Heritage et AL

The first of April marks April Fool's Day. There is a long history of practical jokes being played on April 1 in New Zealand. George Reed reported in 1883 that Noah's Ark had been discovered and the story was reprinted in papers around the world, and in 1949 the radio host Phil Shone convinced the people of Auckland that a swarm of wasps were descending . The BBC got into the fun in 1957 with a news item about spaghetti trees . More recently NZ On Screen published a hoax biography of fictional film maker Colin McKenzie . A list of other New Zealand April Fool's hoaxes can be found here . Whilst not a prank or practical joke I thought Aprils Fool's Day provided an appropriate opportunity to present some of the more humorous images in our photograph collections relating to various races staged in New Zealand through the years, plus a photo of a roller skater in a chicken suit. Ref: Halftones Ltd. for the Auckland Weekly News, The chantecler craze, 14 April ...

To celebrate Auckland Cup day at Ellerslie today,  we've  had look through various Heritage and Research collections held at Auckland Libraries to find out some the history around the Auckland Racing Club , the Auckland Cup and Ellerslie racecourse. Ellerslie Horses have raced at Ellerslie since 1857 when Robert Graham hosted a race meeting on his property, on the site which is now Ellerslie Racecourse. The Auckland Racing club then purchased thirty-six hectares of land from Graham in 1872 on which the course is situated. Ref: GB Scott Publications Limited, Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland, New Zealand, 1970s, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 996-1505.

To see off the old year and help usher in the new we thought it would be appropriate to see how the New Year has been celebrated down the years: Ref: P.P. De Loree, Premiers of N.Z. Happy New Year, 1894, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 661-67. Ref: Motor car invasion, Cockle Bay, 1939, 1 January 1939, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 15.