Blog 3: The Hasty Tasty
THE HISTORY OF AA IN AUSTRALIA
By Andrew T.
My name is Andrew T, and I am an alcoholic and a member of AA80 Host Planning Committee. I live in Sydney, where I recently went on a fascinating, guided AA history walk, tracing the early roots of AA in Australia through Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Kings Cross and The Rocks.
The early days of AA in Australia were far from assured. It began with three "non-alcoholics," two of whom eventually became full AA members: Archie McKinnon, a psychiatric nurse at Darlinghurst Reception House; Sylvester M, a psychiatrist at Rydalmere Hospital; and Father Tom D, a Catholic priest who had founded Boys Town in Australia and was working with skid row drunks. Together, they brought the distant hope of AA to Australia. With just a few Big Books sent by Bobbie B, the General Secretary of AA in New York, they set to work, gathering alcoholic prospects.
Among the first AA prospects were Rex A, the wayward son of a prominent Sydney family and a recently discharged serviceman and regular at Darlinghurst Reception House; Ben, a pharmacist and ex-serviceman; Jack R, a house painter and avowed atheist; and Wally, a dapper department store window dresser.
Image: The Hasty Tasty, Kings Cross, Australia.
In those early days in 1945, meeting venues were non-existent. Early “members” would often stroll the streets of Kings Cross in the evening with Archie McKinnon, find a coffee shop, take over a booth, and discuss AA and the Big Book late into the night.
One such place was the “Hasty Tasty” in Kings Cross, a 24-hour American-style diner that served as a refuge for the city's nocturnal inhabitants, including this small newly sober group of hopeful alcoholics.
Archie McKinnon later reflected in his memoir, "They Chose Freedom":
This is where we took our first faltering steps toward understanding what the AA program is about. How was the spiritual part of the program to be carried out? Did they have to ‘get religion’? I was as confused as they were…
They may have been confused, but some of them were staying sober and soon AA began to spread. Though the Hasty Tasty is long gone, its memory endures with members of AA, as well as prospective members, meeting in cafes across Australia to discuss our common solution over coffee.
