WARRACKNABEAL, Monday – A dray drawn by a sleepy horse gradually collected a crowd of followers as it moved slowly through Warracknabeal’s main street today. On the dray were three 36-gallon kegs of beer. By the time it had reached… Read More ›
Australian Hotels
Australia’s longest bars
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE are a number of claims to the title of Australia’s “longest bar”. Sydney’s famous Australia Hotel was said to have had the longest bar not only in Australia, but in the world during the 1930s…. Read More ›
When the beer drought ended: They rushed this hotel
Beer rationing during the war years – and for some years after – caused a frenzied rush to the bar when publicans announced that they had secured a supply of the amber nectar. For more on beer shortages visit the… Read More ›
Elephant’s Beer
STORIES of the drinking habits of elephants are amongst the repertoire of Mr. Petersen, the advance representative of Wirth’s Circus. One of the animals belonging to the circus developed its unhappy failing one day when being driven from a matinee… Read More ›
Public House Lamps
IT is not generally known that, according to the Liquor Act, it is necessary that every public house must have a lamp outside the main entrance to the hotel, and it is necessary that the lamp be lighted at sundown,… Read More ›
Watch those grubby fingers! Bartenders targeted for bad hygiene habits
AT the height of the infamous ‘six-o’clock-swill’, Sydney health authorities had a crackdown on pubs flouting hygiene regulations in 1946. A culture of heavy drinking evolved in Sydney pubs during the time between finishing work at 5pm, and the mandatory closing… Read More ›
Spider in beer quart
WHEN MR. H. C. BECKER, of Glenside, was about to open a quart bottle of beer at his home on Saturday night he found a spider about 2 inches long floating in the neck of the bottle. The quart… Read More ›
Early pubs of Hobart: The romance of Tasmania’s hostelries
THE following feature story, describing the early names of Tasmanian inns and pubs was published in the Hobart Mercury on July 19 1946. The revealing story gives a glimpse into the colourful signs that once swung above the doors of… Read More ›
A pub named after a bush tucker tree: The Quondong Hotel: 1891-2000
“QUONDONG HOTEL, 33 miles from anywhere. Half-way house on the Menindee to Broken Hill coach line.” – The Sydney Mail, Wednesday, October 26, 1910. By MICK ROBERTS © ALL that remains in the arid outback surrounds of where the Quondong Hotel… Read More ›