General News
8 August, 2024
Horsham's 1974 beer shortage: delivery driver strike leaves pubs kegless
Desperate pubs even looked to SA for beer to avoid beer shortage.
Horsham
Fifty years ago, the unthinkable happened. Horsham ran out of beer for seven whole days.
The risk that 'Horsham drinkers will be thirsty' made the front page of The Wimmera Mail-Times on Friday, August 9, 1974.
The words of Slim Dusty's 1957 tune 'A Pub with No Beer' rang true after a statewide strike by truck drivers prevented fresh kegs from reaching the Wimmera.
The flow-on effect forced two Horsham hotels to declare they would run out of liquid amber the next day, while another said it had just enough to make it through the weekend.
Publicans desperately tried sourcing beer from South Australia but to no avail.
Drinkers switched to bottled and canned beer as kegs ran dry, but rationing was strict; the Commercial and Exchange limited sales to two drinks per person.
Finally, the draught drought was over a week later, as drivers returned to work, bringing a collective sigh of relief to the community.
The 'hectic week of beer rationing' saw kegs rushed into Horsham's pubs and bottle shops in time for the weekend.