Trade union banner
Chapter navigation:
- Introduction
- Trade union banner
- Teaching and Learning sequence - teacher copy
- New Zealand company flag
- Canoe Poi dance poster, 1950s
- New Zealand railways cup and saucer
- Paua surfboard
- New Zealand's first postage stamp, 1855
- Assessment schedule
- Souvenir Māori-style toothpick
- Māori sovereignty flag, 1990
- Side of 'Fernleaf' butter box, c1940s
- TEAL poster
- Cigarette-box holder, 1939
- Souvenir Māori Doll, 1950s-60s
- Student task sheet
- Te Porere - The Flag of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki, c1860s
- Student information sheet
- Double bubble
Acknowledgements:
Copyright | Reproduced courtesy of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa |
Creator | George Tutill, manufacturer, 1899 |
Identifiers | Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa number PC004649/1 TLF resource R2037 |
Source | Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa |
Description:
This is an image of a painted silk banner (front and back view) made in 1899 by the London firm of George Tutill & Co Ltd for the Westport District Gold Miners Industrial Union on the West Coast, South Island in New Zealand. There is a link from the page to a detailed description of the banner.
Educational value:
- This asset is evidence of the early unionisation of some sectors of the New Zealand workforce - the first coal-miners' union was established in 1885.It shows the use of symbolism in trade union banners - in particular, Christian symbols such as the angel, the three virtues and the all-seeing eye, to evoke ideas of moral correctness.
- It suggests that trade unions used banners, and the parades during which they were displayed, as a means of gathering support and membership - this banner was used in parades on Labour Day (a public holiday celebrating the eight-hour working day) up until the 1930s.
- It is evidence that New Zealand organisations contracted English companies to supply specialised items - the rubber treatment was patented to George Tutill & Co Ltd, who created thousands of trade union banners.
- It indicates, by depicting a Māori person, that the Westport District Gold Miners Industrial Union sought to unite workers and enlist the support of Māori people.
- It reveals the gender-defined employment roles prevalent at the time - only men are shown as members of the Union and workers in the industry.
- It illustrates the skill of the artists who worked on this and similar union banners.
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