Flavoursome Scraps of Conversation

Abstract

This article’s contribution to the sphere of urban lives and oral sources in twentieth century Australia is to conceptualise the sounds of the city within a specific framework, the cosmopolitan. Long before the advent of the contemporary cosmopolitan cafe latte lifestyle, people spoke and wrote about the cultural atmosphere of their city, perceiving the sounds generated by an eclectic mix of language, music and food to be constitutive of cosmopolitan hospitality and sociability. These ‘flavoursome scraps of conversation’, typically but not exclusively associated with ‘people of all nationalities’, specific neighbourhoods and locales, and sites of consumption such as espresso bars, continental delis, cafes and restaurants, captured at once the dailiness of cosmopolitan lives and broader historical circumstances involving migration, travel and commerce.