CHAPTER 15 | 1914–1918 – World War 1
In October 1916, Henry Lowcay, senior inspector of the South Australian Phylloxera Board, examined the vineyards from Flagstaff Hill through the Reynella, Morphett Vale, and McLaren Vale districts. He also travelled to the Barossa and inspected vineyards around Greenock, Tanunda. Seppeltsfield, and Lyndoch. Altogether, his examinations covered 9,440 acres, and he reported a ‘total absence of any sign of the dreaded phylloxera’. During these challenging times, Pirramimma, founded in 1892, entered into a contract in 1916 to supply Gilbey’s of London with full-bodied, dry reds, having previously, in 1914, expanded its vineyards with the purchase of Katunga, 160 acres, including roughly 64 acres under vine, mostly cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. Meanwhile, austerity measures had been put in place during the war to curtail frivolous activity. The temperance movement was also by no means a declining force and found increasing support during this period. While unions were primarily male, the anti-alcohol lobby was largely supported by the nation’s women. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these two polemics, one which embraced ideas of mateship and masculinity and the other protection and safety of women and children, created social volatility. The early closure of pubs and hotels at 6 pm was enforced as a part of government measures across the entire country to curb drinking. The ‘six o’clock swill’ became a part of Australia’s drinking tradition, in which (mostly) men of all classes rushed to the pub to drink as much as possible before it closed. Although beer and spirits were the main types of drink in these venues, wine played a minor supporting act. Surprisingly, these laws remained in place until the late 1960s and entrenched a fast-drinking culture, although the virtues of sanity and sobriety were increasingly promoted as middle-class values. In the meantime, pubs became segregated places to drink, where women drank in
World War I era Penfolds’ posters advertising the health properties of its wine, ca 1915. [Penfolds’ Collection]
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