Coffee palace

The Federal Coffee Palace, erected at the height of the temperance movement was the largest and tallest building in Melbourne when it was built in 1888. The building became a hotel in the 1950s. It was proposed as a possible option for Melbourne's first casino however was instead demolished in 1972 to make way for an office development. The largest former temperance hotel in Melbourne is now the Hotel Windsor (formerly the Grand Hotel).
Melbourne Coffee Palace, one of the earliest, including interior views in 1881

The term Coffee Palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s[1] although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia. James Munro was a particularly vocal member of this movement. Coffee Palaces were often multi-purpose or mixed use buildings which included a large number of rooms for accommodation as well as ballrooms and other function and leisure facilities.

The beginnings of the movement were in 1879, with the first coffee palace companies founded in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. The movement in particular flourished in Melbourne in the 1880s when a land boom that followed the Victorian gold rush created an environment in which it was the construction of lavish buildings and richly ornamental high Victorian architecture, often designed in the fashionable Free Classical or Second Empire styles to attract patrons. Many of the larger establishments were bestowed prestigious names such as "Grand" or "Royal" in order to appeal to the wealthier classes.

Coffee palaces were popular in the coastal seaside resorts and for inner city locations attracting catering for families as well as interstate and overseas visitors.

Ironically as the temperance movement's influence waned, many of these coffee palaces applied for liquor licences. Many have since been either converted into hotels or demolished; however, some significant examples still survive.

Australia

Victoria

Melbourne

Ballarat

Bendigo

Queenscliff

Other

Tasmania

South Australia

New South Wales

Queensland

Western Australia

United Kingdom

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion. Elaine Denby. Reaktion Books, 2002. p. 174
  2. ↑ Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 - 1907) Saturday 13 September 1879 p 10 Article
  3. ↑ South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Saturday 25 September 1880 p 1 Advertising
  4. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Saturday 24 January 1880 p 6 Article
  5. ↑ Ballarat: A Guide to Buildings and Areas, 1851-1940. Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects and Conservation Planners. 1981. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-9593970-0-0. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. ↑ http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/72923577 Horsham Times, 9 April 1918 via Trove
  7. ↑ South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Saturday 14 June 1879 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. p 7 Advertising
  8. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Monday 9 June 1879 p 2 Advertising
  9. ↑ The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) Friday 20 June 1879 p 4 Article
  10. ↑ "People's Palace (entry 14871)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council.
  11. ↑ http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/guides/wa_history/post_office_directories/1904 pp.730-731 on 0396.pdf
  12. ↑ Brady, Wendy (1983) Serfs of the sodden scone: women workers in the West Australian hotel and catering industry, 1900-1925 - in Studies in Western Australian History number 7 (Women in Western Australian history), pp.33-45 - including work in coffee palaces
  13. ↑ http://www.douglas.gov.im/GalleryShowCat.asp?Cat=Streets&ID=46

External links