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Kōrero: Rural language

The bobby truck

Image
The bobby truck

The bobby truck, a familiar sight in spring, usually collects bobby (unweaned male) calves from pens at the farm gate, to be transported to the freezing works for slaughter. Bobby calves got their name because in the 1930s, they were sold for one shilling – a ‘bob’.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: AAQT 6539/B8293

by Gregory Riethmaier

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Dianne Bardsley, Rural language – The evolution of rural language, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/18586/the-bobby-truck (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Dianne Bardsley, i tāngia i te 1 March 2009.