item details
Name1940 New Zealand Centennial Celebration Souvenir Towel
ProductionDri Glo Towels; manufacturer(s); 1939 - 1940; Australia
Classificationtowels, souvenirs
Materialstoweling, cotton
DimensionsApproximate: 555mm (width), 1150mm (height)
Registration NumberGH016973
Credit lineGift of Nancy Jury, 2010
Overview
This towel is one of several designs manufactured by the Australian company Dri-Glo as a souvenir for the 1940 Centennial Celebrations which were organised by the Labour Government to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and 100 years of European settlement. The towel features an image of the waharoa (gateway) at Whakarewarewa in Rotorua and a romanticised image of a 'Maori maiden'. While Centenary organisers made overtures to include Māori, it was very much a Pākehā event. Much of the iconography used to represent Māori was romantic in nature.