$100 WINNING LETTER

Wow, Woman’s Weekly, you’re 85! I remember my first look at the Weekly was in 1945 when I pointed to the photograph of my baby brother on page eight of the May 10, 1945 issue. Readers were invited to send in photos of children born after their fathers returned from overseas service.

During my primary school years, I enjoyed the Pixie Pages and it was a great thrill to receive a five shilling postal note in the mail when I had a little verse printed.

In the ‘50s, the Weekly had a Teenagers page and it was a ten shilling postal note if a verse was published!

After I married, my mum would pass on her copy of the Weekly to me and the recipe pages became my focus as I practised cooking a new recipe each week – which is still my challenge today. What excitement when I won a deep fryer in a competition judged by Tui Flower – and I donned my mum’s frilliest apron for the photoshoot!

When I became a mother, I enjoyed writing to the letters page and Over the Teacups, and as a nana, my grandchildren are my favourite topic with their quirky sayings. Being former food editor Annabelle White’s “Gourmet Granny” had my grandkids taking the Weekly to school for show and tell, and what an honour it was to take part in your 80th birthday celebrations at the Farmers store in Hamilton.

Keep up your inspiring stories of New Zealanders who have beaten the odds. Green goddess Wendyl’s retro recipes bring back memories of what our mothers dished up – some we loved, but if we didn’t, we still had to clear our plates. To all the dedicated columnists who write their articles each week, thank you for keeping us, your readers, always looking forward to next week’s edition of our favourite magazine. Fay Dwyer, Hamilton