Blue Bath, Rotorua

Unidentified group at the Blue Bath, Rotorua, c. 1930s
Quarter-plate glass negative by unknown amateur photographer
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

These two amateur snapshots are images scanned from a small box of quarter-plate glass negatives of unknown provenance in the Katikati Heritage Collection.  They depict an unidentified group - three women, a man and a young girl - standing on the front steps of the Blue Bath in Rotorua.

Unidentified group at the Blue Bath, Rotorua, c. 1930s
Quarter-plate glass negative by unknown amateur photographer
Courtesy of the Katikati Heritage Collection

The Blue Baths, housed in a stunning art deco/Spanish Mission-style building, opened in 1933 and offered mixed bathing for the first time in New Zealand.  Perhaps this family was visiting to see what all the fuss was about.

Blue Baths, Rotorua, October 2010
Photograph by Brett Payne

After being closed for 17 years the Blue Baths were restored to their former glory and reopened in 1999.