By MICK ROBERTS © SAID to be a modest man, publican James Alexander Martin managed to keep from an official government inquest how he saved the life of a drowning man when he gave evidence in 1914. Jim Martin was… Read More ›
NSW hotels
Blind Publican Happy On Job
JOHN Wall said to be the only blind hotel licensee in Australia is happiest when he is doing his hotel chores. He is mine host at the Oxford Hotel, Taylor Square Darlinghurst. When a Truth reporter called this week, Mr. Wall was in the chill… Read More ›
She Couldn’t Buy Her Beer
THIS woman went into the main bar of the Australia Hotel, Castlereagh Street, Sydney, last Wednesday afternoon and asked for a beer. Barmaids refused to serve her. She then helped herself to several beers standing on the counter before a group of men…. Read More ›
A tall tale
SWEDISH seaman Carl Bergman, 23, of the motor vessel Polamola, who stands something over seven feet in his shoes, stood at the back of a crowd fighting four-deep for beer in a bar of a Sydney hotel on Saturday, leaned easily over their heads, and got his… Read More ›
NSW/Qld border divided Hungerford pub’s bar
By MICK ROBERTS © LEGEND has it that a there was once a pub that sat ‘slap-bang’ on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. As a consequence the outback pub, located at Hungerford, had its bar half in… Read More ›
Bull in hotel at Nowra
SHORTLY after breakfast on New Year’s Day guests at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Nowra, received quite a shock when a man, leading a bull, calmly passed through, the luxuriously appointed lounge into the hotel yard. Some of the ladies present screamed, whilst other guests rubbed their… Read More ›
A Goat Stickybeaks
A GOAT caused some amusement at the Courthouse Hotel, Murwillumbah, on Wednesday morning. The animal walked into the lobby, gazed around inquiringly as though undecided whether to ask for a refresher or book a room. As an invitation by one of the ladies to… Read More ›
George Tory’s Kiama Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS & MICHELLE HOCTOR © KIAMA Inn is the oldest business in Kiama Municipality having operated from the same site – on the south-east corner of Terralong and Shoalhaven Streets – continuously since 1853. After Wollongong’s Harp Hotel,… Read More ›
Pub scrap album
PUBS often featured in the pages of newspapers, revealing a fascinating glimpse into the workings and culture of Australian communities and in particular working class men and women. Here are a selection: FOR 44 years she has served beer. In… Read More ›
Lady Luck & the pub roustabout
BILL Price fitted perfectly the profile of a pub roustabout, ‘boots’ or ‘useful’. A drifter, he did most odd jobs around the pubs where he worked in return for boarding and lodgings. He did jobs like tapping beer kegs or… Read More ›