1938 13

Written By: - Date published: 8:05 am, August 11th, 2013 - 5 comments
Categories: 1938 - Tags:

A Sunday feature – each week a random section scanned from a copy of The Standard, September 15th, 1938. Find out more here.

1938-rail-cars

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5 comments on “1938 13 ”

  1. Pasupial 1

    Labour acting to develop our rail infrastructure, while National looks to flog it off to as quickly as possible regardless of the consequences to the nation… Are you sure this article dates from 1938 and not 2008?

  2. mac1 2

    Some things don’t change. As you say, Pasupial, with selling off assets. Also, though, consider the advertisement for Keans jeans and overalls. In the Fifties, as a lad I wanted a pair of these new style jeans which my father in particular resisted. I remember him saying that denim was what working men wore to labour in and was not at all ‘dressy’.

    My point here is that some smart manufacturer and/or retailer together with the fashion industry made cheap, hardwearing material into what can be a very expensive ‘designer’ cloth where the ticket is well and truly clipped down the production/retail line by everyone except the worker who sewed the garment in the first place. That hasn’t changed either.

  3. millsy 3

    How ironic then, that after coming into power in 1972, from what I read, Labour cancelled an order for about 14-odd rail cars of the “Silver Fern” variety, that the previous government had made.

    Had those rail cars been delivered, passenger rail in NZ would not have been in the shocking state as it is today, with KiwiRail not having an ounce of commitment towards passenger trains in this country.

    • Greywarbler 3.1

      millsy
      Did you read what the situation was then for the country as far as balancing the budget went? No one would have foreseen then that such drastic purges were going to be applied to the economy. Did they think they were being careful rather than just stupid and contradictory to National initiative? Perhaps they should have used organic chicken entrails for a better vision.

  4. Rogue Trooper 4

    somebody say railcars ? ; poetry in syncopated motion.