Volunteers’ choice ‘fascinating’

Museum volunteer Julie Hemera holds an empty bottle of Hokonui illicit whiskey from the 1920s. According to the label the drop was ‘free from poisons’. Photo: Erin Flanigan

In recognition of New Zealand Volunteer Awareness Week in late June, some of the most fascinating pieces of the Police Museum collection have been brought out of storage for temporary display.

Following last year’s make-over of the Museum, business has “taken off”, says Museum Manager, Kamaya Yates.

“The help of our volunteers is as valuable as ever, so to celebrate Volunteer Awareness week, museum staff and volunteers presented ‘Appealing Artefacts’, a new display running at the Museum until the end of July.

Each volunteer selected an object from the collection to showcase. Objects include the 1905 racist artworks and ramblings of murderer Lionel Terry, a Hokonui whisky bottle from a 1920s sly grogger, a notebook from a 1800s Invercargill beat constable and a small cupboard’s worth of beautifully crafted Police dolls.