Frederick had re-married in 1922, and he and his new wife Catherine moved
to the Hawke's Bay. He had obviously over-stretched himself financially, "tired
and depressed", he and his wife had only £10 to their names
when they opened a new shop, Munro's 'Garden of Sweets' in Heretaunga
Street, central Hastings, opposite the Cosy theatre (later the Embassy)
on 26 May 1926.
Catherine & Frederick Rush-Munro's first Hastings shop, ca.
1926.
- Rush Munro's.
They started out with seven varieties of toffees and candies, later adding
ice cream, chocolates and fruit drinks.
Munro's ice cream was made on a hand churn packed with ice and salt,
flavoured with fresh fruits in season; strawberries, raspberries and
passionfruit.
Just when things were looking up again, Munro's premises were destroyed
in the devastating 1931 Napier earthquake - stocks of ice cream given
to the sailors of H. M. S. Veronica who were clearing debris from the
streets and sweets and fruit going to the hospitals.
Rush Munro's Ice Cream parlour (far left) on the morning of 3rd
February 1931.
- Collection of Hawke's Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo
Ta-u-rangi, 2019/20/8
Just seventeen days later, they managed to re-open in a tent in an empty
section near Stortford Lodge. Moving out of the central business area
was a risk, but after the earthquake, they were not keen to re-open
amongst the bricks and mortar. Meanwhile they started work on building
a new shop and house at 704 Heretaunga Street West.
Around 1932 they moved the business to the new premises which eventually
evolved into the famous Rush Munro's Ice Cream Gardens:
Rush Munro's Ice Cream parlour and garden, ca. 1932. Photographer
Henry Norford Whitehead.
- National Library Reference
Number: 1/1-004612-G
The Oriental-style Gardens featured pergolas, outdoor tables and chairs,
a lily pool with goldfish, fountain, lanterns, coloured lights and
an aviary.
A modern refrigerating plant was installed and the range of ice creams
was extended. Milk and cream was supplied by a local farm (Tweedie Bros.
on Raupare Road), strawberries, raspberries, lemons and walnuts came
from local growers, passion fruit arrived from Kerikeri, oranges from
California and crushed pineapple from Hawaii.
Interestingly, the photo shows that the ice cream was still branded "Munro's
Ice Cream".
Frederick & Catherine with staff in fancy dress, 1930s.
- Knowledge
Bank, Lovell-Smith collection.
The War brought sugar restrictions (which lasted until 1948) and rationing,
meaning the business could open only a
few hours each day. By the time things began to get back to normal, Frederick's
health was deteriorating.
In 1948, Frederick and Catherine reluctantly sold the business to John
Caulton, who had been a WW2 Spitfire pilot, and his wife Marie. Frederick's
secret recipes were part of the transaction and he stayed on for three
months to pass on his knowledge to the new owners.
The Rush-Munros retired and moved to Tirau in 1954.
John & Marie maintained Rush Munro's high standards and worked on
expanding the factory and product range:
"The town was getting bigger and it seems silly to say but
it was a special place to come to. People used to come from overseas
because they had heard about it, it became part of their journey
for their holiday times. I started feijoa ice-cream, Rush had a couple
of trees growing on the corner of the drive, before he left to retire.
They were only little tiny feijoas, I made a small batch and asked
Rush what he thought, he said “that’s great.” They
were quite a new fruit here."
"I would have to say I would have been the first shop in
Hastings, if not the country, to have no smoking in the late 50’s.
I had 3 signs up, and they had to make up their mind, they either
wanted an ice-cream or they wanted a smoke, take your pick, as simple
as that. It caused a bit of a rupture every now and again."
Over the years the Ice Cream Gardens became a Hawke's Bay landmark and
family tradition, much-loved for its soda fountain and hand-made, batch-churned
ice cream, scooped high in a peaked cone, or served in a dish with a
silver spoon, in a range of natural, real fruit flavours.
"At the time there was nothing to equate
with our ice cream. A company “Bluemoon” tried
hard but maybe it was the extra cream we used,
I don’t know what it was, we had a name and it
just went on and on and on. There was plenty of
work, it wasn’t a 40hr week, but I didn’t mind
it, you knew you were making something that people
appreciated and enjoyed."
John Caulton (left) in his factory with fellow 132 Squadron pilot,
Dr John Everall, 1978.
- John
Caulton Spitfire Pilot. Thanks to John Caulton.
Rush Munro's 1.5 litre label, ca. 1980s.
- John
Caulton Spitfire Pilot. Thanks to John Caulton.
John and Marie Caulton outside their famous Gardens in 1985.
- John
Caulton Spitfire Pilot. Thanks to John Caulton.
The Caultons operated Rush Munro's for 38 years. In 1986 John and Marie
sold the business and retired to Havelock North. Sadly, Marie passed
away in November 2000. John died in 2015, just a few weeks short of
his 95th birthday.
Today Rush Munro's is still family-owned and operated.
The company
is still producing 100% natural ice cream made to Frederick's original
real-fruit recipes, and you can choose
from over 20 award-winning
flavours such as Passionfruit (above), Boysenberry and Feijoa.
Sunday 30 October 2022 - Rush Munro's scooped
it's last ice cream at Frederick Rush-Munro's iconic, hand-built, 90-year-old
Heretaunga Street West ice cream gardens.
The business will continue
to operate from a site at Albert Square in central Hastings but, tragically,
one of the Hawke's Bay's most-loved heritage buildings, complete with
rose gardens and goldfish ponds, was demolished to make way for
a petrol station!
 www.rushmunro.co.nz
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Ice Cream Brands from the Past.
