Philately is going places with Central Districts expo
Restored mail van feature of show
We will never know how many stamps the post office van carried but we do know it will be outside the Central Districts Stamps, Coins and Postcards Expo on Saturday.
The 1930 Austin was a delivery vehicle for the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department until it was sold into private ownership in 1943.
The van was converted into a farm truck and later left under a large macrocarpa tree at Rangiwahia where it had been partially crushed by fallen branches.
The Austin — or what was left of it — was given to Dennis Milne in 2000. He was going to use it for parts but then decided to restore it and has spent considerable time establishing the vehicle’s provenance. Milne has the original ownership papers.
Saturday will be the 60th Central Districts Stamps, Coins and Postcards Expo. It is part of the Manawatu¯ Philatelic Society’s centenary celebrations.
A highlight of the expo will be the New Zealand Interclub One Frame Competition with 10 societies from Christchurch to Whangārei competing. The Manawatu society will be hoping to repeat its success from 2016.
The five collectors making up the Manawatu entry are Colin Dyer (Upper Silesia), Frank Sharp (New Zealand Chalon Head series), Tony Thackery (appreciation cards), Candice Rawstorn (Zepplin Post), and Peter Tozer (B-24 Liberator).
Also competing are societies from Horowhenua and Kāpiti.
Manawatu Philatelic Society president Colin Dyer says the entries are submitted by New Zealand’s foremost collectors. Stamp collecting is about much more than sticking stamps in an album and there is a strong focus on the stories behind them.
How Granddad got me started stamp collecting, Aboriginal art, the Crown jewels, mushrooms, tomatoes, and New Zealand coal production are among the subjects of other interclub entries.
They will be judged by an expert panel from Wellington. It takes several years to qualify as a judge.
To Dyer’s knowledge, the interclub competition has not been held in Palmerston North before. He expects people from all around the country to attend the expo, part of a stamps, coins and postcards convention.
Milne’s van features on a stamp the Manawatu¯ Philatelic Society commissioned for its centenary. The stamp and first-day cover will be on sale for the first time at the expo.
There will be 45 sales tables, 11 dealers, giveaway packs for juniors stamp collectors, appraisals of collections, and a lucky prize draw.
Milne says the restored Austin is too good to stay in his shed and he and his wife Judy have taken it to the South Island three times and once to Auckland.
“It lights people’s faces up — their smiles, which is part of the reason why I do it.”
It does about 65km/h and is started not with a key but by switching on the ignition. A nod to modernity is the rear vision camera.
Milne, who lives at Mt Stewart, has played around with old cars since he was at school. As a teenager, he built himself a Morris 8 Special.
Recovery of the Austin was assisted with a chainsaw and tractor. Rotten and fragile wooden cab pieces were carefully extracted and set aside.