographs of local volunteers in the community. The results are published in the Horowhenua Chronicle.
This article, the first in the series, looks at the work of the Wildlife Foxton Trust. It was published in the Horowhenua Chronicle on the 23rd of June, 2023. Some of the photos here differ to those in the print article- but all were taken on the same day and with the same cameras.
Foxton's New World Supermarket was in the midst of renovations when this photograph was taken. The scaffolding, road cones and construction workers quickly became a part of the town's Main Street.
Local photographer Jacob Brookie took this photograph in June of 2022, looking down the footpath and towards the police station end of the street (towards Himatangi). Jacob used a 1953 Agfa Billy 1 folding camera to make this photograph on Ilford FP4 film.
During the Big Dutch Day Out 2022 a monkey kite got caught in the fans of the De Molen windmill, and ended up imitating King Kong on the Whare Manaaki! This caused much merriment until the kite master could remove it....
This was taken by Foxton photographer Jacob Brookie with a 1950s Yashica 'A' twin lens reflex camera. Made in Japan, this was an affordable camera for the enthusiast photographer and Jacob has used it to take many photographs around Foxton.
The Yashica is owned by the MAVtech Museum of Audio and Visual Technology.
Advertising certainly has changed! Homecraft Furnishers has a range of cinema slides uploaded on Kete and most of them have some rather offensive (and in one case sexist) depictions of Native Americans.
Homecraft furnishings had a store in Foxton in 1987, located on Main Street a few doors down from Clyde Street. The store was not present in 1985, so this is one of the 'newest' cinema advertising slides in MAVtech's collection.
The company's Levin branch seems to have been present in 1981.
By the time this slide was made, Foxton's Coronation Hall had ceased to function as a cinema and wouldn't be re-established until it became home to the MAVtech Museum. It is almost certain that this slide was screened in Levin only.
Advertising certainly has changed! Homecraft Furnishers has a range of cinema slides uploaded on Kete and most of them have some rather offensive (and in this case sexist) depictions of Native Americans.
Homecraft furnishings had a store in Foxton in 1987, located on Main Street a few doors down from Clyde Street. The store was not present in 1985, so this is one of the 'newest' cinema advertising slides in MAVtech's collection.
The company's Levin branch seems to have been present in 1981.
By the time this slide was made, Foxton's Coronation Hall had ceased to function as a cinema and wouldn't be re-established until it became home to the MAVtech Museum. It is almost certain that this slide was screened in Levin only.
Advertising certainly has changed! Homecraft Furnishers has a range of cinema slides uploaded on Kete and most of them have some rather offensive (and in one case sexist) depictions of Native Americans.
Homecraft furnishings had a store in Foxton in 1987, located on Main Street a few doors down from Clyde Street. The store was not present in 1985, so this is one of the 'newest' cinema advertising slides in MAVtech's collection.
The company's Levin branch seems to have been present in 1981.
By the time this slide was made, Foxton's Coronation Hall had ceased to function as a cinema and wouldn't be re-established until it became home to the MAVtech Museum. It is almost certain that this slide was screened in Levin only.
This business is somewhat difficult to place in Foxton. Kete records show that 'Homecraft' was present on Foxton's Main Street in the 1970s before disappering in the early 1980s. However, the business was at the same location in 1987 (with a coffee bar in the location in between times). It is unknown if this is the same business owned by the same people, new ownership or an entirely new firm altogether. Both 'versions' of the company advertise locations in Foxton and Levin. The name of the company is slightly different from the 1980s version.
The style of this slide shows that this was the earlier, 1970s 'Home Craft'. The later slides can be distinguished by their printing and were made in the late 1980s. Unlike the simple interior scene shown here, the later Home Craft slides have some very different designs which wouldn't meet standards today! They too can be seen on Kete.
A.W. Allen made a strong claim to have 'Foxton's Busiest Store'- although I am sure that the grocery shop would have challenged that statement! A.W. Allen Ltd still would have been very busy- it survived on the same Main Street location (right by Clyde Street) for decades. Kete records show it there in 1955 and still there in 1987. Company records suggest it was dissolved in 1991.
A.W. Allen Ltd also had a store in Levin, with newspaper records showing that it was trading as early as 1937. Those ads also proclaimed that it was 'Levin's Busiest Store!' Did A.W. Allen retire and hand the business over? Or did he just like being very, very busy!
This photograph was taken on the 14th of August 2022 by Foxton photographer Jacob Brookie. It shows spectators observing the 29th annual Foxton Loop Race- an event organised by 'Welly Paddlers' which sees entrants paddling their boats around the Foxton River Loop.
Jacob used a 1930s Agfa Billy 4.5 to take this photograph. This was an amateur camera whose lens folded into the body using bellows for easy storage. Jacob borrowed this camera from the collection of Foxton's MAVtech Museum which has a range of vintage photographic equipment as part of it's collection of audio-visual technology.
Foxton's Main Street has been trading for well over one hundred and fifty years. During that time businesses have come and gone, with most known today only through saved newspaper clippings and public records. Chung Wah is not one of those businesses. Its name is still boldly displayed on the front of it's original 1905 premises in Main Street (even though the business itself has long since closed).
Records show the greengrocers were in Foxton's Main Street from 1905 and they were still trading in 1960. Kete records do not show them trading after that date- but another greengrocer called 'Soo's' was located in the same shop in 1985.
There were a few mishaps in all those years of trading. A fire in 1912 gutted the shop but it was restored and carried on. In 1934 there was an earthquake and Chung Wah's window was broken and their wares spread around the ground!
For much of the 20th century there was always a specialist greengrocer or grocery shop in the Main Street.
R.N. Speirs must have been the town's proudest Pinex promoter- this is the second slide of theirs which shares the virtues of this timber. Slides from this firm also promote electric heaters and ovens (presumably- the spelling of 'Speirs' is different in the latter slide). This slide dates from around the 1950s/1960s. The text below is from their first 'Pinex' slide which can be found on Kete.
R.N Speirs had a long history in Foxton- Kete Horowhenua records show them on the town's Main Street as far back as 1905. They were still in Main Street in 1960 with their premises between Cook and Union Streets. Records do not show them there in 1965 so this cinema slide must have been made before then. R.N Speirs were timber merchants and this slide was made in the middle of the 1950s/1960s building boom. Advertising Pinex (made in New Zealand since 1941) would have been important in the 1950s- exotic pine was replacing native timbers as the preferred building material of choice due to pine being fast growing. Native forests were becoming depleted and pines were being planted in more accessible areas. This cinema slide showed the new wood as safe, cheap and easy to build with. This slide was shown locally but similar slides wouldn't have been shown down South- amble supplies of native timber there meant that the pine did not take over until the 1960s.
This is MAVtech's second cinema advertising slide from Foxton's Cochran's Cycles. The first slide dates to around the same era and promotes Raleigh bicycles. This particular slide shares the virtues of Hercules brand bikes. The company had a float at the 1955 Foxton Centennial Parade which showed both ranges of product. Funnily enough, this slide tells viewers that Hercules bikes were 'The Finest Bicycle Built Today' while the Raleigh machines were advertised on THEIR slide as coming from 'The Greatest Name In Cycling'.
I'd assume they weren't shown side by side!
The Raleigh slide and the parade photographs are all available on Kete.
W. Stuart Donnelly was a stalwart of Foxton's medical services. He began his career in the town working for pharmacist Thomas Crotty before buying his business. For a time an optician called at his chemist shop once a week- the only optician service the town had. Kete records show Donnelly's shop on Foxton's Main Street from 1960-1970. Records do not show where his shop was before that time (records show that Donnelly owned a shop in 1952). He also appears to have owned a pharmacy in Levin.
W. Stuart Donnelly was also the Mayor of Foxton Borough from 1972-1978. A photograph exists of him standing in his shop (this can be found on Kete by searching 'W. Stuart Donnelly').
But is wasn't all about prescriptions! This slide was advertising cosmetics. If this slide is to be believed, a green shade about the eyes would certainly let them 'dominate'.....
W. Stuart Donnelly was a stalwart of Foxton's medical services. He began his career in the town working for pharmacist Thomas Crotty before buying his business. For a time an optician called at his chemist shop once a week- the only optician service the town had. Kete records show Donnelly's shop on Foxton's Main Street from 1960-1970. Records do not show where his shop was before that time (records show that Donnelly owned a shop in 1952). He also appears to have owned a pharmacy in Levin.
W. Stuart Donnelly was also the Mayor of Foxton Borough from 1972-1978. A photograph exists of him standing in his shop (this can be found on Kete by searching 'W. Stuart Donnelly').
There were more than just pills on offer at the chemists. This 'Trufood' would have been just the thing for a baby's meal. Judging by the different handwriting script which displays Donnelly's name, this slide would have been made by 'Trufood' in bulk and then modified with the name of each local seller.
With the tagline 'A Lifetime Gift of Quality' this slide may well have been screened near Christmas. It, and slides just like it, were loaded into the projector near the end of intermission or (depending on the cinema) just before the film began. If left for more than a few seconds the heat from the projector's arc lamp would crack the slide. If you look just above the round watch face you can see a small crack on this slide. No doubt the cadet projectionist got a sound telling off about this!
The Levin branch of Parrington's advertised in the local paper in the 1950s (this slide would date to around then). There is no record of the Foxton branch on Kete's "Foxton 1888-1988 - Commerce".
Whether you were driving a Ford Model T, Austin A40, Leyland Mini, Honda Civic or Toyota CH-R, the garage on Foxton's Clyde Street was ready to repair it! There has been a motor mechanic on the site almost continuously from 1915 and (as of May 2023) Lee Mason Motors carries on the tradition.
'Foxton Motors' traded there from around 1950 to around 1975 according to Kete records. It should be noted that this slide is from 'Foxton Motors (1959) Ltd' so there would have been a few ownership changes during this time.
The big news on this slide was the new Silex muffler. A look at the names of the brands it fitted shows that many of them are long gone. Ford still remains in the New Zealand market but the others are consigned to history here (as of 2023!).
There is some uncertainty about the location of this business- but we do know something about a 'S.Mattar'. Kete records show an 'S. Mattar' trading on Main Street as a draper in 1930. In 1945 an 'S. Matter' was trading as a hairdresser alongside tobacconist 'L. Matter' on Foxton's Main Street (near the intersection with Whyte Street). By 1950 'L. Matter' was carrying on business as a hairdresser and tobacconist alone.
In the MANAWATU TIMES, VOLUME LVI, ISSUE 5588, 28 FEBRUARY 1931, PAGE 2 an 'S. Mattar' was part of a team who retained a bowling title.
Did 'S. Mattar' have a shop of his own? Or was this watch part of a family business? At this stage that is uncertain.
While the notion of a watch which can wind itself 'better than you can' may seem somewhat insulting at first, you cannot deny the convenience! There have been references to self winding watches dating back to the 1770s- wrist watches had this innovation from the late 1920s.
Given the uncertainty around the business, the date for this cinema slide is very approximate.
Cinema advertising slides promoted products, services, events and government messages- but advertising situations vacant is a much rarer sub-section of slides.
K. Hager and Co. Ltd made clothing- with a 1958 newspaper ad for new staff suggesting they specialised in shirts and blouses. At the time the company boasted fifty staff on the payroll in their Levin-based factory.
An online records search suggest that this company was established in 1956 and deregistered in 1993.
Te Papa has a collection of advertisements by K. Hager and Co. showing the latest 1970s styles. The firm doesn't exist anymore but they sure knew how to advertise to the flower power generation! You can see these ads by following this link. https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/agent/31790
There is some uncertainty about the location of this business- but we do know something about 'S.Mattar'. Kete records show an 'S. Mattar' trading on Main Street as a draper in 1930 (in 1932 identified as the 'Kosy Cash Drapery'). 1937 saw him selling golfing supplies on Foxton's Main Street. In 1945 an 'S. Matter' was trading as a hairdresser alongside tobacconist 'L. Matter' on Foxton's Main Street (near the intersection with Whyte Street).
By 1950 'L. Matter' was carrying on business as a hairdresser and tobacconist alone. In the MANAWATU TIMES, VOLUME LVI, ISSUE 5588, 28 FEBRUARY 1931, PAGE 2 an 'S. Mattar' was part of a team who retained a bowling title. Did 'S. Mattar' have a shop of his own? Or was he part of a broader family business?
This is one of multiple slides from this business searchable on Kete. This one advertises Gillette razors. The 'Blue Blade' razor was introduced in the early 1930s- however this slide looks to be a lot later than this. The date is only a vague estimation on this one!