A Moment in Time……
And now for something completely different!
This image shows an alcoholic beverage price list at Sydney’s Central Railway Station. Clues to the date could be the beverage sizes, the types of beverages available and the prices!
Is that enough information? Can you date this photograph?
We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If you know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.
Category: -- Can you date...?
Tag: Beverages, Moments in Time
enno says:
I find the fact that whisky only costs 8 times as much per quart as ale, to be interesting.
Its interesting that their own RRR brand is actually the most expensive.
1910 ?
Fiona Sullivan says:
@Prento1961 on Twitter has suggested 1919 as a date.
@enno I love all the information in this photo, so many different things to think about. What I find fascinating is that the prices of Ale and Whiskey are quoted in the same quantities!
Anna Gray says:
Some comments from Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/5985887545/
Nomad Tales says:
Thank goodness for metrification!
Agrippimaior says:
wow this is tricky!
Beachcomberaustralia says:
I tried feeding the prices into the calculator at http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/ for 1906 (when Central Station first opened), 1919 (for the twitterer), 1925, and 1950. I doubled the result amount to get AU$ in current value.
The 1906 date gave prices for 9d spirit glasses roughly the same as today (c.$6), but the ‘quarts’ seemed prohibitively expensive at over $100. Is a quart the same as a bottle?
The 1950 date gave exceedingly cheap 9d glasses (c.$2), but the quarts were roughly equivalent to today (c.$33).
I am inclined to the earlier (1906) date – they were profiteering on the quarts!
The SMH has reports of the new Central Railway Refreshment Rooms being the place of regular Sunday booze-ups, because everywhere else was closed. trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/14758653
Anna Gray says:
Thanks for everyone’s input. I know this has been a challenge!
That’s a great conversion site Beachcomber Australia! There does appear to be some profiteering going on with the quarts!
We know that Central Railway was opened on 4th August 1906 so it has to be post this date. A letter published in the Sydney Mornng Herald states “If a person resident in Sydney desires a bottle of colonial ale, he may obtain it for 6d,”
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/14813601?searchTerm=ale 6d&searchLimits=l-title=The+Sydney+Morning+Herald…%7Ctitleid%3A35|||l-decade=190
So I tend to agree with you Beachomberaustralia that it’s probably likely to be from around this time.
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