This feature was written by Simon Nathan with assistance from Margaret Hurst (National Library of New Zealand), and produced by the NZHistory.net.nz team.
A note on sources
The only accessible, day-by-day account of the boycott is from the files of the Greymouth Evening Star. While this is helpful in sorting out the chronology of events, the editor of the Star was clearly on the side of the hotels. His editorials opposed the boycott and suggested that the boycott was an example of malign communist forces.
Greymouth had a second paper, the Grey River Argus, which consistently took a left-wing line, and apparently supported the boycott. Unfortunately, there appear to be no copies of the Argus available between July and December 1947. If they do exist, they may give a different perspective on the boycott.
Can you contribute?
We would love to hear recollections of people who remember the beer boycott, or have any record of the events. We are also looking for additional photographs. For example, we haven't been able to find any images of Paddy Keating, the Central Hotel, or the early Working Men's Clubs. Please email [email protected] if you would like to contact us.
Links
The beer boycott is remembered in fiction as a background event in Bill Pearson's novel Coal Flat, which was based on the town of Blackball. Two extracts giving an impression of the events are available via the NZ Electronic Text Centre website:
- Visit of Bernie O'Malley, the local MP sent to sort out the boycott
- Meeting of the publicans to end the strike
See also:
Books and articles
- James McNeish, Tavern in the town, Reed, Wellington, 1984
- ‘Paddy, the penny-wise publican', Press, 6 Oct 1997
- Jack Rolfe, In the club: a history of the chartered club movement in New Zealand, Celebrity Books, Auckland, 2000
- ‘When brown ale was black', Greymouth Evening Star, 12 Mar 1994
