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Story: Shops

Tea at the DIC

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Tea at the DIC

In the 1920s a day out at the shops often included a visit to the tearooms of one of the large department stores. This 1929 painting, ‘New Zealanders out shopping at the DIC,’ by Christopher Perkins, depicts the tearooms in the Wellington DIC store. Department-store tearooms were largely frequented by women.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: C-064-021

by Christopher Edward Perkins

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Shops – Shopkeepers and shoppers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/21221/tea-at-the-dic (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 6 April 2010, updated 19 February 2026.