{"id":2471,"date":"2018-09-17T09:15:01","date_gmt":"2018-09-16T23:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au\/?page_id=2471"},"modified":"2024-05-07T16:07:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T06:07:23","slug":"absinthe-bottle-from-little-lon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au\/past-exhibitions\/gold-rush\/absinthe-bottle-from-little-lon\/","title":{"rendered":"Absinthe Bottle from Little Lon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t
This absinthe bottle was found in a rubbish pit at Little Lon (in Melbourne’s north-east corner) with nine more just like it, along with French champagne bottles, imported spirits and 300 odd oyster shells. The occupant, Mrs Alicia Bond (aka Sheridan), was supposedly running a grocery shop at this house, but why would a grocer be discarding such things?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\tObject 17 Gold Rush: 20 Objects, 20 Stories<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Object courtesy Museum Victoria<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <Previous Object<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 Next Object><\/a><\/p>\n\t Little Lonsdale Street, 1870. Source: State Library of Victoria<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Absinthe, or the green fairy, was a hallucinogenic alcoholic drink available from the 18th<\/sup> century but reaching new heights of popularity in bohemian Paris in the late 19th<\/sup> century; coinciding nicely with the timing of Mrs Bond’s grocery.<\/p>\n The contents of the rubbish pit are much more consistent with a high class brothel. Turns out Mrs Bond operated brothels in Little Lon for years to support her children and was now using her grocer shop as a cover for a high class brothel.<\/p>\n When Mrs Bond’s son attacked her drunken, violent de-facto husband she testified in court:<\/p>\n For the defence, Alicia Sheridan was called, and said she had lived with the prosecutor eight years, and had been with him in the colony two years and a-half. During that time he had only done two days’ work. She could not see her children starve, and had at first taken in washing, and then had to keep a brothel to support the family.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Poor women in gold rush Melbourne had few opportunities to earn a livelihood, especially if they were unwed mothers. Even fewer of these opportunities were as lucrative as prostitution. While it wasn’t illegal to ‘walk the streets’ or run a brothel in this era, women could still be arrested under vagrancy laws or for keeping a ‘disorderly’ house. So they had to keep quiet.<\/p>\n Mrs Bond, and many others like her, ran a very successful business and went on to own a number of properties in Little Lon, renting many out as brothels.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To learn more about sex work at Little Lon read this article<\/a> by Sarah Hayes and Barbara Minchinton.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>\nProstitution in gold rush Melbourne<\/h3>\n