Post researched and written by David Murray, Archivist Cookie Bear is back! Many were disappointed when, in April last year, Griffin’s announced he would no longer feature on Chockie Chippie and Hundreds & Thousands biscuit wrappers. Last week the company posted on social media: ‘We heard you, New Zealand. Thank you for sharing your stories, […]

Blog post researched and written by Kari Wilson-Allan, Collections Assistant – Archives Content warning: this blog post includes quotes of homophobic statements. Reader discretion is advised. It is also acknowledged that there are a multitude of gay communities, and other communities situated around sexuality and gender. However, during the era discussed in this post, the […]

Post researched and written by General Assistant Gini Jory Radical writers are often thought of as a cornerstone of New Zealand literature. Whether it be poetry, short stories, novels, commentaries or screenplays, these writers have cried out against the status quo, speaking out on issues such as racism, social injustice and numerous other political concerns. […]

Post researched and written by Curator of Photographs Anna Petersen The Geoff Adams collection of slides, prints and negatives in the Hocken Photographs Collection stand out for their colourful, rather racy nature.  Predominantly portraits of actors, artists, singers, TV broadcasters, dancers and sportsmen, they were all taken in London during the mid-1960s and tell of […]

Post researched and written by Nick Austin. Nick is a General Assistant at the Hocken. He is also a practicing artist. I spent my Easter break delving into a stack of issues of the Listener (ranging between 1987 – 1990) found in the garage during a lockdown tidy up. With the sudden closure of Bauer […]

Post researched and written by David Murray, Archivist One of the cutest Christmas messages in the Hocken Collections is found on a postcard in the papers of Dunedin poet and editor Charles Brasch. The front of the postcard shows the picturesque St John’s Anglican Church, Waikouaiti. The message on the reverse reads: Mr Father Christmas […]

Blog post researched and written by Emma Scott, Hocken Collections Assistant. Two weeks ago we were kindly donated “The Home Circle: an Instructive & Entertaining Magazine for the Family  & Fireside”. This was the first time any of the Publications Collections Assistants had seen this particular periodical before, so it was a very special discovery. […]

Post researched and written by Emma Scott, Collections Assistant – Publications Are you a machine knitter, cat fancier, Ruritanian folk dancer, Chrysler restorer, lace maker, ship wreck welfare specialist or antique bottle collector? If so, then you will be interested in some of the  approximately 3145 club and society periodicals located in the Hocken Journals […]

Post prepared by Jacinta Beckwith, Kaitiaki Mātauranga Māori  Each of us is an epitome of the past, a compendium of evidence from which the labours of the comparative anatomist have reconstructed the wonderful story of human evolution. We are ourselves the past in the present.                                                            H.D. Skinner, The Past and the Present This year’s inaugural […]

Post by Kari Wilson-Allan, Library Assistant – Reference Papers Past is undoubtedly a valuable and convenient resource for historical research.  It is easy, however, in using it, to overlook other avenues of journalistic endeavour. While working on a response to a recent reference enquiry, I came across a reel of microfilm in the stack containing […]