"Tivaevae " Days !
pp. 23-24 · Read in the full issue
New Revenues in Rarotonaa N ew revenues in Rarotonga
From Our Own correspondent
Rarotonga, April 17.
TIVAEVAE” days are here again. Out of a seemingly barren economic desert, during the off-season for oranges, a spring of glittering gold falls into the loving hands of Islands traders, as the well-covered belles-dames of the village stream in for their calico and prints A “tivaevae”, for the benefit of the illiterate, is a patchwork quilt of beau tiful craftsmanship and it may be claimed that the “tivaevae” of Rarotonga is unequalled anywhere else in the Facific. When the Islands ladies are bit ten by the “tivaevae” bug it goes hard indeed with the unfortunate male of the species. All must be sacrificed in order
to be able to sport a grander quilt than either Mrs. Marama or Mrs. Teokotai.
Luckily for the men, orders have been received from NZ for large quantities of the exquisite shell necklaces that have hitherto only been sold locally to tourists.
These are apparently much in demand amongst the fair sex at the moment, probably on account of the lack of cheap jewellery now available, Income from the sale of the neck laces, the shells for which are gathered off stones in the early morning after rain, has helped make this “tivaevae” season a real hit. The fact that these necklaces, bought at 5/- a dozen by local traders, sell at something like 3/6 apiece in NZ does not surprise Brown Brother any more. In fact, the whole thing looks so lucrative that he wouldn’t be sur prised to see the industry taken over by the local Government Fruit Control In the words of the Manke (American): “You gotta live”.
Rev. Dennis Taylor and Miss Leslie Wickham, BA, both of the New Guinea Mission, were married at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, Dogura, Papua, on April 24, by the Bishop of New Guinea.