Skip to main content

Kōrero: Nightclubs

Music and dancing banned, 1868

Image
Music and dancing banned, 1868

As this 1868 newspaper report shows, music and dancing was allowed in Otago’s pubs and hotels only when a permit had been obtained. In this case it appears to have been accepted that the music was provided by those dancing, no women were present and no money was made from the high-jinks. Nonetheless the unfortunate publican was fined and made to pay the prosecution’s costs.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Otago Daily Times, 17 January 1868, p.4

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Redmer Yska, Nightclubs – Origins and development of nightclubs, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/document/39156/music-and-dancing-banned-1868 (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Redmer Yska, i tāngia i te 3 December 2012.