Contents
Preface 9
Introduction 11
1 Home comforts 21
2 Clean and fresh 65
3 Daily dressing 99
4 School days 139
5 Working worlds 175
6 Getting around 207
7 Going shopping 241
8 Fun and games 271
9 Out on the town 311
10 Rituals and traditions 345
Acknowledgements 383
Notes 384
Bibliography 398
Image credits 408
Index 420
Bronwyn Labrum is an associate professor in the School of Design at Massey University and was formerly curator of history and textiles at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. She is the author of Women’s History (1993), and co-editor of Fragments: New Zealand Social and Cultural History (2000) and Looking Flash: Clothing in Aotearoa New Zealand (2007). She has also written widely about New Zealand’s cultural and social history, welfare and medical history, museums and material culture. She has a long-standing interest in the mid-twentieth century and its objects.
Impressive, interesting and beautifully written, Real Modern
represents a valuable contribution to New Zealand history. For
those who lived through the 1950s and 60s this book brings back
powerful and intimate memories of daily life; for those who did
not, it reveals a fascinating and surprising world.' Jock
Phillips
'Joyful is the perfect word to sum up this book. Somehow weve been
led to believe that New Zealand at this time was cautious, stodgy
and dull, but Real Modern shows it was anything but. The New
Zealand in this book is witty, inventive, adventurous and eager for
new experiences. And the clothes were just gorgeous. Real Modern
does more than diligently record the familiar objects of the 1950s
and 1960s; it captures the feeling of what it was like to live then
Catherine Robertson
Like an archaeological dig, objects give us meaning to an era in
history. From the fabrics to the furniture, the Three Flowers
talcum powder to the Vance Vivian shops, Bronwyn's book Real Modern
does just that for the 50s and 60s in New Zealand. Real Modern
takes us beyond the usual kiwiana and retro labels. A fascinating
read. Wallace Chapman
Delicious, disturbing, surprising. Real Modern takes us to the
world of things we once loved and dreams we could believe. On every
page a discovery and rediscovery of a uniquely New Zealand era,
when luxury came by way of the consolette tv, bikini chair, island
bench and Loxene shampoo. A book where history unfolds in the
glorious panorama of everyday life. Professor Charlotte Macdonald
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