WHERE pubs were found, drinkers could also find a resident SP bookie. At one SP betting stand in the Perth metropolitan area, not 50 yards from a main arterial road, the principal in this 1953 newspaper picture was a woman. A Western Mail photographer “called early in the morning and found the look-out posted, a brazier going to keep the clients warm and the woman prepared for a day of profit in the rain”.
Pictures: Western Mail (Perth), Thursday 13 August 1953
The Bridge Hotel is no more than 100 yards from the main traffic bridge across the Swan River at Fremantle. No more than 20 yards from the hotel, the SP operator parks his car, puts up his betting boards for a youth to study and plants a portable radio (arrow) next to the rear-side wheel of the car so that a group buddied round a horse water trough can
listen to the races.
The SP stand for those who frequent the Ascot Inn at Belmont
is just where the picture shows -Thompson-road. It’s alongside a fence right at the back of the hotel latrines. It’s handy if not hygienic.
Categories: Perth Hotels, Western Australia hotels
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