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Subject: Re: History of Bartending: Question
From: emmerlee
Posted: Fri Jan 24. 2003, 20:56 UTC
Followup to: "History of Bartending: Question"  by Bre  (Thu Jan 23. 2003, 23:23 UTC)
> Hi
> 
> As stupid as this may sound, I'm doing a little research on 
> bartending for writing purposes.  Basically, I'm planning to write a 
> story based completely around an old age/European tavern/inn/thieves 
> guild, and my main characters consist of thieves, drunks, and the 
> bartender.  Frankly, I find "normal" stories boring.  :)
> 
> I could just go to a bar and collect information myself, but seeing 
> as I'm just a few years short of the local drinking age, I don't 
> think that's really an option for me.  I could guess, but I'd like it 
> to be as believable as possible.
> 
> I was curious as to whether or not anybody had any information 
> regarding what bartending might have been like one hundred - five 
> hundred years ago, or have some sources I could check out.  I'd 
> really appreciate information on drinks (ale and liqueurs in 
> particular), equipment, tavern/bar life, terms/slang, and the general 
> life of a bartender back then.  All help would be incredibly 
> appreciated.
> 
> Loads of thanks,
> Bre :)

There's a book called "The Dress Lodger," which has a description of some 
bartending duties in England around 1830. I don't remember the author's name, 
but I think she included a bibliography of sources. As I recall, there was a 
lot of gin, wine, and of course beer. The book also describes how the 
bartender adulterated drinks with powdered lead to make them sweeter, or to 
cover up the taste of spoiled wine. Not a pretty picture. Additionally, there 
is a ratcatching scene, which was a popular entertainment in bars of the time. 
It's a bloodsport consisting of setting a hound loose on a bunch of rats, then 
betting on how many he can kill in a certain amount of time. There's actually 
a scene of this in the movie "Gangs of New York," which I recommend seeing for 
research purposes. You are old enough for that, surely? ;) 

As far as beer/liquor in European taverns around 500 years ago, in Northern 
Europe you would find lots of beer, herbal liqueurs similar to today's 
Jagermeister, and maybe some schnapps, gin or vodka. Every locality brewed its 
own beer and its own variety of herb-infused alcohol. Beer had a lower alcohol 
content then and was drunk from morning to night, often instead of water, as 
the brewing process made beer safer to drink than polluted water.Beer was 
considered strengthening and fortifying (a la old Guinness ads), and the 
herbal liqueurs were considered medicinally useful. Try looking up the German 
purity laws from the 16th century, they still apply. Brewing was a craft with 
a guild and everything in Germany. In medieval England, it was mostly women 
who did the brewing for some reason.

I don't know as much about southern Europe, though you can be sure that wine 
was much more available than beer there. They also drank (and still do) 
bitter/sweet cordials and liqueurs made with fruit, nuts and/or spices (think 
Campari and Amaretto). 

Think about what sort of people would frequent a tavern. Certainly not the 
upper class, unless the landlord was looking for a tenant. Upper class ladies 
would never be seen there, but that doesn't mean there weren't plenty of women 
in taverns, particularly the barkeep's family members, doing the washing or 
serving or whatever. Peasant women drank, too.There probably would have been 
music, as well, with the musician playing or singing for his beer. Taverns 
weren't necessarily bawdy or vulgar. Taverns in towns would attract guildsmen, 
artisans, and merchants, while taverns in country hamlets would attract local 
farmers. Both places would have rooms for travellers (or for prostitution), so 
the mix of patrons would likely include road-weary travellers- why were they 
travelling? Religious pilgrimage? Itinerant blacksmiths? Actors? Tinkers? All 
are possible. This means the tavern/inn would also have had stables.
You might find the movie "The Seventh Seal," by Ingmar Bergman, useful for its 
scenes of travelling actors and taverns in medieval Sweden.

Off the subject but equally interesting for your research might be the 
caravanserais of Asia, placed along the Silk Road highways at intervals of 20k 
or so. They had rooms, food, drink, and stables for camels and horses. During 
the Pax Mongolica of Kublai Khan, the highways from Syria to China were lined 
with such way stations. Unlike Europe, these roads were patrolled by security 
guards, so they were much safer, better maintained, and freer from bandits 
than the sucky roads in medieval Europe. Check out Marco Polo for descriptions.

Boy, this is a really long post. Hope you find some of it useful for your 
story!
-emmerlee (should be working on her master's thesis instead of the internet)


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