Bring it back: The Great Egg Obsession

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