item details
Overview
This folded child's growth chart was produced by the Johnson Johnson pharmaceutical company. At the top is a cartoon image of a baby with a tape measure and the large red title 'Grow Chart.' and space to write the child's name. Down the right-hand side of the chart is a yellow area listing heights, and next to this a green area to record the child's age by these measurements. Down the left-hand side is a series of cartoon baby images.
Growth chart
The makers of this chart, Johnson Johnson, are an international pharmaceutical company that also manufactures baby products. The chart comes from a collection of objects formerly owned by the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, and would probably have been available from Plunket Rooms or Plunket nurses. The baby record books produced by Plunket provide a space to record child development, but colourful charts such as this one were another engaging way for the child to observe their growth.
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.