Jimmy Woodser is a name given to a man who drinks alone, or a drink consumed alone. The name is thought to come from a poem by Barcroft Boake, published in The Bulletin on May 7 1892, about a fictional… Read More ›
Illawarra Hotels
Three mugs at the pub
Three Sydney motorists, tired, hot, and more than just thirsty, flung wide the doors of a Wollongong Hotel, and marched up to the bar. ‘Three mugs!’ one of them said to the fair one behind the counter. ‘Yes?’ she replied,… Read More ›
Civic father’s Sunday lager at Bulli
Bulli’s main street, much how the tippling civic father would have seen in 1888 when he dropped into one of the four pubs for a bottle of lager. The third and fourth building on the left is the Railway Hotel,… Read More ›
Warrawong publican’s body exhumed
THE transfer of the license of the Post Office Hotel Quambone, NSW (about 30 miles from Coonamble) to Comrol House at the corner of King and Cowper Streets at Warrawong was granted in June 1949. The first publican was Reginald Douglas Tolley who had served… Read More ›
The Hotel Illawarra’s First Ladies
By MICK ROBERTS © THE host of the Illawarra Hotel, Hilda Condon brought a touch of glamour to the New South Wales Liquor Royal Commission. The Wollongong socialite splashed a little razzle-dazzle – with her trademark styled blue hair, expensive… Read More ›
Spirits haunt the bar at Mt Kembla Hotel
By MEGAN LEVY Patrons ordering a pint of Guinness at Mt Kembla Hotel should beware – there may be ghosts on tap. The section of bar from where the Irish stout is now served was the site of the hotel’s… Read More ›
‘Terrible place, a pub with no beer’… The ‘schooner war’ and beer rationing
By MICK ROBERTS © “THERE’S nothin’ so lonesome, morbid or drear, than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer”; so goes the lyrics made famous by legendary country music entertainer, the late, great Slim Dusty. Slim Dusty’s… Read More ›
Beer Strike
WOLLONGONG, Monday. At a meeting of the hotel keepers of Wollongong district on Thursday last it was decided to raise the price of the pint of beer to 4 pence. This rise brought about a beer strike at Balgownie where there is… Read More ›
Cross dressing with a difference
PRACTICAL jokers are to be found everywhere, and even in our little town (of Wollongong, NSW) there is no exception to the rule. A day or two ago one of these practical jokers was at work in one of our… Read More ›
Brewery truck crash provides free beer on Bulli Pass
FOR five hours after a beer truck had crashed while coming down Bulli Pass, last night, sightseers sat on the side of the roadway drinking free beer. They came from as far afield as Fairy Meadow and Wollongong to join… Read More ›