A Poor Joke! A Premonition of What Was Yet to Come.
This photographically produced postcard of Christchurch’s Provincial Government buildings, appearing twisted and warped, was a semi-humorous card sent out at Christmas after... More »
Built with earthquakes in mind – St. Michaels and All the Angels Church c. 1871
The Anglican church of St. Michaels and All the Angels Church at 84 Oxford Terrace stands on the site of... More »
Midday on Manchester Street c.1905
It is midday on the busy intersection of Manchester, High and Lichfield Streets when this photograph was taken from the... More »
Book Barons – the Whitcombe & Tomb’s Story
New Zealand’s largest and most iconic booksellers, publishers and printing company was Whitcombe & Tombs of Christchurch. It was established... More »
The Clarendon Hotel – from town house to public house fit for Royalty
Christchurch’s newest and grandest hotel in the first decade of the 1900s was the Clarendon Hotel situated on the corner... More »
New Zealand’s Most Beautiful Street 1932
In the early days of Christchurch, an open field called the Circus Paddock, was regularly used for touring circuses which... More »
Domestic Maids and the Curse of the Bloody Handprint
This charming advertisement designed in 1913, was printed onto postcards and distributed at the New Zealand High Commission Office in... More »
Quakes Haunt Christchurch Since Settlement Began
The hidden underlying geological issues beneath Christchurch’s swampy plains meant that city’s founders and their surveyors who chose this site... More »
Cinnamon Cures and Cosmetic Concoctions
William Potter Townend owned Townend’s Chemist and Druggist Store in the Crystal Palace Building at 183 Colombo Street. Although Townend’s shop... More »
William H. Harris, Wholesale Tinsmith, 101 Colombo Street, 1898
The neat and narrow, plastered brick building of William Henry Harris, Tinsmith of Christchurch stood at 101 Colombo Street in... More »