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 The Evening Paper
 Gone Up North for a While
 Buck House - Escorts Unlimited Limited
 Johnstone's Journey - Settling for Suburbia
 Loose Enz - That Bread Should Be So Dear
 Heartland, Fendalton

Synopsis

This NFU documentary visits a street in a relatively new sub-division in Meadowbank in East Auckland to provide a fascinating slice-of-life look at the early 1970s ideal of raising a family and owning a house in the suburbs. The subjects are a largely homogenous group — pākehā couples in their 20s or 30s with school aged children and a stay-at-home wife. Issues canvassed include paying the mortgage, raising children, social unrest, promiscuity and abortion; but the experience of women as housewives and mothers in the suburbs is the underlying story.

Credits (7)

 Rob Ritchie

Rob Ritchie
Interviewer, Director

 David Fowler

David Fowler
Producer

 Ivor Durham

Ivor Durham
Sound

See all credits ›

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Related Titles (6)

 Loose Enz - That Bread Should Be So Dear

Loose Enz - That Bread Should Be So Dear

Television, 1982 (Full Length)

TV drama about marriage

 The Evening Paper

The Evening Paper

Television, 1965 (Full Length)

1960s TV drama about life in the suburbs

 Heartland, Fendalton

Heartland, Fendalton

Television, 1994 (Excerpts)

Documentary about a long established Christchurch suburb

 Gone Up North for a While

Gone Up North for a While

Television, 1972 (Full Length)

Early 70s NFU drama about an unmarried mother

 Buck House - Escorts Unlimited Limited

Buck House - Escorts Unlimited Limited

Television, 1974 (Full Length)

A lighter look at singles life in the 70s

 Johnstone's Journey - Settling for Suburbia

Johnstone's Journey - Settling for Suburbia

Television, 1978 (Full Length Episode)

Another view of 1970s Auckland suburbia

Quotes

I think she’d like to have money of her own but whether she’d spend it wisely is another matter. 

– Husband

Unless there’s any pressing financial difficulty, I myself can’t see the need for a married woman to go out to work and leave her children and I don’t think the fact she doesn’t want to become a cabbage is reason enough. 

– Housewife

You get married and have your children and you’ve got responsibilities and the thing today with most people — demonstrators and who you like — a lot of them always try and get out of responsibilities. 

– Husband

It’s the women who are there all the time. I mean the man gets a break by driving to and from work each day, even if he sees the same people, he sees different cars passing even if that’s all it amounts to. We see our letterbox and our clothesline. 

– Housewife