Social life & customs

Moomba

Moomba

March 3, 2015

Social life & customs, Such was life:

Melbourne’s Moomba festival first took place in March 1955 and was initiated to liven up Melbourne and attract tourists.

The history of hello

The history of hello

January 8, 2015

Social life & customs, Such was life:

You’re the first person in the world to answer the telephone- so what do you say; Hello? Hulloa? Hi? Anybody there?

Victoria’s early horse trams

Victoria’s early horse trams

November 19, 2014

Social life & customs, Such was life:

In 1884 Melbourne’s first tramway- a horse tramway in Fairfield- was built to promote land sales in the area (100 years of Melbourne’s trams, pg 1). Two horses pulled a carriage containing… Read More ›

Olde Melbourne guidebooks

Olde Melbourne guidebooks

July 21, 2014

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 ›

Temperance and Melbourne’s grand coffee palaces

Temperance and Melbourne’s grand coffee palaces

May 31, 2014

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

News by telegraph; the 19th century internet

March 18, 2014

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 ›

The cooking class at the Melbourne home

Food in early Victoria

February 27, 2014

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.

Baths, and how to take them.

November 18, 2013

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

Tango in Melbourne

August 6, 2013

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

Memories of the Great Depression

June 28, 2013

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 ›