New Zealand embraced television. The little box in the corner brought animation to many homes. It became a shrine of sorts, the very centre of the family unit, with everything else built around it. And in 1970s New Zealand, one tele show ruled the roost.
By 1977, Selwyn Toogood was around 60 and slightly overweight. He was dressed by a tailor from Dunedin who specialised in dark, soapy blues, greys and blacks. He sweat profusely, and was often caught mid-shot mopping puddles from his brow. And he presented a show called It's in the Bag.
It's what was in the bag that was the point of the show. Contestants first had to correctly answer three general knowledge questions. If they did that, they could choose between the money or the bag. The trick was that they had no idea what was in the bag, or for that matter how far Selwyn would go before calling an end to his bids leaving the contestant with whatever was actually in the bag.
It could be a stereo system worth $800; or a set of crystal glasses worth $450; or a stick.
Too greedy, and the bag would have you. Not greedy enough and you'd turn down $550 for a Fujimax camera worth only $220. There was a science to working out what exactly was in that bloody bag.
Course, I wouldn't know. I rely on television to find out about these Kiwi gems. I've just finished watching reruns of It's in the Bag, including the final from 1977 between a bloke from Winton and a housewife from Mosgiel, broadcast on TVNZ 6.
Back then, the big prize (after all of the regional heats - one of the "gimmicks" of the Bag was the fact it toured New Zealand in the lead up to the grand final) consisted of two Toyotas. One was a metallic blue Crown, complete with automatic transmission. The second was the zippier, orange-red Corolla; fully manual.
Shit. Imagine cruising Winton in a 1977 Corolla.
The Bag harks back to better times in New Zealand. Cheese was yellow and came in three flavours. Coffee could be mistaken for peat fill. And ham was tinned. None of this fancy bullshit: coffees with different layers of frothed milk or boys wearing fluorescent colours.
Back when TV could have old, sweaty presenters and still be relevant; When target audiences wore wool at its very worst; When fashion meant avoiding exposure to direct heat for fear your outfit might shrink and laminate you in place. There were no stedicams or Assistant Associate Executive Producers (Creative).
I kind of miss that "simple" New Zealand. Now that we're globalised, we've lost some of the prejudices that made us the great nation we once were.
