In episode 026, with the Adelaide Fringe in full swing, we take a look back exactly 100 years to see what ‘amusements’ were taking place in Adelaide. Hand-picked from The Register newspaper of 20 February 2014, here are three snippets of what you could do and where you could stay in Adelaide just after the turn of the 20th Century.
The Wondergraph in Hindley Street 
was billed as ‘the best value for the money in the town’ and was where you could see a sequential run of films – The Way of A Mother (star drama), Otter Hunting (interest), Modern Romance (drama), Pearl As A Detective (comedy), Saved By The Vigilants (drama), Badger (nature study), and the comedy, Three Suitors and A Dog.
You could stay right in the city centre, at The Hamburg Hotel, corner of Rundle Street (now the Mall) and Gawler Place. According to the advertisement, it was ‘The Spot’, with all mod-cons such as electric lights and bells throughout. You could have yourself a hot or cold bath, and the counter lunches were a speciality. Making enquiries and bookings was as simple as dialling ‘1130’.
The New Tivoli Theatre was a popular vaudeville house on Grote Street. Its kissing competition was 
a ‘perfectly delightful affair’ and illustrated various forms of the ‘osculatory art’, e.g. the soul kiss, the brotherly kiss, and the sisterly kiss… and more! All of the offerings promised to give you ‘a soft, delicious thrill’. Now that seems pretty raunchy for 1914 Adelaide!
You can see the articles and more from The Register and other newspapers at the National Library of Australia’s Trove website.