History of the Long Bar

Since the club began in 1894, there have been a number of bars – and even a few different buildings to house them.

The first T-shaped bar appeared in 1938, and was believed to be a record length in the State of Victoria. This bar lasted until 1970, and was rebuilt to include a hook at one end of the T-top, which gave it World Record Length status in the Guinness Book of Records - 298ft, 7 1/2ins… approximately 91 metres. There remained,

nevertheless, some debate as to the veracity of this claim, as there was a rumour of a longer, albeit temporary bar somewhere in the United States. In spite of this, our club’s bar was undeniably the longest in the Southern Hemisphere throughout its existence.

In 1970, a rebuilt bar featured magnificent, hand-crafted redgum panels around its girth. These proved very popular as souvenirs when the bar was removed in 1995. (They were sold to members for $5 each. This writer has one.)

Despite its length, the Long Bar was regularly three to sevenpatrons deep all the way ’round, with thirsty members - particularly in the 1960’s and 70’s - often putting away 140 kilderkins (18 gallon kegs) a week. The Working Man’s Club was CUB’s best customer in Victoria in those days. The Long Bar featured 32 beer taps, many

in clusters of four, each fed from one of three huge chilled cellars, ensuring a short beer pull.

As popular as the Long Bar was, times change. It was becoming evident in the 1980’s that something was going to have to be done. The tastes and requirements of members were changing, and a need for a downstairs entertainment area was becoming more apparent.

But the Long Bar stood in the way of development.

In addition, stricter drinking laws were discouraging many members from a drink at their club - at least for daily socialising. For the ‘off’ days, many chose to drink at home. The extreme length of the bar made it a costly exercise for staff to service, especially with a reduced number of customers.

As that decade progressed, members regularly found large sections of their Long Bar closed, awaiting busier times. With a limited capacity to run live shows in a useful auditorium, plus substantially reduced liquor sales through diminishing

member attendance, it was becoming a real concern that the club may soon face financial difficulty.

Other clubs could readily embrace the newly-legalised poker machines, but the Workers had nowhere to put them.

Again, the Long Bar was in the way.

No-one liked to see the famous bar being removed. The club couldn’t even turn it into a profit-making tourist attraction. It was frustrating to regularly see busloads of curious sightseers having to settle for a mere glimpse of the bar…but unable to buy a drink because of the liquor laws of the day.

So in April, 1995, demolition work began on the Long Bar…and what a big job it was. The beautiful polished redgum panels were sold off - along with some short lengths of the famous bar - to a lucky few. The PS Ruby has a short length. Temporary panelling divided off the space to allow continued trading while the club’s most ambitious refurbishment took place - and it was a time of nostalgia, curiosity and wonder for members as they watched.

The new bar was completed in October, 1995.

It wasn’t just the Long Bar that was affected by the facelift; administrative offices, the stairwell, foyer and boardroom were altered or relocated, and a lift installed.

In 2006-07, another major renovation took place. Poker machines, adjacent to the new bar, now entertain many members and continue to assist with club finances. A state-of-the-art TAB facility now exists, along with two huge plasma TV screens. Smaller LCD screens are numerous, and visible from nearly anywhere in the club.

While many might miss the famous old Long Bar, it cannot be denied that, at the time, it had to go. It was a brave committee who made the hard decision then, but it was made in time.

It is arguable now, since the application of stricter drink-driving laws, that the Long Bar might have kept the club viable as a tourist attraction. But now we will never know, and must ask; would club members really want it that way?

To get a feel for where the old Long Bar was, in relation to existing features (coffee shop, gaming room etc.) see the not-to-scale drawing below.