Stewart, the host of TEAL Motor Lodge pays homage to the inspiration of the motel's name by collecting memorabilia from the iconic airline TEAL.
Many items in his collection were souvenired by travellers of yesteryear, keen to have a keepsake of their special journey of a lifetime. Obscure TEAL memorabilia were highly prized and carefully stowed away to rekindle golden travel memories. As time marched on, many of these items were overlooked and discarded. Memories quickly fade and the novelty, joy and excitement of international travel became lost in time. Luckily some of these treasured mementos have ended up in Stewart's collection.
As TEAL morphed into Air New Zealand, the possibility of international travel was opened up to many more New Zealanders. Further aided by the widening consumer choice offered by competing airlines, Kiwis took full advantage of ready access to international travel. Mass overseas tourism became commonplace and no longer a novelty. Maybe with the ease of accessibility, the romance and excitement of overseas travel began to fade? ... Ironically it may take the drastic action of shutting the borders in 2020 with COVID-19 to make Kiwis appreciate and no longer take for granted the freedom of leaving familiar surroundings by boarding a flight bound for an exotic overseas destination.
The TEAL collection celebrates the fledgling Kiwis that enthusiastically embarked on international air travel since the 1940s. Those few that were able to afford overseas air travel appreciated the freedom and the wonder of leaving New Zealand's shores to experience new surroundings. The journey was not something to be endured, back-in-the-day an appreciated highlight of travel was the journey itself.
So far the collection includes numerous: ashtrays, playing cards, postcards, menus, baggage labels, flight information cards, flight baggage, cap badges and much more.
Stewart appreciates the many airline enthusiasts and the general public who have generously assisted with the collection. If you have any item that relates to TEAL please feel free to get in touch.
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