Story: Timekeeping

Six o’clock closing (1st of 3)

Six o’clock closing

Just as New Zealanders’ work came to be regulated by the clock, so too did their leisure hours. In 1917 six o’clock closing of pubs was introduced as a temporary wartime measure, but was made permanent the next year. This poster was produced by the New Zealand Alliance, a prohibition organisation. It came out just before the 1949 referendum on the liquor hours, in which six o’clock closing was decisively endorsed. However, after a subsequent referendum in 1967, closing time was extended to 10 o’clock.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-C-ALCOHOL-Hours-1948-02

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:

Jock Phillips, 'Timekeeping - Time and society, 1870s–1930s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ephemera/6701/six-oclock-closing (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 12 Jun 2006