Lorne in the Fifties and Sixties
Lorne became a popular holiday destination in the fifties and sixties as the baby boomer generation became more mobile and the appeal of the guesthouses for their parents’ generation had waned. Lorne was a desirable destination for surfing on the West Coast of Victoria and youth of the day were drawn to popular culture associated with the beat generation: pop music and the beach life in general.
On the foreshore at the end of Grove Road there was a collection of buildings providing entertainment for the younger generation including the Fun Parlour, Skating Rink, Wild Colonial Club and Dodgems. On Mountjoy Parade The Arab was an iconic coffee café, along with surf shops proliferating on both sides of the road.
Beach Hall, Fun Parlor, Skating Rink
After the construction of the Lorne Theatre on Mountjoy Parade, the original picture theatre building became known as The Beach Hall, where dances and concerts were held regularly. In 1936 The Lorne Picture Company built a new concrete floored skating rink with a high metal fence on the northern side of the picture theatre. Jim Dorman left the company in the same year. Without a roof conditions became very slippery when it rained, so a roof and a spectator’s gallery were added. Lorne had a strong roller hockey team and ’cleaned up’ most of its rivals in the Geelong and Colac districts during the 1930’s.
The skating rink was built in 1935 and demolished in 1964. A colourful character known as professor Kingston leased and operated the skating business for a few seasons and introduced many innovations- fancy dress balls on skates, figure skating, dancing competitions, skate racing and so on.
The Lorne Picture Company eventually sold both buildings including the skating rink to Mr Steve Waterhouse who used the theatre as a dance hall and the old original hall as a Fun Parlour with slot machines etc. Steve also installed electric dodgem cars in a separate building that was almost washed into the sea in 1958 during extremely high tides and stormy seas.
Fun Parlor and Beach Hall 1930s
Lorne Amusement Cafe
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- Foreshore, showing Fun Parlor, Kiosk and cricket pitch
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- Lorne foreshore, Billie Fletcher, Jeff Driscoll
Sources:
- Google search 2024
- Lorne Community Facebook site 2024
- https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/the-arab-cafe/#
- https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/the-arab-cafe/
- Generative AI Gemini response, April 2024
- Lorne A Living History by Doug Stirling
- https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10227344651295644&set=gm.6418221798205594&idorvanity=2457799027581244
- Gary Joseph Oreo post, http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/66518
- Facebook comments by John Agar
Arab
The Arab coffee lounge was opened in 1956 by the brothers Graham, Alistair, and Robin Smith. The Arab was modelled on European coffee bars and its espresso machine was only the third in Victoria. It was a bohemian style coffee shop, a refuge for beatniks (the coolest thing a teenager could be called in those...Read more
The Arab and the Summer of 1956
An article published in The National Times [15.02.1981]. The author of this insightful article is Kristin Williamson, married to Australian playwright, David Williamson. Before beatniks and cuffless trousers, when there were only three espresso machines in Victoria and LP records were rare, in 1956—the year that television came to Australia, just in time for the...Read more
Wild Colonial Club
In 1957 Lorne residents and tourists got their first taste of what has become the town’s modern cosmopolitan character. Alistair and Robin Smith rented the ‘dance hall’ and ran a spectacularly successful club they called The Wild Colonial and did they pack them in. The Smith family infused a lot of character into the town...Read more
