Story: City images

Colonial New Zealand was promoted as a rural society where towns and cities would play a supportive role. The colony wanted to avoid the penury and disorder of Britain's city slums, and create a prosperous and stable society where working people could buy a farm and live off the land. This ideal is shown in this emigration poster from 1848. The first image 'Here' shows a downcast and malnourished family struggling in a city slum. The second image 'There' shows it transformed after a move to New Zealand. The happy and hearty family sit down for a meal in a kitchen full of their own produce.