DUNLOP EXHIBITION

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25607, 23 September 1948, Page 8

DUNLOP EXHIBITION

MANY INTERESTING DISPLAYS This Exhibition is considered to be the largest display of this kind ever staged by a trading company in New Zealand.

Formally opened by the Mayor last Friday, the Exhibition impressively occupies the hall in the Old Art Gallery. Spectacular in its appearance it shows the amazing versatility- oi the Dunlop Rubber Company. Celebrating 50 years of trading in New Zealand, the Exhibition will appear later in Auckland and Wellington where it will be held in conjunction with the opening of the Company’s new factory at Upper Hutt, which is expected to begin operations early next year. / Already it has attracted thousands in the city, and at its premiere opening in Dunedin Town Hall over 16,000 people visited it. The Exhibition is laid out in bays of pleasing architecture each displaying a part of the Company’s many activities in both New Zealand and England. The range of exhibits includes many items from toy balloons to tyres over five feet in height, and attractively displayed on the numerous stands are literally hundreds of exhibits produced by the Dunlop organisation. Also, items for industry and transport are very well represented. There are other exhibits calculated to appeal to everyone, young and old alike. There is. for instance, a special stand for footwear —not just gumboots and similar footwear, but new types of men’s and women’s sports shoes, sandals, fashion footwear, and even snug slippers. Close by is another stand displaying the latest in waterproof

garments for both men and women. Sportsmen will be particularly interested in the Sports Good stand, for here are displayed many items, complete with details of manufacture, including tennis racquets, golf balls and tennis balls.

Particular prominence is given to items manufactured at the Company’s factory at Woolstdh. These items include battery boxes, cycle tyres and tubes, pram tyres, tubing and milking machine components.

Comfort is the keynote of the stand displaying Dunlopillo? a refined type of sponge rubber. This rubber actually breathes, thus eliminating sweating. During the war. Dunlopillo was extensively used for pilots and bombers’ seats in aircraft, and once again has now returned to such peace-time uses as mattresses, cushions, and furniture upholstery. Tyres, of course, have a section to themselves, and include numbers which have probably never been seen in New Zealand, such as the Run Flat Tyre, extensively and successfully used in the Desert campaign. There are also aT full range of cycle tyres, motor tyres, and a comprehensive selection of rims and wheels. ’

In a bay entitled “Special Products,” there are to be found many interesting war-time necessities produced by the Company which include Frogmen, rescue dinghies, and parachuters’ motor-cycles. Probably the most dramatic of these items is the underwater “frogman” suits—rubber suits fitted with breathing apparatus and fins which enabled underwater obstacles on the Normandy beaches to be cleared. Somewhat similar is the diving suit which was worn by men of the Royal Naw who rode midget submarines and attached Limpet mines to enemy shins. There is also the anti-blackout flying suit—a top secret when it was produced. This suit counteracts the forces of gravity and enabled British pilots to outfly the enemy. Contractors, builders’ and ev6n the housewife will find something new in Semtex—for Semtex is the last word in modern flooring for industry or home and illustrates effectively how appearance and utility can be combined to give an everlasting fireproof floor covering. These are some of the many items that make the Dunlop Exhibition one of the most interesting displays ever to be seen in Christchurch. The Exhibition will close to-morrow (Friday) at 10 p.m. Advt.