Jigsaw puzzle, Tiptop TT-2 'Message from Space'

This puzzle advertises Tip Top’s TT2 ice blocks using characters from Walt Disney productions. It shows Donald Duck with his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie in a red space ship shaped like a TT-2 ice block.

TT-2 was registered as a Tip Top trademark in about 1957, and distinguished the company’s water-based ‘ice confections’ from its ice creams. The ice blocks proved extremely popular, and were introduced in a wide range of flavours over the following decade.

The Tip Top Ice Cream Company began as an ice cream and milk shake shop established by Albert Hayman and Len Malaghan in Wellington in 1935. The company was registered in 1936, and within two years had established a separate business in Auckland. Between 1935 and 1970 ice cream consumption per head of population increased 18-fold, as home freezers became more common. Tip Top took over a number of its larger competitors and in 1962 opened ‘Tip Top Corner’ - the Southern Hemisphere’s largest ice cream factory. Tip Top is now part of the dairy giant Fonterra.

This puzzle demonstrates how international characters such as Donald Duck have been used to advertise local products, and shows how the excitement of the Space Age was reflected in New Zealand’s material culture.

References

• Henderson, Warwick. 2018. The Fascinating History of Toys and Games Around the World. Auckland: New Holland Publishers.
• Reserve Bank of New Zealand, n.d. The Tale of the TT-2. Resources for Teachers and Students. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/education/for-teachers-and-students/the-tale-of-the-tt2
• Tip Top, n.d. Our History. https://www.tiptop.co.nz/our-history
• Wilcox, Sarah. Food and beverage manufacturing - Ice cream and ice blocks. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/22979/tip-top