Cool new coffee table book uncovers the brilliant history of Australia’s milk bars

I’m not sure what the kids today will consider fond memories when they’re grown up and surpassed their digital addictions. I do know I hold many, many wonderful memories from when I was a kid. Playing ‘eye spy’ with my siblings as we travelled in Dad’s FJ Holden to the countryside; chucking sand boondies at friends on construction sites whose owners probably didn’t care we were there; catching tadpoles at the local creek, taking them home and watching week by week as they turned into cute green frogs… Fun times, and no internet to distract our physical well-being.

One of my fondest memories is the daily trek to the corner milk bar where my friends and I would spend ages glazing over the mixed lolly options to fill up our one-and-two-dollar paper bags with sweets, sweets, and more sweets.

Ah, the milk bar. So quaint in its aesthetic – all Peters and Streets Ice Cream logos painted large on its side walls. Posited right in the corner in the middle of the street, accessible to all and sundry so as to top up the sundries in the pantry. The place to go when Mum’s about to bake a cake and the neighbour’s not home to borrow that cup of sugar. A store where bright coloured cereal boxes containing collectible toys sat between Matchbox cars and packets of Fonzies and UFOs on the shelves. So many fabulous things to stock up on – all in the one hot spot, always hosted by a friendly ol’ mom-and-pop type couple. Ah, the milk bar.

In a nod to milk bar nostalgia, The Milk Bars Book. Volume II: A Sweet History by Eamon Donnelly Publications has recently been released, inviting readers to uncover the sweet stories and memories as it recounts the tales of Australian milk bars, and the history of ice-cream and confectionary from 1900 until now.

Its predecessor, The Milk Bars Book: Milkshakes, Memories & Mixed Lollies: Documenting Australia’s Colourful Corner Stores’ was released in 2018 and it garnered nation-wide attention for its splendid photographs and wonderful anecdotes.

Delving further into this colourful history is The Milk Bars Book. Volume II: A Sweet History with each decade meticulously documented, inviting readers into a visual feast of ads, clever brands, and sweet treats that shaped Australian childhoods.

The book goes beyond the shopfronts and back to where it all began in a celebration of family, food, community, advertising and childhood, showcasing over a century of sweet memories. Split into chapters for each decade, the beautifully crafted, coffee-table book is a visual feast chronicling what once was.

From the very first ads for ‘Freddo’ in 1939 to the origins of the thirst-crushing Solo in 1958, readers get to learn how these brands were marketed over the decades to entice us to spend our treasured coins on a sweet treat at the milk bar. Images, meanwhile, showcase milk bars through the ages, as well as the hardworking families who ran them.

Countless anecdotes are captured in this stunning new book by award-winning illustrator, photographer and unofficial milk bar historian, Donnelly. Did you know, for example, that Freddo Frog was never meant to be a frog? In fact, he was supposed to be a mouse. The famed frog was spawned in about 1930, when Macpherson Robertson Confectionery was thinking of introducing a new 1-penny chocolate for confectionery shopkeepers and had decided on a mouse. One employee however said ‘Women and girls are afraid of mice. What about a frog?’ So, the chocolate frog went into production, proving so successful that production figures ran into the millions. That same employee also suggested naming the frog after the company’s foreman, Fred McLean. So, ‘Freddo’ frogs were officially born, trademarked in 1939!

This is just one of the many  Eamon has an unusual obsession with the humble Aussie milk bar, having spent the last 15 years travelling around Australia documenting them. In 2018 he turned his archive into his first The Milk Bars Book, with copies today selling for as much as $500.

“I’m thrilled to see the release of the second volume of the Milk Bars Book, continuing the choc-a-block journey down milk bar memory lane,” says publisher Eamon Donnelly. “One place that sits in the realm of nostalgia for many of us, is that shop that sold the sweet stuff – the milk bar. These businesses were responsible for quenching our thirsts and obliging our sweet tooths.”

“We might hear a song that takes us back to our youth, feel the warmth of the summer breeze, reminding us of the halcyon days of a fleeting summer romance, or encounter a taste or an aroma that transports us back to a place in time – all back to that sweet place.”

Sweet, sweet memories, indeed.

The book is available is eye-popping hues of Raspberry Spider, Lemon Sherbert (fluoro yellow) and Orange Fizz (fluoro orange), as well as Milk white for the more minimalist among you. A must-have gift of the festive season for anyone who cherishes nostalgia, style, and a good dose of Aussie history.

Antonino Tati

‘The Milk Bars Book. Volume II: A Sweet History’ by Eamon Donnelly comes packaged in a specially designed clamshell collectible cardboard box, complete with an autographed card from the author for RRP $115.00. Available through www.eamondonnelly.com.

For a truly unique gift, the book is also available in a limited edition all-white cover edition, signed and numbered by the author. With a print-run of only 50, this edition also comes with a Giclée Fine Art Print of The Rio Milk Bar, Summer Hill, Sydney, stamped, signed, titled, and dated on the reverse by Eamon Donnelly and includes a signed certificate of authenticity. RRP $400.00 AUD. Available through www.eamondonnelly.com.