Story: Factory industries

Post-war boom (2nd of 3)

Post-war boom

This worker at the Fisher & Paykel Carlaw Park Lane factory is putting together a refrigerator in the early 1950s. By 1949 Fisher & Paykel produced 600 washing machines, 500 refrigerators and 700 vacuum cleaners each month, and was struggling to keep pace with orders from retailers. In the 1950s the company began releasing products it had designed itself. The first, in 1956, was a pressurised clothes dryer, followed in 1957 by a dual-temperature refrigerator with freezer compartment.

Having outgrown their factory at Carlaw Park Lane, new 48,000-square-foot (4,417-square-metre), purpose-built premises was opened in Mt Wellington in 1956. The factory opened with 60 staff. Within four years, aided by new product launches and a network of over 200 dealers throughout New Zealand exclusively marketing Fisher & Paykel products, it had expanded to a staff of 600.

Using this item

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira
Reference: 1-376e
Photograph by Sparrow Industrial Pictures Ltd

Permission of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Ian Hunter, 'Factory industries - Gathering strength, 1900 to 1945', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/25563/post-war-boom (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Ian Hunter, published 11 Mar 2010