I love eggs so much. I guess you could call me an eggthusiast.
Eggs Benedict, boiled, sunnyside up. On a plate or in a cup. I would eat them in a quiche. I would eat them on a beach. I would eat them here or there. I would eat them anywhere.
See. I can’t even talk about them without slipping into Green Eggs and Ham mode (note: I would not eat green eggs. They’re disgusting.)
So imagine my eggcitement to discover that New Zealand has historically been egg over heels in love with the product of chicken menstruation! If you thought eggs played an absolutely pivotal role in all areas of today’s society, just wait until you see how important they were in yesteryear’s society. They were the eggicentre of the universe and influenced lucrative industries like fashion, science, social life, innovation and zoo tricks.
Without further adieu, I present this week’s instalment of Bring it back: The Great Egg Obsession.
Model with bacon & eggs
Long before ladies modelled cars and clothes, they modelled eggs (and to a lesser degree, bacon). It was a simpler time, long before the advent of sublety.
Model with bacon & eggs. K E Niven and Co :Commercial negatives. Ref: 1/2-211484-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22747072
Egg standing party
In the old days, novelty wasn’t novelty, it was a way of life. With such egg-standing precision, I’m guessing none of these people were drunk or high (except maybe that lady on the left).
Egg standing party. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: 114/264/02-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23162110
The Indian Hornbill takes an egg from his keeper’s mouth
This keeper demonstrates how he would do anything for a bird’s affection.
Fox Photo. The Indian Hornbill takes an egg from his keeper’s mouth, a favourite trick before visitors to the London Zoo (Evening Post, 15 December 1938). Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/18905906
Two unidentified men demonstrating how the new egg cartons can be divided in half
From the confines of their cage, two men cracked a cunning plan for world domination.
Two unidentified men demonstrating how the new egg cartons can be divided in half. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1956/1663-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22727633
Unidentified man cracking an egg
Fun fact: Egg cracking was premiered in New Zealand in 1959.
Unidentified man cracking open an egg while a little boy looks on at the Wellington Industries Fair. Ref: EP/1959/1609-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23503140
The Egg and Us: a treatise
This article reminds us that eggs should be infertile.

Maori Affairs Department. THE EGG AND US; STORAGE OF EGGS; BEATING EGGS; COOKING WITH EGGS; NEWEST, LOVELIEST FASHION SHADES FOR YOU… – (Te Ao Hou – No. 26 March 1959). Ref: Mao26TeA. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/196180
Shirley Gotlieb with a four-yolk egg
Here’s Shirley Gotlieb, with a lot of time on her hands.
Shirley Gotlieb with a four-yolk egg. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1957/4369-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23052291







3 comments
I love that last picture so much!
I’m so glad! A four-egg yolk is a masterpiece of science!
And by four-egg yolk I of course mean a four-yolk egg. A four-egg yolk is ridiculous.