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Story: Farm families

Husband and wife milking

Video file

Although farm women in the 1950s and 1960s were expected to focus on domestic duties, the shortage and costs of labour meant that many women helped out on dairy farms. In this clip a married couple work together milking their cows on a Waikato dairy farm in 1966.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Pictorial Parade No. 178. National Film Unit, 1966

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Emma Dewson and Jock Phillips, Farm families – Women in the rural family, 1880–1970, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/19838/husband-and-wife-milking (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Emma Dewson and Jock Phillips, published 1 March 2009.