YOU can see Sydney’s only religious cockatoo any time in the saloon bar of the Assembly Hotel, Phillip-street. The cockatoo, called Smith, lives there, but he — Refuses alcohol of any kind, and cannot be tricked. He is shown turning… Read More ›
BETWEEN January and September 1919, pneumonic influenza, commonly known as the ‘Spanish Flu’, killed 6,387 people in New South Wales, infecting as many as 290,000 in Metropolitan Sydney alone. The pandemic threw the people and Government of the State… Read More ›
THE first automated glass-washing machine in New South Wales, and the second in Australia, was installed in the bar of the Plaza Hotel, above Wynyard Railway Station, George Street, Sydney in 1946. When Plaza Hotel manager, Alphonse Parer switched on… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Dapto Agricultural Hall, south of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of NSW, had a ‘full house’ on the evening of Wednesday October 6 1897. The large and enthusiastic audience had gathered to be entertained by… Read More ›
From pint, to long sleever, to pot and schooner By MICK ROBERTS © THE ‘long sleever’ was an impressive looking beer glass that stood 45cm high and held an Imperial pint, or 20 fluid ounces. In colonial times, when… Read More ›
WAY before gaming machines and television screens, pubs had to find other means to attract and entertain customers. Pets of various descriptions were often used to draw custom, and occasionally the talented animals and their pubs gained national and… Read More ›
Theatrics, drama and drinking at colonial inn By MICK ROBERTS © AMID the clanging of pewter mugs, narrating of bawdy poetry, raucous sing-a-longs, and of course, the ale induced bellowing of theatrical recitals, stood Sydney innkeeper, William ‘Bill’ Dind. Dind… Read More ›
DRANK AT LEISURE COMFORT: To celebrate the New Year these men set up their own beer garden outside the old Albury Hotel, which is being demolished under the Oxford Street widening scheme. The hotel is on a boundary. Half the… Read More ›
