Heritage et AL

To get into the spirit of the season we currently have a Christmas related display in the Special Collections reading room on the 2nd floor of the Central Library. On display until the end of December are two pop-up Christmas books by Robert Sabuda. Robert Sabuda has interpreted many classic children’s books including Peter Pan, the Wizard of Oz and the Little Mermaid in his renowned intricate pop-up style. First is his advent calendar-style alphabet, where small objects like a ribbon-decorated gift spring from behind paper ‘doors’. Robert Sabuda.  The Christmas alphabet.  New York : Orchard, 1994.

Continuing on in a similar vein as our previous summer holiday themed posts, we thought we would focus on another common experience from the New Zealand summer holidays: traffic jams. Hopefully you've managed to avoid them over the past few weeks, but if not this selection of images will help add some levity to your memory if you did encounter one. As these photographs show, traffic jams over the summer holidays are not just a recently occurring phenomenon. Ref: Traffic jam on Upper Symonds Street, 1920s, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 589-58.

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.

The few weeks over Christmas and New Year are a popular time for many in New Zealand to take some time off from work and, weather permitting, enjoy some fun in the sun. So whether you’re working through the summer holidays, at the bach or even in a different hemisphere we hope you enjoy this collection of images of New Zealand summer holidays. Last week we wrote about the interesting story behind the Riverhead Dump photograph collection . All of the images in this post are also from that collection.  Ref: Sports car, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1055-136. Ref: Auckland Harbour Bridge, 1960s, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1055-109.

It is becoming a bit of a tradition at this time of the year on Heritage et AL for us to highlight some of the Christmassy items and images we have in our heritage collections at Auckland Libraries. Ref: W. Reid for the Auckland Weekly News, A merry Christmas, 15 December 1904, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19041215-1-1.