1950s milk bar in a carton

perth, western australia, is the undisputed mecca of flavoured milk. in no other state is masters spearmint milk available. but why?

when one goes to perth it's like stepping into a time loop & going back fifteen years. the pace & palate seem somewhat slower. by no means an entirely bad thing. unless you're confined by the claustrophobic suburban sensibilities meets 2D nouveaux rich flash-in-the-pan consumerist ideology & utterly desperate to escape...

one of my best friends, stevie hails from this place. he left as soon as he could. and his brother not far behind him. despite the open-minded view on strange lactose-based drinks, perth is no oxford street. in fact perth is seemingly so far from sydney that my unwired internet did not work there. no WA coverage they told me when i rang the 1300 number seeking an interwebs fix. seems it is practically another world. apparently the most remote state in the world... where remnants of previous lifeforms can still be found. amongst the living. is spearmint milk the new dinosaur?

my first introduction to this hangover of 1950s soda milk bar culture came via stevie. although the milk bars were nowhere in sight, commercial fridges burst with this stuff every convenience store i entered. 

all i could think as i tenuously embraced dry july is how good it would be with vodka. previously tried & tested back home & a ubiquitous mantra we lushes [ping stevie, fee & ky] hold near & dear on the east coast. in the meantime we are forced to drink our vodka unmixed until ex-patriot perthians successfully lobby for interstate mint milk love. in the immortal words of cyndi lauper: if i could turn back time [there would be lashings of vodka & spearmint milk for everyone]...