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Fridge advert from the 1950s
Advertisement for a Frigidaire refrigerator from the mid-1950s
Rimutaka tunnel collapse, 1952
Interior view of Rimutaka Tunnel showing the rock fall of 9 September 1952
Further information - the 1950s
Recommended links and books relating to New Zealand in the 1950s
1959 - key events
Key events from 1959
1958 - key events
Key events from 1958
1957 - key events
Some key events from 1957
1956 - key events
A selection of key events in New Zealand from 1956
1955 - key events
A selection of key events in New Zealand for 1955
1954 - key events
Key events from New Zealand history for 1954
1953 - key events
Sheep-shearing record smashed On 6 January at the Akers station at Ōpiki, Manawatū, Godfrey Bowen set a new world record when he sheared 456 full-wool ewes in nine hours.
1952 - key events
Yvette Williams leaps for gold
1951 - key events
A selection of key events in New Zealand for 1951
1950 - key events
British Empire Games come to Auckland These were the first Empire Games (the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games) held since the Second World War. The main venue was Eden Park, which usually hosted rugby and cricket matches. The closing ceremony was held at Western Springs Stadium and the rowing regatta at Lake Karapiro in Waikato, 150 km away. Over the course of the week a total of 250,000 spectators watched athletes from 12 countries compete.
Overview - NZ in the 1950s
Population Plunket baby, 1950s The post-war ‘baby boom’ was the main factor in the total population increasing by nearly 400,000 during the 1950s. But it was an immigrant on the Captain Hobson who in September 1952 officially took New Zealand’s population past the two million mark. More than 125,000 migrants settled here during the decade, the vast majority of them British. Approximately 50,000 arrived as assisted migrants, including 5000 ‘displaced persons’ from Europe and 1100 Hungarian refugees fleeing Soviet repression after the 1956 uprising.
The 1950s
The 1950s saw New Zealanders fight in the Korean War, conquer Mt Everest and crack the 2 million population mark, among many other things. We provide an overview of the decade and a year-by-year breakdown of some of the key events.
1950 Empire Games rowing at Karapiro
Official programme and scenes from the 1950 Empire Games rowing events held at Lake Karapiro.
Maori Women's Welfare League, 1953
Some of the delegates at the Maori Women's Welfare League conference in the Wellington Town Hall, April 1953
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