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The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise

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Publisher
  
Whitcombe and Tombs

ISBN
  
978-0-7233-0349-7

LC Class
  
DU427 .M53

Author
  
Austin Mitchell

OCLC
  
714880

4.2/5
Goodreads

Publication date
  
1972

Dewey Decimal
  
919.31/03/3027

Originally published
  
1972

Country
  
New Zealand

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Pavlova paradise revisited, Austin Mitchell's Yorkshire, The Pavlova Omnibus, Teach Thissen Tyke

The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise was a popular book by Austin Mitchell, published by Whitcombe and Tombs (Christchurch, 1972), with illustrations by Les Gibbard. It provided a witty, satirical description of life in 1960s New Zealand, and Kiwi culture.

Described as "a celebrated vision of New Zealand as heaven on earth", the book was a great success in New Zealand. The phrase "Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise" soon became part of the New Zealand vernacular, with the term "quarter acre pavlova paradise" being included in the Dictionary of New Zealand English. Mitchell revisited New Zealand 30 years after writing his original volume, and motivated by the social changes he observed, he penned a sequel entitled Pavlova Paradise Revisited.

Terminology

  • "Half Gallon", popularly called the "Half G", was the standard size of a flagon of beer then sold in New Zealand pubs
  • "Quarter Acre" referred to the ubiquitous suburban section of land on which most Kiwis built their homes
  • "Pavlova", a popular Australian and New Zealand dessert - essentially a cake-sized meringue base topped with whipped cream and fruit, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.

    • References

    The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA