Club Notes

3rd. John Smeathe.

Napier blue top Plowman
C C ginger beer

Gifford Plowman blue lip
Codd 1898.

AUCTION.
Best prices paid at the auction were:-
$35 for an 1899 Gilberd black glass dumpy
$15 for a George Ellis 5oz Lamont
$9 for a 1915 5oz Napier Plowman crown cap
$11 for an 8oz A.J. Williams Napier Chemist

HASTINGS CORNER

In the N.Z. Gazette of May 1884, details are given of a Trade Mark registration application by George Ellis of Hastings which would in effect have given him the right to emboss bottles with his name and town from that year on. Now for some time this notice in the Gazette had led us to believe that 1884 was the beginning of Ellis’s activities in Hastings, but new information to hand now suggests otherwise. He established the Burton Brewery and aerated water factory in 1881, according to contemporary records, and this fact opens up a number of interesting possibilities.

It means firstly that any embossed George Ellis bottle cannot pre-date 1884, and yet for three years from 1881 to 1884 he was making and selling beers and aerated waters. So what type of bottles was he using during that period? For the beers, a safe assumption would be plain ringseals or quart stones – but as for others try this theory for size.

Last year Mike Wordsworth dug a Hamilton with the words Hawke’s Bay embossed boldyl [boldly] from one end of the bottle to the other in 1″ tall lettering. It baffled all and sundry because it could not with ease be attributed to any known manufacturer in Hawkes Bay around the 1880 period, and it has remined [remained] a mystery up till the present time. I would like to suggest that George Ellis was the user and that the Hawke’s Bay embossing was an interim device used by him for some reason as yet unknown. Such a thing would not have contravened the Trade Marks Act of 1866 and the public would soon get to associate Ellis’s products with the embossing. Also it is likely, if we ever get a label from that period, we would find the name George Ellis featured rather boldly on it as a compensatory measure.

If all this is true we can look forward to finding a whole cluster of new aerated water bottles bearing only the words Hawkes Bay. Just consider what Hastings was like in those days. The first sections were sold in 1873 and the area governed by a road board responsible to the H.B. County Council until 1883, when the tiny village was constituted a town district. In 1886 Hastings formally became a Borough. Now in the middle of all this George Ellis set up a brewery and an aerated water factory. The man’s boldness is to be admired. He must have realised early on though that the scant population of the town alone would not support the venture, hence the need for a wider market, – Hawkes Bay.

Young Tony Smith has carved out a bit of a place for himself in the annals of Hastings bottle history. He is responsible for several important discoveries in the town and I am now able to report yet another. Not a bottle this time, but rather a label. Not just any old label either, but the first decent Newbigin beer or stout label I have been able to match with a specific ringseal. Tony found it under a house in company with several ringseals, most having remnants of the same type og [of] label still attached. Its age would be at least 67 years old as ringseals were phased out in 1914 with the introduction of crown caps. So what can we learn from this?

Firstly, I was a bit concerned that the ringseals were unembossed and must admit to some initial disappointment. But at the same time we must be careful not to read too much into this. It in no way rules out the possibility of embossed Newbigin ringseals turning up. I am slowly gaining evidence that Newbigin was in the habit of using large numbers of unembossed bottles at times, although the reason for this remains a trifle obscure at the moment. When crown cap beers were introduced he used large quantities of unembossed bottles with glass of a beautiful lettuce green colour. And yet at the same time an amber embossed example was in use as well. Also in 1914 aerated waters were being marketed by the firm in ice blue aqua glass crown caps while embossed examples were being used simultaneously. So I hope it will be with the ringseals too – embossed and unembossed types in concurrent use. A possible explanation for some of the above could be as follows.

In Dan Rylands catalogue of 1891 it is stated that the customers name and other details would be embossed free of charge on bottles if the order for any one size exceeded thirty gross. That is 4320 bottles – which is a lot of bottles. It is just possible that the size of Newbigin’s operation in the 1893 – 1914 period did not warrant ordering that many at times. More than likely he quite often obtained what he wanted from local merchants, a gross or two at a time.

SUNSHINE BREWERY,
Wellesley Road,
NAPIER
Ales and Stout
Of Superior Quality GUARANTEED to be FREE FROM ANY ADULTERATION and to be ABSOLUTELY PURE MALT LIQUOR
Invalid Stout.
Recommended by the Medical Faculty.
Our Sunshine Bottled Ale
A SPECIALTY.
Awarded first prize in Ales and Stouts at the Hawke’s Bay A & P Show for the last Nine Years.
The Highest Price given for Malting Barley.
Prime Seed Barley – Specially Selected for Sale.
BARLEY SCREENINGS AND GRAIN FOR SALE.
Highest Price given for Stout and Ale Bottles.
NAPIER BREWERY CO., Ltd.,
Maltsters, Brewers and Bottlers.

E. NEWBIGIN
BURTON BREWERY, HASTINGS.
These beers are admitted to be THE BEST obtainable, and have been awarded First Prize wherever shown.
Highest Awards, First for both ALES AND STOUT at Hawkes Bay and Manawatu A and P. Shows.
WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANT
(Direct Importer),
Bottler, Hop Ale & Aerated Water Manufacturer.
FIRST PRIZE STOCK ALES.
BOTTLED ALES AND STOUT A SPECIALTY.
Sole Agent for J. & J. McConnell’s Celebrated Pot Still Whisky.

These two advertisements from the Hawkes Bay Almanack and Directory of 1917 are from the two main competing breweries of the Province at that time. The “Sunshine” in Napier and Newbigin’s “Burton” in Hastings.

A close study of the fine print reveals that in their efforts to out shine one another both are claiming the same prize-winning distinction for their products, namely, first prize for their ales and stout at previous Hawkes Bay A. and P. Shows. Which is an impossibility really because there could have been only one winner at these annual events.

No explanation is offered but it is interesting to note that of all the early Hawkes Bay breweries only one now remains, and that is Leopard of Hastings, a descendant of the Burton originally owned by George Ellis.

When one tastes the drinking water available in each of the H.B. towns it is not difficult to see why. The quality ranges from swampy in Napier to pure and sweet in Hastings and as it takes good water to make good beer it follows that Hastings drinks must have always had a slight edge over others.

This is backed up by the fact the bottles of early Hastings brewed beers are more widely to be found around Hawkes Bay than their Napier counterparts, if Barrys and Smiths are excluded. These two firms largely involving themselves with the bottling of beverages imported in bulk from outside the province.

I hope that I have got all the answers in there for you. Trust it wasn’t too much of a teaser for you over the holidays. Thanks Steve for your efforts with these crosswords. Requests have come in for some more please.

Drink NEWBIGIN’S Ales and Stout.
Phone 12, Hastings WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANT. AERATED WATER MANUFACTURER.

NEW ADDRESS FOR THE CLUB.
PLEASE NOTE – OUR NEW ADDRESS IS P.O. BOX 1008, NAPIER.

TYERMAN & BROAD.

There was a small note in the town news of The Telegraph Feb 10th 1893 to the effect that the above named people had not been able to get a new shop yet as the one they had must have been lost in a fire. Possibly a new Napier (or Hastings) Chemists firm. Mr Tyerman and Mr Broad were both in business either on their own or with another partner as Chemists.

There is a poser for our Chemist buffs – get your research hats on Ann and Donald and we look forward to hearing what you find out.

ALDRIDGE’S PHARMACY NAPIER. I was reading the 20th October, 1923 Telegraph and saw an advertisement for this Chemist. His shop was opposite the G.P.O. according to the advertisement. Another new Chemist!

WHITE SWAN BREWERY. Telegraph 1873. Advertisement advising the residents of Napier that they will be putting a new pale ale on the market and thank customers for their support over the last three years. G. Swan. I wonder if 1870 was the establishment date for this brewery? Can anyone tell me please ?

NEW ZEALAND DISTILLERY. January 1873 Telegraph. Napier. Advertisement reads. The undersigned have been appointed agents for the above and have now on hand WHISKY & GENEVA. duty is 6/- per gallon being a rebate of 50%.

ROUTLEDGE & KENNEDY & CO. I printed this one for Bruce Baldwin of the Wanaganui [Wangangui] Club to add a little more to his story about the N.Z.D. Co. bottle. I wonder if there is a whisky bottle like the Gin Bruce?

Mr T. H. Gifford of Gifford Plowman & Co. passed away after a long illness 22/10/93 at the age of 34.

HOW ABOUT SOME SNIPPETS FROM OUR READERS? DON’T LEAVE ME TO DO ALL THE READING. I CAN ASSURE YOU IT IS A VERY ABSORBING PAST TIME. Des Harris.

ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST

Carbolized Cherry Toothpaste
For Brushing, Beautifying & Preserving
THE TEETH AND GUMS
[illegible]
WELSMAN & WHITE
Pharmaceutical Chemists
NAPIER

Mike has become the owner of this rare Welsman & White lid.

A. ECCLES CHEMIST
NAPIER & HASTINGS
ECCLES’S COLD CREAM OF ROSES

John Smeath was lucky enough to obtain this specimen of an Eccles Cold Cream of Roses.

WHITE SWAN

Tony provided this neck label from a Napier Swan Brewery bottle.

NEWBIGIN’S DOUBLE STOUT
BURTON BREWERY HASTINGS
BREWED AND BOTTLED IN NEW ZEALAND BY
E. Newbigin
HASTINGS. H.B.
BREWER, BOTTLER, AND WINE and SPIRIT MERCHANT
AERATED WATER MANUFACTURER

BBC TIMARU
THE FRIENDLIEST DRINK IN THE WORLD
XXXX PALE ALE
BREWED BY NEW ZEALAND BREWERIES LTD.
BOTTLED IN NEW ZEALAND BY
BARRY’S BOTTLING CO. LTD.
NAPIER

Tony Smith also provided these two labels from bottles from beers made or bottled locally. The newbigin label is significant for the Hastings area and is referred to by John in his Hastings Corner.

CLUB REPORTS: November Meeting.

At this meeting the Club received an invitation from Trevor Hosking of Taupo to visit his newly finished museum there. Apparently it is a top-line attraction to not only lovers of old bottles but anyone interested in the relics of yesteryear. A number present indicated their desire to go so it was decided to mount an expedition some time early in the new year.

As for the Club dig which was to have been held on a recent weekend this had to be postponed on account of heavy rain making the site inaccessible. The decision was made to have a look at it again after the holidays.

The meeting ended with a quiet auction which saw bidders aroused only when better items were put forward. An American fruit jar fetched $6.00, an A.J. Williams, Chemist, $5.00 and a stone ink $3.00.

COMPETITION RESULTS:

Ringseals: 1st … Mick Wordsworth …Early Black Glass
2nd… Des Harris … Wine Flask

Shear-Lips: 1st …Des Harris … Purple Poison
2nd … Mick Wordsworth …Morrell Ink/Gum
3rd … Tony Smith … Ribbed Ink

Best Acquired Since Last Meeting:
1st equal … Larry Hermansen … Carter’s Cathedral Ink
Dean Templeton … M. A. Ellwinck and Zoon Scnapps
3rd … Tony Smith …Wm. Plowman and Son Napier Stone Crock.

FEEDBACK DEPT.

In the June, 1982 issue of this Mag. we featured two advertisements from the Waipawa Mail of 1888 showing first, Mr. H.J. Baker as the owner of the Union Brewery and some time later Mrs. H.J. Baker in the same capacity. We found ourselves wondering what, if anything, had happened to Mr. Baker.

And now Brian Ronson has solved the puzzle. According to him the Hawkes Bay Herald of 27th May, 1888 reported the death of Henry James Baker aged forty six years – “as the result of a fall off a spirited horse.“

Five days later, on the 1st June, 1888, in the same paper the public was notified that “the business will in future be carried on by Mrs H. J. Baker at the brewery Waipawa.”

HASTINGS CORNER STOP PRESS:

Just to expand further on a couple of points in the foregoing article. Three new interesting discoveries in recent weeks (make that four) have provided me with more items for my collection.

In the discussion on spun-mould top Newbigin Codds I observed that no whole examples of the clear glass version had yet been found. No sooner were the words put to paper than Tony Smith crawled under an old house on the Napier hill and emerged with two of them in the 5oz size. And a day or two later I discovered someone who had a pair of them – a 12oz. and a 5oz.

Also, while on a dig the other day I unearthed something entirely unexpected. An aqua spun-mould top Newbigin Codd in the 5oz. size. This now gives us spun-mould tops in three different colours. Amethyst, clear and aqua. None of them have a maker’s mark in evidence.

For the record there are now thirty three known different Hastings Codds and I expect the final total to go beyond fifty.

In the article mention is also made of a crock owned by Joe McCardell with the mis-spelt word ”Bardon”, featured in the transfer. Mike has just unearthed a similar one. It has a flared top and originates from Stour Ware of Timaru. It thus becomes the first known New Zealand piece of stoneware found so far for a Hastings user.

And so to conclude.

The best acquired item from the National Show?
A light lime green Hastings Plowman syphon. Anyone got a red one? John Tasker.

The advertisement on the left comes from the Waipawa Mail of 2^nd June 1888.

Two and a half years later on the 18th Nov. 1890, the advertisement on the right appeared in the same paper. The question arises then, what happened to Mr Baker? Can anyone help with this and any other information regarding the old Union Brewery

WAIPAWA BREWERY.
The undersigned take this opportunity of thanking his friends for the past support given to the Waipawa Brewery and hopes for a
CONTINUATION OF THEIR FAVORS,
when we will always make it his Business to supply
A First-class Article,
as nothing but the best Malt and Hops which can be procured are used.
In connection with the Brewery, I have lately Built a new
BOTTLING CELLAR,
and can now supply BOTTLED ALE, quality guaranteed, and acknowledged by all to be equal to any Bottled Ale in the market.
H. J. Baker 65

WAIPAWA BREWERY.
The undersigned takes this opportunity of thanking her friends for the past support given to the Waipawa Brewery and hopes for a
CONTINUATION OF THEIR FAVORS,
when it will always be her endeavor to supply
A First-class Article, as nothing but the best Malt and Hops which can be procured are used.
MRS H. J. BAKER. 281

This study of Newbigin’s early crown cap beers is shaping up to be an absorbing thing. It almost appears to me that once the ringseals were superceded by crown caps Newbigin had trouble deciding just which bottle maker to patronize. In 1914-15 apart from the two just described there is evidence that two other types were also in use which were made in brilliant green glass. 1 have found green glass fragments in a 1915 predominantly Newbigin dump of the tops only of several crown caps beers, some applied and some very crudely machine made, which suggests considerable experimentation by Mr. Newbigin to find a suitable container for his brews. The green glass crown caps above should not be confused with the much later duller green specimens used from 1928 onwards and made by U.G.B. of London. I have recently acquired one of these and don’t know of any other.

Now Mr. Newbigin set up business brewing beer in Hastings in 1893 and for the next 40 years seems to have prospered. The variety and types of beer bottles used in that period must run into dozens and yet apart from John Smeath’s dark amber & the two I have there is a shroud of mystery drawn over the whole period. I’m picking that in the course of time some quite interesting discoveries will be made in this field.

Also on the finds table at that meeting was the crude Hastings Plowman crown cap aerated water face dated 1920, which gave the hint, as such bottles do, that it would turn amethyst in the sun. As if ot [to] prove it so, Stuart found one several weeks later so purple that it was unreal. I am wondering whether this particular bottle could have the distinction of being the last in a line of Hawkes Bay bottles to turn amethyst. Does anyone know of any other produced after 1920?

Several days later Mike turned up with a Bates Chemist bottle I’ve not seen before. It had a new panel design and a different maker from all the others. Presumably it comes in the usual seven sizes so I suppose I’ll have to make more room on my chemist shelf. He also bought [brought] me a bottle which till then I had only known by repute. It was the small size Hastings Plowman Codd, undated, and having the unusual feature of being made in absolutely clear glas [glass]. The embossing was different too. Instead of Plowman‘s usual crest or motif there were just the words Plowman & Co. Hastings embossed around the bottom in much the same uninspiring manner as most of Newbigin’s. This new little Codd was flawlessly machine made and must have first come into use in the 1920’s. I am not sure when they were finally discontinued, although two different people I have met have been adamant that they saw rows of full Codd bottles on the shelves of a certain Hastings dairy in 1940. But then these could have belonged to anybody.

INTERESTING SNIPPETS NOTED WHILE SEARCHING OLD PAPERS

NAPIER CHEMIST 1864. R.W.I. CARVER. Business premises situated corner of Hastings and Browning Streets

ROYAL HOTEL DANIEL MUNN PROPRIETOR. Prices of drinks in 1858.
Per bottle. Whiskey 4s. Hollands. 3s 6d. W.I Rum 3s. 6d.
Brandy. 5s. Geneva. small 3s. 6d. large 5s 6. porter & ale 1s. 6d.
Beer 4d per glass.

I can’t say prices were cheap in those days either when you put these against a man’s wages.

SHAKESPEARE BREWERY. October 15th 1858.

Thomas Taylor begs to inform the public of Ahuriri that he will commence brewing from Malt from 1st November next on Shakespeare flat, when he will be prepared to supply publicans and private families with a really good article.

ROBERT NEAL. 1873 Telegraph advertisement.

Robert Neal’s New Zealand Sauce. Similar to Worcestershire.
Robert Neal’s Oriental Pickles.
Robert Neal’s Tomato Sauce.
Robert Neal’s New Zealand Chutney.
Robert Neal’s Currie Paste.
Sold by Principal Merchants and Grocers in the Colony.

Some of us have seen Robert Neal’s New Zealand Sauce bottles, I wonder how many collectors know that there were other products from this firm, and has anyone ever seen any of the other bottles?

Any ideas where the firm was operating from?

MR. G. ELLIS has disposed of his ST AUBYN’S BREWERY HASTINGS, together with his aerated water factory to MR. E. NEWBIGIN of NAPIER. January 31^st, 1893. Telegraph Newspaper Town News.

There is some interesting information for you John, Will help you date some of those Hastings bottles more accurately.