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Wellington, New Zealand. "Woman using a vacuum cleaner in a hallway, photographed early 1930s by Gordon Burt." Sign on the landing: "NOW is the opportunity to be quit of the DRUDGERY of housework." View full size.
but we haven't "quit the drudgery of housework", even 80+ years later...
Can anyone figure out what the sign on the stairs says?
[It could be in the caption. -tterrace]
In reply to bobzyerunkl, sorry but New Zealanders do NOT slavishly follow British terminology. If you were to ask someone here in NZ to hoover the carpet, they would understand but the usual term throughout the country is "vacuum". I believe "hoovering" never caught on as I don't recall my mother or grandmother (1899-1973) ever using the word. In modern NZ parlance, the lady in the photo is vacuuming the carpet.
Another example: trucks are referred to as lorries in the UK, but "lorry" is never used in NZ and "truck" enjoys universal useage. If you come to NZ and start using "hoover" and "lorry", you will instantly be taken for an Englishman.
The unfortunate animal skin on the floor looks like it was once a leopard; possibly an African or Persian leopard.
This is known as "hoovering".
Can anyone tell us what kind of beast is lying flat on the floor?
Very clever use of the Shorpy watermark!
Love what you did with "SHORPY".
Cute move with the Shorpy logo. Is this the first time you've done something like that?
You should use better adhesive on your logo.
I like the way the "SHORPY" logo seems to be getting sucked up into the vacuum cleaner; a very sharp use of imagery...
BTW - any guesses about what type of poor animal has been made into a floor rug?
To acknowledge the vacuum's effect on Shorpy. Nice touch.
Been viewing this site for a long time now, Very impressed with the Images. Today I noticed this image used the VACUUM play with the SHORPY logo - Great play.
Superman vs the Mole Men
An old New Zealander form of English grammar?
[A largely archaic use of "quit" as a predicate adjective. You'll find it in Shakespeare and the King James Bible, for example, as well as in more formal 19th-century British English. -tterrace]
Looks like Leia has been hittin' the pasta.
Why doesn't she get her Droids to do that?
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