Smoke Social, South Perth RSSILA Sub Branch, 1931.
1931A black and white image showing members of the South Perth Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia Sub-Branch at their 1931 ‘Smoke Social’ in the Swan Street Hall on 25 September 1931.
The theme was ‘Armistice Night in an Estaminet’ and the hall was decorated to resemble a bomb-damaged, French drinking establishment, complete with shell holes in the wall, through which trenches and a ruined village are seen in the distance. The backdrop is covered with initials and graffiti drawn by the diggers and the male members are posed in front of this dressed in military uniforms, dinner suits, and costumes representing a German spy and several rather manly looking “Mademoiselles.”
Members of the South Perth Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia Sub-Branch at their 1931 ‘Smoke Social’ in the Swan Street Hall on 25 September 1931. The all-night party was a chance for the veterans to let off steam and simply have a good time. It featured performances, speeches and character skits, with musical accompaniment from the Whizz Bangs in costume as the Chinese Labour Corps.
The theme was ‘Armistice Night in an Estaminet’ and the hall was decorated to resemble a bomb-damaged, French drinking establishment, complete with shell craters, a German spy and several rather manly looking “Mademoiselles.”
At the time The Western Mail reported that:
The estaminet was true to type, even to the shell hole, rafters and protruding timber, and through it a section of trenches with a village in the distance and the usual debris of war. The walls were covered with initials and there were a few drawings by diggers (for diggers). The round tables and the beer completed the effect, and South Perth’s ex-soldiers left for home about midnight convinced that once a year, anyway, it was possible to forget the frightful horrors of peace. 15 October 1931.
