Heard something today that jogged my memory about NZ’s infamous Six o’clock Swill. From December 1917 to October 1967 pubs closed at 6 pm: 🍻
resulted in a mad rush to drink as much alcohol as possible in [1 hour], leading to unruly behaviour and unpleasant drinking conditions.
Jessica Smith Oh, we had the "six o'clock swill" over here as well! My parents still talk about it, even though they were not drinking age yet at the time it was abolished 😂 It's so strange to think about now.
Cheri As someone who crams dessert in the mouth before her “eating window” closes, I empathize with the swillers. 😉
Miraz Jordan @jayeless I was listening to part of a tape I recorded in 1976. In that tape I mentioned how 'civilised' Germany was in their alcohol consumption — no 6 o'clock or 10 o'clock swill, being able to buy a variety of foods in pubs, and various other things. It really took me back to the NZ of the 70s which was so utterly different from how it is now.
Jessica Smith My parents have very similar memories! I had to look up the name of it, but here it was the Niewenhuysen review (in 1987) that aimed to bring in a more "European" drinking culture, and that was a massive reform. Of course, they're full of stories of non-liquor-law ways that Melbourne has changed dramatically over time too 😄 I'm sure it's similar in NZ.
Miraz Jordan @jayeless Loads of things have changed so much. One thing leaps to mind though: the (often bizarrely normal — eg, I think? soap) items you couldn't buy on a Sunday, so if a store that sold those things was open on a Sunday it would have to cover the items it wasn't allowed to sell.
Jessica Smith Wow, soap! That is weird. A recurring theme in my parents' stories about the 80s seems to be queuing at the bank for ages every Friday, in order to withdraw cash for the weekend because there were no ATMs or EFTPOS machines. If you hadn't reached the front of the line by 4pm, no money for you! I find that quite hard to imagine, haha.
Miraz Jordan @jayeless I may have misremembered soap, but the list included such perfectly ordinary items.