Te Manawa's Museum in a Box portable way to relive the past

Pru Pim with her The Square-themed Museum in a Box exhibition. Parts of The Square in the 1910 photo she's holding are visible through the window. Photo / Te Manawa

New Zealand observes Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday on Monday.

Palmerston North is a long way from Buckingham Palace but, as the city celebrates its own milestone of 150 years, Te Manawa's Museum in a Box exhibition remembers the day Her Majesty came to town.

Museum in a Box is the brainchild of Pru Pim. She's usually found at the front desk of the museum or art gallery, but once a week she packs up a themed group of objects and heads out to bring a slice of the museum's collection to the community.

Each box is assembled with help from collections manager Cindy Lilburn and her encyclopedic knowledge of items in the Te Manawa social history store. The one about the Queen's visit is no exception, filled with photographs and memorabilia, as well as more broadly royal-related things.

The aim is to create a cross-section of a moment or period in history, Pim says, something to which her generally older audiences respond strongly.

"I have a script but I encourage them to talk to me," she says. "They lived those times and I want to give them a chance to reminisce on days gone by."

For many, the Queen's 1953-54 tour of New Zealand was the opportunity of a lifetime. It's estimated that three-quarters of all New Zealanders caught a glimpse of her in one town or another. Manawatū was no exception, as Her Majesty's train arrived in what is now The Square.

"The bigger part of Palmerston North turned out," recalled Merlyn Sisson, resident of the Masonic Court Retirement Community, as Pim's visit got the lunchtime discussion going.

"We had a flat in George St, so we just went around the corner. The train pulled up right there."

The discussion ranged from memories of the day to the death of King George VI, Diana, and whether it would be Charles or William who eventually succeeded the throne.

"I never know what's going to happen," Pim says. "To me it's such a purposeful thing and a part of our museum without boundaries. I'd do it five days a week if I could!"