Down with Depressionitis
A Day of Horses, Dresses, and Daredevils
In May 1930, Mallawa Amateur Racing Club held their first Picnic Day on grazier Mathew Boland’s property, ‘Narba’ near Moree.
The community was abuzz with excitement about the event, the turf received high praise and a shed formerly used by the cricket team was relocated to house the secretary and jockeys. Maude Gunthorpe, from the local branch of the Country Women’s Association, provided the club’s pennant which fluttered above the shed on a crisp breeze.
The 1930s were the days of legendary thoroughbred ‘Pharlap,’ and racing was having a moment. The depression was taking a toll and regional amateur racing clubs, unfettered by the strict city rules and fees flourished. A cheap day out—whether or not you were having a ‘flutter’ (placing a small bet)—was as good a reason as any to make a day of it.
The fixture included a half-time break for a casual alfresco meal. Much turkey was gobbled, and the quality of the ‘frockage’ worn by the ladies was striking enough to be considered newsworthy. The men went in search of ‘the good oil’ after lunch and some enjoyed flights in an aeroplane piloted by Mr Mitchell, a daredevil who also demonstrated loops and spirals. Later in the evening, the ladies slipped into even smarter ‘frockage’ for the ball, dancing the night away to Jack Cavanagh’s Band.
Described as a cure for ‘Depressionitis’ where jovial laughter was heard ringing out in the crowds (possibly a result of ‘the variety of refreshment that appealed to the hearts of old scallywags’), picnic races were balm for remote communities feeling the chill of the economic winds.
