Despite the turbulence of Canberra summers, there's always been one constant: beer. But in 1964, that ice-cold summer comfort was under threat.
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A Transport Workers Union strike was under way against the refusal of employers to increase unionists' margins by three pounds.
The strike was huge, with 12,000 Sydney transport drivers holding protest meetings. The strike action affected the supply of beer, food and cigarettes, however it did not affect the cartage of fresh meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables, and newspapers.
Canberra pubs had expected Christmas deliveries of booze to flow during the festive season - yet the strike threatened to run hotels dry.
In 1964 there was a different kind of panic buying, with Canberrans buying up kegs for Christmas parties in advance. This created artificial demand, putting further stress on supply.
"In these circumstances we expect to have a dry hotel, as far as draught beer goes, until after Christmas," said a bar manager of one of Canberra's biggest hotels.
He said most hotels would use bottles, which were in good supply, in their bars. Each Canberra hotel used from 1440 to 2880 gallons of beer per week. Most hotels had an adequate supply of spirits.