Six o'clock swill

The six o'clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public bars at 6 pm. A culture developed of heavy drinking during the time between finishing work at 5 pm and the mandatory closing only an hour later.

Introduction of early closing

Six o'clock closing was introduced during the First World War, partly as an attempt to improve public morality and partly as a war austerity measure. Before this reform, most hotels and public houses in Australia had closed at 11 or 11:30 pm. Support for changing hotel closing times originally came from the temperance movement, which hoped that implementing restrictions on the sale of alcohol would lead eventually to its total prohibition. Although the movement had been active since the 1870s, it had been gaining ground since the 1900s following the introduction of 6 o'clock retail trade closing, first legislated in Western Australia in 1897. The argument made by the temperance movement challenged the grounds for public houses being "kept open while bakers' shops were shut". Prominent groups in this movement were the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Rechabites. Their agitation was augmented with the outbreak of war in 1914 where it was argued that a "well-ordered, self-disciplined and morally upright home front was a precondition for the successful prosecution of the war."

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Latest News for: six o'clock swill

Deserted by 8pm: Aucklanders revel in status as world’s earliest diners

AOL 06 Sep 2024
“When you’re out later, you just see people drinking.” ... “This is just what I’ve been used to, growing up.” ... In London the average is 9.45pm ... I mean, what’s in our culture, the six-o-clock swill? We didn’t exactly develop the aperitif.” ... It’s 8.45pm ... .

Desserted by 8pm: Aucklanders revel in status as world’s earliest diners

The Observer 06 Sep 2024
“When you’re out later, you just see people drinking.” ... “This is just what I’ve been used to, growing up.”. View image in fullscreen ... Photograph ... Photograph ... I mean, what’s in our culture, the six-o-clock swill? We didn’t exactly develop the aperitif.” ... .

About the South: On sailors, citizens and the ‘six o’clock swill’

Stuff 27 Apr 2024
Several men were marooned on Snares Island or Te Taniwha, 100 kilometres south of Stewart Island, in 1810 by Captain Coffin of the sealing vessel Adventure ....

Mitchell Moses is hammered over his shock confession about his baby daughter

The Daily Mail 23 Aug 2023
Mitchell Moses has copped a lashing after the gun halfback admitted that he has only changed his 11-month-old daughter's nappy once ... When asked by Ryan Girdler ... 'No, I haven't Girds ... 'Next he's going to want to bring back the six o'clock swill' ... .

Wine from a coffee mug: Moment Sydney woman got clarity

The Daily Telegraph Australia 07 Mar 2023
Australians have always had a close relationship with alcohol, from rum being the colony’s first currency to the six o’clock swill setting the precedent for our infamous binge drinking culture ....

Are Aussie Pubs Really Filled With Tiles Because It's Easier To Wash Off The Pee? ...

MENA FN 21 Dec 2022
(MENAFN - The Conversation) The–six o'clock swill– is one of the best known terms in Australian history. It captures the unedifying drinking habits of a 50-year period from the first world war ... .

Legalising Cannabis Would Lower Domestic Violence Rates

Sydney Criminal Lawyers 07 Nov 2022
In using the term “legend” in relation to the six o’clock swill, it’s more in the sense of being notorious, rather than mythical, because this was how bars operated in NSW between 1916 to 1955.

Cheeseburger spring rolls and fire spouts: revamped Allianz Stadium lights up on opening night

The Observer 04 Sep 2022
When Souths play Easts even the very air is contested ... Amid the grandstanding, Sydney’s new stadium leaves same issues unresolved. Read more ... It meant scenes similar to the six o’clock swill as fans filled their boots in double-time at half-price ... .

The Plot Against Australia, Part III: the Kings Cross Jewish Nexus, by Jason Cannon

The Unz Review 04 Sep 2022
At the time, temperance laws passed in 1916 restricted alcohol service to the daylight hours, and the 6 pm bar close invariably led to a crush of patrons, the “six o’clock swill,” just before sales ceased.

A new era: Do you know these hotels?

Otago Daily Times 04 Aug 2022
We've uncovered a cache of photographs of Dunedin hotels taken just after the "six o'clock swill" came to an end in 1967 and we'd like readers to help us identify these old watering holes ... .
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