What a Triumph!

The Edison Triumph Phonograph is a thing of beauty. The case is of fine golden oak and the lettering on the decal swirls and flows across the front. The Triumph was the mid-range machine - sturdy, well built, with a Triple-Spring motor that can run for half an hour. This was unprecedented at the time and ensured good sales. It was first marketed in 1900 and the Triumph range was in production until 1913. The one in our collection is from around 1904.

Thomas Edison, 1847-1931, developed the first phonograph in 1877. He was a prolific inventor who put the profits from the sale of his telegraphy machine into an industrial complex dedicated to the production of his inventions. He is said to have pioneered the assembly-line approach with his business and thus was able to utilise the time and energy of his workers most efficiently.

Whilst it may not fit into your pocket,  it is portable. The wax cylinders it plays ran for two or four minutes, approximately the length of a song. It could be said to be the 1904 equivalent of a boom box. The Edison Triumph is a spectacular example of the sound engineering of its day.


It will be on display when we open to the public on April 30 so make a date to visit us to see this lovely piece.

Opening Day

Kia ora katoa.

We have an Opening Day - it is Saturday April 30 at 11am. All invited!

Dust off your glad-rags and we will look forward to seeing you.

The local community are organising all day celebrations with food stalls and a craft market so there will be heaps to do once the speeches and formal ceremonies are over.

It will be a great day for Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki and the community.

The central focus of our exhibitions are the stories of South Taranaki and the people who live here, so come and celebrate with us on our special day.

Ka kite ano!

What's in a label?

Kia ora.

One of the most important aspects of an exhibition is the labels - these have to be concise, accurate and legible. The choice of font and of font size is as critical as the information that the label displays. Every object in an exhibition will have a label, so what is that label meant to do? The basic facts are a given, such as the title of a work or the object name, the media from which it is made, the name of the maker, the date it was made and who owns it. The last is only relevant if the piece is on loan to your institution. This sort of factual information is contained in what we call an Object Label.

If we want to include a little more about a particular piece - maybe the story behind it's making, or an explanation, then we develop an Extended Object Label, where a sentence or two of description or story allows the museum visitor to understand the relevance of the item to the broader exhibition themes. These are more fun to write, but also immensely more challenging as the sentence or two has to be precise, easy to read and convey the pertinent information in no more than  fifty words, or thereabouts.

There are also Thematic Labels, Segmental Labels and Introductory Labels - more on those next post; time is pressing and  we have hundreds of labels to write.............

ka kite ano!

Happy Reading

Label writing is the type of activity that does not immediately strike a chord with many people but museum folk are different - a label that concisely explains to the visitor what a particular item on display is, and why it is worthy of their attention, is a joy to all who labour over these.

The next few weeks will see the team at Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki writing for all we are worth. Each object on display has to have a label. These are a key interpretive tool and central to how the visitor "reads" the exhibition. In addition there is introductory text that welcomes and offers a brief guide as to what a visitor might expect to see, and thematic labels that sum up the main themes of the exhibition.

Every word is scrutinised to ensure that it is precise and accurate and that the meaning and intent is clear. An editor will check for continuity of style, grammar and spelling, and a fact-checker will make sure that the information is correct. Once the label has passed these gruelling tests the graphic artist lays the text out.

The typeface, the font size, spacing - every aspect is considered, as a label that is difficult to read is almost worse than none at all. A proof copy  allows a final check and then it is off to the printer.

The last stage is installation - labels have to be placed in proximity to the object they describe, and also in the optimal position so that the text is clear to the visitor. Lighting has to be angled so that both the object and the label are clearly visible.

All this so that you, the museum visitor can skim across the label and, at a glance, take in all the pertinent information and move on....... happy reading everyone!

Claiming the past

Kia ora katoa. Happy New Year!

2011 holds so much for Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki - the most exciting event will be our re-opening. The date is not yet confirmed but as soon as it is, you will be informed. We have a huge amount of work to get done before then so no holidays for us!

It has not all been slaving over the computer - we have been out and about photographing the old dairy factories for a "then and now" comparison. Some of the buildings have found new uses as homes, workshops, businesses - panel beating and spray painting seem very popular - but many are empty and crumbling into ruins. There is something rather poignant about a building being taken over by  nature, a force that destroys as it beautifies, the inherent sadness of the picturesque.

This was the Kapuni Branch of the Kaupokonui Co-op Dairy Factory Co. Kaupokonui merged with the T.L. Joll company in 1963 to form Kiwi Co-operative Dairies Ltd.



Meri Kirihimete - back online at last!

Kia ora katoa

Apologies for the long silence - there was definitely a gremlin in the works somewhere as I could not sign in to the blog, hence it was impossible to post.......not the greatest but, the whizzkids in IT have done their thing and here we are back online! Hoorah!

So much has been happening Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki....the funding for the exhibition was secured in October thanks to a generous grant from the South Taranaki District Council so the exhibition development has proceeding apace. Object lists, communication goals, interpretive media - all the jargon is in full use and the museum team is working to capacity and beyond to get the doors open.

We have been fortunate to get all sorts of help from our friends and volunteers - the Machinery Restoration Group has been busy with wire brushes and borer treatment, cleaning off rust and zapping those pesky borer beetles before they can get out and about. A lot of the collection needs restorative work before it can go on display so we have a lot to do.........

This gorgeous little jigger is looking much better now that it has been cleaned. I really like the bright red paint. Imagine the excitement you would have felt if you were five and found this under your Christmas Tree in 1920! Oh happy day!

Meri Kirihimete to you all and best wishes for health and happiness in 2011.

Crossing the Road

Kia ora katoa.

We have had a most exciting time in the last few days because the men from MWH have been completing the traffic calming and crossing place between the museum and the library. While this may not seem terribly exciting to you, it is exciting to us because the project has been stalled for months by bad weather, and we have had partially completed traffic islands overflowing with water and collecting assorted rubbish. but this week the sun has been shining, and the men have been out with their machines......................



and with their hammers and cool Braille bumps so that people with a sight disability can find their way…………………
And after much drilling and gluing, sweeping and sticking, the crossing is complete. I really like this as it will it will slow down the traffic and make it much easier for people to get from the library to the museum safely. Hoorah! Thanks to Kat and her team at MWH – good work!

I have been having problems uploading images; the format has changed and I am struggling to get beyond a grey square with a circular series of dots in the centre..........so until I can figure this out there will be no illustrations on this blog. I do apologise for this.

If you know how to resolve this please let me know via comments, or
email me at: kristelle.plimmer@stdc.govt.nz or  phone the museum on 0064 6 273 8354.

I will keep trying

ka kite ano