Antiques and Collectables

The Historical Assn visited the basement of a house in Richmond where a chap stores and displays his collections of items all with a connection to the Nelson District which includes outlying towns like Motueka.

Rob Packers started collecting bottles first and then moved onto anything to do with Nelson and he researches the history of the item and the family it might have been connected to.

Rob ran an antique shop for many years so had easy access to estate lots. He sold his business long ago but works three days a week for someone else in an antiques shop.
He buys from auctions and on Trade Me.

The item I have blipped is called a demijohn I believe and it once held cider. It has a little tap on the bottom.

The exciting thing for us is that we researched the company this is advertising when we wrote the Motueka Wharf 100 Years book. The building there burnt down in 1921 so this came from a period between 1916 and 1921. Rob has never seen any other item with NDF ( Nelson District Fruitpackers)  on it.

Conditions were difficult for photos being very dark and artificial light.I have had to use noise reduction to get anything decent. Plus the jar was stuck behind some wooden upright and couldn't be shifted.
One extra from Rob's collection of mousetraps made in Nelson. It is a "4 choker". Imagine catching 4 rats at a time.

A great day out with a picnic lunch at a local park, a visit to a country fair and market and a bit of side road touring on the way home.