One hundred years ago this week the vexed question of whether Australians should be having frivolous fun in sombre wartime had just come to a head.
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The grumpy, sexist, Sydney correspondent for Melbourne's Punch growled that "The most discussed topic this week is the Governor-General's announcement that he will not attend race meetings while the war is on.
"The majority are at one with him on this question, believing that while the war is so heart-breaking race meetings should be tabooed ...
"To the habitual frequenter of the turf the absence of the Governor-General will make little or no difference. While race-going, men or women are in the throes of excitement produced by the racing.
"Socially, though, the absence of the Governor-General and the Vice-regal party will kill the fashionable rendezvous altogether. Society's favoured few bask in the opportunity it gives them for a seat in the Vice-regal enclosure, where they are the observed of all observers. Many women go to see the latest fashions (it is invariably the place to see the latest in 'freak' modes), and to air the latest creation of the costumier's art.
"But the biggest contingent of femininity attend the race meetings to bet. The prevalence of betting by women in Sydney has grown to an alarming extent, and even young girls are bitten with the desire to back a get-rich-quick winner. Women are not all gamblers; but the majority love the fascination of a game of chance that entails no waste of superfluous energy or strenuous exertion."
