"Ever since the milking business has been taken up in the district the work of the school has been hindered and upset. Boys being kept home for days together and frequently not arrived until 11am, a state of affairs quite unknown till the last two and half years. Homework not properly prepared; the invariable excuse being that they are kept up late milking and the feeding the calves." - Mr Lattey (School Master), Whenuakura School, 31 May 1897.
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Pihama Dairy Factory hands (1919-1920), a group of nine factory hands from the Pihama Dairy Factory posed together in front of a building. Feaver Studio, collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth.
Cameron S. Curd - Project Management & Curation Luana Paamu - Lead Editor & Objects Coordinator Bettina Anderson- Lead Researcher Bronwyn Wattrus- Publicity & Administration Support Richard Wotton, Catalogue Photographer
Resene, Hawera Bunnings, Hawera Kelvin Day, Lucy Macfarlane, & Chanelle Carrick - Puke Ariki Phillipa Adam - DairyNZ Jane Paul & Alexandra Porter - Nga Taonga Sound & Vision Red Rock CafĂŠ, Patea Andrea Leadbetter & Julia Berry - TGM Creative Emily Dean - Imperial War Museums, London
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Bettina Anderson, Pukekoblue Science Communication Ltd, Manawatu
Auckland Council Libraries, Puke Ariki, Alexander Turnbull Libraries, Nga Taonga Sound & Vision, Imperial War Museum London, DairyNZ.
This exhibition experience has been funded by the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC)
Although nationally there's about 1 dairy cow for every New Zealander, in South Taranaki, where we've long been famous for our milky ways, it's more like 11 sets of hooves to 1 pair of gumboots. We carry out our milky ways under another Milky Way (which appears as a milky band of starry light in the night sky above us). In Egyptian mythology, the Milky Way was thought to be a pool of cow's milk. The ancient Greeks also felt it had dairy connotations, naming it galactos (meaning milk). Of the nearly 3 million dairy cows that populate the paddocks of the North Island, after the Waikato region (at 28.8%), Taranaki has the second largest number of herds being milked in the country (14.1% or 473,110 cows). South Taranaki takes out the ribbon for the district with by far the most dairy herds (991), as we tend to have smaller herd sizes than elsewhere in the country.
14.1%
of New Zealand’s dairy herds are in Taranaki
170,062ha
of dairy land in Taranaki out of 1,728,702ha nationally
9.7%
2,895,926 cows
of New Zealand’s dairy cows (milking) are in Taranaki
in the North Island
1,965,398 cows in the South Island
9.8%
of National total of dairy land
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Statistics Source: NZ Dairy Statistics 2016-17 (www.dairynz.co.nz)
Ever since cows hitched a shipboard ride to this country just over 200 years ago, their close relationship with our regions people has been the driver for much innovation and invention (and no doubt at times irritation). We've started to tell the 'tail' of local cows, cockies and cheese with these objects sourced from our museum collection and community, but we'd really like your help WR ½QG PRUH WR FRPSOHWH WKH VWRU\ 7KHQ ZH G ORYH WR VKDUH WKLV H[KLELWLRQ RI REMHFWV IXUWKHU D½HOG DQG WRXU LW WR RWKHU locations. 5HDG RQ WR ½QG RXW KRZ \RX FDQ DGG \RXU VWRU\ WR RXU PRR VHXP GLVSOD\
#1
The cows that hitched a shipboard ride across the globe with 7DUDQDNLµV ½UVW (XURSHDQ VHWWOHUV ZRXOG QRW KDYH KDG PXFK LQ WKH way of grass to munch on. They often roamed free over the coastal IHUQODQG IRUDJLQJ IRU DQ\WKLQJ HGLEOH WKH\ FRXOG ½QG Their owners rolled up their sleeves and soon began clearing the EXVK IRU IDUPV 'HVSLWH WKH LG\OOLF VFHQH VKRZQ KHUH FRQ¾LFW was never far beneath the surface as Maori resentment towards (XURSHDQ VHWWOHPHQW DQG ODWHU ODQG FRQ½VFDWLRQ HVFDODWHG tensions into warfare.
William Strutt’s view of Mt Taranaki with a group of Maori seated in cleared farmland with cattle to the right. 1856. Ref: G-695. From the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. |7|
#2 -HQQ\ WKH UHJLRQµV YHU\ ½UVW -HUVH\ FRZ DPEOHG LQWR 7DUDQDNL LQ 6KHµG ZDONHG 250km from Marton in the Rangit i kei with her new owner, Bell Block farmer William Hulke. -HQQ\ ZDV WKH GDXJKWHU RI WKH ½UVW SDLU RI SXUHEUHG -HUVH\V VKLSSHG WR 1HZ =HDODQG LQ WKH V DQG KHU GHVFHQGDQWV KHOSHG 7DUDQDNL EHFRPH WKH ½UVW -HUVH\ SURYLQFH Popular amongst dairy farmers, the Jersey is a champion milk-machine – one of the PRVW HI½FLHQW DW WXUQLQJ JUDVV LQWR PLON IRU LWV ZHLJKW
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Perhaps one of Jenny’s descendants? A Jersey dairy cow in a Taranaki paddock somewhere. 1928-29. Ref: SW1923-1930.04755. From the collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth.
#3 A homemade stool like this one, a tin bucket and a clean pair of hands were what was QHHGHG WR NHHS PLON FKHHVH DQG EXWWHU RQ WKH WDEOHV RI VHOI VXI½FLHQW HDUO\ VHWWOHU families. Looking after the ‘house cow’ was typically the domain of women and children. With their blokes busy off clearing the land, building a fancy shed for the cows was not a high priority, so they were often milked just where they stood in the paddock.
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Milking stool c.1930. Ref: 1988.147.1. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
Nellie with Clover the cow in the Stratford/Taranaki area. c.1890. Ref: 1/1009212-G. From the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
#4
Fresh cheese curds were pressed into this spherical mould to be matured. Making cheese at home was once widespread. The process turned milk, which spoils quickly, into a food which kept well, and could be transported or traded. This cheese mould was used on the Luptons farm in Waverley.
Cheese mould, Ref: 1978.281.1. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea. | 13 |
#5
Co-operative (farmer-run) dairy factories started appearing in South Taranaki around the 1890’s. The nearest factories to Patea were the Kakaramea Co-op (1909) to the north, and the Whenuakura Co-op to the south (1901). Small factories like these sprang up along roadways all over the region, the rule being that no farmer should have to drive more than 8km (5 miles) to deliver their milk or cream to the factory.
Whenuakura Co-op dairy factory sign. Ref: 1980.559.1. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
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#6 This milk tester was used at the nearby Whenuakura Co-op dairy factory to measure the fat content of milk – the basis upon which all dairy farmers are paid. Since the 1890s, herd testers have used the Babcock test to measure milkfat content. Sulfuric acid is added to milk and then spun in a centrifuge (like the one shown here) to separate out the fat. Measuring the fat content prevented dodgy farmers from watering down their milk to get paid for more volume.
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Babcock tester. Ref: TN.0017.47. c.1910. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#7 Milk pasteurisation (heat treatment) is used to kill the bacteria that can cause food poisoning and make milk 'go off'. %DFN LQ WKH QHDUE\ :DYHUOH\ &R 2S ZDV WKH ½UVW IDFWRU\ LQ 1HZ =HDODQG WR WU\ their hand at pasteurising milk. The Department of Health banned the commercial sale of raw (un-pasteurised) milk in the 1950s, but today you can still buy small amounts of raw milk directly from registered farmers.
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New Zealand Department of Health ‘Play safe with pasteurised milk’ poster. 1946. Ref: Eph-D-HEALTH-1946-01. From the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
#8
As the name suggests, separators were used on farms to separate out the cream from the skim milk. The farmer then carted the cream off to the nearest dairy factory and fed the skim milk to a horde of hungry pigs that were typically kept close to the milking shed to dispose of the skimmings. Since the earliest days of dairying, pigs have “hung on the cow’s tail” and formed an important early export trade from the Port of Patea.
Alfa-Laval cream separator. Ref: TN.0017.8 & 1974.505.2. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
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#9 Once separated, the cream then had to be lugged in small cans to a nearby factory for processing. Although using a separator was more work for the farmer, only about 10% of the volume of milk had to be transported to the factory as cream. Crafty farmers were always ‘knocking something up’ to try and make the job of carting stuff about easier –this home-made cream-can barrow being a prime example.
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Cream can wheelbarrow. Ref: TN.0017.72. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#10
Locally-made butter used to be exported in large wooden boxes. Wooden rollers like this were used to imprint an identifying fern leaf pattern on the large slabs of butter before they were packed. Featuring the words “New Zealand�, it clearly branded where in the world this butter had come from.
Butter roller c.1930. Ref: 1978.240.1. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki. Patea.
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#11 As soon as milking machines arrived in the country, Kiwi farmers started tinkering about, trying to improve them. One such farmer was Cyril Gane of Normanby, South Taranaki. In 1903 he built an ingenious mechanism into his version of the machine to reduce the labour associated with handling the milk. He later sold on his patent and his machine went on to be sold around the world.
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Gane Milker advertisement, Page 55, NZ Dairy Exporter, 1 April 1950.
Gane pulsator c.1905. Ref: 1977.196.1. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki. Patea.
#12 (DUO\ GDLU\ VKHGV ZLWK GLUW ¾RRUV DQG OLPLWHG ZDWHU VXSSOLHV ZHUH GLI½FXOW WR FOHDQ Sheds could often double as a chook-house/pigsty and such dirty sheds meant dirty milk. The 1908 Dairy Industry Act introduced shed inspections, but it took until the 1920s, when regular inspections began and new walk-through bails were used, before dairy shed hygiene improved. Of course, more water needed for cleaning meant more wash-down running off into nearby drains and creeks – with the challenges of treating it continuing to this day.
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Fred Nicholas using a milking machine in a ‘besplattered’ cow shed at Duthie Road, near Hawera in 1914. Ref: PAColl-0373-01. From the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
The inside of a scrubbed-up walkthrough milking shed somewhere in Taranaki. Ref: PHO2008-128. From the collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth.
#13 7KH )LUVW :RUOG :DU FUHDWHG GLI½FXOWLHV VRXUFLQJ UHQQHW XVHG LQ FKHHVH PDNLQJ from the other side of the globe. ,Q WKH 1= 5HQQHW &R LQ (OWKDP VHW DERXW SURGXFLQJ WKH ½UVW FRPPHUFLDOO\ viable version of rennet in New Zealand. Today Renco NZ still produces rennet for commercial and domestic use in Eltham, keeping generations of junket (a type of dairy dessert) eaters happy.
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RENCO junket bottle. Ref: TN.0021.25. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#14 During wartime, dairy products were needed to feed the people – both on the home front and the battlefront. New Zealand exporters bolstered the wartime British dairy markets and when demand outstripped supply during the Second World War, our government introduced butter rationing. Each person was limited to just 225g (half a pound) of butter a week forcing the cooks of the era to go in search of fatty alternatives (suet, beef dripping or lard).
Left: “New Zealand offers her best” British First World War butter poster. Ref: Art.IWM PST 13684. From the collection of the Imperial War Museums, United Kingdom. Right: “The Empire’s Strength” British Second World War dairy poster. Ref: Eph-E-TRADE-1940s-01. From the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
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Bottom Left: New Zealand butter ration cards.1949. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#15 The export cheese that Taranaki was famous for used to head offshore packed in 12-sided wooden crates made of white pine (kahikatea). (DFK FUDWH KHOG WZR NJ OE FORWK ZUDSSHG URXQGV RI FKHHVH VHSDUDWHG E\ D wooden veneer. Sometimes cheese workers wrote love notes on the veneers before packing them. Once a reply was received by a Taranaki chap from an English shop owner who had found his ‘cheesy note’ whilst unloading her new stock.
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Cheese crate and model cheese rounds. Ref: 1981.301.1-2. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#16 Cheese factories were once important social hubs in rural areas. ‘Cockies’ (farmers) gossiped as they dropped off their milk/cream to the factory door. Factory staff were close-knit ‘cobbers’ (mates) and together they all mucked in to maintain the local schools, store, and public halls of their tiny communities. A ‘cheese puncher’ was the nickname given to workers who had to punch-down the curd to compress it – for back then cheese making was a very hands-on process.
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Cheese Punchers’ Ball poster. Ref: ARC2008-446. From the collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth
#17 Most farming households in the past made their own butter using a butter churn. Cream and a little salt was placed in the churn and the handle turned until the cream became butter - added to freshly cooked scones this went down a treat! The butter paddles were used to work the butter into blocks.
Butter pats Ref: 1981.277.1-2. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
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Butter churn Ref: 1977.337.1. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#18 Taranaki’s green, pastoral scenes with snowy mountain backdrop have often been used to promote New Zealand’s dairy products to the world – both then and now. Although we’re proud of our farming heritage, for many Kiwis, as agricultural SURGXFWLRQ KDV LQWHQVL½HG DQG LWV LPSDFWV KDYH VWDUWHG WR HURGH RXU RWKHU VRXUFH RI SULGH RXU FOHDQ JUHHQ LPDJH FRQ¾LFWV KDYH DULVHQ SDUWLFXODUO\ DURXQG ZDWHU TXDOLW\
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Butter tourism poster. Ref: Eph-D-DAIRY1940s-01. From the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
#19 +DYH D /,67(1 WR WKLV UHFRUGLQJ GRQH IRU 6ZLVV 5DGLR IRU D WDVWH RI D GD\ LQ WKH OLIH of a 1940s 'Typical NZ Farmer'. In this recording a Taranaki dairy farmer describes the farm setting and operation, the clearing of bush to establish the farm, a typical days work, milking, herd testing, top dressing and dairy factories. "I am a New Zealand dairy farmer from the Taranaki district of New Zealand. My farm is DERXW DFUHV LQ H[WHQW DQG RQ LW , PLON D KHUG RI FRZV UXQ D IHZ GU\ VWRFN DQG NHHS about 30 pigs. My farm is typical of hundreds of small dairy farms scattered through the North Island. New Zealand as you know is predominantly a dairying country" This recording tells of how this typical farmer's day begins, every day, with a hot cup of tea! "My alarm clock goes off at 5 o'clock in the morning. It goes off every morning of course because we milk our cows seven days a week. I get up, put on the electric jug, make a cup of tea, while my boy goes out and brings the cows in from the paddock to the cowshed; he usually runs them up with the dog".
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Sound recording “Typical NZ Farmer�, 1946. Ref: 4811 - the New Zealand Broadcasting Service, mobile recording unit. From the collection of Nga Taonga Sound and Vision.
Teapot. Ref: 1982.050.1 & Cups and saucers. Ref: 1997.074.4-9. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#20
Labour-saving wheeled tractors like this became common in farming once faster models with rubber tyres hit the market in the late 1930s. Tractors allowed farmers to transport loads like stock fodder around the farm more quickly and were used for stumping (removing the remnants of cleared bush). Along with the rise of refrigerated transport of meat and dairy products, tractors helped make the family dairy farm economically viable. McCormick ‘Farmall’ model tractor. c.1947. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
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#21 The Alton Co-operative Dairy Company Limited was formed with 22 suppliers, and the factory opened on November 10, 1909. With the amalgamation of the Alton and +XUOH\YLOOH 'DLU\ &RPSDQLHV LQ WKH GLVWULFW KDG VXSSOLHUV ZLWKLQ D UDGLXV RI ½YH PLOHV IURP WKH IDFWRU\ DQG VXSSOLHG PLOOLRQ OLWUHV RI PLON SHU \HDU 6DOHV of output were balanced between export and local markets. As a consistently high grading factory the company won the New Zealand Dairy Board trophy twice.
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Alton Dairy Co. Cheese Bar, Egmont Street, Patea, shopping bag. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
Alton Dairy Co. Cheese Bar, Egmont Street, Patea, open sign. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
Alton Cheese Bar, Egmont Street, Patea. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#22 Until the 1950s cheddar was the only type of cheese being made in New Zealand. %OXH YHLQ FKHHVH ZDV WULDOOHG DW WKH 1= 5HQQHW &R LQ (OWKDP DQG E\ WKH\ ZHUH making 98 tons of it per annum. $IWHU EOXH YHLQ FDPH WKH LQWURGXFWLRQ RI JUX\HUH DQG GDQER LQ IHWD LQ URPDQR LQ SDUPHVDQ LQ JRXGD LQ DQG HGDP LQ Yum!
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The Great New Zealand Cheese Handbook from New Zealand Cheese Promotions Limited, and New Zealand Cheese: the most versatile and economical food on the house, from the New Zealand Dairy Board. From the Max Sayer Collection, Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
1960s shoppers sampling NZ Rennet Co. Blue Vein cheese at James Smith Ltd, Manners Street, Wellington. Ref: EP/1960/1513-F. From the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
#23 In the 1920s Patea was the largest cheese exporting port in the world, providing over half of the Port of Wellington’s dairy exports. One of the well-known cheese boats shown here, the Inaha, could carry around 2,100 crates (75 tons) of cheese when fully loaded. Today, a few wharf timbers and the empty cheese grading building are all that remain of this once-thriving cog in a global industry.
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Port of Patea Film Still - Loading crates of cheese into the hold of the MV Inaha at the Port of Patea, 1952. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#24 Lamb and calf or ‘pet days’ are an enduring rural school event throughout New Zealand. Children rear and train their lambs and calves at home and then bring them to school for showing and judging. Many schools still run calf clubs, which date back to the 1920s. $V WKLV ½OP QDUUDWRU VWDWHV “It’s good training for them as in a few years they too will be farming...”
Alton School Champion Lamb Junior, Champion Calf Junior, Champion Calf Senior, BurnandTrophy - Champion Senior Pet. Ref: 1996.091.1-4 From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea. | 53 |
Top: Calf Day in Kakaramea. 1955. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea. Bottom: Opaku School Calf Club Sash. 1956. Ref: 1990.097.2-3. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki. Patea.
#25 Milk itself has not changed that much over the years, but its packaging and how we buy it has. 0LONPHQ XVHG WR FDUW ELJ YDWV RI PLON RQ D KRUVH žRDW DQG ½OO WKH KRXVHKROG ELOO\ then along came glass bottles with tokens in the 1950s, followed by cartons in the 1980s. Deregulation of the milk industry and the development of supermarkets in the 1990s eventually signalled the end to our home milk delivery service.
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Milk bottles and milk token. Ref: 1997.041.1-2, 2002.170.1, TN.0017.99. & Holder. Ref: TN.0018.114. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, P atea.
RJ Marsh, the Patea milkman (1948-1955) with son Barrie (9yrs) and Catherine (2 months) at their home at Patea Beach, 1949. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
Tetra Pak. Token. Ref: 1982.099.1 & pint Ref: 2001.053.2. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#26 “Wanna meet up for a milkshake?” The popularity of the milk bar in the 1940s and 50s saw milk turned into a ‘date drink’ for local teens – many of them from the nearby farms that provided the raw product enhancing their romantic antics. Have you a memory of a Patea milk bar that you’d like to share? Please grab a pen and post-it note and tell us about it.
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1950s glass cinema slides advertising various Patea milk bars. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#27
7KLV SRVWHU VKRZV V $OO %ODFN OHJHQG 'RQ ²WKH ERRW³ &ODUNH ° known for his phenomenal goal kicking ability. A world-famous ‘son of dairy farmers’ Don was born in Pihama, South Taranaki in 1933, and later moved to the Waikato with his family. :KHWKHU KH ZDV ´DOZD\V ½Wµ WKDQNV WR GULQNLQJ PLON RU XVLQJ WKH family dairy farm paddock as a gym - the poster does not say.
Rugby and milk poster. Ref: ARC2008-447. From the collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth.
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#28 “The interior of a typical cheese factory of the era was a combination of Hell’s .LWFKHQ WKH VHW IRU D VFLHQFH ½FWLRQ PRYLH DQG D 7XUNLVK EDWKVŠZLWK DGGLWLRQDO items of equipment inevitably devised by Kiwis to overcome a problem or simplify a job through skilled use of a piece of No. 8 wire and length of binder twine.â€? Ray Tinsley Former Taranaki cheese puncher quoted in his book The Cheese Punchers Ball.
Top: L-R Grahame Hamblyn, Colin McGuiness, Noel Hurley, Johnny Jones, Cedric Chadwick, Michael Needham at Kakaramea Factory, 1967. Bottom: L-R Noel Hurley and Rex Gadsby at Kakaramea Factory, 1967.
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Ref: No. 8 fencing wire. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
Images from the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#29 Over the years, South Taranaki has been home to many award-winning cheeses, cheese makers and cheese factories. &KHHVH PDNHU 5XVVHOO 6D\HU PDQDJHU RI WKH 1RUPDQE\ 'DLU\ &R 2S was one local bloke who collected a lot of silverware and rosettes in his quest for the perfect cheese. His Normanby factory was one of the most consistent producers of the era, winning every major trophy, cup and prize going. Top left and top right: Max Sayer Collection. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
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Champion cheesemaker Russell Sayer being interviewed by Peter Sinclair after winning one of his numerous accolades. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
Bottom right: Ref: A letter awarding champion cheesemaker Russell Sayer with the L. H. Johnson Memorial Trophy, From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#30 Modern multi-plant dairy factories use all the components of the milk to make a variety of products, including milk powders. Fonterra’s Whareroa milk plant just up the road from here is one of the largest of its kind. Giant spray driers churn out milk powder, New Zealand's core dairy export for decades, but increasingly milk is being diverted into higher-value products like QXWUDFHXWLFDOV SXUL½HG PLON SURWHLQV
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Anchor skim milk tin. Ref: TN.0021.16. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#31 Farmer Merv Hicks of Eltham was another South Taranaki cow cockie who tinkered around with the status quo and come up with a doozie of an idea. $SSO\LQJ D GROORS RI FRZ SV\FKRORJ\ KH ½JXUHG FRZV GLGQµW OLNH WKH KHUULQJERQH VKHG system as they didn’t have enough personal space), he turned milking around and invented the Turn-Style rotary milking platform. Joy-riding cows soon adapted to walking on and backing off Merv’s slowly rotating platform and his design took off.
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Merv Hicks image courtesy of Hotter Engineering
#32 A milking machine includes teat cups that contact the cow's udder and remove the milk. Most cows have four functional teats, therefore milking machines are designed with four teat cups. These are composed of an inner rubber liner and an outer shell, usually made of metal.
Teat cup assembly. Ref: 2011.023.1. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea. | 69 |
#33 (DFK GDLU\ IDFWRU\ LGHQWL½HG WKHLU FKHHVH RU EXWWHU FUDWHV ZLWK DQ LQGLYLGXDO VWDPS The printing plates were backed with wood and had a handle. A worker rolled the plate over the ink and quickly stamped it onto the crate.
Whenuakura Dairy Factory Interior. Ref: 00-238 From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea. Whenuakura Dairy Co. DirectorsJ.E.Wynne, C.Broughton, H.Phillips, J.Prout. Mr Allen, Miss Power, G.Hurley. Ref: 01-348 From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea. | 71 |
New Zealand Produce NZ Cheddar Cheese Whenuakura No.1237 REG. From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
Whenuakura printing plate. Ref: 2005.059.1 From the collection of Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea.
#34
Milk has found its way into all sort of milky treats over the years. Who doesn’t remember milk bottle lollies – that chewy bottleVKDSHG ½OOHU RI F PL[WXUH EDJV IURP WKH FRUQHU GDLU\" With concerns about dairy-intolerances on the rise, some companies have removed milk from their products. In 2015, milk bottles made by Pascall went ‘Dairy-Free’, however milk–lovers FDQ VWLOO JHW WKHLU PLON\ ½[ IURP WKH 5DLQERZ EUDQG ZKR PDNH theirs with 50 percent NZ milk.
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#35 The Moller Trophy was an award which highlighted the technical skills of making and grading cheese in the dairy industry. Most dairy factories sought to produce quality products and competitions were used to identify who was the best at this. 7KH 1RUPDQE\ EUDQFK ZDV DZDUGHG WKH 0ROOHU 7URSK\ LQ DQG D OHWWHU IURP WKH Board of Directors acknowledges this achievement.
Normanby Dairy Factory 1963. Max Sayer Collection, from Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea. | 75 |
Moller Trophy. Ref: 2016.001.1. & Letter of commendation. Ref: 2016.001.1. From Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea & the Max Sayer Collection.
#36 Taranaki’s rich dairying history has lent its name to some great sayings. A ‘Taranaki salute’ is the shaking off of dung stuck to your gummies with a stomping action; and a ‘Taranaki gate’ is a widely used makeshift gate made from a bit of fence. Dairy farmers can be called ‘cow cockies’ (Aussie slang that derives from ‘cockatoo’ - their name for a small farmer); or ‘gumbooters’ after, well, you know!
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WE NEED YOUR GU
MMIES!
Have you got a pair that comes with a good story of wher e they’ve been or who wore them? Do tell us about it an d the chance to have you might win them on display right here in the ‘m oo-seum’.
Outdoor portrait of eight staff from the Okaiawa Cheese Factory. Three men in the front are seated on cheese barrels which have a stamp that reads "Full Cream Factory Cheese New Zealand Produce Toi Toi Okaiawa, Taranaki". Ariki, New Plymouth.
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Ref: PHO2011-0845 Feaver Studio, Pihama Dairy Factory, Factory Hands (1917), collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth.
Books Richards, George & Jean. And Then There Was One. A History of the Taranaki Dairy Industry. TNL Print & Graphics, 1995. Tinsley, Ray. The Cheese Punchers' Ball. The Lighter Side of NZ Cheese Factories. Agricultural Publishing Associates, 1985. McCloy, Nicola. Dairy Nation - The Story of Dairy Farming in New Zealand. Random House, 2014. Articles Say Cheese! ,VVXH 1= *HRJUDSKLF KWWSV ZZZ Q]JHR FRP VWRULHV VD\ FKHHVH Milk – more than a drink ,VVXH 1= *HRJUDSKLF KWWSV ZZZ Q]JHR FRP VWRULHV PLON PRUH WKDQ a-drink/ The Merchant of Taranaki, Issue 102, 2010. NZ Geographic: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/chew-chong/ Gumboots, Issue 85, 2007. NZ Geographic: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/gumboots/ Websites https://teara.govt.nz https://www.dairynz.co.nz http://www.stuff.co.nz http://www.godairy.co.nz http://pukeariki.com/Learning-Research/Taranaki-Research-Centre/Taranaki-Stories
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Aotea Utanganui is a purpose-built museum that embodies the spirit and energy of the South Taranaki region. The museum plays an active role within our community both today and for the future. A museum that is welcoming and inspirational while striving towards excellence in research, curatorship, preservation and educational engagement. A modern museum with ambitious future plans, prepared to embrace the digital age. We achieve this through: Collaboration, Creativity, Innovation & Flexibility Aotea Utanganui, 127 Egmont Street, P a tea 4520 | 0800 111 323 | museum@stdc.govt.nz