Image Health stamps poster

TLF ID R2033

This is a full-colour poster (57 cm x 44.5 cm) featuring an illustration of children playing at the beach. In the foreground, a boy with a spade at his side stands by a heap of sand he has dug, flexing his arm muscles. Two girls and another boy, all dressed in swimwear, are looking at the central figure. Across the bottom are the words 'BUY HEALTH STAMPS FOR HEALTH CAMPS'. The poster was produced in 1932.





Educational details

Educational value
  • This asset is an example of the type of poster that was produced to promote the sale of postage stamps to help fund New Zealand's health camps for children - by the 1930s, these camps, begun in 1919 by Dr Elizabeth Gunn, a school medical officer for Wanganui, were a national institution (the National Federation of Health Camps) under the general oversight of the Department of Health, and were held at various sites around New Zealand.
  • It uses images of healthy, active children to promote the camps - sun, fresh air and exercise were considered part of the solution to the main child health issues of the time, malnutrition and tuberculosis; the camps were run on military lines, with regular times for sleeping and eating a diet of fresh meat, vegetables and milk.
  • It provides an example of the images used in the 1930s to encourage the New Zealand public to support the heath camp initiative - in later campaigns these images of well-fed European children at play gave way to images of the extremely popular Royal Family, particularly in the 1950s.
  • It indicates that at the time this poster was made, boys were shown as being more active and stronger than girls, who in this image look on passively from seated positions.
  • It is an example of design aesthetics from the 1930s, the poster's simple decorative style and natural setting showing the influence of the Art Deco art movement.

Other details

Contributors
  • Author
  • Name: E V Paul Government Printer
  • Organization: E V Paul Government Printer
  • Description: Author
  • Person: Marmaduke Matthews
  • Description: Author
  • Contributor
  • Name: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Organization: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Description: Content provider
  • URL: http://www.tepapa.govt.nz
  • Name: E V Paul Government Printer
  • Organization: E V Paul Government Printer
  • Description: Author
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Person: Marmaduke Matthews
  • Description: Author
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Organization: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Publisher
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Colour independence
  • Device independence
  • Hearing independence
Learning Resource Type
  • Image
Rights
  • © Education Services Australia Ltd and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2013, except where indicated under Acknowledgements