A cherished satchel, kowhai and the river

One morning in 1914, a little boy set off for his first day at Lytton Street School in Feilding. He carried a soft, tan leather schoolbag, carefully sewn, with rivetedon handles and three primer 1 schoolbooks nestled inside. His father Samuel, a bootmaker, had made it especially for him.

Today, 103 years later, this schoolbag of Noel Amadio’s is a cherished heirloom, and features as one of the stories in the newly published Manawatu Journal of History for 2017.

The story of the bag, kept safe all Noel’s life, is merged with the history of the Lytton St school and co-written by his daughter Cushla Scrivens, and Kerry Bethell, a writer on the work of kindergartens and infant teachers.

Scrivens, former editor of the annual journal, tells of the Amadio family, who came to New Zealand from Birmingham in 1879 as government-assisted immigrants. Half-italian Fortunato Antonio (Anthony), a wheelwright, settled his family in Wellington, but died a few years later, leaving a widow and seven children.

His son Sam grew up, married Lucy and became the father of Noel, Tom and Myra.

Noel and his brother Tom would themselves become teachers when they grew up. Myra worked as an IHC teacher and taught music and dance.

One of Noel’s handed-down memories was from 1919, when he and other pupils were given tuberculosis inoculations by Dr Elizabeth Gunn, school medical officer for Whanganui. She ‘‘scratched us on the arm with a three-pronged fork dipped in the vaccine. Each scratch brought up a scab… and for months we wore a metal shield on our arms so we wouldn’t knock the scabs off’’.

Girls were vaccinated high up on the arm ‘‘so that they would later be able to wear short-sleeved ball gowns’’.

Family and regional history begins with memories like these.

The leather schoolbag, a university building, a swimming pool, decorated shop windows – even a flower – these are some of the themes in the pages of the Manawatu Journal of History.

There are eight major articles, two book reviews and a new feature: minibiographies of the contributing writers.

Editor Russell Poole has also extended an invitation to would-be contributors who may have what he terms a ‘‘good strong story’’ to tell.

‘‘There is editorial help if a story is really worth publishing,’’ he says. ‘‘Topics specific to the Manawatu region, with something to say about its history, society, culture etc, are always going to be of interest to our readers. Best of all is if the author can find informants and incorporate some of their words in the finished article.’’

This is Poole’s second year as editor, and he adds: ‘‘Part of the job I like is that we never seem to be short of material, also that we have such a wide range of topics.

‘‘Authors are endlessly resourceful in coming up with aspects of our regional history.’’

This year’s stories seem to flow seamlessly together.

Jill White’s article about recreation on the Manawatu River: Whose river is it anyway? dovetails with Val Mills’ tribute to the vanished Municipal Swimming Baths. Louis Changuion’s lookback at the structural and cosmetic makeover of Massey University’s Sir Geoffrey Peren Building blends with John Moremon’s article about the days when the New Zealand Army based its 1941-44 staff college at Massey, then known as Massey Agricultural College. The then-college principal, Geoffrey Peren, enlisted in the territorial force and formed and commanded a Manawatu Mounted Rifles squadron.

The staff college was a unique wartime institution, but one that today, Moremon points out, is little remembered.

In 1948, Massey Agricultural College sent a letter of thanks to the Manawatu Automobile Association, referring to its service officers as the ‘‘grand men of the road’’.

Sue Forde then leads us, in her own article Grand Men of the Road, through the early decades of the Manawatu AA and the many and varied services it provided to motorists.

Reminding us that kowhai is Maori for ‘‘yellow’’, Marilyn Wightman writes about the establishment of Kowhai Park in Feilding. The Feilding Beautifying Society’s project to make the kowhai the town’s official flower (the first Kowhai Day was held on October 10, 1910) and even one resident’s campaign to have it declared the floral emblem of New Zealand.

Who today remembers late-night shopping in Palmerston North and the magically lit windows of department stores, displaying the creativity of professional window-dressers?

Heather Glasgow, digital photo archivist at the city library’s Ian Matheson archives, presents a photo essay on this theme.

Collinson & Cunninghame, she writes, was famous for its displays: ‘‘Early on, they had installed a dedicated electricity generator to light their windows before the rest of Palmerston North had made the switch from gas.’’

In its 13 previous issues (including an extra, 50th anniversary Massey edition), the Journal of History has managed to feature a different-coloured cover each time.

The 2017 issue introduces yet another shade.

‘‘We go for bold colours because they best show off our beautiful John Bevan Ford cover art and Grant Smith’s elegant design,’’ says Russell Poole.

‘‘While not a colour expert, I would describe this year’s colour as tamarillo. The editorial committee has [now] decided to repeat colours at 10-year intervals.’’