17,394
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 5:
Line 5: − + + + + + + + − + + − Taverns absorbed leisure hours and games were provided--always decks of cards, perhaps a billiards table. Horse races often began and ended at taverns, as did militia-training exercises. Cockfights were popular. At upscale taverns the gentry had private rooms or even organized a club. When politics was in season, political talk filled the taverns. − − Larger taverns provided rooms for travelers, especially in county seats that housed the county court. − Taverns served multiple functions on the Southern colonial frontier. Society in Rowan County, North Carolina, was divided along lines of ethnicity, gender, race, and class, but in taverns the boundaries often overlapped, as diverse groups were brought together at nearby tables. Consumerism in the backcountry was limited not by ideology or culture but by distance from markets and poor transportation. The increasing variety of drinks served and the development of clubs indicates that genteel culture spread rapidly from London to the periphery of the English world.<ref> Thorp, Daniel B. Taverns and Tavern Culture on the Southern Colonial Frontier: Rowan County, North Carolina, 1753-1776. Journal of Southern History 1996 62(4): 661-688. 0022-4642 </ref>
→North America
===Colonial===
===Colonial America to 1800===
Taverns in the colonies closely followed the models of the mother country. They were supervised by county officials who recognized the need for taverns and the need to maintain order, to minimize drunkenness (and avoid it if possible on Sundays), as well as to establish the responsibilities of tavern keepers.
Taverns in the colonies closely followed the models of the mother country. They were supervised by county officials who recognized the need for taverns and the need to maintain order, to minimize drunkenness (and avoid it if possible on Sundays), as well as to establish the responsibilities of tavern keepers.
====Travelers====
Larger taverns provided rooms for travelers, especially in county seats that housed the county court. Upscale taverns had a lounge with a huge fireplace, a bar at one side, plenty of benches and chairs, and several dining tables. The best houses had a separate parlor for ladies, an affable landlord, good cooking, soft, roomy beds, fires in all rooms in cold weather, and warming pans used on the beds at night. In the backwoods, the taverns were wretched hovels, dirty with vermin for company; even so they were more pleasant and safer for the stranger than camping by the roadside. Even on main highways such as the Boston Post Road, travelers routinely bitterly of bad food, hard beds with scanty covering, and poor, indifferent.
====Locals====
Taverns were essential for colonial Americans, especially in the South where towns hardly existed. In the taverns the colonists learned current crop prices, arranged trades, heard newspapers read aloud, and discovered business opportunities and the latest betting odds on the upcoming horse races. For most rural Americans the tavern was the chief link to the greater world, playing a role much like the city marketplace in Europe and Latin America.
Taverns absorbed leisure hours and games were provided--always decks of cards, perhaps a billiards table. Horse races often began and ended at taverns, as did militia-training exercises. Cockfights were popular. At upscale taverns the gentry had private rooms or even organized a club. When politics was in season, political talk filled the taverns.
Taverns were essential for colonial Americans, especially in the South where towns hardly existed. In the taverns the colonists learned current crop prices, arranged trades, heard newspapers read aloud, and discovered business opportunities and the latest betting odds on the upcoming horse races. For most rural Americans the tavern was the chief link to the greater world, playing a role much like the city marketplace in Europe and Latin America.
Taverns served multiple functions on the Southern colonial frontier. Society in Rowan County, North Carolina, was divided along lines of ethnicity, gender, race, and class, but in taverns the boundaries often overlapped, as diverse groups were brought together at nearby tables. Consumerism in the backcountry was limited not by ideology or culture but by distance from markets and poor transportation. The increasing variety of drinks served and the development of clubs indicates that genteel culture spread rapidly from London to the periphery of the English world.<ref> Daniel B. Thorp, "Taverns and Tavern Culture on the Southern Colonial Frontier: Rowan County, North Carolina, 1753-1776." ''Journal of Southern History'' 1996 62(4): 661-688. 0022-4642 </ref>
====Business====
In the colonial era, about two-thirds of the taverns were operated by women--especially widows. Local magistrates--who had to award a license before a tavern could operate--preferred widows who knew the business and might otherwise be impoverished and become a charge to the county.<ref>Tavern licenses were assigned to men, but both magistrates and license applicants knew that the tavern itself would be run by the petitioner's wife or daughter. </ref> Women and children were not, however, welcome as fellow drinkers. The drinkers were men--and indeed often defined their manliness by how much they could drink at a time.
In the colonial era, about two-thirds of the taverns were operated by women--especially widows. Local magistrates--who had to award a license before a tavern could operate--preferred widows who knew the business and might otherwise be impoverished and become a charge to the county.<ref>Tavern licenses were assigned to men, but both magistrates and license applicants knew that the tavern itself would be run by the petitioner's wife or daughter. </ref> Women and children were not, however, welcome as fellow drinkers. The drinkers were men--and indeed often defined their manliness by how much they could drink at a time.
===New York City===
===New York City===
Perhaps the most famous American tavern is '''Fraunces Tavern''', corner of Broad and Pearl streets in lower Manhattan. Originally built as a residence in 1719, it was opened as a tavern by Samuel Fraunces, a West Indian black, in 1762, and became a popular gathering place. Fraunces Tavern was the site of merchants' meetings on the post-1763 taxes, plots by the Sons of Liberty, entertainments for British and Loyalist officers during the Revolution. In its Long Room, on Dec. 4, 1783, General George Washington said farewell to his officers. It is still in operation--and is the oldest building in the city.
Perhaps the most famous American tavern is '''Fraunces Tavern''', corner of Broad and Pearl streets in lower Manhattan. Originally built as a residence in 1719, it was opened as a tavern by Samuel Fraunces, a West Indian black, in 1762, and became a popular gathering place. Fraunces Tavern was the site of merchants' meetings on the post-1763 taxes, plots by the Sons of Liberty, entertainments for British and Loyalist officers during the Revolution. In its Long Room, on Dec. 4, 1783, General George Washington said farewell to his officers. It is still in operation--and is the oldest building in the city.