The New Zealand Woman: 80 Glorious Years of Fashion, Food and Friendship From the Pages of the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly by Bee Dawson, Whitcoulls, RRP $24.99, ISBN 9781877327513, Available now.
The New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. It’s an institution and now it’s 80 years old. Yes, 80! I didn’t realise it had been around that long but it has, first gracing news-stands in 1932. With all those years of free patterns, up to the minute advice and endless photos of Rachel Hunter, there aren’t many NZers around who haven’t read a copy (or two).
The New Zealand Woman is a well produced, wonderfully illustrated celebration of the past 80 years of the EnZedDubDub (or NZWW if you insist), that pulls together articles, photography, illustrations and advertising to produce quite a repository of New Zealand history in the 20th century.
From recipes for pork brawn to handy hints on dusting with kerosene to cigarette advertising (“It’s the tobacco that counts!”), The New Zealand Woman also provides an interesting study on the rise of celebratory culture and the change to “women’s magazines” over the last half century, from inspirational (about “our” lives) to aspirational (about “their lives”).
A fun social history of a Kiwi institution.
I’ve got several copies of The New Zealand Woman to give away! Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for how to win – starting with this week’s competition on Facebook.
The post Book Review: The New Zealand Woman by Bee Dawson appeared first on BookieMonster.
