CENTENNIAL POSTER
TO THE EDITOB 01 THE PEESS. Sir, —The squad of anonympus snipers who have been pot-shotting at a poster they have not seen have managed to pepper every marksman t> target but their own. Most of them appear to be under the impression that the poster is to advertise Christchurch. The conditions of the competition were that the poster “was to publicise the Canterbury Centennial celebrations and to incorporate, if possible, the progress of Canterbury during the first 100 years.” . Without wishing to deflate Christchurch’s opinion of its own importance, I would suggest that- Christchurch is not Canterbury. Burgesses of Timaru, Ashburton, Lyttelton, Rangiora, and Riccarton, inhabitants of the Waimain, Waipara, and Springs-Ellesmere counties —to mention only a few —will, I feel, agree. ’ , . If a pioneering couple accustomed to sailing ships, bullock drays, and sod huts were lifted out of the past into the future, and confronted by fast luxury liners, streamlined trains, lethal motor-cars, and towers of reinforced concrete, their feelings, I think, would combine amazement and apprehension. Perhaps one of your correspondents would prove that this would not be their feelings. It is amazing the weird collection of things that people have seen in this poster. They have seen all the' sins of the past and present governments, income tax assessments, increased cost of beer, women’s funny hats, traffic inspectors, soldiers’ uniforms —in fact, everything but the original poster, which I have seen without discerning any of these awe-inspiring emblems of 1940.
What I did see was the best conceived and best executed poster entered in the competition. The judging was by a group of publicity experts seeking the most arresting poster for the purpose specified in the competition. Your correspondents may modify their opinions if they see the original posters now on display in Beath’s lounge.—Yours, etc., APRIL 8-14, 1940. October 25, 1939.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22851, 26 October 1939, Page 12
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308CENTENNIAL POSTER Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22851, 26 October 1939, Page 12
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