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Story: Childhood

Gun games, 1976

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Gun games, 1976

Chasing games with toy guns, often inspired by mid-20th-century American films, were popular playtime activities for boys. Toy guns fell out of favour later in the century because of their association with violence, though they were still found in most toy stores in the 2000s. These four boys, one dressed in a cowboy outfit, are arranged in two gangs for a mock shoot-out. The pine forest would have been a perfect spot to play games like this, away from adult eyes.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: EP-Social-Children-01

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

Kerryn Pollock, Childhood – Play and recreation, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/26272/gun-games-1976 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Kerryn Pollock, published 22 March 2011.