This was the slide that everyone wanted to see. It was made to celebrate the successful end of the First World War and was shown in cinemas of jubilant crowds.

But it didn't go to plan.

The returning troops brought with them strains of influenza which struck communities with a vengeance. Medical staff were ill equipped to deal with this new invisible enemy and the government was forced to close cinemas, along with many other public places.. A month later the cinemas opened again, but with an influenza which claimed 8,573 lives the slide would have been shown to a more muted audience 

Like the rest of New Zealand, Foxton entered a series of Level Four 'lockdowns' during the COVID-19 pandemic. And just like the rest of New Zealand this experience dominated community affairs. 

The Foxton Little Theatre boasted in 2022 that their new production was 'comedy for the COVID era'. 

This photograph was taken outside the Foxton Little Theatre during winter 2022 by local photographer Jacob Brookie. Jacob used a 1958 Yashica 44 camera to take this photograph. This camera was a small 'twin lens reflex' marketed towards families who wanted to take slides for a 'slide show' displayed with a projector.

One of the selling points of this camera was it's automatic film transport- it wasn't motorised, but if you wound the crank handle the film would stop in the right place. Half a century later it doesn't work as well (note the next frame of film intruding into the bottom of the photo!)