Camels

Ann Still entertained us at our first November meeting with an account all about camels. She had on display a five frame exhibit, which she felt was better suited to six frames, and noted early in her presentation that it was verey difficult to obtain camel-carried mail. An Indian dealer has recently offered her such a cover, for £21,000!!

Ann stated some of the characteristics of camels. They can close their nostrils against wind-blown sand, and have a third eyelid which enables them to flick away anything blown against their eyes. They can recycle their own urine, and can eat almost anything.

A camel can lose up to 30% of its weight in dehydration, and can drink 25 to 40 gallons of water at one go. Camel milk will stay sweet for up to three months in a refrigerator. Camel calves cry when removed from their mothers. Camels can tell when a major sandstorm is coming. They are good swimmers, and reluctant workers. They can live for up to forty years on average. They have seven callouses on which they bend and kneel. Camel meat is exported from Australia to the Middle East, and is very low in fat.

Camels appeared at the 1907 Christchurch International Exhibition, and most likely were from Australia. Ann mentioned the Afghan cameleers in Australia, where camels were used for construction work and the building of railways. There are postcards showing strings of camels in the Australian outback. In Tasmania there are small towns called Upper Dromedary and Dromedary, for which Ann has postmarks. Camel races are common in Australia, and Ann had on display some interesting memorabilia from these events.

Ann mentioned the use of camel hair beltings and fasteners, showing an invoice from a company that dealt in these. The Redaway Belting Company had an office in Wellington.

Ann also mentioned camel hair underwear, which an 1889 advertisement claimed did not shrink, and was soft and elastic.

Ann noted that camels can be affectionate if treated properly.

On display was an airgraph from 1944 with a camel design on it, and a variety of camel postcards from Aden. Ann noted that she had a shoebox at home full of camel postcards, and that World War II camel material was plentiful. She also mentioned camel ambulances, which sounded like a painful way of transporting injured soldiers in war time.

This was a very interesting talk, with a lot of unusual and colourful material to look at following the conclusion of Ann's presentation.