This light-hearted stamp issue paid tribute to unique, quirky characteristics of everyday life in New Zealand.
Issue information
In 1994 New Zealand Post issued the first Kiwiana stamp series – a light-hearted tribute to the foods, toys, sports and lifestyles that define New Zealand’s culture and attitude and set us apart from the rest of the world. From fish and chips to gumboots, these stamps enabled us to laugh at ourselves while appreciating and celebrating our special identity.
Kiwiana II was the sequel to this popular issue, featuring 10 more characteristics of everyday New Zealand life. It saluted the versatile li-lo, a pair of cosy ug boots, the gastronomic delights of the chocolate fish, the hot dog, the meat pie and the Anzac biscuit; and our summer necessities, the barbecue, the chilly bin, pipis (a seafood delicacy) and the classic Kiwi holiday home, the bach or crib.
Our Unique, Quirky Characteristics
Anzac Biscuit
Named for the disastrous but heroic landing at Gallipoli in 1915, by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the Anzac biscuit owes something to the origins of many Kiwis in being a peculiarly New Zealand version of the Scottish oatcake. The imaginative addition of golden syrup and coconut gives the Anzac ‘bikkie’ a certain piquancy.
Bach
The holiday bach remains a quintessentially Kiwi preserve with an almost mystical fascination for generations of New Zealanders. In the South Island, it is known as a ‘crib’ a term used by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist, to mean a lodging or public house. In the North Island with typical New Zealand blitheness the word ‘bach’ was picked up to denote bachelor accommodation, literally a shortened version of ‘bachelor’, suggesting a reserved ‘Man Alone’ type surviving under basic living conditions. However, in the years following World War II, the bach became a family holiday retreat, a magical haven of informality and a casual back-to-basics style of living.
Barbecue
"We’re having a barbeque, bring some meat," is a phrase shot full of expectation and romance for New Zealanders. The New Zealand barbecue has assumed a peculiar prominence in the social calendar, requiring casual but stylish dress, a warm ‘cardy’ or ‘parka’ in case of biting southerlies and a combination of anything from sausages and chops to paua fritters and marinated chicken. The meat is usually accompanied by potato salad and coleslaw. While these accompaniments are left to the women, men rule over the charcoal grill, whether it be in the backyard or on the beach, standing about the barbecue grill with a beer in hand.
Chilly Bin
A certain restlessness of spirit combined with an inquisitive desire to see if the grass really is greener in the next hundred paddocks sees thousands of Kiwis take to the road every Christmas, Easter and weekend. Often we bring our own food and beverage and usually carry it in the boot of the car in the trusty chilly bin. Known to Australians as the 'esky', and elsewhere in the world as a 'cooler', this is the only country where the chilly bin is the generic name for this eminently portable insulated lunchbox. With around 85,000 sold here every year, they’re an indispensable part of a freewheeling easy Kiwi summer lifestyle.
Chocolate Fish
Fishing has always been a major industry here, in many cases for sheer survival, more recently for fun. The 1920s saw the development of a healthy beach culture and it didn’t take long before the enterprising chocolate company produced a delightfully sweet confectionery that reflected our adoration of all things nautical. Thus was born the not so humble chocolate fish. About 12.5 centimetres long, in a classic Greco-Roman fishy shape, its chocolate coating gives no hint of the finely spun piquant marshmallow pinkness within. Generations of Kiwi children were raised with the anticipation of the ‘choccie fish’ as a special treat.
Hot Dog
No self-respecting stock car race, fairground, A & P Show, or school gala would be seen without a hot dog stall. In the middle of last century enterprising fish and chip shop owners realised they could throw something other than fish into batter and oil. A beef sausage in batter found a ready market and the humble red sav looked particularly enticing in a crispy gold coat. The simple addition of an icecream stick stuck in one end made it portable – and a dunking in tomato sauce made it irresistible.
Lilo
The lilo has played a starring role for many years in New Zealand beach culture – along with inflatable water wings for kids, drawstring plastic beach bags, jandals, rubber bathing caps, bermuda shorts, transistor radios, suntan lotion and Holdens with a surf board rack. Not a New Zealand invention, the lilo, came from England as a brandname for an airmattress, traditionally made of rubber with a mercerized cotton covering. But the kids who had spent summer afternoons at the river or the beach floating like inverted beetles in bloated rubber innertubes from a tractor tyre quickly adapted the lilo to the same purpose.
Meat Pie
It used to be said that a New Zealander’s idea of a seven-course meal consists of a six-pack and a pie.
The meat pie is a New Zealand staple. Although meat stew in a pastry case has long been popular in English cookery, the small square eat-on-the-run version is a distinctly New Zealand adaptation.
Pipis
Pavlova, pūhā, pāua and the small but resilient pipi make up part of the gastronomic mythology of Aotearoa.
If you see New Zealand families strewn along a sandy beach at low tide, bottoms up, scrabbling in the sand, they are probably gathering pipi, or their relatives tuatua and the much larger, rarer and controlled toheroa, which all belong to a family of shellfish unique to this country. Shellfish have always formed part of the New Zealand diet. Māori had to be expert fishermen, with few alternative protein sources in the bush. While men went fishing, it was the women who collected the seafood on the shore.
Ug Boots
An Australian surfie, who wrapped a piece of sheepskin around his chilly lower extremities, is deemed to be the inventor of the caveman-like Ug (short for ugly) boot in the 60s. But it was New Zealand manufacturers that stole a march on our trans-Tasman neighbours to turn this walking tribute to practically an export winner. The crude early design was modified with a cut across the ankle and since then there’s been the addition of a sole for increased ruggedness, short and tall versions, and a variety of colours.
Product Listing for Kiwiana II
| Image | Title | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
First Day Cover | First day cover with self-adhesive stamps affixed. Cancelled on the first day of issue | $4.50 |
 |
Self-adhesive Booklet | Booklet containing 10 x 40c self-adhesive stamps. | $4.00 |
Technical information
| Date of issue: | 3 April 2000 |
|---|---|
| Number of stamps: | Ten |
| Denomination and design:s | 40c Chocolate Fish; 40c Li-lo; 40c Anzac Biscuit; 40c Chilly Bin; 40c Hot Dog; 40c Ug Boots; 40c Barbecue; 40c Bach/Crib; 40c Meat Pie and 40c Pipis |
| Stamps, booklet and first day cover designed by: | Bob Gagnon, Silverdale, New Zealand |
| Number of colours: | Four process colours |
| Printer and process: | Southern Colour Print, New Zealand, by lithography |
| Stamp size and format: | 25mm x 30mm vertical |
| Number of stamps per booklet: | 10 x 40c stamps |
| Paper type: | Phosphor tagged self-adhesive stamp paper |
| Perforation gauge: | Die cut |
| Period of sale: | These stamps remained on sale until 2 April 2001. |