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ewsletter for the Point Chevalier Historical Society

o. 17, March 2011 sites.google.com/site/pointchevalierhistory/

TimescÉ|Çà V{xätÄ|xÜ 

I spotted this on Darian’s blog online and he has verykindly given permission to reproduce it here Editor 

See http://longwhitekid.wordpress.com 

Tinkerbell Jelly. Never heard of it? Well, neither have I, ever. Occasionally I have been surprised by the stuff – well-known apparently – that has amazingly escaped me over the years of collecting, but I think I have most of it covered

at this point. A Google search – general and image – turns up almost no references. I love stuff like this, a total

mystery. It makes me wonder. 

Was it the name, a case of bad marketing, with only a toddler level appeal? What kind of business was it, how big,

and how long were they around? What other products did they have, and how did they develop the business? Whatwas the background of the person that started it up and the history of 

their family? The only clue I have by squinting (something I’m very good at) at a very low resolution image of the bottom of the box, is whatappears to be “McClymont Confections, Auckland”. Clearly the productdidn’t last long on the shelves. Did they go bust? Was there a personal

tragedy or untowards event that brought the company down? Maybe

even a corporate takeover that so often happens when they prune prod-ucts that aren’t working so well. Perhaps an offshoot brand of one of the

larger concerns that bought the company and tried to expand, unsuccess-fully? I guess we’ll never know. 

The only thing I’ve turned up is a map dated from the early fifties of Point Chevalier, Auckland, which shows “At around o. 1104, a factorywas built c.1953 by McClymont Confectionery Ltd”. [Published in the

Times, issue 5] It tells us that they were around then, either starting up or 

had become successful enough to build premises not more than ten min-

ute’s drive from the city CBD. This building was demolished some timein the 1990s to build a shopping complex. Perhaps the history of 

Tinkerbell brand died as the last of the bricks came tumbling down.

But if you remember it, any other products they may have had in their line, or even have some information, feel free to pass it along. 

Anyway, the brand is quaint and graphic is very cute, and I wouldn’t have minded it to go with the rest of mycollection of still-full vintage jelly (or jello, if you’re a Yank) packages. Started at a very low price of twelve bucks,

passed in at auction with no bids, I asked the seller to contact me and make an offer, but they never did. Maybe they

had second thoughts about the specialness of this item, just like I did.

Calendar

Meetings2011 (all at Horticultural Centre, 990 Great orth Road, Western Springs)April 28 10.30 am (Speaker: John Fleming on Pt Chevalier Primary School ) 

June 23 10.30 am (AGM) (Speaker: Scott Hamilton on Kendrick Smithyman) August 25 10.30 am (Members time to share. To be included in this, please see the Secretary and get your name put on

the list. 

October 27 10.30 am (Speaker: Dave Simmons –Maori

perspective of local history) 

ovember 24 10.30 am (Speaker: Colin Gallagher onhistory of football in local area)

For whom the Tinkerbell Tolls

by Darian Zam 

ext issue due out May 2011Contact Lisa Truttman (editor) :

19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600,phone (09) 828-8494

or email ptchevalierhistory@gmail.com

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Pt Chevalier Historical Society

Minutes of meeting Thursday 24th February 2011

Auckland Horticultural Council Rooms

Meeting started at 10.30 am. 

Present: 33 peopleApologies: Jan Williams, Laurie Mason, Colleen Snell, Judy Binns

Correspondence:nil

President’s report

Creative artwork project in Pt Chevalier needs our input.

For more information please contact the Pt Chevalier Community Centre on 846-1094 or contact Zoë on 021 1753713, or visit on Facebook at Point Chevalier Art Project 2011. Public meetings to be held at Pt Chevalier Community Centre. 

Our society has reprinted “Pt Chevalier memories”. Of the 30 new copies we have ten left. Contact Alison Turner 

if you want one. 

Reunion of Rutherford High School will be held 25th – 26th March. Contact Margaret O’Connor for more infor-

mation. 

Performance of Gloria (memories of a war bride) at Tarpac in the week of February 28th. 

Thames Heritage festival 12th -13th March. Contact Lisa for more information. 

Gathering of Historical Societies from upper half of North Island to be held in Avondale on August 28th. Contact

Lisa for more information. 

Annual subscriptions are due by 31st March

Guest speaker: Dr Miriam Saphira from the Charlotte Museum

ext meeting: 10.30 am Thursday 28th April, Auckland Horticultural Council Rooms

Guest speaker: John Fleming on the history of the Pt Chevalier Primary SchoolMeeting concluded 11.45am

envelopes did not tend to make the cold, grey day anybrighter. 

“I knew it would come,” said one of the women to thevisitor who arrived a few moments ahead of the post-man. “We saw it in the paper last week.” She tore theenvelope open and scanned the paper with troubled eyes … Just the brief, official notice to vacate, couched in the terms of the Works Committee recommendation.(Z Herald , 5 June 1925)

There are 20 children, the eldest about 12 years, and the youngest nine months old, living in those cheerlesshomes. One family of nine -- father, mother, and sevenchildren -- whose ages range from eleven years to ninemonths, are living in a motor-car packing case and atent containing three beds. There are cracks in theboarding of the shed, and the wind and the rain beat checked on the unboarded canvas of one’s "bed-room”.There is no fireplace, and cooking is done in an oil-drum mounted on a benzine tin just outside the door.The sole furnishing of the living room is a table, an old couch, and a sewing machine with which the mother makes all the clothes for her brood. A tiny square of glass on either side of the shack supplies the light, and an open door and he cracks in the wall give ample ven-tilation. 

In May 1925, Auckland City Council considered areport from the Chief Sanitary Inspector, expressingconcerns as to a set of five families living in tents astheir accommodation, “in Hawea and Walker Roads”

on allotments the families had arranged to purchase bymeans of a small deposit and weekly payments. Thetrouble was, the families couldn’t afford to raise fur-

ther funds to build proper houses, and were barred

from obtaining State loans because, at that stage, their section of Walker Road hadn’t been formed properly,

while Hawea Road had still not been dedicated.. TheCouncil, not wanting to see slum conditions in thehealthy suburb of Pt Chevalier, agreed to give the

families’ three months notice to vacate and removetheir tent village.

Five long, blue envelopes accordingly found their way

to five poor little makeshift homes yesterday, wherethey were delivered to five mothers, each one busy withthe tasks of the morning. The receipt of the long, blue

The tent village down

Walker Road 

by Lisa J Truttman

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Pt Chevalier

Community Art Project

A Mystery Photo Solved!

After some skilful sleuthing by Ian Grace, the site of 

the photo (see last issue) has been determined as 106Western Springs Road, site of a church building origi-

nally built by the Congregational Union Church on asection leased from Auckland City Council between23 October 1915 (when foundation stones were laidby S Walton Smeeton and George Fowlds, which islikely what the photo is about) and 5 December thatyear, when the church opened.

The Methodists bought the church in 1947, purchasedthe site outright from Council in 1967, and sold it in1969 to the Greek Orthodox Community of Auckland.

(Above) A montage of two photos, taken by Bob

Kinnear. The houses on the left and right existed back in October 1915, while the house in the middle is a

later construction.(Right) How the building looks today. Photo also byBob Kinnear.

To replace the fading mural on both sides of the longwall beside Pt Chevalier Community Centre off Huia

Road, a project is underway with Auckland Council

and Creative Communities NZ employing artist ZoëNash. Two public meeting will be held at 9.30 at the

Pt Chevalier Community Centre, on Saturday 19

March and Saturday 30 April, where the public are

welcome to express ideas as to what are the most

significant features in Pt Chevalier.

SEEKIG: Old photographs of the building at 337Pt. Chevalier Road. The building has been a Chiro-

practic Clinic for 38 years (1972)yet was established in1922 as a grocery store/dairy. Anyone that may be able

to help us please contact us. Thank you. 09) 846 2817[Copies of any such photos would be brilliant for the

Times as well! Editor.]

Check your photo albums!