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Story: Home décor and furnishings

Advertising linoleum tiles, 1950s

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Advertising linoleum tiles, 1950s

The idea that it is primarily women who decide on the decoration of a house has long been pervasive. For example, this 1950s advertisement for Nairn’s linoleum tiles, with the slogan ‘easily laid to your design’ is clearly aimed at women homemakers. It shows a beaming woman laying the tiles on her kitchen floor. 

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-B-DECOR-1950s-01-cover

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

Nancy Swarbrick, Home décor and furnishings – The significance of home décor, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/40698/advertising-linoleum-tiles-1950s (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 15 January 2013.