Angus McDonald started up his ice cream
business in 1922, operating under the
McDonald's brand
and said to be the Waikato's first ice cream manufacturer.
He and his wife had moved to Hamilton from Wellington that year, so it is
likely that he had gained some prior experience with a Wellington ice cream
operation.
McDonald's
first ice cream factory, Alexandra St., Hamilton.
-
NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers Assn. archives, Frostee Digest.
McDonald's
Duchess Ice Cream Block.
-
Waikato Museum.
Not long afterwards, Angus, or "Mac", was joined by Ken Johnstone,
whose engineering background proved invaluable in those early days of setting
up production and distribution. Over the years Ken also assumed wider production
and sales responsibilities.
Many years later Ken would remember:
"
The
plant in use in those days was certainly very elementary. The pasteuriser was
simply a water jacketed open vessel heated by a large gas ring. I can see
Mac now standing over this piece of equipment with the "agitator," which was
simply a wooden stick, in one hand, and a dairy thermometer in the other.
Churning was carried out in a vertical churn (packed around with ice and salt),
which although power operated was really only a glorified replica of the type
operated
by
elderly
ladies
behind the counters of lollyshops where as a boy I spent my hard earned wealth,
a penny at a time. It was certainly a crude affair when compared with the streamlined
stainless steel continuous freezers in common use today.
After buying our ice for perhaps twelve months, we installed our first ammonia
compressor, a 25 h.p. horizontal Linde, together with a four ton ice tank.
We did not possess a homogeniser in those days, and in fact it was a good
many
years later before our first one was installed.
From the churn, the ice cream was transferred to cans which varied from 11
to 5 gallon capacity. For hardening and holding these were placed in boxes
lined with galvanised iron and packed with ice and salt. The resultant brine
was drained off each night and morning and the boxes repacked.
For distribution, the cans of ice cream were packed in wooden tubs with ice
and salt. These were also used to serve from at the point of sale. Owing
to rapid melting of the ice, the consistency of the product varied considerably,
and any stocks unsold when the shop closed had to be dumped. As a five gallon
can packed in a tub weighed one and a quarter hundredweight, a driver in
those
days certainly needed to have a strong back."
"We originally started off with one second-hand Model T Ford which Mac brought
with him from Wellington, and as this vehicle was flat-out all day taking
care of both rail orders and the town shops, it was not unusual to have to spend
most of the night carrying out more or less major repairs in order to have
the van on the job again the next morning."
McDonald's
first Model T Ford ice cream delivery van, with Ken Johnstone and Mrs
McDonald
in the front.
-
NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers Assn. archives, Frostee Digest.
This small newspaper advertisement appeared in the
NZ Herald on Christmas
Eve,
1924:
"Ice
Cream for Picnics, Parties, Sports, Dances, etc. - Ring Phone 1724, McDonald's,
Alexandra
St., Hamilton." NZ Herald advertisement, 24 December 1924.
-
Papers Past.
They would also travel to where the customers were; to the beach,
and to events as far away as Whangarei, just Mac and Ken in a Model T van,
loaded up
with
ice
cream
and
blocks
of ice.
Their local competitors in those early days were Zero Ice Cream (Grey St.) and
Velvet.
Ken: "The next forward step was to supply each shop with an
insulated cabinet - which incorporated a tub with a tap to draw off the brine.
These
cabinets
of
course
still needed repacking daily with ice and salt, but did, because of the insulation,
enable stocks to be held until sold. Country shops were a bit of a problem
as ice had to be sent by rail at least three times a week to enable the shopkeeper
to repack his cabinet - quite a laborious and messy job which entailed breaking
up the ice by hand."
The
Domain Tea Kiosk offers McDonald's Pure Ice Cream,
Waikato
Independent,
3 December 1925.
-
Papers Past.
McDonald Ice Cream Manufacturing Company Limited was registered in February
1925, with capital of £5000, and
with A. K. McDonald (4000 shares) and E. T. J. Peacocke (1000) as shareholders.
Around 1927 the company purchased 23 Frigidaire electric freezer cabinets,
newly launched on the New Zealand market by John Chambers & Son Ltd.,
for supply to it's leading ice cream outlets. These were revolutionary for
the
retailers, but created a new problem for the manufacturer, that of servicing.
Refrigeration engineers were not available outside of Auckland, so Ken added
that skill
to his repertoire, training under James McAlpine, who would later establish
his own refrigeration business and and build the first
automatic refrigerated ice cream transport outside of the United States.
In 1928 McDonald's purchased the first Model A Ford commercial vehicle sold
in the Waikato, and in the same year, built their first refrigerated truck
body, mounted on a 30 cwt, 4 cylinder Chevrolet chassis. The compartment
for
carrying ice cream was refrigerated by ice and salt, and there was also a section
for crushed ice as they were still packing some ice cabinets.
On the 30th of April 1927 the
Manawatu Times had reported that "Mr
A. K. McDonald, manager of the McDonald Ice Cream Co., of Hamilton, is in
Palmerston North, negotiating for the opening of an up-to-date ice-cream
factory to supply
the wholesale trade next season". By the end of that year McDonald's
was open for business, operating from a factory in in
Main Street West.
McDonald's
Delicious Ice Cream advertisement,
Manawatu
Times, 8 December 1927.
-
Papers Past.
The company opened branches at Masterton and Hawera, and in November 1928,
a new branch and factory in
Vivian
St., Wellington.
McDonald's advertisements at the time stated:
"Mr
McDonald is recognised as the most experienced ice cream maker in the Dominion.
His plant too, is of the very latest type. Ice cream is freshly made in both
factories every day and delivered per motor-vans (properly insulated) to all
parts of the Wellington, Wairarapa, and Manawatu and Oroua districts."
Curly
Smith with McDonald's Ice Cream delivery van, Foxton Beach, 1929.
-
Foxton Historical Society: Kete Horowhenua Ref. f1999.0825
McDonald's
Famous Ice Cream advertisement, Evening Post, 25 February 1930.
Angus McDonald attended the inaugural annual conference of the NZ Ice Cream
Manufacturers' Association in March, 1928. McDonald's was one of the first
eight member companies.
Angus is said to have pioneered Neapolitan ice cream in New Zealand - the triple-layered
chocolate, vanilla and strawberry classic.
In December 1929 a new ice
cream company was registered, A. K. McDonald (Auckland), Ltd.,
with capital of £2800. Shareholders were Angus McDonald, William
Meek, and
Nicola and Emily Astrella. The Astrella family were Auckland's original ice
cream manufacturers.
We
don't
know if this company ever produced ice
cream, or if it was simply a vehicle for investing in other businesses.
It is
thought that Angus's move into the Auckland market was initially by way of
investment
in an existing business, Polar Ice Cream Company, which had a factory in Station
St.,
Newmarket. Polar had the sole rights to Eskimo Pie in Auckland and was
being
run
by
Dick
Naylor,
who
had sold Angus those first Frigidaire freezer
cabinets. It appears that Polar ran into difficulties and the New Polar Ice Cream
Company was
established
in
September
1929 to
take
over Polar's operations.
New
Polar advertisement,
Auckland Star, 12 December 1929.
Polar Bars. Ice Cream Cakes. Rainbow
Blocks - layered orange, vanilla and strawberry ice creams sandwiched between
wafers.
In May 1930 New Polar Ice Cream Company merged with Astrella Ice Cream Company,
and in July
1930
a
further merger
was
announced
between
the New
Polar - Astrella
and
Robinson's
ice
cream
companies,
but this did not eventuate.
Robinson's was Auckland's largest manufacturer at the time.
In 1931 the McDonald's Hamilton operation moved into a new factory in Bryce
St. Advertising from that period, including signage on the factory, shows the
company
was
selling
a
novelty
called
a "Fro
Joy".
That year Angus's brother Stuart, who owned
and ran tea rooms at 235 Cuba St. in Wellington, moved up
to help run the Auckland operation. First he trained with Angus at the Palmerston
North
factory, and then took up the position of Manager at the New Polar plant in
Newmarket, Auckland. New Polar was still
located
at
Station
St. in January 1931 but appears to have moved to Teed St. some time
that year.
Sadly, the Great Depression took its toll on the business - New
Polar
was
reported
to
be
in
liquidation
by
April
1931 and
was
taken
over
by Peters Ice Cream (NZ) Ltd in 1932.
Angus did not get on with the new management and left shortly after selling
up; Stuart followed soon afterwards.
Stuart opened up a delicatessen and butchery business, `Nikau Delicatessen',
at 175 Karangahape Road, Newton in Auckland, but later turned it into a "home
cookery",
selling amongst other treats, McDonald's Ice Cream:
Stuart
McDonald's home cookery, Karangahape Rd, 1930s, with ice-packed,
insulated ice
cream
cabinet. Note sign at right, "Ask for Paeroa & Lemon" and front
window
signage,
"Anchor Butter" and "McDonald's Fancy Cakes".
-
Raymond McDonald.
Seated
area in Stuart
McDonald's home cookery, Karangahape Rd, 1930s.
-
Raymond McDonald.
The
Karangahape
Rd home cookery, with electric (Frigidaire?) freezer
cabinet
installed
-
steel lids visible
on top of the counter, and an electric milkshake mixer next
to the
scales.
-
Raymond McDonald.
Master baker Stuart and his son Lloyd sold bread, pastries, biscuits, slices
and
cake,
all made with real Anchor New Zealand butter. They also served cold drinks
- soft drinks, milkshakes, ice cream sodas, malted milk, Ovaltine - and McDonald's
ice
cream sundaes - Strawberries & Cream, Fruit Salad & Cream, Peach Melba
and the legendary Rangitoto
Special.
The "Rangitoto
Special" sundae was an institution around Auckland
milk bars through the 30s and 40s; three scoops of ice cream (a larger
one in the middle) topped
with
syrup,
strawberries
or glace cherries, and a pink wafer biscuit on top.
Later Stuart opened a second shop in Queen St., next to the St James Theatre. The
business also developed a wholesale market delivering cakes and pies to outlets
in the surrounding suburbs. All of Stuart’s five sons (Lloyd, Ralph,
Alan, James, and Leslie) worked in the family home cookery business.
Stuart
McDonald and his son Lloyd, both photos taken behind their
Karangahape
Rd
home
cookery.
-
Raymond McDonald.
Lloyd
and his wife Nellie in the Queen St. shop.
-
Raymond McDonald.
Meanwhile Angus was supplying his own McDonald's brand ice cream into
the Auckland market and had set up an Auckland office at 10 Quay St.
Around 1935, he opened an Auckland ice
cream factory in Kings Drive (near the new Railway Station).
R.W. McDonald became the manager, and Leo Garvey and Pat Fay were involved
in the Auckland operation.
At this point, with coverage of most of the North Island, McDonald's would
have been
one
of
the
largest
ice cream companies in the country.
McDonald's second ice cream factory (centre), Bryce Street, Hamilton, 1939.
- Ref: HCL_5162 (detail), Hamilton City
Libraries Heritage Collections.
Stuart McDonald died on 20 October 1939.
Angus Keith McDonald
died
in
1946,
aged
53.
Ken Johnstone appears to have taken over management of the business. Other
names associated with
McDonald's
Hamilton were
R.J.
Tucker
and
R.G.P.
Brownless.
McDonald's
Ice Cream (Auckland branch) refrigerated truck, 1951.
-
NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers Assn. archives, Frostee Digest.
In 1951,
the company was represented at the annual Ice Cream Manufacturers Conference
held in Wellington by
Ken Johnstone, A.R. Watkins, R.G.P.
Brownless and Jim Winstanley (ex-Frosty Jack). It appears that by then the
Wellington operation had been split off as a separate business - McDonald's
Super Cold
Ice Cream of Wellington was represented at the Conference by J. McDonald.
McDonald's
Ice Cream Hamilton factory, Bryce St., 1950s.
-
NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers Assn. archives, Frostee Digest.
McDonald's
Ice Cream delivery truck, late 1950s.
-
NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers Assn. archives, Frostee Digest.
Stuart's son Ralph continued the McDonald family's entrepreneurial food exploits,
establishing the McDonald's Chips business, long before the American fast
food giant arrived in New Zealand, becoming an institution at events and showgrounds
around Auckland in the 50s and 60s.
McDonald's
French Fried Hot Chips, 1966.
-
Carole Prentice.
In late 1958, the McDonald's Ice Cream Manufacturing Co. was taken over by
Tip Top (Auckland).