Business Of The Month
Smiths Bookshop
- Dorothy - 10/7/97

A business with a past rich in history and a future rich in promise - explored in an interview with Ross Humphries, its manager.

Smiths Bookshop has been in business in Christchurch for more than a century, and as I enter the shop I feel as though I am stepping back in time. The secondhand books are packed tightly into the shelves, and there are no promotional gimmicks. There is always ready guidance to help the customer find what is available, but the magic of the experience is the exploration of the shelves, the browsing and the discoveries. Whatever I'm looking for - history, philosphy, novels, poetry, a gardening guide, a book on Polynesian culture, an atlas, a textbook for a course, special New Zealand books or light reading to pass the time on a long flight - this is the place to explore.

One boy entering the shop said in awed tones, "This is like the shop in "The Never Ending Story". It is a unique blend of the past with its old books, and present day culture with modern books, a catalogue on computer, and a site on the World Wide Web.

Changes over the century
Smiths Bookshop has not always filled this role in its hundred years. It was first opened in 1894 at 113 Manchester Street and sold only popular fiction and stationery. The name was given by one owner, Mr Smith, and has been retained. It moved to 133 Manchester Street, its present site, in the late nineteen forties, but occupied only the first floor. It was only when Norman Oberg took over the business in 1967 that it gradually expanded, selling many types of serious books and filling three floors with shelves from floor to ceiling and packed to capacity.

Norman Oberg's vision
Norman did not begin his

Norman Oberg

career with the aim of bookselling. He was an entrepreneur engaged in all sorts of schemes. He would rent land adjacent to a rugby ground, build a temporary stand and sell tickets for a big match. He worked as a night porter in hotels, which no doubt gave him time to read. Before buying into the book business he had been building up stocks of books at home and issued a catalogue.

He was a warm and impulsive person, who felt that he had found his dream vocation when he bought Smiths Bookshop. His dream was that he should be able to supply educational books to ordinary citizens at reasonable prices. Once into the shop he built up the stocks of books on all aspects of New Zealand, on literature, history, philosophy and science....

He was very sympathetic to students who were managing on a shoestring budget, so he began to stock secondhand text books.

In 1975 he put out a catalogue of the shop's New Zealand books, listing over five thousand titles, and including one thousand titles of poetry.

The customers poured into the shop and regarded Norman as their friend who shared their love of books. Many of the present customers still talk about their pleasure in coming into the shop to talk to Norman and about the books he found for them. Then as now the shop was a Mecca for people in their lunch breaks.

Norman married Rangi , a Cook Islander, and the shop has long been a drop-in centre for Cook Islanders. This is of course one reason why the shop specialises in books on Polynesian culture.

Ross Humphries married Stephanie Oberg, Norman and Rangi's daughter, and had been working in the shop only eighteen months when Norman died in August 1984 and Ross took over the management of the family business.

Where do the books come from?
There is a steady stream of people

Ross Humphries

bringing in boxes of books - people moving house or leaving the country, estate lots.... On Mondays and Thursdays Ross visits people's houses if they want the books to be selected and transported from there. He also attends some book auctions. The business is so well-known now in Christchurch that the supply of books brought in keeps him very busy, without his going to seek them at fairs or garage sales.

Treasure Trove
As people bring in the books the cartons are placed on the floor in front of the counter until Ross can deal with them. He was inclined to view this as a sign of disorder, but he has learnt that a clean-up session which gets them out of sight is not appreciated by his regular customers. As soon as they come in they head straight for the unsorted books to be first to find the gem in the treasure box, and express real disappointment if there is no box there.

Ross himself found treasure in an old trunk in a virtually abandoned house. Among a mass of rubbish he found a "Handbook for New Zealand" by Edward Jerningham Wakefield, published in 1848, describing among other things the temperate New Zealand climate and the cheap source of Maori labour.

Customers' particular interests
What most customers want of Smiths Bookshop is specialty books. They are not just mass consumers, but those who have honed an interest and find that the material they want is unavailable or out of print. They are fossicking for books to satisfy a well defined need.

Poetry books are much sought after. Books of the classical poets sell quickly and Robert Burns

Ross has just found a poetry book with the Janet Frame poem the customer was searching for.

is a special favourite of Smiths' customers. Poetry right up to the Beat poets is very popular. In purchasing books Ross is looking to satisfy this market. There is an element of risk, of luck, in choosing what to purchase. There will be a customer for a book on an obscure subject, but it may take a long time for that customer to arrive.

Ross recalls hesitating over the purchase of a set of books in German on the Prussian Salt Mines - the machinery, the specifications, the mining techniques - all in great detail. He decided to buy them though he doubted that there would be a buyer for a long time, if ever. These books were sold to a delighted buyer who had found the treasure he was seeking just six months after Ross bought them.

On occasion a customer's search for special books has proved all too absorbing. Twice at closing time Ross has turned out the lights and called loudly around the shop to ensure that any customer reading noticed that the lights had gone out, only to be rung by the police later to return and unlock the door to let a customer out!

Is Ross a collector of books?
He follows the advice of Norman Oberg - "If you once start collecting the business won't succeed." So far Ross has resisted the temptation to collect, but is is difficult for a dedicated lover of books to part with fascinating volumes.

Nationwide interest in the New Zealand books
Smiths' special interest in New Zealand books is now well known and specialists in New Zealand topics make regular calls to see what fresh stock is available.

Books on districts in New Zealand are in high demand as people moving into a new locality often want to research its history. Genealogists are regularly delving into books on early New Zealand on the chance of finding out more about their ancestors. For these people the early Cyclopaedias of New Zealand are often a useful source.

While I was interviewing Ross in the New Zealand room a customer came in. Ross knew immediately the section which attracted him - Sailing - and was able to tell him of a recent acquisition - "Heavy Weather Sailing" by K. Adlard Coles - essential reading for offshore sailing. The delighted customer, who had been searching for this book for the library for the boat he was building, bought the book and went away smiling and remarking that it was not a book for timid sailors on their first offshore voyage.

Reference books
Grammar books are in great demand, often bought by grandparents who feel that their grandchildren are missing out on an important part of education when they are not taught grammar. Old copies of Nesfield's grammar book are snapped up. A recent customer wanted to improve his writing skills and was delighted to buy a copy of the New Zealand Style Book, put out by the Government Printer. Dictionaries and reference books of all kinds sell well.

Maps
The shop also stocks maps of historical interest and at present has a Bernard engraving of Cook's first map of New Zealand, with the labelling in French, published in 1771.

Pictures
Norman sold a range of paintings, handling works by many of New Zealand's great artists - Hoyte, Van Der Velden, Worsley, Gully, Barraud.... Now the business specialises in two types only:

• Japanese wood block prints - ukiyo-e - pictures of a fleeting, floating world, showing the everyday events of life, people washing, looking after a baby, going to the theatre, as well as the beautiful women of the day depicted in the most elegant clothes and accessories of the period. (Reference books about this style of painting are also stocked.)

• European engravings on wood, steel and copper - in particular New Zealand topics, such as early Maori life, famous sites like the Pink and White Terraces, and sporting scenes of angling or hunting stags.