There was a virulent health scare in Australia in 1916 that made people wary of kissing. A columnist with Melbourne's Table Talk had fun with this horror 100 years ago this week.
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"Kissing on the lips is forbidden to germcarriers, especially those thought to be harbouring meningitis.
"But in cases where labial osculation [kissing] is imperative the osculators should spray the points of contact with antiseptics or gargle freely.
"The gargle act is difficult to perform gracefully, but it can be mastered to such a degree that the skilful gargler can produce a noise like a bubbling sigh or the cooing of a dove, and thus give pleasant notice of his desire to osculate.
"Spraying, on the other hand, is rather apt to put the girl off. It has a cooling, repellent effect, which is well known to the bar beauty who sprays an over-ardent customer occasionally with the seltzer bottle."
And while in bars, the columnist continued "Co-incident with the world-wide crusade against alcohol as a joy stimulator in the human system there Is widespread effort to utilise it as a motor fuel. In France and Germany alcohol fuel is being made in huge quantities from potatoes and other vegetable products.
"Australian hotelkeepers who utter a pious warning against the Immense destruction of public house property values likely to ensue upon six o'clock closing [being hotly debated 100 years ago this week] should take a hint from the moving events of the day and get into the alcohol fuel business."
