Why were coffee houses so popular in the late seventeeth century and early eighteenth century in london - Essay Example

? Coffee houses in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century London Introduction Coffee, a popular beverage in the modern times, first came into vogue as a drink in the mid –fifteenth century, when it spread around the Red Sea basin area. Controversial from the time of its inception into the European society, it became one of the most popular drinks and soon considered at par with popular alcoholic beverages like beer or wine, and it changed the very nature of consumer drinking disposition during the early years of its introduction into the European society (Cowan, 2005). Coffee first became popular in the Ottoman Empire during the sixteenth century, and in one report, we find the well-known Ottoman chronicler Ibrahim Pecevi chronicling the opening of the first coffeehouses in the Ottoman Empire (in Istanbul) in the sixteenth century. Here he states, “Until the year 962 [1555], in the High, God-Guarded city of Constantinople, as well as in Ottoman lands generally, coffee and coffee-houses did not exist. About that year, a fellow called Hakam from Aleppo and a wag called Shams from Damascus came to the city; they each opened a large shop in the district called Tahtakale, and began to purvey coffee” (cited in Bernard, 1989, 132). It was in the 17th century that coffee spread to Europe from the Ottoman Empire (via Hungary), and soon coffeehouses became a part of the popular western culture (Wild, 2005). English coffeehouses first came into existence during the mid-seventeenth century when in Oxford in 1652 in a building that is now better known as "The Grand Cafe" (ibid). Pasqua Rosee, who was a servant in the service of a merchant named Daniel Edwards, opened the first coffeehouse in London in 1652, in St Michael's Alley in Cornhill, and soon they became extremely popular as social meeting places, and by 1675 England had more than 3,000 coffeehouses (Weinberg, and Bealer, 2002, 152). Discussion English coffee houses: The English coffeehouses, during the early modernism of the 17th and 18th centuries, are often referred to as public social houses where the people from different social walks of life, would gather for drinking the new beverage while socially interacting. These coffeehouses also served chocolate and tea along with coffee, and these places soon acquired a very distinct character that distinguished it from another popular establishment of the era, the taverns. The taverns were legally obliged to keep provisions for drinks, food, and lodging for the passing traveller; and formed centres of hard drinking and gambling. Coffeehouses, served non-alcoholic drinks allow any form of gambling and alcohol consumption, and were known as ‘genteel’ places for sober social interactions, unlike other public social houses of that time (Hewitt, 1872). Cowan in his book describes a typical 17th-18th century English coffeehouse as "places where people gathered to drink coffee, learn the news of the day, and perhaps to meet with other local residents and discuss matters of mutual concern” (Cowan, 2005, 79). Right from the time of initiation, the English coffeehouses formed a dominion for intellectual gatherings, while political groups also frequented the various English coffeehouses for conducting meetings (ibid). There a diverse range of patrons that were seen in the English coffeehouses, and represented a wide range of the divergent English social classes, and there was a sense of equality amongst these customers where one could freely take part in any ongoing conversation irrespective of one’s social rank or political beliefs. Topics deliberated on in these coffeehouses were mainly related to philosophical debates, politics, society gossip, current events, and natural sciences. It is often for this reason that the 17th and 18th century English coffeehouses were referred by the historians to be the epicentres of the Enlightenment era that brought in cultural and intellectual reawakening, widely seen at this time (Cowan, 2005). English coffeehouses at this time adhered to a stringent set of rules and as per the "Rules and Orders of the Coffee House" published in 1674, equality amongst the coffee shop patrons was given primary importance, and "no man of any station need give his place to a finer man" (Ellis, 1956, 46-47), while swearing and quarrelling were not encouraged. Discussions on sacred or religious issues were forbidden, while the rules banned the coffeehouse patrons from opining against State and religion, and outlawed any games associated with gambling (ibid). A majority of the English coffeehouses of this time complied with the aforementioned rules and orders, and promoted the values of equality and social diversity within their establishments. Thus, the coffeehouses became places where men from social ranks mingled to not only discuss and debate, but also to conduct their trade and commerce meetings and swap information (ibid). The coffeehouses of 17th and 18th-century England were exclusively male oriented establishments where women were not allowed to come into coffeehouses and take part in the ongoing debates and discussions (Bramah, 1972, 47). However, Cowan contends that this was not entirely true, as there were no barring women, but the topics of discussions were primarily male oriented, which automatically discouraged women from going to the coffeehouses (Cowan, 2005, 246). It was seen that at this time while travelling respectable women could use a tavern but could avail themselves of the facilities offered by the coffeehouse, even though women were seen to own or even work in coffeehouses. At the end of the 18th century, the popularity of the English coffeehouses went oo a decline and soon they disappeared from English social life. There are a various reasons suggested for this sudden decline where some contend that the start of the various exclusive clubs and the British government’s colonial administrative policies were the chief reasons for the decline in the popularity of the English coffeehouse culture (Ellis, 1956). Coffeehouse proprietors worked to gain monopoly over news culture and to establish a coffeehouse newspaper as the sole form of print news available. In his book Bramah contends that the decline took place mainly owing to the fact that the equality and social diversity in coffeehouses were soon done away with, and "snobbery reared its head, particularly amongst the intelligence, who felt that their special genius entitled them to protection from the common herd…[and] strangers were no longer welcome” (Bramah, 1972, 49). Along with these, at this time, there was also a growing demand for tea and the British government which had a greater interest in the tea trade (via the East India company) promoted the drinking of tea, instead of coffee also added to the downfall of these once popular social establishments (Ellis, 1956, 238). London coffee houses: The two cities that have the most colourful histories of coffeehouses are Paris and London of the 17th and 18th centuries, and a good deal of romance and poetry revolves round these establishments, of the two cities. "The history of coffee houses… [Before] the invention of clubs was that of the manners, the morals and the politics of a people" (D'Israeli, cited in The current opinion, 361), thus, one can assume that the culture of the 17th-18th century London coffee houses reflects the history of the English culture of that era. Amongst the English coffeehouses that uniformly promoted the free flow of thoughts and opinions, the London coffeehouses charged an exceptionally small amount for entrance to the coffeehouses, and it for this reason that they were known as the “Penny Universities” (Cowan, 2005). In large cities, like London, the coffeehouses attracted various sorts of clienteles with some of the coffeehouses being specialised in nature. A famous London coffeehouse, owned by one Edward Lloyd, was particularly patronised by the marine class, like captains, ship owners, and ship insurers and the owner posted the ship timings that came in and moved out of the London docks. There were other London coffeehouses especially attractive to the artist crowds, while some were patronised by the politicians, while the clergymen favoured some other coffeehouses (Ellis, 2004). Such was the specialisation in the clientele types that the two main political parties of London, the Whigs and Tories favoured two different coffeehouses (ibid). The Whigs preferred the St. James, while the Tories patronised the Cocoa-Tree, and both these coffeehouses were situated near the Pall Mall. The Jonathon and Garraway's coffeehouse was the place where for almost 73 years The London Stock Exchanged operated. The merchants and the physicians often operated their offices from their favourite coffeehouses (ibid). The famous author Jonathan Swift’s postal address was the St. James Coffeehouse, while the Grecian Coffeehouse was the postal address for famous London newspaper, The Tatler. During the 17th and 18t centuries, the London coffeehouses formed an integral part of the London social scenario and often instead of asking where a man resided, at this time it was more common to ask which coffeehouse the man patronised (Ellis, 2004). This popularity was despite the fact that Charles II tried suppressing the London coffeehouses under allegations that these places were where people went to take part in anti-state discussions, and spread scandalous news. The coffee-house culture itself was not unique to London or England, and we read in Francis Bacon’s Sylva Sylvarumin (1627) that “they have in Turkey a drink called Coffee... and they take it…in their Coffee Houses” (1996, 99). However, it was only in London that the coffeehouse became a part of the English culture, and embedded itself deeply within the socio-political, business, and cultural life of the city. Thomas Macaulay in this regards wrote that “foreigners remarked that the coffee-house was that which especially distinguished London from all other cities; the coffee-house was the Londoner's home, and that those who wished to find a gentleman commonly asked, not whether he lived in Fleet Street or Chancery Lane, but whether he frequented the Grecian or the Rainbow” (1982, 80-81). The London coffee-houses were the only establishments where one could enter a social public house for only a penny as the admission fees, and almost any man soberly dressed could drink his coffee, smoke a clay pipe, and freely discuss or debate on an issue with the other customers, or even sit alone to read his letters. During the 17th -18t century London when journalism was still in a dormant stage, and the postal system was unreliable, these establishments rapidly turned into an epicentre of news dissemination and information collection (Cowan, 2005). There were special runners that travelled round the various coffeehouses relaying the news that were of importance on that particular day, like political news, defeats or victories at battles, while important gazettes of that time were distributed through the London coffee-houses. Many of these coffee houses also doubled as reading rooms, and the customers were given access to newspapers and pamphlets, while some of the coffee houses also provided other information related to trade and commerce, to assists the merchants that frequented their establishments and often conducted their offices from the premises of the coffeehouses (Ellis, 2004). Such wide scale arrangements for news dissemination also simultaneously led to wide scale dissemination of thoughts and ideas, and the coffeehouses primarily served as a forum for the new thoughts and ideas on politics, arts, and culture of the early modernist Londoners. William Urwin’s famous coffeehouse in Russell Street (Covent Garden) was the favourite meeting place of the late 17th century and early 18th century London literary world, and was presided over by the famous poet, John Dryden (Allen, 1933). Similarly, Button's Coffeehouse, which was also located in Russell Street (Covent Garden), became well-known in the early 18th century, owing to the patronage of the famous writer Joseph Addison. Later in 1754, the literary world shifted to the Bedford Coffeehouse that was located in Covent Garden below the Piazza. This establishment was patronised by the famous playwright Oliver Goldsmith, the artist William Hogath, writer Henry Fielding, and the famous actor David Garrick; and the coffeehouse earned a reputation for its high standards (Allen, 1933). The women in London coffee houses, were not a part of the 17th-18th century coffee house culture, as they were not allowed to enter into these places (as customers). The issues discussed in these establishments were mainly male-oriented (as per the social dictates of that era), like politics, business, wars, literature and arts, and female oriented discussions like household matters or other domestic issues were not much in vogue amongst the coffeehouse discussion topics, and this automatically removed the women from the coffeehouse scenarios. The London coffee houses also disappeared with the rest of the English coffeehouse during the late 18th century with the advent of tea, and the removal of the popular rules and orders of the coffeehouses, making them unpopular. Conclusion The coffeehouses of the 17th -18th century London formed an integral part of the social life and reflected the socio-political and cultural life of the then English classes. It formed the epicentres of the enlightenment era and was the hub where famous literary luminaries of the era converged to discuss and debate. However, as equality and social diversity of the customers of the coffeehouses, so prized by these establishments, disappeared, so did their popularity; and with tea becoming more popular, soon the London (and English) coffeehouses went into oblivion. As Ellis observed, “[the coffeehouses] had served their purpose and were no longer needed as meeting-places for political or literary criticism and debate. They had seen the nation pass through one of its greatest periods of trial and tribulation; had fought and won the battle age of profligacy; and had given us a standard of prose-writing and literary criticism unequalled before or since” (1956, 239). Bibliography Allen, R., 1933. The Clubs of Augustan London. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Bacon, F., 1996. Sylva Sylvarumin: Or a Natural History in Ten Centuries (1627). London: Kessinger Publishing. Bernard, L., 1989. Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.   Bramah, E., 1972. Tea and Coffee. A Modern View of Three Hundred Years of Tradition. Essex: Hutchinson & Co, Ltd. Cowan, B., 2005. The Social life of Coffee. London: Yale University Press. Cowan, B., 2001. "What Was Masculine about the Public Sphere? In, Gender and the Coffeehouse Milieu in Post-Restoration England. History Workshop Journal, (51), 127- 157. Ellis, M., 2004. The Coffee House: a cultural history. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Ellis, A., 1956. The Penny Universities; A History of the Coffeehouses. London: Secker & Warburg. Hewitt, R., 1872. Coffee: It's History, Cultivation, and Uses. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Macaulay, T., 1992. The History of England, Volume 5. Cambridge: CUP. The Current Opinion, volume 35. 1903. London: The Current Literature Publishing Co. Weinberg, A., and Bealer, B., 2002. The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug. London: Routledge.  Wild, A., 2005. Coffee A Dark History. London: W. W. Norton & Company. Read More