Saloon Culture Essay

Regional differences in mannerisms were revealed as well, with Southerners carrying themselves “with an ethic of honor and pride.. more gracefully than men hardened by toil or preoccupied with commerce,” and Northerners as “cautious and too deferential” (pg. 149). Also, he notes that the farther west one traveled, the more open the local inhabitants’ faces were. Ethnic distinction is shown by the fact that the “uncontrolled physical energy of American blacks left many whites ill at ease” (pg. 149). Cleanliness was not specifically a priority to early nineteenth century Americans, as Larkin states that “Americans lived in a world of dirt, insects, and pungent smells” (pg. 150). Americans used chamber pots as to escape trips to the outdoors in the dark or cold. They would dump the remains wherever convenient. Bed bugs infested beds across America, with nearly everyone affected. Drinking was extremely popular, as in this era, “We drank more than we ever had before or ever would before” (pg. 153). Along with drinking came gambling, fighting, and heavy smoking. It “was deeply shameful in women” to be drunk, but was “tolerable and forgivable in men” (pg.

Ouray’s Red Light District reached its peak between the 1880s and 1890s. During this period, the district incorporated three city blocks, and included brothels, gambling dens, and dancehalls. During their heyday, approximately over 100 girls were working as prostitutes (Gensmer, 2012:20-21; Gregory, 1982:4-5; Horobik, 2011:19; Smith, 2003:55-56). However, by 1916 America’s Temperance movement had spread to Colorado. At this time, the state passed a prohibition law closing all saloons. Even though illegal places may have existed, the golden days of Ouray’s Red Light Districts had passed (Gensmer, 2012:22-23; Horobik, 2011:20; Smith, 2003:86).

The strong economy also created the right environment for many important changes in the day-to-day social life of Americans. The nineteen twenties are remembered now as an exciting time that historians call the "Roaring Twenties” , but maybe it was only “roaring” because things were so corrupt.

Saloons were known to drag in prostitutes and house lots of gambling. After the 18h amendment went into effect people still drank illegally. They would go to underground saloons called speakeasies. Speakeasies ran illegally and were heavily gated and surrounded with guards, you had to have a special member card or be recognized by a guard to even get in. The people who ran

Throughout the eighteen hundreds saloons were the site of rockus drinking, profane drunkards, and unthinking violence. This drinking culture was defined by masculinity and by free flowing alcohol that permeated all throughout America, city to city. The saloons became so popular with working men because it was time they could spend away from their wives and their homes. In Catherine Murdock’s book Domesticating Drink she argues that these elements of saloon culture, exclusivity, inebriety, and violence, were eliminated by the increase in popularity of mixed sex speakeasies, cocktail parties, and the overall domestication of drink. But this conclusion misinterprets the history of alcohol from Prohibition to the present. Although alcohol is now consumed without the exclusively of the past, it has evolved to be over sexualized and associated with a masculine culture of binge drinking over sexualized and domestic violence.

The 1920s was an age of drastic social and political changes. For the first time in history, more Americans started living in cities rather than on farms. Americans were wealthier than ever before. People from coast to coast bought similar goods, listened to the same music, did the same dances, and even used related slang. Numerous Americans were uncomfortable with this unfamiliar, urban, and occasionally racy “mass culture”. In fact, for a large number of people in the United States, the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration. However, for a minuscule handful of youth in the nation’s larger cities, the 1920s were roaring. Prohibition gave criminals a way to illegally make money; gangsters, young men who worked in criminal gangs, began selling on the black-market alcohol. Young woman emerged during the 1920s with different appearance, attitude, and behavior; with a bobbed haircut and short skirts.

The Lawyers’ Round Table was substantially larger than either the Friday or Temple clubs, consisting of twenty-five members. The club held their first meetings at the Baltimore Club on the northwest corner of Charles and Madison streets. Upon the ratification of the eighteenth amendment, however, meetings were moved to the home of the secretary of the club, Judge Eugene O’Dunne of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City. The club’s transition to a private venue was in order for the members of the club to partake in alcohol consumption under the 18th amendment’s bona fide guest exception. When, however, the group’s reserves of alcohol were depleted, they declined to violate prohibition and replenish their stock. Notably, that the members complied with prohibition is not to say that they endorsed it.

The overview of taverns and drinking and their great impact on daily life is obvious in the evidence and narration Salinger provides. She uses a journal written by Thomas Jefferson to explain how deeply entrenched in their daily lives taverns and drinking were: “Thomas Jefferson noted with alarm that cheap distilled spirits were “spreading through the mass of our citizens,” yet he is credited with inventing the presidential cocktail party”(3). Despite any negativity surrounding drinking, its growth in popularity was unstoppable. She also adds the fact that ‘water was considered an unsafe beverage’, which partially explains the reason for alcohol’s rise to popularity and appearance in the daily lives of early Americans. This increase in drinking also lead to the tavern culture and the need to regulate it, which brings in the lawmaking side.

Saloons outnumbered “schools, libraries, and churches” by 1909. Also, there was a greater understanding of the harmful effects of excess alcohol use on health from medical professionals. Politically, “taverns were controlled by brewers” such as Anheuser-Busch or the liquor trusts (Temperance Movement in the 1900’s). Concerns of excess alcohol consumption brought about a climate of social awareness and calls for change in the early

Although the roaring twenties are usually thought of as a time of universal prosperity, the reality is that unless one was Caucasian and well-to-do, society tended to shun the outliers (women, minorities, etc), propelling them out of political affairs and social scenes. Women rebelled, becoming increasingly promiscuous as the decade wore on. In 1920, it would have been unheard of to show an ankle, sport a bob haircut, or darken one’s eyes with what seemed like paint. By 1928, the younger generation was revealed as socially progressive, engaging in previously unthinkable behavior such as smoking, drinking in bars, and sex. Flappers became prevalent, with their flouncy skirts and short hair adorned with a jeweled headband. The decade earned its second nickname, “The Jazz Age”, from the incredible musical talents that emerged out of Harlem and other areas of the United States, leading to a less “restrained” entertainment.

Not only was flapper, dancing, and jazz big during this time, but so was crime. Rather than the modest culture in “The Scarlet Letter”, “Chicago” had a culture that was bigger, bolder, and badder. Much of what was going on during this period of history revolved around having a good time.

The Jazz Age, otherwise known as the Roaring twenties marked a time period when the economy excelled. American society was experiencing a new extravagant routine and were feeling lightheatened and optimistic after WWI. Many people felt that it was a time to become rich, drink hard liquor and spend their time partying, although many burnt out early in their life. There was several new crazes that came with the lavish lifestyle including dance and flag pole sitting. The increased interest in party included the excessive ingestion of alcohol and soon led to a prohibition but people soon found loop holes. The 1920s was an exciting part of US history where national celebrities in sport, music and film emerged along with the introduction of Jazz

health and said that by the men going to the saloons it was a risk for

Many people seem to think that prohibition was centered only in large cities such as Chicago. But Clark demonstrates that it wasn’t the case. Many states were implementing laws to abolish saloons and even becoming dry states before the 18th amendment was passed. Clark writes of how in Pomona CA, out of hundreds of saloons that existed only two survived. But even then they weren’t allowed to have seats to discourage clients from loitering to long. As well as only being able to sell liquor during certain hours. The fact that a local city was used as an example in the book made me realize that there was such wide support for this cause.

Alcoholic beverages were illegal in the Roaring Twenties, which caused many Americans to develop hidden bars or speakeasies to drink their alcoholic beverages. The number of speakeasies increased tremendously when the Prohibition Act was established. The high number of speakeasies caused organized activity to increase during the Roaring Twenties. “Speakeasies for illicit drinking sprang up, and organized crime activity increased…” (Hutchinson Encyclopedia). Americans during the Roaring Twenties knew that alcohol was