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Story: Food shops

1850s closing hours

This poster, signed by retail shopkeepers in Wellington in 1850, outlines their agreement to close shops at 7 p.m., except on Saturdays, during the winter months, so that their staff could get home at a decent hour. The long hours worked was the major complaint of shop assistants.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-B-RETAIL-1850-01

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

Carl Walrond, Food shops – Shopping hours, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/25504/1850s-closing-hours (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 6 April 2010, updated 1 September 2016.