HERITAGE

Wrapped bread became a feature of national life in 1926. Two Christchurch bakeries installed equipment that enabled bread to be automatically wrapped, closed, and wax sealed, so no hands touched the loaf until it made it onto the table. Despite universal adoption elsewhere, it took a while for Christchurch to accept this innovation. Even during the influenza outbreak, one ‘prominent city baker’ and ‘pioneer’ of wrapped bread reported that “no extra wrapped loaves had been sold”.

In January 1933, telephone bells in Christchurch had a “more insistent ring” than those in any other towns in New Zealand. This local innovation came about because of a shipment of new bells that rang quicker than the old ones.

“The idea is that a sluggish ring will excite a sluggish action on the part of the hearer, whereas a sharp, quick, insistent ring will make him hop off his stool and rush to answer the call.”

In 1934, Christchurch Hospital overcame a serious difficulty with an innovative solution. They installed loudspeakers throughout their rambling buildings. “When any particular individual was wanted, the information could be declared from 20 different points so that there could be little chance of the person being missed.”

Loudspeakers were also introduced as a “sometimes embarrassing form of traffic control”. In 1936, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists had their mistakes loudly and publicly pointed out to them ‘with unaccustomed directness’ by an inspector with a loudspeaker mounted on a car.

Christchurch inventor Leon Galli’s 1934 innovation aimed to make motoring safer and driving easier. Should a driver become drowsy and relax, his invention would sound the horn, ring a bell, and “a fan inside the car will blow fresh air on to the driver, and restorative liquid will be sprayed in his face.”

In 1944, a shortage of ‘manpower’ compelled the Tramway Board to train nine women conductors as tram drivers. “In other centres, heavy work on hill routes has prevented the employment of women in this responsible job, but in Christchurch, it is expected that they will prove as competent in their new jobs as they were as conductors.”

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