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Story: First World War

Wool-classing course for women

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Wool-classing course for women

In the absence of over 100,000 men overseas, women were brought into the paid workforce. These women are being taught wool testing and classing at the Masterton Technical School in November 1917, in the expectation that they would then fill vacancies in the wool industry. This was the first such class aimed specifically at women workers.

Using this item

Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Reference: Auckland Weekly News, 15 November 1917, p. 36 (N-P 1090-36)

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Ian McGibbon, First World War – Home front, 1917 to 1918, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/34131/wool-classing-course-for-women (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ian McGibbon, published 16 April 2012.