By Sandi Black, Archivist.
The Whanganui Regional Museum is lucky to have bound copies of the Wanganui Chronicle newspaper in our collection going back to 1856. I have been carrying out some research in these papers for September 1971, and I don’t know what Split Enz were thinking but I’m definitely seeing some recurrences…
The edition produced on September 1st 42 years ago features an article with an opening paragraph that may well sound familiar to current readers: “Wanganui City Ratepayers will be unable to avoid the financial crunch which is going to come eventually when they have to face up to the tremendous cost of providing a sewage-disposal scheme, not only to meet the immediate needs of the city but to provide for its requirements in the foreseeable future”. There is no mention of a certain odour that we occasionally notice waft over the town these days, but there is much discussion throughout the month on the need for an upgraded plant and what the associated costs and impacts will be.
September 1971 also saw the build-up towards local body elections. The newspapers feature many articles and ads on those who are standing for Council or Mayoralty, updates on who is running and who has withdrawn, and what their standpoints and values are.
Recently we have seen articles in the newspaper on local healthcare issues, including the needs of dialysis patients, and 28 September 1971 saw a feature article on a Wanganui woman who was the recipient of a new dialysis machine. She had spent the previous 12 weeks in Christchurch learning how to use the $4,000 machine (over $52,000 in 2013) and had recently returned home with the machine which was set-up in her bedroom and had enabled her to live a much fuller life than she had previously been capable of.
The newspapers are filled with articles on local interests and personalities, and global events and conflicts, but of course some things do change. The rise in cost of the dialysis machine is one of many things that have grown in price in the last four decades. Prices advertised for a few items were: Milo 14oz (400gm) $0.45, Johnsons Baby Powder $0.49, 3lb self-raising flour $0.29, ½ gallon of ice cream $0.79, and 25lbs potatoes $1.75.
