This week on 2SER breakfast with Tim Higgins, Dictionary Chair Lisa Murray talked about Sydney's bohemian artists' balls, dating back to the 1880s. The balls caused all manner of outrage in Sydney, with blazing headlines often following the annual event.

One of the more notorious was the artists' ball of 1924, held at Sydney Town Hall. Thousands of party goers flocked to the city for a free-spirited event that Sydney's 'Queen of Bohemia', Dulcie Deamer, later described as a 'Night of Great Scandal'. The theme of the ball, 'Back to Childhood', was merrily embraced by artists such as George Finey who came dressed in a nappy that was secured with a safety pin and had a bottle of rum hidden in its folds. Another artist, Jack Lindsay hid whisky flasks in the habit of his friend who had dressed as Friar John. As Deborah Beck describes in her article for the Dictionary, the night became, if not into an orgy, then a veritable bacchanalia with the basement of the Town Hall floor covered in beer.

Fights erupted after gatecrashers climbed through the basement windows and extra police and the fire brigade were eventually called to clear the overcrowded basement which was littered with drunken semi-naked women, broken crockery and high spirited revellers. The Lord Mayor's orderly, Martin Carrick, reported that 'in one place I saw a helpless man and woman vomiting into each other's laps', and in the Ladies Rest Rooms 'men were entering with women and locking themselves in the compartments'.

80 years on, as part of History Week, the History Council of NSW is hosting its very own artists' ball at David Jones on Saturday 7 September, 2013. With a swing band, performers and 1930s inspired supper, tickets for this fabulous event are available at: The Artists’ Ball: A Fairy Tale Begins. Get in quickly before they sell out!

You can read more about the history of Sydney's artists' ball in Deborah Beck's engaging and colourful article Scandalous Nights: Sydney's Artists' Balls. Deborah's article features in issue 17 of Inside History magazine, which is on news stands now.

And don’t forget to join Lisa and Tim again next Wednesday at 8.20am on 2SER Breakfast 107.3FM with some more great stories about Sydney’s past, courtesy of the Dictionary of Sydney.