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closing time (6.0pm) was instituted in several states in 1916 while thousands died on the
Somnne; and while many more died the following year at
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Ypres and Passchendaele, a railway strike in New South Wales spread to other transport
workers and miners, paralysing the war effort and dislocating industry in every state.
When the war ended in November 1918, there was an inappropriate echo of the sights and
sounds of war in Ayr's victory celebrations, which were prefaced by a torchlight procession to
the sports ground and concluded with a blazing bonfire and fireworks exploding and screaming
in the night sky. Esther would have been there with her children, only two of whom were now
working in the shop; Rene was with the solicitor, Mr Dean, and Bill was an apprentice to a
carpenter.
Parochial bickering about a suitable war memorial and honour boards in the district was not
resolved for five years, when a Memorial Park was established on the recreation reserve.
In the meantime, a postwar blight infected the land: living standards declined, resulting in a rash
of local and national strikes. In addition, an influenza epidemic disrupted many people's lives
throughout 1919: ships were quarantined, and cinemas, theatres, racecourses and schools were
temporarily closed; in some areas people had to wear gauze masks on public transport and in
public places; church services were curtailed and individual worshippers had to sit three feet
apart. In that year, over 11,000 Australians, out of a white population of about five million, died
from the flu.
Yet the postwar years also produced several positive events and improvements in amenities and
services that would enhance the lives of many, including the Honeycombes'. And business was
sufficiently good for Esther to have the shop rebuilt in 1920 for £286, complete with office,
flagpole and a proper sign.
Airmail letters bearing Australian stamps could now be bought; radio messages in morse code
could be sent direct from Britain to Australia; the Ross Smith brothers flew from England to
Australia in just under 28 days; Qantas was formed in 1920; and Holden and Ford began
making motor cars. Edith Cowan became the first woman member of any Parliament;
Queensland became the first state to abolish the death penalty and the Country Women's
Association was formed, as well as the Federal Country Party and the Communist Party; and
the Prince of Wales dedicated the foundation stone of Canberra's parliament house.
In Ayr, Esther and her family could have read Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, written by May
Gibbs; they could have seen the silent film classic, The Sentimental Bloke, as well as the first film
of On our Selection. Ginger Meggs first appeared in a cartoon in the Sydney Sunday Sun, and
Jack O'Hagan wrote Along the Road to Gundagai. In 1923, DH Lawrence began writing
Kangaroo in Thirroul; the first radio station, 2SB, began broadcasting in Sydney via the sealed
set system; and a product called Vegemite began to be made.
Far to the west of Ayr, a gold prospector found a seam of rich silver-lead ore, and called his
lease Mount Isa.
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In 1924 the last Cobb & Co horse-drawn coach was taken off the road, and Woolworths
opened a bargain basement in Sydney - 'No Mail or Telephone Orders, No Deliveries, Cash-
and -Carry only1 - wherein a jar of vaseline, a scrubbing brush, a cup and saucer could all be
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