I made some lifetime friends when I was at Napier’s Tamatea High School in the late 1970s. I caught up with one of them a week or two back and had a bit of a chat about those days, a time when ‘the word’ was ‘Grease’ and few knew that Becker and Fagan had named … More ‘Half of you will pass’: my old high school’s pre-exam morale booster
I’ve been playing with some of the photos I took during the Art Deco Weekend, Napier, a few months back. Here’s one of them. It got me thinking of a story. You? Copyright © Matthew Wright 2014
It must be at least seventy years since car radiator caps disappeared inside bonnets. Followed, soon after, by the ornaments that once bedecked them. Safety regulations seem to have done for the last of them these days. But you can still find a few, if you loiter around a vintage car parade, camera in hand, … More The art of deco hood ornaments
I made the pilgrimage this year to my home town of Napier, New Zealand – and its annual Art Deco weekend – three or four days of Golden Age Hollywood style partying with air shows, vintage car parades and more. It’s all in good fun. And for me, the centrepiece was the car parade with … More Motoring magic from the wonder age of deco – part 1
Late every summer, thousands of people pour into Napier, New Zealand, to dress up in golden age Hollywood costume, cavort about in vintage cars, and generally have a good time. The annual ‘Art Deco Weekend’ has been a fixture on the city calendar for more than a quarter of a century. It’s the latest re-invention … More Sun, style and heat in the ‘Art Deco Capital of the World’
My home town – Napier, New Zealand – styles itself ‘Art Deco capital of the world’ with reason. Between 1932 and about 1940 the central city was completely rebuilt to the latest styles – Chicago school, Spanish Mission, Streamline Moderne and more – after a devastating earthquake. It was a unique heritage. Unfortunately most of … More It’s Golden Age Hollywood party time!
I promised a few surprise posts this year. Here’s the first. A couple of years ago the City Council in Napier, New Zealand, decided to spend about $1.1 million on two old Thomas school-buses, which they had customised in California for that quintessential Flash Gordon look – specifically, streamline moderne. It was intended to match … More Where old American school-buses go to die
While on holiday in Napier, New Zealand the other week, I stumbled across this. An Airstream trailer turned into a coffee cart for the Silver Bullet Coffee Company. The cart opened in November 2013, and although the caravan it’s built around dates to 1976, it’s an Airstream – which makes it pure mid-century. Post-deco, but definitely … More Coffee… from the age of dieselpunk
I thought I would conclude my trilogy of deco posts with a few more glimpses of my home town – Napier, New Zealand. The place has spectacularly reinvented itself since its discovery, about 25 years ago, of its own modernist heritage. Today it styles itself the ‘art deco capital of the world’. And in many … More More wonderful architecture from the art deco capital of the world
I’ve spent a few days prowling the downtown streets of my home town, Napier, New Zealand, capturing its art deco heritage. I’ve been writing on it for years – Random House produced my first book on the history of this city, back in 1997. The downtown collection of modernist buildings emerged from a devastating earthquake … More Enjoying the art deco fantasy of Napier, New Zealand
Matthew Wright 
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