Grogging-on At

Sydneysider At Home Base

Grogging-on At The Local

How do typical Australians drink? Observations are that "y still prefer to do it standing up.

FE that we said “typical” Aus ralians which immediately up a vast, new vista of trying arate the typical sheep from the •f the herd; and that this ob ion doesn’t take into account rge and growing number of un- I Australians who prefer to sitting down. ently your Sydneysider made an -spot survey of some Sydney ig habits by visiting her “local” ; happiest night of the week— ay. With her went a New d visitor and, as it turned out, onfused the issue. Our Kiwi was sold on the notion that were creatures who could be rically described as typical Aus s, and he refused to believe lere were many amongst the 0 with whom we sat in the aunge.

Whither the Aussie? t he was looking for, of course, he tall, lean, craggy-faced, individual wearing a Digger’s 1 with a cigarette dangling from ner of his mouth. And he was there were few of these there, ly because there are few of nywhere since the World War ation started to die off. before we get on to who was let’s get the background • Until 1955, NSW had 6 osing of hotel bars. In that ie hours were extended to 10 fhe decision to do this had ken by the people at a referen le previous year, and many y er drank in bars voted this Civilised drinking was the 'ord, as opposed to the no old six o’clock swill, new hotel hours plus the fact the same time a great many dubs and restaurants were , resulted in hotel interests a boom period of renovation, den construction and lounge n. A new type of entertain olved around these and began

to attract a new clientele above and beyond the solid core of regular hard drinkers.

In suburbs and country, new hotels, all devoted to the civilised and un civilised methods of grogging-on, have sprung up like fungi, and of these our “local” is typical.

It appeared about four years ago, costing a vast number of thousands of £’s. It sprawls along most of one block in the shopping centre; is pleas ingly modern in design, and, running from east to west, contains a public bar, a saloon bar, a bottle depart ment and the huge public lounge.

At the back, on an open terrace is the “beer-garden” (in which only the first half of the hyphenated word has any significance); behind that again is a large area of gravel, bumps and dried grass called the parking lot.

This comprises the business part of the establishment, but mindful of the licensing laws which require publi cans to provide accommodation as well as “refreshment”, there is, at one end, a double-storied excrescence for this purpose. There probably are eight or nine bedrooms here, and ac cording to someone who has seen them they are all “very nice”.

Old Pubs and New There are, as well as a number of the old type pubs, at least four other, similar “new hotels” in our suburb, all with the minimum number of bed rooms required by law, and all de voted whole-heartedly to the business of making drinking less painful.

Some have, in addition to what has been described, a drive-in bottle department, arranged so that the customer can take his car in and buy his grog without having to get out from behind the wheel.

And, I am told, some, in some suburbs, have gone to the revolu tionary lengths of installing an es presso coffee machine—but this I have yet to see. In our suburb the accent is still on beer. (Over)

So back to our local, on SaturdJ night. The public lounge is a vai utilitarian expanse with a long be down one side; a pocket-handkerchi dance floor in the middle, a threa piece dance band and a myriad tiny tables. Right at the back the is provision for carpet bowls at darts, and through next door in til saloon bar there is a ping-pong tab) Poor Man’s Night Club The floor show that night was pn vided by a Tahitian hula danc (genuine), who brought polite ae plause from the lounge patrons au vociferous enthusiasm from a grou of Italian New Australians who can in from the public bar for the ever No one can say that all tastes arer catered for—and all for the price a couple of beers. (Conspicuous absent: Any means of getting am thing to eat. Not even a biscuit on sandwich was available.) The night’s customers come in tv distinct age groups—the middle-ag and elderly couples, on the one ham and the early twenties, on the othu (What had happened to the missii generation is easily solved—it w home having babies, tending babi( or paying off the TV set.) The older patrons come early, rig after the 6.30-7.30 dinner break, aj take up good positions around tt dance floor and band. They are w and conservatively dressed.

But as you move out towards tt perimeter, the age limit drops, tt behaviour becomes less inhibited at the dressing wilder and woollier.

Tight Fawn Pants The young men wear bulky-kj sweaters and tight fawn pants ar their hair is long and flops; or groc down their faces in side whiskers. 0 a few beers they’re animated, then much loud talk and laughter, ar confused coming and goings fro their tables, like a pot on the bo Their girls, by contrast, on the sau amount of alcohol, merely retire F hind dead-pan faces and gaze fixeo; into the middle-distance, Occasio ally, in an excess of enthusiasm, tr boys fall on their necks and hd them, but it’s not so much passion j availability.

It was these antics of these cuse mers—the bulky-knit lot—that I our NZ friend to state that th» wasn’t a typical Australian amonr the room full. This, plus the ffl that dancing was permitted in hotel amazed him most.

In NZ the combination of drfn and dancing is believed to be an u holy mixture with a low flash-poii(

our friend needn’t have worried, “beat” generation is, generally, a dancing one, except for their listic rock-and-roll which gives use but, judging by facial ex ion, little pleasure, is the middle-aged and elderly take advantage of the three-piece and the tiny dance floor; and performance they put on is as *ous as a church social. •out 90 per cent, of the drink d is beer; the waiters work like ;rs, but as the evening session 30 to 10, the possibility of mass ication is remote.

Standing Room Only

much for a night of civilised ing. Generally, that’s for Satur nd in spite of the high hopes of there is still plenty of the un ed sort. In hundreds of pubs ver this city, men still crowd ars and whether typical or un .l Australians, drink standing up ; accompaniment of a crescendo and. ween 5 p.m. and when they are n out for the dinner break at there is still the “swill”, with ng-room only and the overflow ing around the doors and g into the street. ; cars are literally parked for around popular caravanserai, patrons pay tribute to Bacchus lat must be the world’s most devotion to beer, he face of these fearsome drink ibits of ours, that reach right into colonial history, visitors ireigners stand awe-struck. And, ur casual observation we are fter 170 years, unrepentant, are we? Oddly, figures tell a nt story.

Drinking Figures

e Australian States still observe lock closing, but figures quoted latest Commonwealth Year show that availability has little with drunkenness. Convictions mkenness in 1958 (latest year le), were quoted per 10,000 pulation, with these results: 185; Victoria, 107; Queens -201; South Australia, 48; a Australia, 68; Tasmania has always had late closing), d Northern Territory (where re big thirsts), 481. r figures indicate that there ive been something in NSW’s ! or “civilised” drinking, after 1954, the year before 10

o’clock closing came into operation, there were 72,541 convictions for drunkenness; in 1955, the first year of “liberation”, they soared to 80,457; the next year they were down to just over 77,000; and in 1958, in a State whose population is increasing rapidly, convictions numbered only 68,354.

Overall, Australia’s consumption of liquor is falling, too. In 1954-55, 24.26 gallons of beer were consumed for every man, woman and child.

In 1958-59 consumption of beer was down to 22.17 gallons per head. In the four years under review, con

sumption of spirits rose by only .01 of a gallon to .30 of a gallon per head of population. And wine by .03 to 1.14 gallons per person.

We are a long way from becoming a race of total abstainers but it seems that there’s hope for us yet.