Olde Melbourne guidebooks
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Wondering what the cab fare rate was in Melbourne in 1973? Or the opening hours of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1911? Or where must imported explosives be unloaded in 1925? … Read More ›
Social life & customs
Temperance and Melbourne’s grand coffee palaces
Social life & customs, Such was life:
The temperance movement originated in the 19th century and urged for the reduction or prohibition of alcohol. Temperance societies were initially founded during the 1820s in the United States and… Read More ›
News by telegraph; the 19th century internet
Social life & customs, Such was life:
On 21 October 1872 readers of Melbourne newspapers scanned the latest news from Europe. The reports included news that the Emperors of Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary had met to discuss… Read More ›
Food in early Victoria
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Eating in Victoria was a different proposition for the Aborigines than for early Europeans.
Baths, and how to take them.
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Need advice on washing up? Want to compute the area of an irregular sized paddock? Or maybe you require some hints when ordering windmills? Then check out our 1930s housewifery pamphlets.
Tango in Melbourne
Social life & customs, Such was life:
‘When an Argentinean dance called the tango arrived in Melbourne in 1913, the wowsers were shocked by dancers who danced cheek-to-cheek and whose legs and arms pressed against each other… Read More ›
Memories of the Great Depression
Social life & customs, Such was life:
An interesting and amusing memoir of a Melbourne boy growing up during the Depression is the book The Palace of Signs: memories of hard times and high times in the… Read More ›
Telling time in early Melbourne
Social life & customs, Such was life:
In 1853 Melbourne was developing rapidly and the need for consistent, accurate time across the burgeoning colony saw the first observatory built in Williamstown. Time was communicated… ‘by dropping a… Read More ›
Melbourne’s feral dogs
Social life & customs, Such was life:
In the 1840s and 50s, Melbourne had an unregistered dog problem. Initially the stray dogs were only a nuisance, but they soon became aggressive and threatened the safety of Melburnians.
Melbourne’s bohemians
Social life & customs, Such was life:
Bohemian: noun 1. a person with artistic or intellectual tendencies or pretensions who lives and acts without regard for conventional rules of behaviour (Macquarie dictionary online).
