Kiwi Icon: Radio's First Lady

​Kiwi Icon: Radio’s first lady
Maud Ruby Basham was known to a whole generation of New Zealanders - by her greeting - Good morning, good morning, good morning everyone - but more so by her air name - Aunt Daisy.
Born in London on August 30, 1879, her parents Robert and Eliza Taylor christened her Maud - but she was always known as Daisy.
Her father died when she was three and her widowed mother and she came to New Zealand in 1891, coming to New Plymouth where she went to New Plymouth High School.
As well as singing lessons she took part in local concerts, and sang in the church choir, honing the voice that would become one of her trademarks.
She also trained as a teacher and trained at a number of local schools.
On June 4, 1904 she married Frederick Basham - a civil engineer - and they had three children.
In 1922, during a visit to Wellington, Daisy accepted an invitation to sing on an experimental radio station (the first public broadcast had only been the year before). But she did not begin broadcasting until 1928.
During the depression, with her husband on half pay, he encouraged her to apply for a position singing on Auckland station iYA. She wrote and sang for a programme on the lives of great composers. Then in 1930 - with the presenter of the children’s programme away - she took over and for the first time was known as Aunt Daisy.
It didn’t last - she was made redundant and immediately went to a private radio station in Wellington. But after a month she was back in Auckland at 1ZR and had the responsibility of opening each day's transmission.
Over the years she headed different programmes and gathered fans. She moved back to Wellington in 1937 to the headquarters of the newly stated operated ZB network, (the forerunner of Newstalk ZB).
Her programme was astonishingly simple. Aunt Daisy talked for half an hour. About anything she liked. She was a hell of a talker - getting up to between 175-202 words an hour!
Aunt Daisy often mentioned products (she was paid to promote them) and once she did it was not unknown for that product to promptly sell out. Her theme song was the popular Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do.
Along with her show were the Aunt Daisy cook books along with books on handy hints and a world tour. (Our pic is an Aunty Daisy cookbook in Deb’s collection.)
Aunt Daisy was recognised as the first lady of New Zealand radio and received an MBE.
She was still broadcasting until only a few days before her death on July 14, 1963. She was cremated at Karori Cemetery.