1928

From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, the Esplanade restaurant-cabaret on the first floor of the Bondi Pavilion was a well-loved and very classy venue that boasted private dining rooms, a palm court, alcoves and a private ballroom. It was the scene of a popular dance every Monday and Thursday night and a deluxe supper-dance – “Dress optional” – every Saturday night. Patrons could enjoy afternoon tea and a soda fountain at all times, sitting on spacious verandahs that commanded an unrivalled panorama of the beach out front and the ocean beyond.

During World War 2 (1939–45), the American Red Cross and the US military requisitioned the first floor where the Esplanade had been and used it as an officers’ club till the end of the war, after which dances were organised at the Pavilion and the proceeds went to disadvantaged Australian returned soldiers. In 1948, a liquor licence was obtained for the Pavilion.

Courtesy Waverley Library Local Studies Collection and the National Library of Australia.