Meeting Michael Joseph Savage on St Asaph Street

31 May 1939

The time my father (with striped tie) met the then Prime Minister M J (Micky) Savage on St Asaph St close to where he lived.. Hidden Stories - Our Stories Unearthed - Micky Savage and my father outside the New Zealand Glove Factory, 31 May 1939

The time my father (with striped tie) met the then Prime Minister M J (Micky) Savage on St Asaph St close to where he lived. My photo dates from mid-1939. This photo includes one eminently recognisable gentleman. The then Prime Minister MJ (Micky) Savage - plus a bunch of other folk who happened to be, or rather wanted to be, on that stretch of St Asaph Street that day to meet and greet the PM. And one of whom, the boy with the striped school tie, is my father Patrick O'Connell. _x0001_Delving into Papers Past on-line, I was able to ascertain that Micky Savage was in Christchurch on Wednesday 31st May with the article and photo appearing in the Press the next day. I was able to match the details on the back ('Glove Factory, 330 St Asaph Street) with the route taken by the PM that day. He had started at Aulsebrooks close to Hagley Park, then made his way along St Asaph St (two-way in those days) to the NZ Glove Factory - where my father appears in the story. _x0001_Micky Savage in the late 1930s drew crowds wherever he went, something rarely witnessed nowadays. Drawing from the Press article: 'at each factory Mr Savage and Mr Sullivan [Minister for industries and Commerce] were given splendid receptions. The Prime Minister, after addressing the·workers, had to sign many autograph books, and he also shook hands with many citizens who waited for him in the street.' The Mrs Masefield in the photo was obviously very pleased to be chatting to the PM with my father waiting expectantly. _x0001_I remember my father telling me that this was an opportunity not to be missed-when he heard that Micky Savage would stop at the Glove Factory – where ‘the manufacture of handbags, attache cases, suit cases, and gloves was seen in all stages'. _x0001_The Glove Factory was rather conveniently a few doors down from where my father's family lived, at 318 St Asaph St. Now, while my father was most chuffed to have met the PM and earned bragging rights at school, it was also a school day - and my father had played the wag, which was looked upon dimly in those days. Go home 'sick'? Or go to school late? The latter not really an option. So undoubtedly, being shrewd, my father would have found a 'safe haven' like a cinema - where no questions would have been asked!_x0001_Of course, neither my grandmother nor grandfather (who at that time of the day was sound asleep after his night shift driving trains) would have been aware but next day the chickens came home to roost. When my father turnd up to school the next day, his teacher had of course already seen the front page of the Press - there on the front page was Patrick Denis O'Connell, 'world-famous for 15 minutes' - as the artist Andy Warhol would have said. _x0001_The teacher quietly asked him where he'd been yesterday. 'I was sick sir:' 'Well who’s this then?' He answered 'Micky Savage!' And got a double clip around the ear being both cheeky and absent. But worse was to follow for my grandfather was now up for the day, had also seen the paper and was not pleased to see his son had bunked school. So, when he got home, young Patrick got a clip around the other ear for good measure! Aah, those were punishing times in more way than one. _x0001_Micky Savage and his tour party went down the road to visit Bunting & Co where the polytechnic is now and where, incidentally, my father ended up after the war working as a fitter and turner, Buntings and Aulsebrooks, all Old Christchurch institutions, are all long gone. Regrettably, the lovely art deco Glove Factory is also long gone and very few if any of the original buildings that were on that block between Barbadoes St and Fitzgerald Ave remain. _x0001_Entry in the 2016 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt by Mike O'Connell. _x0001_On back: Mr Archie, Mr George Hegan, Miss Heskitt?, Mrs Masefield, Jack Dunne, "Pdoc" (Patrick O'Connell), M. J. Savage. Outside Glove factory 33 St Asaph St.

Area: Central City / Central Christchurch - Southeast

Contributor: Mike O'Connell

Source: Entry in the 2016 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt

Source: View in Canterbury Stories

Reference ID: CCL-PH16-114

Uploaded by: Christchurch City Libraries

Copyright status: Out of copyright