Fun Map of New Zealand

Issued by the New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau and printed by E.V. Paul after designs by Charles Haines, the first advertising agency in New Zealand, founded by Haines in 1891. While the promotional material on the verso of the map is designed to encourage tourism, and offers free assistance to travelers, the map on the front is more whimsical in nature: “… there is no need to offer apologies for the appearance of the ‘Fun Map of New Zealand’, which, while making humorous reference to many historic and notable incidents in the Dominion’s history, does so without malice and a spirit of genuine light-heartedness. From the delightful representation of the ‘Three Kings’ in the far north, all looking slightly ‘blue’ as though feeling ‘just a little bit out of it’, to the busy oyster-scoopers of Foveaux Strait, there is one big smile for owners of the ‘Fun Map’”.