THE ROYAL SHOW

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 13, 13 December 1932, Page 8

THE ROYAL SHOW

GATE STEWARDS’ REPORT. ANALYSIS ~OF FIGURES. “Exclusive of the stadium the receipts from the gates and stands at the Royal Show this year were the highest recorded for spring shows for the last eight years with the exception of 192'J, which was the peak year. The actual increase is £226 5s 2d over last year, and £lO 7s lOd over the Royal Show in November, 1928,” stated the chairman of the gate stewards (Mr \V. G. Black) in the courso of a lengthy report submitted to the general committee of the Manawatu and West Coast A. and P. Association to-day. Mr Black pointed out that this year the fixture was of four days, compared with three in previous years, and, furthermore, admission charges had been reduced. The report proceeded :

“The following are the figures for each day during the past five years.— 1928.—First day £6B ss, second day £564 Is 9d, third day £775 3s 9d; total, £1407 10s 6d.

1929.—First day £539 18s, second day £541 13s 6d, third day £697 19s 6d; total £1779 11s.

1930.—First day £537 9s, second day £362 12s, third dav £513 12s; total, £1413 13s.

1931. —First day £2lB ss. second day £612 17s 6d, third day £360 10s 6d; total, £ll9l 13s 2d. 1932. —First day £3OB 10s, second day £449 6s lid, third day £536 0s 9d; total of three days £1293 17s 8d ; fourth day £124 0s 8d; total, £1417 18,s 4d. “Tho past year has been the most difficult period tho country so far has had to face during the present economic crisis and it is, therefore, particularly satisfactory to record the substantial increase in gate takings of 19 per cent, over the previous year. The kindred associations throughout the country have recorded-a slight increase, but the most of them have shown a further falling off. Under all the circumstances the results obtained are extremely gratifying and can be attributed to a combination of the following factors: (1) Glorious weather throughout the Show except in the early morning the first day; (2) reduced admission charges; (3) full exhibition halls and many stadium and ring attractions; (4) extensive and high class stock exhibits. CO-OPERATION OF CITY.

“These factors, together with the splendid co-operation and support of the business community of Palmerston North both prior to and during the currency of the Show, can he considered the causes of the widespread popular support indicated in the gate revenue. Apart from other attractions, 1 believe that the royal stock parade on Friday did most to captivate the popular imagination and attendance. The gate takings between 12 and 1.45 p.m. on that day are a remarkable tribute to the public appreciation of high class stock exhibits. Jn considering the gate takings, as previously stated, 1 omitted the takings from the stadium, but 1 would point out that last year the evening gate takings on the second day amounted to £lO2, out of a total of £207 for 3 nights, due to a speedway attraction, for which no special gates were provided, and for which approximately £75 was paid in prizes, etc. “To make a fair comparison between this year and last year either the stadium takings should be included in the gate takings this year or the estimated amount received from the speedway attraction deleted from last year’s gate takings. On the basis of either of these two courses being followed the total takings this year as compared with last year would be £324 7s 8d ill excess of last 3-ear. The following are the particulars of the evening admissions during the past five years. There was no evening Show prior to 1928. 1928. —First day £l7 14s 6d, second day £64 11s 6d, third day £77 5s 6d ; total £159 11s Cd. 1929. First day £6l 19s, second day £75 9s 6d, third day £110; total £24/ 8s 6d. 1930. —First day £46 10s 6d, second day £56 19s 6d, third day £9l 19s; total, £195 9s. 1931. —First day £lB 14s 6d, second day, £162 3s, third day £26 4s 6d ; total £207 2s. 1932. —First day £56 12s 6d, second day £BS 9s 3d, third day £75 15s 6d, fourth day £35 11s 3d; total £253 8s 6d. “The evening gate takings are the highest recorded since evening admissions were inaugurated in 1928, includsive of last year’s speedway attraction, and the'peak year of 1929. This result is chiefly attributable to the stadium events and to the well filled and attractive exhibition stalls. It will also be of interest to you to know that, omitting the 4th day of this Show, and making a 3 day comparison with last yeay, which was a 3 day Show, both the daytime and evening gate receipts were in excess of 1931 to the amount a pf £lO7 12s 7d. This excess does not include the stadium takings of this year, but last year’s figures on which the comparison was made did not include the speedway takings. “For your information I propose to supply some comparative figures of gate takings with previous years. The following are the gate takings for the Spring Shows and Winter Shows since 1923:

“Whilst it will be noted that this year’s Spring Show takings are the highest for 8 years with the exception of 1929, it will aiso be observed that the Winter Show takings for this year exclusive of the stadium and art gallery are the lowest for 10 years. Fur-' thermore. whilst the total gate takings of both Shows in 1932 are £157 in excess of 1931, they are the lowest for the previous 9 years, being 18 per cent, below 1930, 45 per cent, below 1929, 35 per cent, below 1928 and 2J per cent, below 1923. A comparison of the Royal Show takings for the three Royal Shows held at Palmerston North gives the following information :

“This year’s Royal Show takings are therefore £lO 7s lOd more than the Royal Show in 1928, and £398 2s lid less than the first Royal Show held in 1924.”

Year. Spring Show. Winter Show. Total. £ £ £ 1923 .... 1175 1483 2658 1924 .... 1813* 1218 3031 1925 .... 1184 1582 2766 1926 .... 1297 1741 3038 1927 .... 1331 1772 3103 1928 .... 1408* 1918 3326 1929 .... 1780 1844 3624 1930 .... 1413 1581 2994 1931 .... 1193 1230 2423 1932 .... 1418* 1162 ' 2580 ‘Royal Show.

1924. 1928. 1932. £ s. d. £ s. d. 1st day .. 88 10 0 68 5 0 308 10 0 2nd day .. 736 6 6 564 1 9 449 6 11 3rd day 991 4 9 775 3 9 5<36 0 9 4 th day . — — 124 0 8 Totals .. .1816 1 3 1407.10 6 1417 18 4