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Story: Parenting

Mothercraft class, 1946

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In the past girls did mothercraft classes at school, where they learned how to care for babies. This clip from 1946 shows some willing and (despite what the narrator says) not-so-willing babies being bathed by a crowd of adoring girls.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Weekly Review 248. National Film Unit, 1946

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Lesley Patterson, Parenting – Mothers, fathers and parenting, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/26332/mothercraft-class-1946 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Lesley Patterson, published 22 March 2011.