This slide was shown to cinema audiences at the end of intermission- paid for by the Labour Party as part of their campaigning. Most political parties used the cinema for electioneering and these slides provide a glimpse into elections long since decided.

Given that this slide says 'Thanks to Labour' it was probably made when Labour was in government. The fashions suggest that this could have been at the end of Walter Nash's term in 1960- although it may have been for the 1949 election when Peter Fraser was in charge.

What is really interesting about this slide is it's definition of 'everyone'- a close look at the faces shows a range of ages and a mixture of men and women. However, there is no cultural diversity in this smiling constituency. It is true that Aotearoa has become more diverse in recent decades, but even when this slide was made its photographs did not represent 'everyone'. 

Political party slogans have changed over the years, as seen in this vintage cinema advertising slide. Showing the 'nuclear family' depicted in advertising and literature of the time, the slogan itself could easily double as a Hollywood mafia threat! 

It probably wouldn't have been read like that at the time though! This wasn't the only slogan which would be seen as suspect today- the MAVtech Kete collection has a National Party slide whose meaning might be misinterpreted...

During the 'first past the post' elections voters only elected their local candidate. As a result,  relatively few of our vintage political slides show the party leader. Most profile who was standing to be the local Member of Parliament or they showed a 'values' picture like this one.

In 1978 Alan Eyles was a candidate in the brand-new electorate of Horowhenua. He came second to National's Geoff Thompson but still managed to get 39.30% of the vote (Thompson got 42.86%). Eyles did not contest the seat again.

The Horowhenua electorate changed boundaries over the years, gaining and losing Shannon and Waikanae. Foxton constantly remained in the electorate. With the advent of MMP in the 1996 election, electorates were redrawn and Horowhenua was largely replaced by the Otaki electorate. 

With the average New Zealander making four or five trips a year to the cinema in 1978, an advertising slide was a great way of getting your face in front of voters. Eyle's photo was in black and white- perhaps to associate him with newspaper publicity. With each slide only shown for a few seconds at a time the message had to be quick and to the point.