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“Cakes May Be Light, But This Oven's Not”

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Description: These images were taken for the June 18th 1978, edition of the Tribune weekly newspaper, the first of which was published with the caption “Up she goes... the 22 tonne oven rises in the air and its transporter is carefully driven away.”

An excerpt from the article read: “The biggest stove to be moved through the central North Island, weighing in at 22 tonnes, arrived at Ernest Adams' bakery in Palmerston North on Thursday. It took three large cranes to lift the huge oven from the truck which brought it to Palmerston North from Wellington. Before that, the oven had been shipped from Christchurch. It was formerly owned by Stacey's Bread Bakery.

The oven cost $70,000, but was far cheaper than buying 'a similar piece of equipment on the Continent - where an oven like that would have cost about $365,000 he said. This oven has a capacity of 540 blocks of cake, which are cooked on continuously-turning layers. The oven has been converted from oil-burning to natural gas firing, and is electronically controlled.”

These images form part of the Manawatū Evening Standard Negative Collection. Unfortunately, only negatives between April and December 1978 are held.