Julie Lence's Blog - Posts Tagged "pewter"
Saloons
Most of you know that I write western historical romance. In each of my works, I like to present something factual from life in the 1800's, even if it’s something as simple as a warming oven. I also like to have a saloon somewhere in the book. Sometimes the saloon is an important part of the story, and other times it's mentioned in passing, such as No Luck At All where Creel purchases an abandoned saloon and transforms it into his medical clinic. Which got me to thinking about the history of the western saloon, where the beer was brewed and how it was transported to the saloon, and my accuracy in portraying the local watering hole.
From what I could find on the Internet, Nathan Lyman was one of the first men to open a brewery in the United States; Rochester, NY, 1819. After him, breweries sprouted up through the century in big cities; Buffalo, Cincinnati, Chicago and Milwaukee to name a few. Ale was the first type of beer brewed, until the German migration to the United States introduced lager beer. Lager beer is lighter compared to ale and Americans liked the taste. They also preferred the new glassware introduced to saloons over the pewter mugs. While I learned a variety of facts from which of these start up breweries later became famous for the beer Americans consume today to how breweries played an important role in establishing new saloons, these large city breweries didn't satisfy my curiosity for how beer ended up in the western saloons.
In researching a bit further, I found a few threads pertaining to local breweries, though I couldn't find information as to the actual locations of these breweries. I did discover that my initial thoughts of beer being stored in wooden barrels was correct, and after happening upon some photos of horse-drawn wagons laden with wooden barrels, I did prove another thought that this was how beer was transported to saloons. Two things I didn't know pertained to some folks brewing their own beer and others purchasing beer from saloons to consume at home. Beer was carried in small tin pails known as 'Growlers'. To me, that was interesting, because I never see mention of beer being consumed at home. Only whiskey.
Now that I know the history of beer, I feel more comfortable with the saloons in my stories. They do reflect some facts, such as the polished bar and the wooden barrel, and they also reflect my imagination of the décor and the men who frequented these rough-and-tumble establishments.
From what I could find on the Internet, Nathan Lyman was one of the first men to open a brewery in the United States; Rochester, NY, 1819. After him, breweries sprouted up through the century in big cities; Buffalo, Cincinnati, Chicago and Milwaukee to name a few. Ale was the first type of beer brewed, until the German migration to the United States introduced lager beer. Lager beer is lighter compared to ale and Americans liked the taste. They also preferred the new glassware introduced to saloons over the pewter mugs. While I learned a variety of facts from which of these start up breweries later became famous for the beer Americans consume today to how breweries played an important role in establishing new saloons, these large city breweries didn't satisfy my curiosity for how beer ended up in the western saloons.
In researching a bit further, I found a few threads pertaining to local breweries, though I couldn't find information as to the actual locations of these breweries. I did discover that my initial thoughts of beer being stored in wooden barrels was correct, and after happening upon some photos of horse-drawn wagons laden with wooden barrels, I did prove another thought that this was how beer was transported to saloons. Two things I didn't know pertained to some folks brewing their own beer and others purchasing beer from saloons to consume at home. Beer was carried in small tin pails known as 'Growlers'. To me, that was interesting, because I never see mention of beer being consumed at home. Only whiskey.
Now that I know the history of beer, I feel more comfortable with the saloons in my stories. They do reflect some facts, such as the polished bar and the wooden barrel, and they also reflect my imagination of the décor and the men who frequented these rough-and-tumble establishments.
