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These blokes are on their way to a smoke social at the Palmerston Town Hall on Smith Street in 1915. Held since the 1880s, smoke socials were fairly self explanatory - they featured blokes, drinking, speeches, music and plenty of smoking. But they took on a different purpose with the outbreak of World War I, becoming farewell events for the groups of volunteers heading interstate to enlist. A century on, smoke socials have returned to the old Palmerston Town Hall with Sandra Thibodeaux's new play A Smoke Social on until 30 June, although it will likely feature far less smoking.

Image: Northern Territory Library


Published: 24 June 2018

Forgotten Territory was a weekly photo column of historic images in the Northern Territory News which I curated from 2016 until 2019 supported by the collections of the Northern Territory Library and other cultural institutions around Australia, as well as local history Facebook groups. 

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Click on the images to read the story behind the image.

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Warning: May contain images of people who have died.

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