One of the reasons that New Zealand women were largely confined to the home in the 19th century was that there were very few women's public toilets. Gradually these amenities became more widespread and evolved into rest rooms – places where women could also attend to their babies, have a cup of tea, and get changed if going to an event in town. These art-deco rest rooms in the Square, Palmerston North, were built in 1936.
Using this item
Private collection
by Simon Nathan
This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.