Man Alone

Turkey trot

RIOTOUS STUDENTS

TAKE CHARGE OF THE
TOWN HALL

When 3 o’clock, the time fixed for the commencement of the capping ceremony, arrived there were indications that the function was going to be an extremely lively one. A large number of the public had assembled in the Town Hall and the stage was taken possession of by a band of students dressed up as Maoris.

To the accompaniment of ragtime on the piano they commenced to dance the “turkey trot” and perform hakas. After the babel had continued for some time the Town Clerk announced that the ceremony would take place in the Concert Chamber. Immediately there was an exodus on the part of the public, but the students still continued their dancing and singing in the large hall.

Sir Robert Stout had time to give his address in the Concert Chamber, the doors being closed, the aisles being then packed with standing people. In the galleries there were six young ladies only. When the Chancellor finished his address the gallery doors were opened and the students burst in.

He remonstrated with them for making a noise with their feet, and threatened to adjourn the meeting if they were not quiet. More hubbub ensued, and the meeting was adjourned.

– Evening Post, 26 June 1913

1905 is taken

SONGS THAT SUCCEED

Every year brings forth a new crop of “songs that touch the heart”. The harvest never fails. An American music publisher has given the secret away to an interviewer. Roughly speaking (he said), you can divide popular songs into seven classes as follows:

1. The straight love song, with a girl played up strong.

2. The “mother” song.

3. The song that appeals to patriotism (if you can hash up a medley of national tunes in the chorus accompaniment all the better).

4. The “misunderstanding” song (parted lovers, quarrels between husband and wife, etc.)

5. The piece with a locality refrain (such as ‘She was Bred in Old Kentucky’).

6. The ‘plucky poor’ ballad (including the tenement local colour brand, such as ‘The Sunshine of Paradise Alley’ and ‘Down in Poverty Row’)

7. The ragtime brigade – straight, blended, and un-African.

– Evening Post, Wellington,16 June 1906

Nibble Nook

How would we watch films in the future? Henry Hayward was a cinema pioneer in New Zealand (and uncle of Rudall, director of Rewi's Last Stand). In 1914 he joined forces with the Fuller's company, and together they operated 60 theatres throughout the country.

In 1930, shortly after his competitor Thomas O'Brien opened the Civic in Auckland, Hayward made a prediction about the film-going experience:

“The day will come when the whole of New Zealand theatres will be simultaneously supplied with sight and sound from one central station in Wellington. Every theatre from North Cape to the Bluff will have identical fare, with probably nightly changes supplied like today's radio, to every private home that cares to pay for them. But humanity being gregarious will no doubt continue to gather in theatres.”