Wonderland
- Many of the attractions at the Exhibition were of an educational nature but "Wonderland" was the opposite, treating visitors to side-shows, rides, and other amusements.
- Occupying 10 acres (over 4 hectares) of the Hagley Park Exhibition site, Wonderland was the 1906 equivalent of a modern day theme park.
- Regarded by some as being too entertainment focused and lacking in educational value, it was nonetheless an immensely popular part of the Exhibition.
Amusements
Wonderland was set up by a private syndicate at a cost of £20,000. The grounds were laid out by John Edward (Jack) Muir a gardener who had trained at the Earl of Hamilton’s Lanarkshire estate. Muir moved to Christchurch in 1904 from Australia and later established a garden seed and florist’s shop in Colombo Street as well as a couple of suburban nurseries.
Wonderland included the following attractions: the water-chute, described as the "most riotous" 1, which utilised the waters of Victoria Lake; the helter-skelter, a spiral slide from the top of a tower; a Chinese dragon train; fancy diving; toboggans on a wooden floor; the mysterious Katzenhammer Castle, from the windows of which hung "figures suggestive of the darkest deeds"2; and camels, very "novel to colonials"3, which ambled round the grounds "under the weight of half-a-dozen happy youngsters". There were also performing dogs and monkeys, and a tea-rooms. Side-shows at the Exhibition included a huge merry-go-round, an aerial tramway, a Jungle shooting saloon and Box-ball hall, and the 375 feet (114 metres) long Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama.
The Pike
The Pike was "the home of mirth"4 and was operated by Frederick Shipman. It provided "the most remarkable collection of penny-in-the-slot machines that [had] ever visited Christchurch"5, with musical, picture postcard, fortune-telling and other rewards, including an Exhibition medal with your name on it. The House of Trouble was a maze, the Laughing Gallery offered the "weirdest figures"6, and Rocky Road to Dublin another mystery tour. More homely entertainment came from Professor Renno and his palace of illusions and from a small marionette theatre. A candy floss machine proved an enormous attraction. The side-shows were open from 2.00-5.30pm and again in the evening from 7.00-10.30pm.
The Water Chute
"Wonderland", in the words of the Canterbury Times, was "for children and grown-up children, and even for very little children"7. Certainly it entertained thousands of visitors, including the Governor, Lord Plunket. The New Zealand free lance reported on 24 November 1906 that the funniest sight of the week had been His Excellency tackling the water chute "with great verve" and a refreshing lack of dignity; on reaching the landing place, "the gubernatorial countenance was one vast substantial smile, for, be he Plunket or pauper, there is no variation of the delight caused by that wonderful rush through space, that electric thrill when the boat smacks the water, and the exhilaration as she furrows bouncingly over the lake".
Too much fun?
Some Christchurch citizens were less than impressed with the "non-educational" aspects of the Exhibition. The Press noted darkly that some visitors were making Wonderland the object of their trip to the Exhibition, rather than the exhibits themselves, while others expressed concern that "There is some danger lest the many forms of amusement … may put its educational purpose in the background".8 People would be encouraged to spend unwisely on pleasure, an economic as well as a religious sin: the spending of money on luxuries and non-necessities "when we are in debt is a direct breach of the 8th Commandment".9
Miss Gertrude Colborne-Veel, whose sister Mary was on the Home Industries Committee, expressed some relief when the Exhibition ended in a letter to another sister. "Lots of girls spent every evening at the Exhibition," she wrote, "and now feel home very dull. It must be bad for them".
During the course of the Exhibition, Wonderland attracted 350,000 fee-paying patrons and an estimated 150,000 non-paying visitors.
Related photos
Sources
- Colborne-Veel, Mary, 1861-1923. Poems, prose and letters: also obituaries for her, ca. 1886-1923. Archive 474
Letter dated 24 April 1907 - "The Exhibition", New Brighton Monthly Magazine, December 1906, pg. 3
- The New Zealand free lance, 24 November 1906, pg. 4
- The Press, 15 April 1907, pg. 8
- "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
Footnotes
- [1] "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
- [2] "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
- [3] "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
- [4] "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
- [5] "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
- [6] "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
- [7] "The side shows", The Canterbury Times, 7 November 1906, pg. 22
- [8] "The Exhibition", New Brighton Monthly Magazine, December 1906, pg. 3
- [9] "The Exhibition", New Brighton Monthly Magazine, December 1906, pg. 3
