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Overview
Esther James used this pedometer to track her mileage when she successfully walked the length of New Zealand in 1931-32. James was a model for the New Zealand Manufacturers Federation, and her aim was to promote New Zealand-made goods by using only local products on her hike. She became a national celebrity, giving interviews and lectures in major towns she passed through and making radio broadcasts along the way.
Born at Pahiatua in 1900, Esther James was the seventh of ten children in a farming family based mainly in Taranaki. Her parents encouraged hard work and initiative, and Esther’s entrepreneurial spirit revealed itself early. She patented several inventions for domestic utensils in the 1920s, and in the early 1930s became one of New Zealand’s first professional models.
Inspired by her work with the Manufacturers Federation, Esther hoped to show that locally-made goods were just as good as imported products by walking the length of the country clad in New Zealand-made apparel, shod in New Zealand-made footwear, and eating nothing but New Zealand-made foods (Northern Advocate, 23 December, 1931). Her advertising drew on the national foundation myth of the strength and spirit of the pioneer, as she liked to say that ‘Our pioneers blazed the trail through New Zealand woods. My job is to blaze the sale of New Zealand goods’ (Northern Advocate, 15 December, 1931).
Esther trained with champion walker Sam Gudsell for six months, then set off from Spirits Bay on 3 December 1931. She carried a walk-meter/pedometer to give accurate mileage and register every stride of her journey. Reportedly her step was regulated at 21 inches (Evening Star, 31 May, 1932). Esther stayed with local businesspeople and prominent farmers along the route, and apparently they offered such generous hospitality that she gained 7kg during the walk. She arrived at Bluff on 18 June 1932 having walked 1600 miles.
References:
- Barton, John. 1998. James, Esther Marion Pretoria. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4j2/james-esther-marion-pretoria
- Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 2016. The 1940 Centennial, The Centennial and progress: The New Zealand Pioneer. New Zealand History website. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/centennial/the-centennial-and-progress
- Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 2018. Long distance walker Esther James reaches Bluff. New Zealand History website. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/long-distance-walker-esther-james-reaches-bluff
- White, Tina. Walking her way to fame. Manawatū Standard, 19 April 2008.