The dates in the second paragraph below have been changed to reflect new information (23 July 2008).
John Rappard came from Holland, where he had trained as an aircraft designer. After working in the forestry, hydro and timber industries he bought land high on Signal Hill on the northern outskirts of Dunedin. Then he married Maria (also known as Mies or Mitzi) who was also from Holland, and they built a house there and developed a poultry (egg) farm.In 1968 he made his first spinning wheel, a Christmas gift for his wife. In 1970, when it had become impossible for small-scale poultry farms to operate profitably, he embarked on a fulltime spinning wheel manufacturing enterprise. The hen houses became the factory workshops. The first automatic machine was one for making bobbins, and later other parts of the production were automated. In the early years Rappard was constantly experimenting with different woods and variations in design.
He soon began exporting. By the 1980s 85-90 percent of his production was exported, to Australia, Europe and the UK, Japan and North America. In the late 1970s, the factory employed up to 15-20 people, though quite a few of these were part-time. The varied carvings on the treadles of his horizontal wheels (right) were among the things by his own hand. An account by Ged Maybury of working in the factory can be found on my actrix user page.
His first wheels were the saxony-style "Northern European" wheel, of which two versions are found. This has a most unusual construction of the drive wheel, which as far as I know is only otherwise seen in Sutherland and a few Thompson wheels and some late Pipys by Ray Chisholm.
The popular Little Peggy and Wee Peggy upright wheels were designed after he was asked to repair a very old wheel brought from Shetland which had been damaged in transit. He asked and received permission to copy some of the design features, and the leaflets about these wheels say that they evolved from the Shetland wheels which many early settlers brought to New Zealand. The Little Peggy was sold assembled and polished, but the Wee Peggy was a kitset which made it particularly suitable for export. They were named in honour of Peggy Linn whose husband Colin inspired and advised in the setting up of the business. Many Peggies are still in use.
In a price list of February 1977, the Northern European wheel is listed at NZ$150 and the Little and Wee Peggies at NZ$88 and NZ$63 respectively. There are also spinning and rocking chairs, other spinning accessories and a range of "Raplin" toys. The norwegian-style Mitzi does not appear in price lists till after 1981, by which time the Northern European no longer appears.
In addition he made one double flyer wheel, which was featured on the cover of The Web of August 1977 (reproduced at right, with permission).
A bulky/plying head (pictured below) was available for the Wee Peggy, and no doubt for the other models too. The flyer is 18cm (7 inches) wide, and a big front maiden is also included.
In all some 20,000 John Rappard spinning wheels were made. When he retired his brand was acquired by Ashford, who made one batch of Wee Peggies and Mitzis in 1997. John Rappard died in July 2007.
I thank Betty Kelly, Hamish Campbell and Ged Maybury for telling me about John Rappard and his wheels.
