Two Cambridge icons: a suit of armour and Tui Carter
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The suit of armour at the front entrance of the antique shop in the Veale Building represented the height of the antique trade in Cambridge in the 1970s. Behind the towering suit of armour was the diminutive, in stature but certainly not in personality, Tui Carter.
Cambridge was renowned for its numerous high quality antique shops spread throughout the town, and Tui was a key figure in the development of the antique trade, both in Cambridge and the Waikato. Her shop was packed with interesting, rare items which people came from far and wide to view and purchase, including international clients. Tui was also a founder of the well-patronised Waikato Antique Fair.
She and her husband Barry (Baz) had inherited the business from Tui’s parents. Ken and Blanche Highman operated their business in the 1950s and 1960s from the two front rooms of their house on the Cambridge-Hamilton Road, with old carts and wagons on the front lawn. They were one of the first to import crates of antiques from England.
Although retired, Blanche would occasionally help out in Tui’s shop. One afternoon, the very petite Blanche was left in sole charge when about fifty Hell’s Angels bikes surrounded the shop, parked up on the road and footpath and the gang members entered the shop. They had heard Tui had come into possession of a chest full of Nazi regalia, and demanded to buy it. Blanche duly produced the goods – swastikas, daggers, plaques, iron crosses, medals and armbands, and sold them to the Hell’s Angels gang members.
In 1987, when the Cambridge Queen Street bypass went through, Tui shifted her shop up to the Collins Building at the top of the town and continued trading there. In the 1990s, she ran Antique Tours to Sydney. In the 2000s, Tui and Baz retired to Marychurch Road (old Station Road section) by the old Bruntwood Dairy Factory – now Black Dog Furniture. From there she and Baz still sold a few items from the barn.
Baz died in 2011 and Tui in 2017. The property with the original oak trees from the old Bruntwood Station site is now owned by their daughter Kerrie. Son Dave lives in Cambridge and retains a keen interest in and knowledge of antiques. We thank him for providing information for this article.
Written by Jane West for the August 2024 Cambridge Historical Society newsletter.
Photograph by Reg Buckingham CM2917/06/23