American Saloons 

Article by Zara Barua. Edited by Helen Doherty. Additional Research by Helen Midgely. 

Envisaging saloons conjures thoughts of brawling cowboys, prostitution, gambling and gun fighting and indeed this is not an inaccurate representation of American drinking places. There were numerous killings in the Old West, for instance Will Bill Hickock, killed by Jack McCall playing poker in the No.10 Saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota and John Wesley Hardin who was shot down on August 19, 1895, in an El Paso, Texas saloon. But we have to distinguish between saloons in Western rural areas and city based saloons. The role, which was played by saloons, differs due to the social problems in the areas. The nineteenth century was an era of industrial revolution, affecting working class leisure time enormously and saloons were an antidote to the socially isolating routines of factory labour. 

Perry Duis has written a whole book on saloons in Boston and Chicago, explaining the ways that they were used. At the very bottom of the social scale, tramps scattered Chicago in their thousands with the network of railways bringing 30,000 annually to the streets. Out of this, an ‘alcoholic subculture’ was created, with ‘hobos’ using alcohol to escape the terrible conditions they lived in. Duis explains that ‘hobos’ drank because it was easier than shaving, bathing or eating. Whiskey was perfect for homeless men as it was portable, easy to conceal and gave warmth in the winter so it had a practical purpose! However instead of thousands of unwashed, uncouth, unshaven men roaming the streets sipping from whiskey bottles, saloons provided a more sociable and warm place for homeless men. 

During the winter saloon owners would even allow regulars to sleep on their benches or floors in exchange for helping out in the afterhour’s cleanup. Furthermore, the homeless were able to get free lunches with cheap beverages and would go from saloon to saloon trying to squeeze maximum lunch from minimum liquor purchases. However, Reitman and Woods investigated this and decided that ‘hobos’ were being exploited since churches seemed to be (not surprisingly) much more generous than saloons but obviously less alcohol was included in the deal! 

It was a common belief though, that saloons were highly charitable, welcoming all men of the working class. Any labouring man out of employment could be sure to get temporary relief and assistance in finding a new job at saloons. These men who were ‘put on their feet’ were not made to feel as though they were accepting charity as such, but that they were ‘as likely to give as to receive’, thus saloon owners were not interested in these men’s background or age but whether they were in need at that moment. There was no sense of obligation but rather a brotherhood, which prompted mutual aid. 

In urban areas, milk and water were most likely impure and those unable to afford purified bottles of water would turn to beer. Beer had many advantages as opposed to milk or water. It was pasteurised and pure, it was affordable, it was thought to have nutritional value and since parents spent many hours in the saloons, it was easy to bring home a pail for the children.

Most interestingly saloons reinforced group identity in ethnic neighbourhoods, becoming centres of immigrant politics. Each saloonkeeper adjusted to its neighbours in order to increase profits. Therefore different types of saloon sprung up, the ‘universals’, primarily including the Irish and Germans but accepting clientele of mixed ethnic background or ‘ethnocentric’, saloons established within an ethnic neighbourhood and catered specifically towards that group. Every group had its own favourite beverage, spoke in its own language, had its own jokes and ate its own delicacies for the free lunch option. So here is not so much an image of a white only institution, but rather an institution which provided its neighbourhood with exactly the ethnocentric attributes they wanted. 

Thus we should not isolate our understanding of American saloons to the Wild West saloons, basically white men’s clubs for drunkenness and debauchery. It is important to also think of the relevance of urban saloons such as Chicagoian saloons investigated by Perry Duis. Urban saloons had a much different role than those in rural areas. Saloons were a social institution, which affected the class and racial workings of society. They were social institutions which helped the working class during tough times to get back on their feet but this aid did not cut across racial boundaries. Each ethnic group stuck to their own saloon, which was the centre of their social life and was associated with racial identity.

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