It all starts because Napier claims to be the Art Deco capital of the world. Following a destructive earthquake and fire in 1931 the town was handsomely rebuilt in 1932 in the contemporary style, loosely termed Art Deco a term used to described constructions from the sinuous decoration of the 1900’s Paris Metro to the 1930’s rectangular chrome and concrete styles. This one of the most celebrated Napier buildings:
Other less pretentious commercial buildings followed the style:
Last weekend was the annual Art Deco weekend with hundreds parading in a wide variety of costumes, plays, receptions, and a parade of at least 200 vintage cars. This 1920 Silver Ghost Rolls Royce is straight out of the pages of Dornford Yates ‘Berry and Co.’.
I went to quite a few public events wearing my striped blazer and a borrowed straw boater with a borrowed stick and found that I fitted in well though I do not go back quite that far. As for example:
They were complete strangers. I hasten to add that the picture was taken by the husband of one of the ladies.
A feature on Sunday was the `Gatsby’ picnic. This was held in the Marine Gardens where several dozen gazebos (a term little used in England since the 18th C – or am I behind the times with a revival?) but a handy word in NZ to describe a temporary shelter or tent as well as a summer-house housed period picnics such as :
Warm evenings meant that good-nature crowds continued to circulate. Here is the illuminated fountain.
So now the weekend is over and it has all been put away until next year after a few days when lots of people, many of them older, were able to enjoy a genuine carnival of dressing up and good natured amusement.
My descriptive powers are exhausted.
You are very tastefully turned out alongside those splendid slappers,albeit we may have to take with a pinch of salt your 'story' of strangers and husband taking the photo. The art deco event reminded me of another of my New Zealand reminiscensces of the 1980s; at that time most of the cars on the road were of 1905s/60s vintage and the provincial streets reminded me very much of an average UK town in the 1930s/40s. Things have clearly moved on since then.
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