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Story: Gangs

Milk-bar cowboys, 1950s

Milk-bar cowboys, 1950s

New Zealand youths quickly emulated American popular culture, modelling themselves on figures such as James Dean and Elvis Presley. Milk-bar cowboys – also known as bodgies – congregated outside milk bars on motorbikes. The 1950s saw the emergence of New Zealand's first modern gangs, many centred on motorcycle ownership.

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New Zealand Herald

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How to cite this page

Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, Gangs – Motorcycle and white supremacist gangs, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/28240/milk-bar-cowboys-1950s (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, published 30 March 2011, reviewed and revised 2 October 2018 with assistance from Jarrod Gilbert, updated 1 April 2020.