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Story: Rural language

The bobby truck

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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’.

Using this item

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.

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How to cite this page

Dianne Bardsley, Rural language – The evolution of rural language, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/18586/the-bobby-truck (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Dianne Bardsley, published 1 March 2009.