Pages tagged with: leisure

Eleanor Fraser served in the Women's War Service Auxiliary as a Tui in the New Zealand Forces Club in Cairo. She left for Egypt in September 1941 with 29 other young women with whom she would work in the club, behind one of the counters supplying refreshments to the troops on leave. Here she describes the routine of the club

Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Wright was a doctor in the Medical Corps. At Gerawla he helped set up the hospital, but was also sports officer, responsible for making a rugby field as he describes here

Jim Barclay fought with the 27 Machine Gun Battalion all through the North African campaign. Here he recalls going to the pictures at the infamous Shafto's cinema at Maadi Camp.

Café culture has become integral to Wellington's identity. This culture began in the 1930s with the emergence of the milk bar, followed by coffee houses in the 1950s. After a period of decline in the 1960s and 70s, the city's café scene has grown in spectacular fashion over the last 20 years.

Hear George Trundle talking about how POWs kept themselves entertained

Wellington city centre is renowned for its flourishing café scene and the culture it inhabits. But it was nearly 1950 before there was much sign of the sparkling capital that exists today.

As a modern society began to evolve in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, a new concept of 'leisure time' began to emerge

New construction materials and equipment fashioned the cafe culture rising in the 1950s. Wellingtonians were introduced to the espresso machines as European styled cafes emerged.

The rise of coffee houses in the 1940s, 50s and 60s was not a phenomenon confined to Wellington, or indeed to New Zealand. The connection between the history of cafe culture and immigration is significant.

Relaxing in a dugout canteen in North Africa

Entertainment generally and music in particular have always been a part of the Wellington cafe scene.

Although the American forces worked hard, they all craved some time off. But New Zealand leisure-habits were very different to American ones. So the visitors devised their own forms of entertainment and established enclaves of American culture.

New Zealand in the 1940s and 1950s has been described as a drab and uniform place. From the late 1950s, however, a café culture was established throughout the country.

For many people of both nations the most memorable aspect of the American invasion was the home visits. Often these were arranged formally, with New Zealand families signing up to offer the Americans a weekend at home.

Sources on Wellington cafe culture.

At a camp in Italy POWs walk to fill in the time

Prisoners of war took any opportunity to fill in the long hours of incarceration. Here POWs at Stalag XVIIIA parade in costumes made from recycled material from Red Cross parcels in a 'carnival' called Roman Holiday