By MICK ROBERTS © UNLIKE most of Australia, Queensland and Western Australia had a ‘watered-down’ version of the infamous ‘six-o’clock swill’. The ‘swill’ was a nickname given to the frenzied rush by Australians and New Zealanders to buy drinks from… Read More ›
This is what six o’clock closing means to most men — an undignified stand-up battle for an after-work drink in gloomy, unattractive surroundings. This rushed drinking against the clock forces most men to drink too much, too quickly leads to… Read More ›
In London in 1750 the gin shop signs used to announce that you could get “drunk for a penny, dead drunk for tuppence.” In Sydney in 1946, due to the tempo of drinking, you can get drunk on four pots,… Read More ›
COMING OVER: Often the rush is so great that beer is handed over the heads of people lining the bar. Customers don’t resent this refinement in hotel service. We leave you to be the judges: WE ran a story… Read More ›
TWO regular customers at a Goulburn Street hotel in Sydney discovered how to get quick service “during the peak-hour rush”, reported ‘Column 8’ in the Sydney Morning Herald on August 12 1950. Sydney’s pubs, during these years, were at the… Read More ›
SCENE 2.— The Kerb Queue for the workers’ hour. Scene 1 was difficult to photograph. In it the players are the door-huddlers. Over the weeks they have managed so to perfect their role that even the patrolling policeman often… Read More ›
SYDNEY: Sydney publican Max Shepherd, of the Northern Club Hotel [George Street], is providing super deluxe service for patrons. It includes: Films in the bar. Tape recordings of descriptions of past sport events. A pianist and piano-accordionist playing and singing to lounge… Read More ›
THE six o’clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the rush to buy drinks at the pub before closing time. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian pubs turned off the beer at 6pm, which… Read More ›
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 ›