CHRISTMAS SHOPPING.

Thames Star, Volume LXI, Issue 17313, 28 December 1927, Page 5

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING.

SUCCESSFUL WEEKS. TRADERS WELL SATISFIED. STREETS AND SHOPS CROWDED. Christmas Week in Thames was, without doubt, a surprise to all. In this town we are dependent now on the success of the farmer and the marketing of his produce. The recent rise in the prices of butter and cheese on the London market had created a healthier tone all through New Zealand, and the Thames Valley and the Hauraki Plains were feeling the benefit in with other parts of the Dominion. In October and November money was "tight," although advance prices were all that could be desired, but this was due in part to butter-fat money being used to repay the finance arrangements that were necessary during the hard winter.

December's pay-out last week was rapidly reflected in better business and all traders did remarkably well on Thursday and Friday, when a goodly crowd of district visitors invaded the town.

Saturday—Christmas Eve —saw the town crowded and gay with shoppers. The decorated shops, the greenery round the verandah posts, and, in the evening, the coloured lights along Pollen Street, made a most pleasant setting for the pleasure-seeking public.

The train from Paeroa was packed as usual, every 'bus service was running over capacity, while the Kopu ferry, as usual, ran continuously. Pollen Street, Mary Street and Sealey Street were the favourite parking places for cars, and it was evident that there were more than ever before. ~

The only thing that marred the, festivities was the thunderstorm that came up late in the afternoon and lasted till 7.30 p.m. This did not in any degree damp enthusiasm. People knew they had cover, and shopping went on vigorously in spite of the loud thunder, Shopkeepers report wonderful business, far better than was anticipated, and returns are well up to better years. As far as can be learned, every service worked without a hitch. Visitors from as far as Auckland and Hamilton arrived in large numbers, and helped to swell the crowds of district and local buyers. The fact that the two other towns made Friday Christmas Eye helped to increase the number that travelled towards Thames. The Holidays. The Coast was the popular rendezvous during Sunday, Monday. and Tuesday. Residents state that never have they seen such crowds as thronged the Coast from Tararu to the Mata. The number of cars and motorcycles was bewildering, and, as the weather was fine and hot, full advantage was taken of all the beaches. No accidents have been reported, although one or two had narrow escapes from collision owing to the narrow road.

Christmas 1927 will long be remeiribered in Thames as one of the finest seen in several decades.