New Zealand Memories Issue 145

APPETISER
“Ladies, a Plate”
Max Cryer is welcomed back with his entertaining article
Old Time Dance Nights. Turn to page 38.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection 1269-B741-2
1

EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
New Plymouth chemist Alfred Sykes knew no bounds when it came to the
manufacturing of pharmaceutical, veterinary and household products from
1893. In the brilliant article supplied by Puke Ariki, it is evident that cures,
claiming relief from numerous common ailments of the day, abounded from
the New Plymouth premises. Concoctions were not restricted to medicines
and salves for human maladies alone; marketing encompassed animal drenches
and unrelated pharmacy items such as Fly Cemetery Sticky Fly Papers and Sykes’s
Herb Beer Extract “with a creamy head like an English Ale”. An intriguing read.
Max Cryer can be relied upon to have a musically related theme up his sleeve. In this issue Max delves into the subject
of the Saturday night dances, where the bud of first romance often blossomed into marriage. (A number of nods from
readers at this point I suspect). The entry fee of ‘Ladies a plate’ and a coin from each gentleman was the general rule
of thumb. Participants endeavoured to engage with their preferred partner of the evening when supper was served…
before the last waltz. The photograph of the ‘supper lady’, looking somewhat quizzical in the hall kitchen, is a classic.
Jim Sullivan highlights the sad demise of historic pubs, many dating back to the early gold mining era, in his regional
contribution. Some of these irreplaceable buildings have been saved by tourism – particularly premises on and near
the Central Otago Rail Trail (a wonderful kiwi experience). New Zealanders are being challenged to explore their own
country, and what better time than now!
Motoring, aviation, nursing, farming and holidays are covered in various forms in this issue. While I can’t thank
everyone personally in this letter, I am grateful for your willingness to share these life stories.
As I write this message, New Zealand feels like a safe haven in a world full of uncertainty. We are blessed to live in such
a beautiful country.
Wendy Rhodes,
Editor
Subscribe and Save!
For just $79 you receive an annual
subscription to New Zealand Memories.
Six superb issues direct to your letterbox.
A G i f t o f D i s t i n c t i o n
Surprise a friend or relative with a gift subscription. We
will even gift wrap the first issue, include a gift card with
your personal message and post it direct.
Freephone: 0800 696 366 or
Freepost: 91641
PO Box 17288
Green Lane, Auckland 1546
Email: admin@memories.co.nz
Visit our website w w w.memories.co.nz for subscriptions and gift ideas.
Order online securely today and pay via internet banking, cheque or credit card.
2

CONTENTS
Editor
Wendy Rhodes
Graphic Design
Icon Design
Administration
David Rhodes
Distributed by
Ovato
Subscriptions & Enquiries
Phone tollfree: 0800 696 366
Mail: Freepost 91641,
PO Box 17288, Green Lane, Auckland 1546
email: admin@memories.co.nz
www.memories.co.nz
Annual Subscription $79 for six issues
(Price includes postage within NZ)
For overseas postage:
Add $59.00 for Australia
Add $89.00 for Rest of the World
Contributors
Air Force Museum of New Zealand
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ
Anderson, Bruce
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection
Avery, Belle Robertson
Brinsdon, Garth
Cape, Peter
Carter, Brendon
Central Hawke’s Bay Settlers Museum
Crook, Jim
Cryer, Max
Doyle, Judith
Exisle Publishing
Hill, David
Jones, Gwyneth
Kennedy, David
Kiwi-Pacific Records International Limited
Ledgerwood, J
Lowe, G
Maniototo Early Settlers’ Museum
Mathers, L
Moss, Bruce
Nelson Provincial Museum
Pickmere, Alan
Robinson, Amy
Shields, Ted
Smith, Barry
Sonius, Rachel
Stewart, Graham
Strong, Roger
Sullivan, Jim
Taranaki Research Centre, Puke Ariki
Taylor, Ivan
Weavers, Saxon
West Coast Recollections
Wickham, Alison
Wilkin Family
Opinions: Expressed by contributors are not
necessarily those of New Zealand Memories.
Accuracy: While every effort has been made to
present accurate information, the publishers take no
responsibility for errors or omissions.
Copyright: All material as presented in
New Zealand Memories is copyright to the publishers
or the individual contributors as credited.
Contents
Physic for Man and Beast 4
Contributed by Rachel Sonius, Puke Ariki.
Pioneer Motoring in the Good Old Days 10
Ivan Taylor pens the account of a 1913 jaunt.
Nursing Training in the 1960s 14
Instruction began for Alison Wickham in July 1968.
Through My Binoculars 20
Holidays at Maraetai by Belle Robertson Avery.
From the Regions: Otago 23
First Across Cook Strait 32
Roger Strong marks the 100th Anniversary of the flight.
Centrefold: Anticipation 36
Opening of Wellington Airport at Rongotai in 1929.
Old Time Dance Nights 38
Max Cryer reflects on the Saturday night dances.
Horotane Valley 44
A slice of rural Canterbury from Ted Shields.
Eyewitness 48
A first-hand, diarised account by Amy Robinson.
Wellsford – The Early Days 54
Bruce Moss recalls his father’s transfer to a small town bank.
From the Regions: Hawke’s Bay 57
Memories of Our Lockdown Language 65
Judith Doyle records recent measures.
Mailbox 66
First Use of Kiwi As Unofficial National Symbol 67
Index and Genealogy List 70
Editor’s Choice: V-J Day 72
The end of World War Two – 15 August 1945.
Cover image:
Children playing outside St Mary’s
Church in Mornington c.1910s.
ISSN 1173-4159
August / September 2020
Courtesy: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Ref: 35-R479
3

FEATURE
Physic for Man and Beast
Rachel Sonius, Taranaki Research Centre, Puke Ariki
Alfred Sykes was a chemist who created a business empire from humble beginnings in New Plymouth.
Three generations of his family worked for decades producing a range of pharmaceutical, veterinary
and household products that were sold throughout Australasia. Medical advances and red tape may
have put an end to their market domination, but after more than 120 years the Sykes name lives on.
4

FEATURE
Alfred Ernest Sykes was born in Australia in
1867. His parents Sidney and Alice had
emigrated from Leeds, and Sidney became
superintendent of the railway workshops in
Melbourne before moving his family to New Zealand
in 1876 to take up a similar role in Hawke’s Bay.
As a teenager in Napier, Sykes was apprenticed to
chemist Alexander Eccles, who sold many of his own
concoctions. Watching these medicines being made –
including Eccles’ Red Gum Syrup for sore throats and
Dental Lotion for “preserving the teeth” – inspired the
young man, who finished his pharmacology studies
in Wellington before opening his own dispensary in
Petone. He was well-known in sporting circles there,
being a keen player for the Epuni Football Club, and
married Catherine Murray from Whanganui in 1891.
Three years later the couple moved to New Plymouth
with their baby son.
Sykes opened his chemist shop in November 1893
on Devon Street. The Taranaki Herald commented on
the “striking appearance” of the store, with its exterior
woodwork painted to look like green and white marble,
black and gold window frames and doors, and salmon
pink wallpaper. Duplicate bottles of all the medicines
were arranged alphabetically so customers could have
them “dispensed at the shortest notice” and the store
even had a “night bell” outside for use in emergencies.
Sykes stocked the usual perfumes, soaps, toothbrushes
and pastes as well as established Victorian remedies
like Llorente’s Laxative Pills and Bile Beans. Taranaki
being a dairying province, he made sure to advertise
veterinary products too, including a cow enema
available for hire “at a nominal fee”.
Not content “to vend merely the medicines of
others”, the following year Sykes began selling his
own creations, including Sykes’ Blood Purifier (to
remove “pimples, blotches and all eruptions from the
skin”) and Sykes’ Dandelion Pills. Top of the list was
Cura Cough, a “never-failing remedy for all affections
of the throat, chest and lungs” that he had invented
in Petone. Just seven months after opening in New
Plymouth, Sykes’ products were being stocked by
agents from Waitara to Wellington and a household
name was born.
Sykes’ Green Ginger cordial bottle
Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (TM2001.265).
Devon Street with Sykes’ chemist shop on the right
(c1914). Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (PHO2014-0189).
5

FEATURE
Over the coming years, Sykes experimented with his own brand of many medicines, from
aspirin to hair restorer. Adverts for Sykes’ Hospital Liniment called it The Athlete’s Friend,
“the best remedy for sprains [and] bruises”. There were Sykes’ Headache Wafers, Chilblain
Paint and Effervescing Saline, as well as Sykes’ Little Liver Pills (for “headaches, dizziness,
biliousness, constipation”) and beauty products like “cocoa-nut” hair oil and face cream. The
chemist also imported exotic raw ingredients like olive oil, then considered purely medicinal,
bottling them under his own name.
Sykes patented his most popular creations, including Ingo toothache cure, “a scientific
remedy for killing nerves in decayed teeth” that promised to save the sufferer an extraction
– an attractive claim at a time when poor teeth were the norm. He used a wildly popular
new detective character to advertise it: “Sherlock Holmes says ‘No man ought to carry a gun
until he is a dead shot, and a dead shot hits the mark… every time.’ You make no random
shot when you buy INGO for toothache; it strikes the nerve immediately”. The chemist also
invented an all-purpose ointment called Zenol “for pimples, burns, cold sores, cuts, boils
[and] sore backs”, The Big C Corn Cure, Sykes’ Nursery Hair Wash that “kills at once all
parasitic life”, and Baby’s Friend mixture to help little ones with “windy spasms”.
Sykes always stressed the safety of his medicines. To reassure customers, it was noted
that anything poisonous in his store was kept in distinctive green bottles “arranged in one
place, which lessens the chance of any mistake being made in making up mixtures”. For all
his concern with safety and wholesomeness, however, some of his cures included narcotic
ingredients that seem shocking today – opium, morphine and chloroform were regularly
mixed into products like cough syrup and pushed as remedies for everything from asthma
to dysentery. But awareness of the dangers of addictive substances was growing, and by the
1930s Cura Cough ads were clear that it contained “no opium or other injurious ingredients”.
Sykes could rest easy knowing that “coughs and toothache, like the poor, are always with
us” as he put it, but that didn’t stop him branching out from pharmaceutical items. By 1900
he was also making fruit syrups and cordials – flavours ranged from lemon squash, raspberry
and pineapple to the more unusual green ginger, sarsaparilla and “Colaka”. With temperance
such a divisive social issue, Sykes was careful to stress the “non-intoxicating” nature of these
beverages which made “an excellent substitute for alcoholic liquors”. One bottle of Sykes’
Herb Beer Extract, containing dandelion and meadowsweet, made “12 gallons of sparkling
botanic beer” with “a creamy head like an English Ale”. Sykes’ company produced household
products too, including Fly Cemetery Sticky Fly Papers, Ballroom Powder which promised “a
surface like glass”, window cleaner and silver polish.
In 1898 Sykes entered the veterinary field and began manufacturing his own drench.
Marketed as suitable for most farm animals, Red Drench (so called because of its distinctive
dark red packets) promised to “cure colds, fevers, inflammation… and mangold sickness”
and quickly became a bestseller. Adverts appealed to “the progressive dairyman”, pointing
out that it cost a mere eight pence to drench one cow which “will put pounds into your
pocket during the ensuing season”. Patented drenching tubes and an Annual (“a handy book
of reference on cow ailments”) followed, along with Sykes’ Antiseptic Animal Ointment,
Udderine for inflamed udders, Animol wound treatment and Creatol to cure stomach worm.
His range also included Sykes’ Animal Colic Remedy, Sykes’ Veterinary Chemical Food and
Sykes’ Embrocation, which claimed to treat an array of maladies around the farm, from sore
throats to broken knees.
It had been a gamble, leaving earnings of £18 a week in Petone to start afresh in Taranaki.
Sykes worked every day of the week, putting in long hours and saving money by using a
Interior of Sykes’ chemist shop (c1903). Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (PHO2007-090).
Sykes’ Cura Cough advertisement from the Hastings Standard, 29 October 1900, Sykes’ Red
Drench box (1930s).
Zenol, Fruit Syrup, Ingo, Big C Corn Cure, Hospital Liniment, Animol, Udderine.
Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (ARC2007-50).
6
Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (PA2004.213).

FEATURE
7

AVIATION
First Across Cook Strait
Roger Strong
The morning of August 25th, 1920 in Christchurch was fine with a brisk northeasterly wind and
Captain Euan Dickson had no doubt spent an anxious night going over in his mind just how he
would make the first attempt to fly across Cook Strait later that day.
Euan Dickson certainly had all of the qualifications that made it possible for him to attempt such
a flight. Not only was he used to taking risks in the air but he had already, as the chief pilot for the Canterbury
Aero Club, made several pioneering flights in the South Island.
Dickson was born in Woodseats – a suburb of Sheffield, England – on March 31st, 1892 to a working class
family. His father Thomas was draper who seems to have suffered from ill health and died relatively early. Euan
served an engineering apprenticeship and was able enough to complete an engineering course at Sheffield
University.
Three men involved with the first aerial crossing of Cook Strait on 25 August 1920.
From left: Euan Dickson (Chief Pilot), C.H. Hewlett (Deputy Chairman), J.E. Moore (Chief Mechanic).
Air Force Museum of New Zealand http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/3.0/nz Ref: 1983-187.17_p2
32

AVIATION
Image from the Keith Logan Caldwell personal album collection.
“Pilots and machines of 85 Squadron at St Omer 1918. X is ‘Mac’ McGregor DFC”. Note SE5a’s censored
radiators.
L-R: Lieutenants A. Cunningham-Reid, M.C McGregor, D.C Inglis, L.T Callaghan (USA), E.W Springs (USA), Baker,
Canning, Daniel, Horn, Carruthers, Randall, Brown, W.H Longton, Dymond, Brewster, Dickson, Cushing, unknown,
Abbott, Ross. Date: 21 June 1918.
Air Force Museum of New Zealand http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/3.0/nz Ref: ALB920382a029
“Flight Sub-Lieutenant Dickson RN 3966 quickly became
an experienced and successful pilot flying what were considered
bombers in that time…”
The engineering firm of A & G Price in Thames, New Zealand seems to have kept good contacts in Britain
over the years and by 1912 they had recruited Euan as a workshop foreman and he started work for Prices at the
beginning of 1913 to organise and run a machine shop.
Aviation in New Zealand was of course very much in its infancy and it’s interesting to think that Euan Dickson
may have acquired a taste for flying at that time. Several well-known aviators had their origins in Thames. He
seems to have lived in one of the boarding houses run for Prices in Thames and to have gathered some affection
for the place and the country. He must also have noted the increasing tensions from the other side of the world
and, after war was declared in July 1914, would have weighed up his options.
In June 1915 Dickson resigned his position with Prices and took a temporary job at a garage in Eltham
apparently awaiting passage back to the UK. Back in Britain he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in July
1916. At that stage of World War I there were two air services – the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval
Air Service – the former part of the Army and the latter part of the Navy. These two were amalgamated into
the Royal Air Force on April 1st, 1918. In general the RNAS training, such as it was at that time, seems to have
been better than the RFC and Euan qualified as a pilot on 12th December, at Cranwell, which in those days
was also a Royal Naval Air Station.
Flight Sub-Lieutenant Dickson RN 3966 quickly became an experienced and successful pilot flying what were
considered bombers in that time – two seater aircraft with an observer. His base for much of the war was near
Dunkirk and he is credited with flying 185 missions between May 1917 and August 1918. He was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross in April 1918 and again in September 1918. The French Croix de Guerre was also
awarded to Dickson in August 1918 in addition to his DFC and he finished the war credited with 14 enemy
aircraft placing him in the ‘ace’ category for pilots. He was shot down several times including once by a member
of Richthoven’s squadron and at the end of the war was just one of three pilots left from his original squadron.
Aviation in New Zealand, as everywhere in the world, benefited enormously from the huge technical
developments the war had encouraged and the incredibly frail and limited aircraft of 1914 had developed into
much more sophisticated machines by war’s end. Machines were capable of flying higher, further and faster than
33

Anticipation
Wellingtonians gather for the imminent opening of Wellington Airport at Rongotai on 16 November 1929.
In the distance is Lyall Bay.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ EP-0756-1/2-G Evening Post Collection
36

37

DIARY
Eyewitness
This first-hand account of the Tarawera Eruption, written by Amy Robinson in
1886, is contributed by her great grandson Barry Smith.
Introduction
Amy Jane Robinson was born on 29 January 1865 in Auckland and her family moved
down to the Rotomahana area. Amy was a twin and, according to family archival
information, a well-known medical fact of the time stated, “That the weaker of a set of
twins could not have children”. As Amy’s twin was a male… well that was it for Amy!
Marriage
James Paterson was sent to Rotorua to recuperate after an illness and it was there that
he and Amy met. James’ first wife had passed away leaving six children. We understand
that Amy, being told of her inability to have children of her own, saw the potential of
a ‘ready made’ family in this marriage. Amy married James Paterson on 24 July 1895
in the Church of St Faith, Rotorua and they moved back to James’ farm at Waikaka in
Southland. Obviously medical science was unreliable… over the next 14 years Amy
gave birth to nine children. Three had Māori middle names, probably as a result of her
interaction with the Māori people around her home whilst she was growing up.
The Eruption
Before June 10, 1886 it was generally believed that Mount Tarawera volcano was extinct. The beautiful Pink
and White Terraces, the silica steps rising out of Lake Rotomahana, were one of New Zealand’s first tourist
attractions. A number of Māori settlements were in the area and Europeans had lived there since the 1840s.
According to later reports, 10 days prior to the eruption a party of tourists and their Māori guides saw a waka
on Lake Tarawera. While the tourists were unperturbed by the sight, the Māori knew that the waka was not one
of theirs. They believed it to be a phantom and an omen of death. Less than a fortnight later, just after midnight
on 10 June 1886, a series of sharp earthquakes began to shake the land around Mount Tarawera. Though the
eruption was short, it was very violent and the consequences were devastating.
The eruption of Mount Tarawera was quite unexpected and the following is 21-year-old Amy’s personal
account of the tragic event. Amy refers to the ‘Hazzard’ Family throughout – the correct spelling is ‘Haszard’.
48
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ. Ref: C-033-002
Above: Amy Jane Paterson photographed
on the occasion of her stepson’s wedding,
5 July 1917. Amy died on 6 September
1950 at Waikaka and is buried in the local
cemetery.
Charles Blomfield painted this impression
of Mt Tarawera eruption from eyewitness
accounts.

DIARY
Sunday 13th June 1886: Awahau
Last Wednesday evening, June 9th, we all went out to tea leaving Ma and Pa alone for the evening. We came
home at 9 o’clock and found Mama reading to Papa, so we listened to the tale for about a quarter of an hour
and then retired to rest, everything outside was very calm, and a beautiful moonlight night, although the later
part of the afternoon was showery.
About half past one in the middle of the night, I awoke in rather a confused state, hearing a rumbling noise,
my first impression was that the chimney was on fire, but as I could see no light I knew it was not that (as my
room is next to the dining room, the only room with a chimney). Then I thought there was a storm coming
from the west, so I waited awhile, and the window and books on the shelf began to clatter and rattle together
just as though a storm was coming on. I got out of bed and drew the curtain to one side, and to my surprise the
moon was shining brightly and everything beautifully calm, so I got into bed again. In a few minutes I heard
someone open the door, I called out “What’s the matter?” So Papa said, “There is an eruption somewhere and
I’m going to see if Mrs. Slevin is awake”. I, hearing eruption mentioned, hopped out of bed, picked up a blanket
and threw it round me and went into the front of the house, found Mama up and dressed, in a great state of
mind; the rumbling noise, louder than thunder, still going on, the house in a trembling all the (time).
The moon having set, so it turned very dark, we found the children were all awakened by the awful noise,
we looked out at the door and an awful but grand site met our gaze. It being very dark, we hardly knew which
direction it came from.
Rotomahana Lake featured in the Illustrated
London News on November 21, 1874,
twelve years before the destruction of the
famed Pink and White Terraces.
Courtesy: G. Lowe
49

EDITOR’S CHOICE
V-J Day
15 August 1945
Seventy-five years ago Imperial Japan surrendered unconditionally to the
Allies, effectively ending World War II. New Zealanders throughout the
country celebrated the end of a long war on V-J Day, a war that claimed the
lives of an estimated 75-million worldwide.
Vic and Edith Anderson photographed in Queen Street, Auckland on V-J Day,
15 August 1945. The 1926 Morris Cowley car horn pictured was the property
of the late Mr F. V. Anderson; today it is treasured by his son Bruce.
Courtesy: B. Anderson
V-J Day celebrations in Nelson City mark the end of the Second World War.
Nelson Provincial Museum Kingsford Collection Ref: 1606 88/6
72