Faces along the Bar: Lore and Order in the Workingman's Saloon, 1870-1920

Faces along the Bar: Lore and Order in the Workingman's Saloon, 1870-1920

by Madelon Powers
ISBN-10:
0226677699
ISBN-13:
9780226677699
Pub. Date:
06/01/1999
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
ISBN-10:
0226677699
ISBN-13:
9780226677699
Pub. Date:
06/01/1999
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Faces along the Bar: Lore and Order in the Workingman's Saloon, 1870-1920

Faces along the Bar: Lore and Order in the Workingman's Saloon, 1870-1920

by Madelon Powers

Paperback

$30.0 Current price is , Original price is $30.0. You
$30.00 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores
  • SHIP THIS ITEM

    Temporarily Out of Stock Online

    Please check back later for updated availability.


Overview

In this lively and engaging history, Madelon Powers recreates the daily life of the barroom, exploring what it was like to be a "regular" in the old-time saloon of pre-prohibition industrial America. Through an examination of saloongoers across America, her investigation offers a fascinating look at rich lore of the barroom—its many games, stories, songs, free lunch customs, and especially its elaborate system of drinking rituals that have been passed on for decades.

"A free-pouring blend of astonishing facts, folklore and firsthand period observations. . . . It's the rich details that'll inspire the casual reader to drink deep from this tap of knowledge."—Don Waller, USA Today recommended reading

"A surprise on every page."—Publishers Weekly

"Here we get social history that appreciates the bar talk even while dissecting its marvelous rituals."—Library Journal, starred review

"Careful scholarship with an anecdotal flair to please even the most sober of readers."—Nina C. Ayoub, Chronicle of Higher Education


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780226677699
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication date: 06/01/1999
Series: Historical Studies of Urban America
Edition description: 1
Pages: 331
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Pt. I: The Criteria for Comradeship
1: The Importance of Being Regular
2: Gender, Age, and Marital Status
3: Occupation, Ethnicity, and Neighborhood
Pt. II: The Gentle Art of Clubbing
4: Drinking Folkways
5: Clubbing by Treat
6: Clubbing by Collection
Pt. III: More Lore of the Barroom
7: Games and Gambling
8: Talk and Storytelling
9: Songs and Singing
10: The Free Lunch
Conclusion
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Lawrence W. Levine

Powers' mastery of history and folklore enable us to experience and understand the workingman's saloon from within: to mingle with its denizens, hear their voices, and decipher their faces along the bar.
— Author of The Opening of the American Mind: Cannons, Culture and History

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews