N.Z. window in London

Press, 26 August 1977, Page 12

N.Z. window in London

By

JOHN HUTCHISON

in London

“Two New Zealand guys looking for a flat. Call 968-7613.” “V.W. Camper for sale. New tyres, runs well. £300.” "Twenty-year-old New Zealand girl seeks travel companion. male or female. Call Judy at this number.” Dozens of notices like these fill one of the windows of a bookshop in London which is an unofficial information exchange for New Zealand youth, a place where visiting New Zealanders buy gifts- for their British friends, and restive Britons find detailed facts on which to decide whether to emigrate. It is Whitcoull’s New Zealand Bookshop, managed by Mr Tom Dignan, a young man from Dunedin. The shop Stucks books, souvenirs and emblems of New Zealand, maps and guides for New Zealanders intending to go on to the Continent, and a few items unusual to the book trade — such as Vegemite, for those Kiwis who can’t find it elsewhere in Britain and who regard it as an indispensable staple for any camping expedition. Tom Dignan’s bookshop is also where they come to buy the black and white enamelled “N.Z.” plates to identify their cars, and the various badges they like to wear on packs or jackets to advertise their national identity while they roam the routes of Europe. “Our most popular items, of course, are books about New Zealand.” said Mr Dignan. “We sell most of these to New Zealanders. They buy them to give to their friends or hosts here — usually the large, colourful ‘coffee-table’ type of book describing New Zealand and illustrated with good photography.” The shop represents some other publishers besides Whitcoulls. including the New Zealand Government Printing Office, and has just

established separate quarters for its growing wholesale trade, which supplies texts and reference books to schools, universities and other institutions in Britain. New Zealanders visiting London will find the shop at the rear of New Zealand House, in Royal Opera Arcade, and most will pause before entering to search through the window full of notices which offer contact with their roving countrymen. Somewhere among the typed and handwritten cards the visitor will find a kindred Kiwi who has a car to sell (1966 Wolseley, £175), a trip to share (overland to India through 15 countries), or a tlat (bedsitter. Kensington. 25 quid weekly).