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speakeasy

 
Dictionary: speak·eas·y   (spēk'ē') pronunciation
 
n., pl. -ies.

A place for the illegal sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks, as during Prohibition in the United States.


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Speakeasy, also known as a "blind pig" or a "blind tiger," is an illicit or unlicensed establishment dispensing alcoholic beverages. The speakeasy had been part of the American scene since at least the 1890s, but it reached its heyday after the Eighteenth Amendment took effect in January 1920, ushering in the Prohibition era. Though alcohol was officially illegal during Prohibition, bootleggers and distributors of illicit alcohol enjoyed a thriving business serving a public still eager to drink. At the height of their popularity (1924–1933), speakeasies were generally either bars or restaurants to which people gained admission by personal introduction or by presenting a card, usually informally. In social class they ranged from smart restaurants to underworld dens, but whereas before Prohibition, most "respectable" women would not be welcome in a public bar, women as well as men began flocking to speakeasies.

Bibliography

Allsop, Kenneth. The Bootleggers: The Story of Chicago's Prohibition Era. London: Hutchinson, 1968.

Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America. New York: Arcade, 1996.

Cashman, Sean Dennis. Prohibition, the Lie of the Land. New York: Free Press, 1981.

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.

 
WordNet: speakeasy
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: (during prohibition) an illegal barroom


 
Wikipedia: Speakeasy
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A speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold alcoholic beverages during the period of United States history known as Prohibition (1920–1932, longer in some states). During this time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation (bootlegging) of alcohol was illegal. The term comes from a patron’s manner of ordering an alcoholic drink without raising suspicion—bartenders would tell patrons to be quiet and “speak easy".[1]

Speakeasies became more popular and numerous as the Prohibition years progressed, and more of them were operated by people connected to organized crime. Although police and Bureau of Prohibition agents would raid them and arrest the owners and patrons, the business of running speakeasies was so lucrative that they continued to flourish throughout America. In major cities, speakeasies were often quite elaborate, offering food, live music, floor shows, and striptease dancers. Corruption was rampant—speakeasy operators routinely bribed police to leave them alone or to give them advance notice of raids.

Blind pig and blind tiger are terms for an establishment similar to a speakeasy.

Contents

Blind pigs

The term blind pig (or blind tiger) originated in the United States in the 1800s; it was applied to establishments that sold alcoholic beverages illegally. The operator of an establishment (such as a saloon or bar) would charge customers to see an attraction (such as an animal) and then serve a “complimentary” alcoholic beverage, thus circumventing the law.

“In desperate cases it has to betake itself to the exhibition of Greenland pigs and other curious animals, charging 25 cents for a sight of the pig and throwing in a gin cocktail gratuitously.”[2]

The difference between a speakeasy and a blind pig was that a speakeasy was usually a higher-class establishment that offered food, music, or entertainment, or even all three. In large cities, some speakeasies even required a coat and tie for men, and evening dress for women. But a blind pig was usually a low-class dive where only beer and liquor were offered.

Estimates of the number of blind pigs in some major American cities in the mid-1920s are:[citation needed]

Hidden Secrets

In many rural towns there were local speakeasy's that were small and operated by local business owners as a way to make extra money. These family secrets were often kept that way even after Prohibition ended. For example, the rooms of the Cyber Cafe West in Binghamton, New York past remained hidden for many years. Secret rooms were found during renovations to the building containing evidence of an underground speakeasy. [3]

Prohibition

The federal Volstead Act, which was passed with new authority from the Eighteenth Amendment, put Prohibition into effect on January 16, 1920. It lasted for almost 14 years. After years of lobbying by the temperance movement (mainly by the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union), the states had passed laws forbidding the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.

The first state to go entirely “dry” was Kansas in 1881. States that did not go dry were called “wet states.”

See also

References

  1. ^ Allen, Irving (1995). The City in Slang: New York Life and PopularSpeech (facsimile ed.). Oxford University Press, U.S.A. p. 72. ISBN 9780195092653. http://books.google.com/books?id=j41z0yeKbeIC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=speakeasy+%22samuel+hudson%22&source=web&ots=BFCGn-pXrT&sig=e-i0CrtIzXK15bBnNicr-TbvqBE. 
  2. ^ MacRae, David (1870). The Americans at Home: Pen-and-Ink Sketches of American Men, Manners, and Institutions. Volume II. Edinburgh, Scotland. p. 315. 
  3. ^ "Speakeasy found in Cyber Cafe". http://www.bupipedream.com/Articles/Remains-of-speakeasy-found-in-Cyber-Cafe-parking-lot/4826. Retrieved on 2009-06-30. 

Bibliography

  • Loretta Britten, Paul Mathless, Ed. Our American Century Jazz Age: The 20’s. 1998. New York: Bishop books inc., 1969.
  • “The Dry Years” The Roaring Twenties Encyclopedia. 2007 Ed.
  • The Twenties: The American destiny. London: Orbis Book Publishing Corporation Ltd. 1986.
  • Kahn, Gordon, and Al Hirschfeld. (1932, rev. 2003). The Speakeasies of 1932. New York: Glenn Young Books. ISBN 1-557-83518-7.

 
Translations: Speakeasy
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - smugkro

Nederlands (Dutch)
clandestiene bar

Français (French)
n. - (US, Hist) bar clandestin

Deutsch (German)
n. - Lokal, in dem illegal Alkohol ausgeschenkt wird

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ΗΠΑ) παράνομο μπαρ της εποχής της ποτοαπαγόρευσης

Italiano (Italian)
bar clandestino

Português (Portuguese)
n. - bar ou botequim clandestino durante a lei seca nos Estados Unidos

Русский (Russian)
бар с нелегальной продажей спиртных напитков

Español (Spanish)
n. - taberna clandestina

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - lönnkrog (sl.)

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
地下酒吧

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 地下酒吧

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 무허가 술집, 주류 밀매점

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - もぐり酒場

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حانه وبخاصه غير مرخص بها‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חנות-משקאות מחתרתית‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
US History Encyclopedia. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Speakeasy" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

 

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