How Much Did Cowboys (Old West) Drink?

[Spoke]

@AuntiePam

Something I’ve wondered about but haven’t bothered to research is why whisky? Why not beer and ale?

I was watching a show the other day (History Channel, maybe), on which it was said that, surprisingly, cowboys weren’t drinking straight whiskey as shown in the movies. Instead, they were drinking all sorts of sweet, fruity, girly cocktails.

[Lumpy]

@spoke-

I was watching a show the other day (History Channel, maybe), on which it was said that, surprisingly, cowboys weren’t drinking straight whiskey as shown in the movies. Instead, they were drinking all sorts of sweet, fruity, girly cocktails.

In many cases, to disguise just how terrible the still liquor they were drinking was. A similar fashion happened during Prohibition.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@Exapno_Mapcase

Why? Every study I’ve seen has said that overall societal drinking in the U.S. did go down during Prohibition. Of course speakeasies existed. That’s why consumption went down only by 50% rather than to zero. But illegal alcohol was harder to obtain, more expensive, of poorer quality, and less approved of than legal alcohol. It would be extremely surprising if that didn’t cut consumption severely.

It did go down in the beginning, but soon went up again. An unintended consequence was an increase in consumption by people who, prior to the Volstead Act, had never drunk much in public before. Women had stayed away from legal saloons but now often drank at speakeasies just like the men. Minors had not been allowed to drink legally, but when drinking became illegal for everyone, yet continued to happen, it didn’t matter if someone was a minor or not.

Link. This is a pro-legalization site that objects to all drug prohibitions, and is possibly biased, but I think the assertions about alcohol consumption or valid.

[carnivorousplant]

@Bryan_Ekers

John Wesley Hardin once shot a man for chuggin’ too loud.

Chivalry was not dead.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus

It did go down in the beginning, but soon went up again. An unintended consequence was an increase in consumption by people who, prior to the Volstead Act, had never drunk much in public before. Women had stayed away from legal saloons but now often drank at speakeasies just like the men. Minors had not been allowed to drink legally, but when drinking became illegal for everyone, yet continued to happen, it didn’t matter if someone was a minor or not.

Link. This is a pro-legalization site that objects to all drug prohibitions, and is possibly biased, but I think the assertions about alcohol consumption or valid.

I don’t want to hijack this thread for a discussion that requires a book to itself. I’ll just say that alcohol was obviously a problem to some proportion during Prohibition. Therefore you can certainly come up with any number of statements to that effect. Even so, quoting one side of the debate gets you no farther than quoting one side of any national debate.

[foolscap]

@DMark

If you have ever gone to a real “Ghost Town” you will note that they all had a saloon.

If you go to almost any small town in Nebraska or Kansas nowdays , you will find at least one bank,
one feed store and a bar and grill.
I am sure this is true anywhere you might go, I am generalizing from my local area.

[BlinkingDuck]

@foolscap

If you go to almost any small town in Nebraska or Kansas nowdays , you will find at least one bank,
one feed store and a bar and grill.
I am sure this is true anywhere you might go, I am generalizing from my local area.

Rural North Dakota…

Typical small town (15-300 people) is a small grocery, gas station, post office, cafe

and 4 bars.

I know…because, during college, I delivered soda to many of em.

[ralph124c]

@Arkcon

There was a TV show on the Discovery Channel called Wild West Tech, that gave a bit of anecdotal history with snappy animations, you may find some episodes online.

Basically, according to the experts hired for the show (who are historians, presumably with books they’ve authored, with references), you have Victorian morality, pre-Industrial infrastructure, and limitations on what can be transported, across the country or around the landmass by ship. Some places had very advanced goods and services, like oysters shipped from New Orleans packed in ice harvested in Chicago. And cold beer might have been available, if you chose to build your saloon over a creek, had an ice house or could order and store ice.

The show often mentions alcohol, other vices, and how they were provided, procured, and what it meant given the sensibility of the time. And if you really care, you could always read what these historians wrote, and check how good their references are. Personally, I just watched the show, and went, “Hum. Makes sense. I’ll buy that.” But these historians sometimes seemed a little prone to embellishment for the sake of the show.

Interesting-some of those western towns had people with elevated tastes. I recall visiting Central City (Colorado-a mining town, not a cow town)-but some bars carried French champaign, NYC oysters, and fruit preserves from Boston. As long as the miners had money, there were people willing to supply whatever was wanted.