Industrious Kiwis
Flax workers
Shaw, Allen, Flax workers, ca 1910, B&W original negative, Photographic Archive, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-062685-F
Flax workers
The possible uses of New Zealand flax was recognised early on in New Zealand, but the inventions of flax-stripping machinery increased production and developed it as an important industry between the 1860s and 1930s.
Flax mills were all over the country from Northland to Southland. However with changes in technology reduced demand for flax fibre ropes and led to the decline of this industry. This photograph is of a group of flax workers outside a shed next to bunches of freshly cut flax.
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.
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