Photograph, 'Pre-School Section'

This small, sepia-toned photograph shows the interior of the preschool room in the model Plunket rooms constructed for the 1940 New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Rongotai, Wellington. The photograph shows three tables covered with an assortment of objects relating to early childcare, three chairs (one child-sized), and several posters on the walls, including one instructional poster entitled 'Some Enemies of a Beautiful Mouth'.

A handwritten note on the back of the photograph in black ink reads: 'Pre-School Section. Educational Toys. Results of bad feeding on teeth. Results of badly fitting sox and shoes on growing feet.'

Significance
In the 1940 New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, utilitarian memorials such as the Plunket rooms reinforced the government message that New Zealand was overcoming the Depression of the early 1930s. This interior photograph shows some of the areas that Plunket was focusing on at this time, such as dental hygiene.

The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society
Sir Frederick Truby King founded the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children in 1907 in an effort to improve childcare standards, and it is still active today. It is, however, more commonly known as Plunket, after Lady Victoria Plunket, wife of the Governor of New Zealand at the time of the Society's establishment and a great supporter of King's work. In 1980, the Society officially changed its name to the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society.

Acquisition
In the late 1980s, Te Papa received a collection of objects and ephemera from the Plunket Society, including promotional leaflets, a 'Well Child' baby book, and a set of scales for weighing infants. These items date from different periods in the history of Plunket, from its inception in 1907 to the time of this acquisition.