From the Bridge to the Silver Key, families worked hard to plant their roots while Australia embraced the exciting new American culture.

Former deputy mayor Michael Georgiou, whose family had the Rose Marie and later the Ritz, said he saw the echoes of history everywhere.

“There were about three or four cafes and milk bars on every block,” Mr Georgiou said.

“They were open from morning to midnight and when the pictures came out the streets were full of people going into cafes for coffees and toasted sandwiches. There were no handouts back then, it was sink or swim and you had to work hard.”

Later this month, photographer Effy Alexakis and historian Leonard Janiszewski will visit Wagga as part of a lecture series on the unique slice of history.

Hubs of social life and youth culture, the cafes actually had their roots in the Californian gold rush, where Greek migrants catered to hungry miners and in so doing developed skills that would bring them to Australia.

Leonard Janiszewski said Greek migrants, who had followed the gold fever from California to Ballarat, went looking for work after the Victorian fields dried up.

“Wagga had ‘oyster saloons’ that sold fresh and bottled oysters as well as alcohol back then,” Mr Janiszewski said.

“If you were well-to-do you’d go to a French restaurant, because British eating advertised your class.

“The Greeks were all-inclusive when they came, trying to diversify their clientele and cater for men, women and families.”

Slowly, the oysters gave way to full meals and American-style versions of ice cream and chocolate.

“Australian ice cream smelled like butter, but the American stuff was smooth on the palate, full of saturated fats and sugars and it became a phenomena,” Mr Janiszewski said.

“It was the same with chocolate and they started presenting them the American way too, so when the soda fountains came in they went straight up to the front counter and the sundae parlours emerged.”

One of Wagga’s earliest parlours was the Silver Key Cafe, which was started by Sam Apostle (Apostolopoulos) and Akon (Economopoulos) in 1924. The milk bars, such as the White Rose, then emerged, bringing together the American culture of the silver screen with the cuisine on offer.

“Cinema promised a little bit of America and you could relive it in the milk bar with its art deco architecture, milkshakes and sodas,” Mr Janiszewski said.

“The United States was seen as the great white western culture and the cafes and milk bars helped transform popular culture from British to American.

“When the jukebox was introduced, youth culture heard rock ‘n’ roll for the first time in the milk bars and while it started to decline in the 1970’s, the foundations were laid.”

Get tickets to Effy Alexakis and Leonard Janiszewski’s talk here.

Find out more at www.cafesandmilkbars.com.au