Skip to main content

Story: Tea, coffee and soft drinks

Children drinking from a water fountain, 1951

Image
Children drinking from a water fountain, 1951

In New Zealand water has been freely available from public drinking fountains since the late 19th century. These thirsty children are enjoying a refreshing drink from a mosaic-patterned drinking fountain at the Trentham Racecourse in Upper Hutt in 1951.

Using this item

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

Reference: 114/256/02

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.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Kerryn Pollock, Tea, coffee and soft drinks – Water, soft drinks and milk drinks, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/40382/children-drinking-from-a-water-fountain-1951 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Kerryn Pollock, published 30 November 2012.