"Shh... speak easy boys, speak easy!"
Kate Hester, McKeesport, Pennsylvania
Prohibition and the rise of the Speakeasy
Long before prohibition, back in the 1880s when Pennsylvania hiked the state saloon licence fee by a thousand percent, the number of illegal, unlicensed bars in the state grew. Kate Hester, a saloon owner in McKeesport, would regularly tell her rowdy patrons to"Speak easy, boys" and so The Speakeasy was born!
After 1919, as Prohibition took hold in major cities across North America, illegal drinking was once again on the rise and so were the Speakeasies. Folks from all walks of life rubbed shoulders with two shared goals; getting their hands on the best illegal liquor around, and having a damn good time.
The anything-goes drinking clubs soon became the centre of a social scene through the Roaring Twenties in North America, Berlin, London and Paris and past the '29 crash into Great Depression. Even after the repeal of Prohibition in '33, these in-the-know destinations became full of folks who liked to indulge their vices without being watched.
Where the saloon had previously been off limits to women, they now flocked to the speakeasies to enjoy the new "cocktails". In an age of fads, the speakeasy quickly became the "cat's pajamas" and the "bee's knees" and almost overnight America became a society of alcoholics.
At the centre of these hideouts was the music and especially in major cities, they rapidly became much more than just "Blind Pig" backstreet hillbilly drinking dens. They took influence from their own Frontier history where every saloon had an out of tune piano in the corner, a floor show and possibly some unconventionally-moralled women upstairs. And they drew further still from the Music Hall, Burlesque and other decadent movements from around the world until they could often became elaborate affairs, offering food, live music and floor shows.
It's not surprising that an establishment like Minnie's evolves its own Vernacular. Below are a few examples to help you find your way through.
