From antiques to furniture a trip to the auctioneers was the offline version of popular internet auction sites. This company also took out paper advertising which can be seen on Kete Horowhenua (https://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/item/9d7d6049-c491-45ac-8c35-3a2b02e6c830) but they were then in a different location and under a different auctioneer. The printed advert was from the 1950s- it is believed that this slide was made later.

Unlike a newspaper which was read by one person at a time, a cinema slide was projected at the end of a film's intermission (later, when intermissions fell out of favour, they were often screened before the film began). The projectionist had to display and remove the slide in a few seconds- otherwise the heat from the projector's lamp would crack the glass!

Becoming a projectionist took around five years of on the job training- and preparing the advertising slides was one of the first jobs a trainee was entrusted with. Just don't crack the slides.....

 Before digital media came to the cinema, adverts were shown using transparent slides. Each slide was loaded into the projector for only a few seconds, otherwise the heat would cause the glass to crack. They were usually shown during the intermission, just as the audience was returning to their seats.

Because these slides were inexpensive to produce, local businesses could afford to take out advertising with a handful of local cinemas.  Having a safari seemed a strange way to advertise a local shop- if a shopper found a live lion on Oxford Street they would have had quite a shock- but it made sense in the cinema. Action and adventure movies were popular (including the 'Tarzan' series) so this ad just added to the escapism. 

Penciled on back – 2/3/71 Woolworths, Oxford St. west. Negative No. 16

Woolworths, west side Oxford St., 1971 1 B&W photo print

Negative No. 16

Farmer’s Trading Co. Ltd. at Queen St. intersection also shown.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”