Santa Claus visits the Chatham Islands

Santa Claus visits the Chatham Islands

In December 1951 Santa lent Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) a hand in celebrating the first anniversary of its Wellington-Chatham Islands service.

The plane's arrival on 15 December was a huge event, with 400 of the 500 people living in the islands joining the celebration. The star passenger was Santa Claus himself. He landed at Te Whanga Lagoon, one of 30 passengers aboard the Solent Flying Boat, and was greeted by cheering crowds as he walked up the jetty to the beach.

Every child received a gift from Santa's bag of presents and everyone else enjoyed strawberries, ice cream, whisky and soft drinks. Two Christmas trees decorated with stars and tinsel set the scene on the beach, where Santa mingled with the crowd.

TEAL was established in 1939 and became Air New Zealand in 1965. Its Chatham Islands route began around December 1950. Until then Islanders had relied on boats for transportation to and from the Chatham Islands.

The new service proved successful, and was particularly important in transporting goods to the Islands during the 1951 waterfront dispute. The dispute caused a standstill on New Zealand’s wharves, and nothing could be shipped between February and July. The new TEAL service became the primary way of carrying goods to the Chatham Islands at this time.

More photos of Santa's visit to the Chatham Islands – Timeframes website

More National Library Christmas photos – Flickr

See this image in our collections – Timeframes website

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image

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