Y.M.C.A. Anniversary 1906
Monster International Tea Meeting
To acknowledge the fourth anniversary of the Y.M.C.A, a celebration was held on 20th September 1906 in the Town Hall. It was advertised as a ‘Monster International Tea Meeting’. There were forty tables and each was decorated to represent the countries where the Y.M.C.A. was located. Waitresses and waiters were dressed in national costumes of those countries.
‘It was an amusing sight too: for a huge Turk would occasionally jostle a bearded Russian or drawling Yankee, or even a graceful Circassian or Swiss peasant join in the general endeavour to please the guests’. (Y.M.C.A New Zealand Times, p6)
The Hall was opened at 5pm specifically for the public to view the decorated tables. After the tea which was served to 2000 people, there was a display of children’s gymnastics before Mr C. H. Poole, MHR gave a speech.
Some of the tables as described in the New Zealand Times:
Norway (Mrs Allan) Norwegian pine and box-wood. Streamers in national colours; Norwegian slippers nicely arranged
Ceylon (Mrs Walshon) This table had an evergreen archway, ornamented with bananas and cocoanuts and miniature packets of tea
Sweden (Mrs Cederholm) This was beautifully set out with a mirror centrepiece, surrounded by a base of snow. A large fir tree was covered with snow.
Egypt (Mrs C.H. Jones) A miniature Nile ran along the centre, flanked by pyramids and obelisks.
Mexico (Mrs Brittain) A cowboy mounted on a broncho, and cattle grazing in luxuriant grass
Ireland (Mrs Hott) At each end were two large shamrocks, and in the centre a harp about three feet high. The table was plentifully garnished, making a pretty picture.
Australia (Mrs Sewell) On a dais was mounted an opossum and a squirrel with immense nuggets of gold
South Africa (Mrs A. M. Lewis) Mealies, decorated with ostrich eggs, parrots, monkeys, elephants, rhinocerii, leopard-lily, wild flowers of Africa, and African fruits. A most admirable grouping
Italy (Mrs Webster) The Rialto and gondolas, bridges of Venice, decorated with anemones and fruits. This table, with its canals, gondolas, and bridges, was truly Venetian.
Photograph of Mrs Ilott's table, 'Ould Ireland' at the Y M C A's international tea meeting. Published in The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 6 October 1906, p.2. Photo courtesy of Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19061006-0002-04
General View of the Tables. New Zealand Mail, Issue 1803, 26 September 1906, Page 40 (Supplement)
Tables on the platform. New Zealand Mail, Issue 1803, 26 September 1906, Page 40 (Supplement)