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Re: Ticket Machines on Melbourne Trams



Bill Bolton wrote:

>Jeff B. Kurland wrote:
> 
> >So...(U.S. speaking...) what's a milkbar?
> >
> >Is it what we might call a "mom & pop" grocery store? 

Yes.


> 
> Sells milkshakes (which is where the name mostly comes from) , pop,
> tea, coffee, hamburgers and other fast food, other light refreshments
> with some sit down eating space, may also have a make sandwiches to
> order .  Also sells chocolate, candies and snack food, probably sells
> some basic food lines and maybe newspaper on weekends and after hours.


Maybe in Sydney. I was brought up in Melbourne. I never saw a milk bar 
that sold hamburgers etc or that had tables to eat from. As recently 
as my last visit late last year. The name "milk bar" didn't come from the 
fact it sold milkshakes but from the fact it sold MILK in the days 
before you could buy milk in supermarkets. And "pop" as in "soft drink" 
or "soda" ? Is that a Sydney term?

 
> Just for thoroughness, in New Zealand they call them "Dairy Bars" or
> more often just "Dairies".

A milk bar is called a "dairy" in New Zealand. Because it sells milk. It 
has never been called a "dairy bar" anywhere in NZ. Ever. The term "milk 
bar" has become more common in recent years.

Like Melbourne "milk bars," the NZ "dairy" is vanishing because of 
seven-day supermarkets and 24-hour petrol stations (the latter selling 
everything "milk bars" and "dairies" did).

To get back to the thread, the few dairies left in Auckland do sell 
multi-ride bus tickets, but it's more common now to get a plastic ticket 
and recharge it on the bus when it runs out.

Dave McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand