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Story: Beach culture

Sumner Beach

Sumner Beach

Well-dressed women protect themselves from the sun with parasols, in 1900. Victorian Britain had a formal approach to a day at the beach, and this attitude was carried to New Zealand. There was little swimming, but when adults did enter the water they hired horse-drawn bathing machines to take them into the sea, to preserve their modesty.

About this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kawanatanga
Reference: AAAD 6011, No. 5

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

How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips. 'Beach culture', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 2-Mar-09
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/beach-culture/3/2