Badges of identity: the Trevor Dick Collection

Te Papa holds over 1,300 community club badges and pins made by Trevor Dick in Petone, Wellington during the 1950s to early 1980s, under his company name T.M. Dick & Co Ltd. The collection provides an insight into the wide range of interests, both personal and professional, that brought New Zealanders together. They include clubs devoted to breeds of animals, types of cars and numerous sports, from marching to darts to rugby; cultural clubs and social clubs where a pint of beer might be the main focus, and some professions such as ‘Librarian’.

Look closely at these tiny art works – they are successful because they are able to communicate big ideas on a very small canvas. Badges play an important role in daily life – they are cheaper to make than fine jewellery, and wearable on any article of clothing. They transmit ideas and causes, and help people create group identities. Their symbols and slogans evoke other worlds. In the case of Trevor Dick’s badges, many of these worlds are now gone.

Trevor Dick

Trevor Dick studied at the Wellington Technical College in the 1940s and went on to complete an apprenticeship with Wellington badge company, Mayer & Kean Ltd, later to become Mayer & Toye Ltd, which is still operational today. At Mayer & Kean, Trevor trained under George Whitehouse who he believed was the only trained die-sinker in New Zealand – that is a person who specialises in engraving dies for stamping badges, medals, coins, etc. Mayer & Kean Ltd had recruited Whitehouse and hand engraver Bill Whittle from England, during the depression years of the 1930s.

Following the completion of his apprenticeship, Trevor was employed by de-Rohan Products Ltd, a jewellery company, where he trained alongside Doug Sissons, a renowned toolmaker.

In July 1952, Trevor started his own business in a small shed in Majoribanks Street in Wellington. He later moved to Lower Hutt, establishing a factory in Victoria Street, Petone. Trevor continued to work until the 1980s as he transitioned to a small farm in the Wairarapa.