FERRYMEAD POST & TELEGRAPH SOCIETY.
A VISIT TO THE SOCIETY’S POST OFFICE AND DISPLAY.
GENERAL. The Society was formed
in 1977 to preserve all facets of Postal, Banking and
Communications history in New Zealand. The Postal service
goes back to the early days of settlement in NZ and
the Savings Bank was formed in 1867.
On the 1st January 1881 the Postal Service and
Bank amalgamated with the Electric Telegraph Department
to form the Post & Telegraph Department. On 1st
April 1959 the named was changed to the New Zealand
Post Office.
On the 1st April 1987 the service was divided
into three State Owned Enterprises, New Zealand Post,
Postbank and Telecom.
 The
Post Office Society is based in an early dwelling built
in 1876. This house was originally in Durham Street
central Christchurch where it was used by the Justice
Department. It has been extended and the front
redesigned to replicate a small country Post Office
of the early 1900’s. The Hanmer Springs Post
Office building bears a similar frontage. In the early
1900’s, many P.O buildings also served as the
Postmaster’s residence but often small P.O’s
were in shops and such, even hotels.
PUBLIC FOYER. This
area displays public notices that were displayed for
other Government Departments and also has a display
of Savings Bank Books, money boxes and P.O. advertising
etc. The office has official status as a New
Zealand Post Agency. The Post Office sells stamps,
envelopes, stationery, postcards and collector’s
items. A large range of commemorative covers, used
stamps and other memorabilia are available.
Letters may be posted here and all mail is franked
with the distinctive Ferrymead Postmark. It is
believed that this Postmark was the first to indicate
the New Millennium.
Across the counter will be seen the staff area
where mail is sorted either to other areas or into
Private Boxes. A Lamson Wire for sending telegrams
out to the Telegraph operating room will be noted above
the counter. Telegrams can still be sent
from here but delivery is now by letter post owing
to a shortage of Telegram Delivery Boys with bicycles.
POSTMASTER’S OFFICE. This
room, although furnished as an office, has been used
to display many of the staff photographs the Society
holds. Many visitors find a friend or relative amongst
the numerous photographs. Note that there is
a door between the Postmaster’s Office and the
Public Foyer. Many country Postmaster’s
also undertook work for the Registrar of Births, Deaths
and Marriages. Marriages were conducted by the
P.M. in his office but as a wedding is a public ceremony,
then this door was to remain open during the marriage
service.
MANUAL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. These “magneto” switchboards,
staffed by operators, were used in many small towns
with some not being phased out until the 1980’s. This
exchange consists of three “Subscribers” and
one “Toll” position. Each “Subs” position
has one hundred lines making a total of 300 lines. Great
use of “party-lines” as widely used in
rural areas, can increase this capacity easily up to
600 connections or more. If there is more than
one phone on a line then each number is allocated a
letter as a suffix. This letter is then rung as Morse
code and although all phones on the line ring, only
the person whose code is rung answers. (Although the
rest can “listen in”) Many stories
exist of the secret goings-on with party-lines.
HALL OF PHONES. Over
200 telephones are displayed in this area, dating from
the original Bell/Blake phones through to the early
model cell phones. Others models include large Ericsson
Wall and Desk phones from around 1900, “Candlestick” phones
and early automatic dial and the more modern Push-button
phone. Although there were hundreds of different phones
manufactured, the Post Office had a policy of standardisation,
so many models remained standard for over 20 years.
Some of the early Ericsson magneto wall-phones were
in service in country houses for over 50 years and
even then were only removed when the area changed over
to Automatic.
WESTERN ELECTRIC 7A MACHINE SWITCHING SYSTEM.
(ROTARY).
This model of Automatic Exchange was the backbone
of Automatic Switching in New Zealand from 1920 until
the early 1950’s, from when most new installations
were of the British Post Office “Step by Step” or
Strowger system. The first Rotary Exchange cut-over
in Masterton on 31 May 1919 and the last was removed
from service in 1985. The Oamaru Exchange ran from
1922 until late 1984, a period of over 60 years. This
system was first produced with a reversed numbered
dial and as a consequence NZ was the only country to
retain this dial as standard This working model can
be switched on so that visitors can make calls from
demonstration phones and watch the calls go through.
TELEGRAPH OPERATING ROOM. This area
displays all forms of telegraph communication from
the early Morse Key and Sounder through to the latest
Teleprinters. The first Telegraph line in NZ opened
on 1st July 1862 between Christchurch and Lyttelton
with an intermediate station at Heathcote (known as
The Valley) One of the original Varley Morse keys used
on this line is on display. Most of the Morse
and Teleprinter circuits are connected so visitors
can try their hand at sending Morse code. Test
Equipment and a Telegraph Test Board complete the display.
PABX ROOM. On display are several
types of small Automatic Exchanges used in offices
etc. Although these are small they still use the same
type of equipment used in the large public exchanges. Included
in the display are examples of the “Step by Step” type
of system developed for the British Post Office in
the 1930’s and used throughout NZ until the introduction
of the “Crossbar” system in the mid 1970’s.
Other examples include an earlier type of Strowger,
Crossbar and several types of Interphone Systems. All
these systems are “hands on” and calls
can be made between various phones.
LINE YARD. A short
distance from the P.O. is a large Line Shed & store.
Wire, insulators, pole arms & all types of line
hardware are held. The Society has three Line Vehicles
restored in the pre-1975 Grey livery. The Society maintains
open wire pole lines around the park and maintains
the internal telephone system and an Octagonal Public
Coin phone outside the Post Office. The line-yard can
be opened on request.
MEMBERSHIP. Membership is open
to anyone with an interest in Postal or Communications
History. Membership is $10 per annum. Members
and families have free access to Ferrymead Heritage
Park. Members are especially sought to open the
Post Office Counter to sell stamps and handle mail.
Presently the Post Office is open Thursdays to Sundays
and Public Holidays. Other opening times can be arranged.
ARCHIVES. Many Telephone Directories
and Historical staff records are held. For a small
donation members can search these records for Genealogical
research.
For further information write:- P.O. Box 2500,
Christchurch, NZ. Ph. 384 1876. After Hours.
Ph. Ron Kay 359 6769. Web
site http://ptsociety.no-ip.org/
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