exhibitions

The 1940 Centennial

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  The centennial celebrations of 1940 marked a century of European effort and progress. Maori history and the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi took a back seat.

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• Page 2 – The Centennial Exhibition

  The New Zealand Centennial Exhibition ran from 8 November 1939 to 4 May 1940. During this time 2,641,043 people went through the main gates with a daily average attendance of

• Page 3 – Playland

  Over the 1939/40 summer 2,870,995 people - 200,000 more than the total number who visited the centennial exhibition - spent their pounds and shillings in Playland

• Page 4 – The Centennial and progress

  The 1940 Centennial, planned for five years and publicly funded, was a deliberate act of national self-definition by the first Labour government.

• Page 5 – The Treaty of Waitangi

  Despite all the talk of the 'birth of a nation', the place of the Treaty of Waitangi or Māori in the centennial celebrations was less obvious.

Centennial - growth of New Zealand identity

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  Between 8 November 1939 and 4 May 1940 more than 2.6 million people visited the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Wellington; this represents an average daily attendance of about 17,000 people. The government spent £250,000 – more than $19 million in today's money – on the exhibition.

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• Page 1 - The 1940 Centennial Between 8 November 1939 and 4 May 1940 more than 2.6 million people visited the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Wellington; this represents an average daily attendance

The 1920s

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  The 1920s was the decade that modern New Zealand came of age. Despite political and economic uncertainty, the country shrugged off the gloom of war to embrace the Jazz Age - an era of speed, power and glamour. Explore an overview of the decade and a year-by-year breakdown of key events.

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• Page 8 - 1925 - key eventsA selection of key New Zealand events from