Pubs are part of the social fabric of our city – but do you know all there is to know about Melbourne pubs? We put our pub trivia hats on to collate some intriguing facts about some of our favourite pubs.
So without further ado, here's pub trivia about pubs.
Did you know...
1. The main bar of a pub is often called the “public bar”, though this was a little ironic seeing as until the 1970s, only men were permitted to drink in the main bar.
2. Built in 1850 and licensed three years later, the Duke of Wellington on Flinders Street is the oldest licensed pub in Melbourne.
3. Beloved music den the Tote was originally located at 136 Johnston Street and was an illegal gambling venue hidden behind a teashop. Punters entered through a gap in the lane at the rear, reached via Sackville Street.
4. The model who posed for the infamous ‘Chloe’ portrait at the Young and Jackson pub threw a party and drank poison, due to unrequited love with the painter who immortalised her.
5. In a controversial move in 2007, the Victorian Civic and Administrative Tribunal granted Collingwood’s gay bar the Laird the right to refuse entry to heterosexual men and women.