Surfers Paradise Meter Maids
Surfers Paradise Meter Maids are young women in skimpy clothing who have been filling local parking meters in Surfers Paradise , a tourist center on Australia's east coast and part of the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland , since 1965 . The campaign, originally intended as a protest against parking space management , has now established itself and is considered to be the image carrier of the region.
The term Meter Maid (literally Parkuhrjungfer ) denotes especially in American English wardens , but here turned against the police officers.
background
Despite the name chosen since 1933, Surfers Paradise is by no means attractive for surfers, the waves on the miles of sandy beaches are rather low. It is considered a family-friendly beach vacation destination and has a large shopping center right on the beach access. Despite the existence of nightlife, the local city leaders (see Bruce Small ) were concerned with a rather good image. There is also no street prostitution . Regardless of this, the Meter Maids 2014 were cited as an Australian prime example in an urban planning monograph on the (hyper) sexualization of urban space.
history
In 1965 the city introduced parking management. Some local business people, especially Bernie Elsey , protested. Elsey founded the Surfers Paradise Progress Association and had some scantily clad girls refill expired parking meters with a 6 pence coin. To this end, they provided the vehicle with a business card from the association and a reference to the saved fine of one pound at the time. The action became known and, due to the good publicity, tolerated despite the violation of the rules of parking space management. The first maid, Annette Welch, was disinherited from her grandmother because of her job, but married a local real estate mogul .
In the same year, in interaction with Surfers Paradise, Meter Maids were introduced in the New Zealand seaside resort of Rotorua , who appeared in Maori costumes and also refilled parking meters and operated tourism advertising. New Zealand's first meter maid, June Northcroft Grant, later became known as a gallery owner, artist, and writer. The costumes were not considered authentic, the Meter Maids led to local controversy in New Zealand; the action was not continued.
development
Initially, the maids in Surfers Paradise were equipped with a tiara and a gold lamé bikini. They now have an Akubra hat , a sash, high-heeled shoes and one or the other advertising medium on their clothing or on their bags. In 1967 Bruce Small, the then mayor, took the Meter Maids on a promotional tour after a hurricane had paralyzed tourism for a while. Small had previously made money as a bicycle dealer and real estate business. He had bought some mangrove swamps and turned them into building land. Accompanied by the Meter Maids and his poodle Mimi, he made promotional tours through various countries and also did not shy away from taking part in dance marathons and organizing a parade through Surfers Paradise on a high wheel . Through all these actions, the Gold Coast became an internationally known tourist stronghold, and Small was knighted as well, but was forced to resign in 1978 after a few scandals.
At times the maids were financed by the local chamber of commerce. After two of the maids, Roberta Aitchison and Melinda Stewart, had defoliated themselves in the men's magazine Penthouse in 1990 , this funding was dropped. Penthouse Australia had paid the two of them a very high fee for the nude photos at that time for non-celebrities. The recordings were also used as the cover story for Melbourne Truth , an Australian tabloid. The two women continued the maiden business privately and also bought a local competitor. The guerrilla war with this had previously received considerable press coverage. The maids had previously also been banned from making additional money by selling promotional items (including beer can and bottle holders for Stubbis ).
There is a museum on the history of the maids. Since the appearance of the maids was sometimes felt to be no longer in keeping with the times, an attempt was made to replace them with hostesses in khaki with free sun cream samples. The local tourism association suggested the use of somewhat more plentifully clad hostesses for advertising in the area in order to combat a supposedly cheap image. Roberta Aitchison, on the other hand, thinks that the maids' outfit is central to the image. The Chamber of Commerce finds bikinis perfectly appropriate in the beach environment, but prefers somewhat muted clothing at trade fairs and conferences, for example in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center in Australia's capital.
Two maids in 2012
Dance performance at a show in 2015
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chipperfield, Mark (September 22, 2002). "Time is running out for Queensland's meter maids". The Telegraph (UK) .
- ^ Provocations of the Hypersexualized City . In: Architecture and Culture . tape 2 , no. 3 , November 1, 2014, p. 379-402 , doi : 10.2752 / 205078214X14107818390711 .
- ↑ In the land of the rainbow snake - Out and about in Australia - extract | Andreas Altmann. In: www.andreas-altmann.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Helen Frizell (Jun 29, 1967), "Small things to treasure when disaster is near," The Sydney Morning Herald
- ↑ a b c Clock is ticking for Australia's bikini-clad Meter Maids . In: The Independent (UK) , May 13, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ↑ a b Why time may be up for meter maids who make surfers smile . In: The Independent (UK) , May 14, 2005. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ↑ Rotorua Notable People and Local Heroes (GL) - Rotorua Biographies - Kete Rotorua. In: rotorua.kete.net.nz. Retrieved May 25, 2015 .
- ↑ Obit: Ray Woolliams . In: New Zealand Herald . September 25, 2012, ISSN 1170-0777 ( nzherald.co.nz [accessed May 25, 2015]).
- ^ Anna Smith, Lydia Wevers: On Display: New Essays in Cultural Studies, Victoria University Press, 2004, p. 88
- ^ A b c Robert I. Longhurst: Small, Sir Andrew Bruce (1895–1980). Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed May 9, 2014 .
- ↑ a b c Bust-up As Surfers Meter Maids Bare All. (No longer available online.) In: www.lightmeter.com.au. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015 ; accessed on May 24, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Julia Robinson (2001), Voices of Queensland, Oxford University Press, p. 54, ISBN 978-0-19-551395-0
