Looking back at December 6, 1858
Drinking at a wake and funerals was "inexpressively beastly" according to a Mercury letter writer.
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The writer went by the name of Flava Ceres and decided to give the Mercury readers a piece of their mind, admonishing them for drinking when friends come over, after work and even at a wake.
"Often times they get excited, tipsy and even drunk," she wrote of wakes.
"Vain talk, jesting, buffoonery, frolics and rough sports of various kinds disgrace the occasion. There is something inexpressibly beastly in this."
She also criticised those people who headed straight to the pub after a funeral "almost before the green turf is laid on the grave" to indulge in "frothy talking and disorderly drinking".
"The degradation of multitudes as seen at funerals and wakes is most deplorable, she wrote.
"Our community, Mr Editor, needs great reformation before we arrive at a state of true decency and virtue."
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
