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The six o'clock swill

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The six o'clock swill

Nevile Lodge's cartoon from the late 1940s captures the conditions in pubs during the years of the six o'clock swill. The pub is crowded, the drinkers are exclusively male, and they are quaffing their beer at speed before pushing themselves to the front to have glasses filled for their 'shout'.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: B-154-127

by Nevile Lodge

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Perrin Rowland, Restaurants and food outlets – Liquor licensing and dining out, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/cartoon/40680/the-six-oclock-swill (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Perrin Rowland, i tāngia i te 11 January 2013.