PIONEER EXHIBITS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 November 1939, Page 6

PIONEER EXHIBITS

THOUSANDS VISIT WOMEN’S SECTION. ENTHUSIASTIC COMMENT. Of the many thousands who visited the Centennial Exhibition in its first three days, nearly all gained one of their greatest moments of pleasure when viewing the Women’s Section exhibit, which includes two rooms portraying periods in pioneer domestic history. These rooms in the Women’s Section have been designed to present, as naturally as possible, the living conditions experienced by early pioneers in the North Island in the 1840/50 period, and the more settled home environment in the South Island in the 1850/60 period. The North Island pioneer hut is packed full of interesting objects, each one authentic in its historic associations and the whole display tastefully arranged. The articles in this hut are extremely varied and each one worthy of special mention. The following are some of the articles taken at random: A wag-on-the-wall clock, brought out to New Zealand in one of the early ships and lent by Miss Jean Bishop, of Wellington. The old clock, with its face murky with the passage of the years, still works. Wag-on-the-wall clocks received their name from the sound they made as they swung steadily on the wall and counted the seconds one hundred years ago. A goffering iron, brought out by an early pioneer woman, is being lent by Mrs A. Beaver, of Wanganui East. Not many housewives know what a goffering iron is, but they were used by women who ironed the little frilled caps worn only by married women. A rug, lent by Miss C. Allan Douglas, New Plymouth, is particularly interesting, because it was made by a regimental tailor from pieces of cloth comprising uniform facings and other materials which represent the different regiments which were in service at the time of the Maori wars. A pair of handworked braces and a pair of knitting needles made by an early pioneer about 1850 arc included in the list, which, makes entertaining reading, but it is even more interesting to sec the objects themselves.

Although the early pioneer room has occasioned much pleasing comment, the South Island room—depicting a typical parlour of the 1850'60 period—has caused even greater admiration. It has been particularly well arranged, and to glimpse into its interior takes visitors back many years, far from the bustling crowds about them. It includes three figures—a man, a woman and a small child. The small child's dress of linen is charmingly simple and it is still in excellent repair though if was worn by ten different members of one family in the early days in the South Island. Posters advertising the sailing of early ships which carried immigrants to settle in Christchurch are included in the display, but do not obtrude into the natural arrangement of the room. The woman sits at a table reading an open book and is wearing a brown silk frock about 80] years old: the man figure is clothed in garments, nearly all of them worn on the wedding day of various early]

settlers in Otago. The room is papered with typical Victorian wall-paper and the whole atmosphere is particularly real. These two rooms form the highlight of the Women's Section, which was the only wing of the Exhibition entirely ready for inspection on opening day. They have proved most popular —not only to women members of the community. but to the men also —and they present a vivid picture of the conditions of the people who founded the Dominion.