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Never a Dull Moment! Hamilton Stories

22 August 2009 - 15 February 2015

Never a Dull Moment! Hamilton Stories takes a fresh look at the tales of Hamilton, and proves history exhibitions can move beyond musty stuff in cases. Visitors will find it quirky, thought-provoking and entertaining.

Never a Dull Moment focuses on four themes covering the period from1864-1945, and key events and personalities from those years.

But this is no time line.  Imagine portraits that come to life, listening in on town gossip, or settling into a cinema to find out all about Hamilton’s theatre going past?  Perhaps you’d like to spin the settler ‘wheel of fortune’, or take home a recipe from a war time cook book. (Economy cake, anyone?). 

Exhibition Highights

Section one:
• View a stunning Korowai displayed next to an officer’s tunic
• Spin the ‘wheel of fortune’ to see what kind of land you might have been given if you were an ‘armed settler’
• See Captain Hamilton’s sword – and decide whether you think the city should have been named after him
• What was the militia settlement like through the eyes of a child – listen in to Sarah Ann Byrant’s story
• Get up close to the survey map of Hamilton East drawn in 1864 

Section two:
• East vs West – find out the real reason the two Hamilton townships merged
• A 3.9 metre model of the Union traffic bridge, lovingly crafted by Dinsdale man Doug Dixon.
• Open up cases to find out the stories of local businesses and facilities
• Then and now – check out the differences between historic photos, and new ones taken from the same vantage point
• Would you have taken a trip across the River on the punt?
• Have a laugh at the cartoon depicting the night soil service!

Section three:
• Take a seat in our theatre to find out about cinema going in the twenties
• Our custom designed mannequins have been dressed to the nines – step behind them to see what you look like in the mirror
• Care for a dance? – pick up the magnifying glasses and discover what events had Hamiltonian’s putting on their glad rags
• Which girls sports team had people outraged over their ‘short’ skirts?
• Put your ear to the key hold and listen in on the town gossips
• We had a mayor named Bond, James Bond, and his chair is on display
• Pin a poppy to the wreath to remember Hamiltons WW1 soldiers – but also find out why Waikato tribes would not fight

Section four:
• See the proposed plan for a tunnel through Anglesea Street, before Garden Place Hill was removed.
• Fabulous pics of land girls, and women at the munitions factory
• How do you spot an enemy plane?  The Home guard knew, and you can too
• Turn through the pages of the war time cookery book with our virtual book
• Sit back and watch the celebrations of VE day

Sponsored by

Tompkins Wake

Brian Perry Charitable Trust

Foster construction

Gallagher

Classic Hits


Image: Scene from the Hamilton's Hectic Husband's film, 1928.  Waikato Museum Collection