What do cowboys drink? Cowboy party (Wild West style). Cowboys didn't wear wide-brimmed hats.

01.07.2020

December 24, 2015

Would you like to be transported for a day to those times when stern men talked about matters of honor, women were proud and daring, and the real fun was not nightclubs, but country dancing, shooting tin cans and chasing the worst enemy - the Indian?

Why not? Without stereo systems, light music and computer games, people really knew how to have fun! Nowadays it’s not like that: nowadays pathos, glamor and extended body parts “rule”. Therefore, if your birthday is in the warm season, and you want open-hearted fun, here is a good option for Wild West themed parties!

In order not to miss anything important, I suggest this scenario:

1. Time of year and time of meeting.

The optimal time of year to hold a Cowboy Party is summer. Meeting time – 12-14.00. Costumes must be prepared in advance, so guests will only have to put on their outfit and arrive on time. Please note: the most suitable day of the week is Saturday. Surely your party will turn into a daily marathon of entertainment, so Sunday will serve as an excellent healer and “sleep” before Monday!

2. Invitations.

Be creative, but don't overthink it. Draw holiday attributes (cowboy hats, boots, funny Indians) or print out a coloring book for children with suitable characters.
For the invitation base, use scrapbooking paper (in country colors) or regular craft paper.
Write the text with a liner (capillary pen) or colored felt-tip pens.

Greet guests by forcing them to introduce themselves at gunpoint. You can come up with a password, something like: “I am Walker, Texas Ranger!”, and for the Indians: “I am the leader of the Cheyenne tribe!”

3. Take care about costumes!

Naturally, for everything to look natural in the spirit of the Wild West, everyone must be prepared both externally and internally. That is, be cheerful, loud and always ready to pull a pistol from a holster or an arrow from a quiver.

4. Venue and decoration.

The ideal place for a Wild West-themed party is a cottage (in cowboy parlance: “family ranch”). The holiday will be noisy and loud.

You will have to work hard, since the area that needs to be prepared is very large. A room in a country house, or an equipped tent should be decorated with red flags, wildflowers and spikelets should be placed in vases made of vines, and bright feathers can be added. If you can organize a counter in the style of a retro bar, it will be a wonderful highlight of the party! Hang retro curtains. Cover the furniture with tablecloths of a characteristic color: red and white checkered or retro flowers. Hay bales will look harmonious both in the yard and near festive table(these are not European-quality renovations!).

Hang something like lasso, cowboy hats, horseshoes throughout the area, and place rows of tin cans or beer bottles on the fence.
Hang it at the entrance to the yard big poster“Wanted” with a photo of one of the guests (find out who will choose to play the bandit). Be sure to indicate the amount of the reward (preferably in kopecks: so many zeros, but real if the Hero demands the entire amount). Organize a couple of beautiful targets (easy to make from foam and paint it), and also place cacti throughout the yard (of course, from foam, draw the needles with a marker - it will turn out very funny!). On the street, conditionally divide the territory into half cowboys and Indians. For cowboys, a haystack and wooden benches. For the Indians - a wigwam and a fire. All this can also be easily built using a simple scheme.
Organize colorful retro posters.

5. Music.

Entertainment is necessary and important. First of all, this loud music. Remember how much space is occupied by waving your arms and skipping, which they call dancing! By the way, it wouldn’t hurt to watch a couple of videos before the holiday; it will be great if many people pick up the songs, the dances, and the spirit of the reckless people! Suitable tracks will be hits from: Anne Murray, Gene Watson, George Strait, selectively songs by Madonna, Pink, as well as tracks from the mentioned films!

6. Entertainment.

We start talking about competitions a few hours after the start of the celebration: let the public adapt and get used to the roles. If we talk about two warring “groups” (cowboys and Indians), who today decided to reconcile for the sake of a common friend (the birthday boy), then the competitions must be chosen correctly. Cowboys and Indians must compete, otherwise the specialness of such an unusual company will be lost. I offer the following options:

Competition "Who is more". Two teams throw into tin cans. The team with the most coins in the bank wins.

Competition "Bullseye". The cowboys take turns firing five shots from children's pistols, the Indians from a bow (it is quite possible that the bow will be a problem - stock up on darts!). Each one to his own target. The one with the most “wounds” wins. If both teams hit (all five times), then the one who hit closer to the center of the target.

Competition "The candle was burning." Two people (one from each team) must put out three candles using a water pistol from the same distance.

Competition "Drive me, horse." Each team has a horse and a rider (a guy and a girl, respectively). It's simple: we run to the fence and back. The fastest horse wins. In the second option, two participants must ride a wooden toy horse. (26-2)

Competition "In Search of Treasures". Give two teams a poorly drawn map that they must use to find the treasure. Whoever figures it out faster takes the treasure. A bottle of good alcohol acts as a treasure.

The team that scores more points receives a gift. Let it be something edible, otherwise it’s hard to please 5-6 people at once. If the award is for one person, it could be a modern cowboy-style hat, a leather belt or a flask.

Be sure to think about what songs you can sing around the evening fire. Or maybe your company loves scary or just interesting stories...

7. Menu and drinks.

Cowboys, like Indians, are a people with an appetite. Save the light appetizers for a French-themed party. Coarsely chopped meat, barbecue, baked chicken thighs, shish kebab, balyki, and ham will be popular here. Stews and pilaf with vegetables in large containers are also suitable.
Don’t be afraid to add some spice to your dishes – it’s appropriate today! Drinks also dictate a mandatory choice. Cowboys go great with tequila, whiskey, beer and (yes!) milk! The latter is generally their native drink. But the Indians have their own favorite “drink of the gods” made from cocoa beans and various spices. In short, make them cocoa; without it, the Indians did not have a single feast.

Finally. Don't forget to take a lot of photos. They will certainly turn out to be exclusive.

Let your friends appreciate your hard work and you'll have a great time kicking your heels off the hardwood floor and shouting that "if there's no meat in the roast beef, it's not roast beef" or "The sheriff doesn't care about Indian problems"!

When you hear the word “cowboy,” the image of a courageous John Wayne with a cigar in his mouth, a pair of Colts and a stern look pops into his head, but in fact, cowboy (English cowboy, from cow - “cow” and boy - “guy”) is the name used in the Wild West of the USA in relation to cattle herders.

Interestingly, the cowboy hat was invented by John Stetson in the 1860s. Still popular in the southwestern United States, northern Mexico and the western provinces of Canada.

Rodeo (Spanish: Rodeo) - traditional look a sport that historically began among Mexican and American cowboys. It is believed that rodeo as an open sporting event first took place in the Texas city of Pecos in 1883.

The era of the cowboy began in 1865, when it was necessary to round up gigantic feral herds of bulls, mainly in Texas, and ended about twenty years later.

Contrary to the prevailing opinion thanks to cinema, cowboys did not fight with the Indians. The Indian Wars, which began in 1864, were fought between Native American tribes and the US Army. At times, the Indians themselves became cowboys, since they knew how to ride and shoot from childhood.

In the so-called cowboy towns there were not enough women and some of the cowboys danced with each other. The one who portrayed the woman tied a handkerchief around his hand.

According to statistics, over the past hundred years there have been no more than 20 thousand representatives of this profession.

About a third of the cowboys were blacks who had gained their freedom after the Civil War but had neither jobs nor property. Another third of the cowboys were Mexicans and a third were descendants of immigrants from Europe.

The work of a cowboy was considered low-paid; he received $25-40 a month. For this reason, it was rare for a cowboy to have his own horse; they usually worked on the master's horses.

A cowboy's earnings were small, and in the winter many cowboys were forced to work on ranches simply for food and a roof over their heads. Cowboys received relatively large amounts of money only for driving cattle. The cowboy spent a significant portion of his money on drinking, and the most popular drink among cowboys was beer, not whiskey, as is usually shown in Westerns.

Cowboys were hired to drive cattle, but the fun began when they returned with the money they earned. Authorities from towns along their route hired bandits to protect the population from rampaging cowboys.

There was only one president in American history who was a cowboy by profession. This is Theodore Roosevelt. Early in his career, from 1883 to 1886, he worked as a cowboy.

The first cowboy church was organized in Waxahachie, Texas. Now the cowboy Christian movement is united in the American Association of Cowboy Churches.

The dramatic events that took place in the second half of the 19th century in the American Wild West - the future western states of the United States - have been depicted in Western films for more than a hundred years. This art direction, which originated in America, was eventually adopted by other countries and even created its own equivalents. However, all Westerns share some characteristic features, including gastronomic ones.

The date of appearance of films about cowboys can be considered 1903, when the very first, 12-minute hold-up, entitled " Great Train Robbery " Paradoxically, the dynamic short film became the cornerstone of the entire history of cinema: it marked the beginning of the migration of “cowboy literature” to the screens and became the starting point for the creation of the genre “ movie western " The film is also notable for some practical details. Its director used the most innovative film techniques of the time, which shocked audiences. Everyone remembered the outstanding acting Gilbert M. Anderson, better known as " Broncho Billy " He played several roles at once, as well as co-directed the film. These roles brought him enormous popularity and made him one of the brightest movie stars of the early 20th century. Anderson left his directing career in 1923, but continued to act almost until his death, until the early 60s. On postage stamp USA from the anniversary series “Celebrate the Centennial” (1998) captures the final shot from the debut Western featuring the talented actor.

The Golden Age of the Western in cinema are directly associated with the work of two directors - John Ford And Howard Hawks . The frontman of their films was often an actor John Wayne, which over time became the epitome of classic Westerns. The further history of the genre was enriched and blossomed " revisionist westerns ”, which abandoned the traditional interpretation of the western and supplemented it with elements of comedy, parody, musical and other genres. Successful example such development - low-budget Italian spaghetti westerns 60-70s. Their best examples, primarily film works Sergio Leone , have parodic reminiscences. (For example, the opening scene of the film " Once Upon a Time in the Wild West» is a reversal of the opening scene from the 1952 Oscar-winning western " Exactly at noon"). The parodic intonation in spaghetti westerns, the presence of increased action, violence and black humor in them made them “anti-westerns” in relation to classic Hollywood models. Famous actors Charles Bronson, Lee Van Cleef And Clint Eastwood became famous by starring in spaghetti westerns, which received real recognition outside of Italy.

Gradually, the reality and attributes of the cowboy era became so mixed with fiction, that the viewer has developed stable “Smith and Western” stereotypes. Accordingly, all Westerns take place in isolated forts and small frontier towns located in harsh, desert terrain. The natural landscapes of California, Arizona, Texas and other states often became not just background, but an essential part of the film. So, Western " McKenna's Gold" (With Gregory Peck And Omar Sharif), which was released in USSR cinemas in 1974, amazed viewers with the grandiose and majestic surroundings of the events taking place: location filming was carried out in Arizona, in national parks Canyon de Chelly and Glen Canyon.
Natural nature in westerns was combined with filming movie ranch(movie ranch) - specially built sets, in the form of roughly knocked together wooden houses, with boardwalks laid along them. These sets eventually became the standard for moviegoers of the realities of the Wild West.
Most often, the decorative town consisted of one street. Horse “yo-ho!” chases raced spectacularly along it, and on it in the finale the bandits, the sheriff and the shooters settle scores with each other, in various combinations arranging duels with lightning-fast shots from the hip.

Here, on the main street, it has always been located saloon- often the central location of the film. Music played in the saloon from dusk until dawn, usually played on a beat-up, out-of-tune piano. Honky-Tonk Piano. The melodies played on it were primitive, not requiring more than two octaves. (Isn’t that where the saying came from: “don’t shoot the pianist, he plays the best he can”?).

The dancers danced a frivolous dance to his strumming cancan(from French literally - “noise, din”). It is curious that in those days in France this dance was a single dance, but in England and America it was performed by a corps de ballet - several girls lined up in a line.
Singers (according to the script, often fatal beauties) also performed in the saloon, and local prostitutes invited clients to the “rooms” of the inn, located on the second floor above the bar.
From the simple urban architecture, saloons stood out with a wide veranda with rough railings and a hitching post next door. Above the entrance to the saloon there was a sign with some exotically catchy name. The regulars of such establishments were dashing cowboys, gold miners, bandits, touring card sharpers and simply local alcoholics. In their rough slang, the saloon had mocking nicknames: “watering trough” ( watering through), "bedbug" ( bughouse), "shack" ( shebang), "canteen" ( cantina) and "ginnitsa" ( gin mill).

Nickname " gin maker“goes somewhat contrary to the widely circulated movie cliché that in the saloons of the Wild West, visitors drank exclusively whiskey. The fact is that in colonial America, gin and rum were initially in the lead in saloons, having got there through a roundabout route through Europe. Before the Revolutionary War, per capita consumption of rum in the American colonies was more than 13 liters per year. With gin, things were even worse: due to royal restrictions on the import of alcoholic beverages in 1698, the artisanal production of gin in England grew tenfold in 40 years and even exceeded the production of beer. Of course, qualitatively these were not at all the drinks that we know now.

For example, all the rum produced was heavy or dark, unlike European drinks, purified by double distillation, and gin was a sweetish brew of dubious quality. But this was compensated by the low price. Cheap rum was always in demand by cowboys, herders and other working poor. By the way, the name “rum” comes from the word rumbullion, which is in one of the dialects in English means “noise, din, excitement.” Very suitable for saloons.

Gin, completely devalued by mass underground production, turned out to be cheaper than any alcohol, which ultimately led to total drunkenness among the lower strata of the population of England. Of course, from there the gin moved to the English colonies in the Wild West. Much later, the released genie was “driven” into familiar bottles.

Thanks to emigrants, the world-famous drink came to America whiskey. In the 17th century, the first Scottish settlers began distilling whiskey in the New World. But here they had to adapt to new conditions. After the Revolution in 1776, the new American government encouraged people to settle in the Wild West by providing settlers with free land to grow corn. In the absence of demand for it, settlers learned to produce an alcoholic drink from corn. To prevent it from tasting sweet, a little rye was added to the wort. The result was a drink that, with improved quality of production technology, became a national treasure of America. This is where the tradition of spelling the word “whisky” twice came from. Whiskeys of Irish or American origin are written whiskey, and English - whiskey.
Since they learned to make the best whiskey in Bourbon County (Kentucky), American whiskey began to be called bourbon. Its main difference from Scotch whiskey or scotch (“scotch”) is that bourbon made from corn, not barley, and aged in specially prepared (charred) barrels, where the whiskey acquires a unique aroma and taste.

In the saloons of the Wild West at that time, blending and quality were not suspected; on the contrary, it was customary to mercilessly dilute the whiskey served to drunken regulars. Accordingly, turpentine, gunpowder or pepper were added to it for strength. In terms of profitability, maintaining a saloon was equivalent to owning a medium-sized cattle ranch and promised substantial profits, especially if the owner did not disdain dubious transactions, ranging from maintaining a brothel to buying stolen goods.

The names of cowboy drinks well reflect both the rudeness of that era and the vigorous contents of the glasses: “ Tarantula Juice», « Whiskey 200 meters"(in the original - "Forty-Rod", implies that this whiskey is so strong that it kills at pistol range), " Red eye», « Coffin varnish"("Coffin Varnish").

Without a doubt, such a drink required a decent snack. The food in cowboy saloons was unpretentious but substantial. The first place, of course, was taken by meat. The portions were huge. (Although, Texas cowboy steaks are still preserved big sizes). If cowboys during cattle drives ate mainly unleavened biscuits and beef, which they were bored to death, then the saloon could “pamper” them with pork, lamb or fried chicken.

The first course was beef tripe soup (similar to modern beef tripe soup). As a rule, the side dish was beans or beans. Due to widespread unsanitary conditions, all food was heavily seasoned with red chili peppers. Instead of bread in the Wild West, they ate corn cakes made from unleavened dough. Tea was expensive; cowboys drank coffee much more often.

But movie westerns different countries created and maintain the myth of widespread whiskey drinking in saloons. Most of the movie heroes of the Wild West demanded whiskey from the door, and after drinking too much, they staged grandiose staged fights in saloons. It seems that because of them, swing doors became an integral accessory of Western films, which, due to their shape resembling bat wings, received the nickname “ batwing doors" Actually, in life they did not fulfill their main purpose - to limit access, because it was unnecessary: the drinking establishments of most saloons worked around the clock, without closing.

But in cowboy films, the “bat” doors would chicly throw out presumptuous drunken troublemakers, or with their help they would build up tense anticipation by showing under the doors that did not reach the floor only the boots of a headhunter or a bandit, otherwise hidden from the eyes of saloon visitors.

As settlers moved deeper into the territory, the number of towns and saloons located in them increased. Half a century later, the saturation of them was such that in Leavenworth in Kansas alone there were more than 150 of them. Beer became the most profitable drink, since its production was established at the establishments themselves. It was in saloons that the famous straight stacking of kegs was born, which is still alive in some breweries.
Competition led to the fact that saloons gradually turned from dirty eateries into places of leisure. If earlier the saloon looked more like a barn, decorated with deer antlers and lynx skin, now you could see paintings, carved furniture, chandeliers (kerosene) and even tablecloths on the tables. Popular Soviet Western " The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines "just reflects this very period in the history of saloons.

« What kind of manners is it to enter the hall after the third shot? »
The film “The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines” belongs to the so-called “ Easterns"(from east - “east”). Easterns differed from Westerns in their political overtones. In particular, in the mentioned Soviet Eastern film of 1987, the story is told about the “re-education” of the rude and uncouth inhabitants of the Wild West with the help of the great art of cinema. Or, as they call it there, “cinema.” Andrey Mironov-Mr. Fest, how the Messiah arrives in the outback in order to sow “reasonable, good, eternal.”
In musical-comedy form to the director Alla Surikova successfully managed to convey the atmosphere of the Wild West familiar to viewers. The American town of Santa Carolina, a bank, a pharmacy, a desert... a saloon in gray clouds of tobacco smoke, with cowboys, shooting and reckless drinking.

The staged fight in the saloon, for which special “safe” furniture and dishes were ordered, was remembered for a long time by many spectators. The film did not miss a frequent companion of the genre - sentimental lyrics.
It can be considered that for perestroika Soviet cinema this was an interesting and rather exotic setting. Although, from the very first frames it is clear where Surikova got her inspiration from. Even the working title of the film “10 drops before shooting” echoes the theme of the Czechoslovak original musical comedy “ Lemonade Joe«.

« To hit a fly accurately, you need to drink “Cola-Lok”!« .

The Western appeared in the comedy cinema of Czechoslovakia a couple of decades earlier. True, it was formed in the form of a subculture, the so-called “ red western "(English) Red Western) or "eastern". They - as we have already said - differed from “pure” Westerns in their political overtones. In the Czechoslovak comedy, a teetotaler knight in a white hat appears in the abode of debauchery and conjures the local drunken cowboys to drink only the elixir of accuracy - kolaloka lemonade. The film caustically parodied Westerns and especially the propaganda of Coca-Cola advertising as part of the way of American life. To avoid an international scandal and lawsuits from the Coca-Cola company, the name of the drink was encrypted like an anagram. But for most Soviet viewers, the satire on American morals was incomprehensible due to the poor familiarity of the population of the USSR with the American brand of the food industry. Due to ignorance of American culture, it is even less likely that in the image of the main character the audience recognized a parody of the iconic image of America - the heroic Superman. (Joe, like the comic book hero, is a great shot, can fly, and has the gift of spotting people who need help.) We think that few viewers appreciated the labor-intensive hand-coloring of the film, which conveyed the color state of mind hero throughout the film. Nevertheless, the musical comedy was a huge success, which was revived by Surikova.

A few more decades later, completely outlandish examples of Westerns using elements of horror and fantasy began to appear, like the 2011 film “ Cowboys versus Aliens " Westerns of exotic origin, for example, late 1985, went into an even more extravagant avant-garde, like a cocktail of Westerns, Asian action films and parodies, as in the film " Sukiyaki Western Django » Japanese avant-garde director Takashi Miike.

Such postmodern works only partially retained the fundamental elements of Westerns and simply played with reminiscences. Thus, the title of the mentioned Miike film clearly refers to the spaghetti western of Italian director Sergio Corbucci “ Django"(1966). Like the mention in the name of a traditional Japanese dish " Sukiyaki", consisting of beef meat and vegetables cooked in a metal pot over a fire. But overall, the evolution of the genre began to look more like its demise.

In this paradoxical paradigm one can see a certain analogy with the decline of the saloon era and the era of the Wild West itself. As the western states of the United States urbanized, the area of areas with a characteristic way of life quickly decreased. The need for cowboys was disappearing. Around 1890, the Wild West finally ceased to exist as a cultural phenomenon, remaining only in memories, photographs, folklore, and on movie screens.

The image of a typical American cowboy is completely imposed on us by Western films: a middle-aged man with a slight stubble on horseback, a wide-brimmed hat on his head, a cigarette in his mouth, thick jeans on his legs, a worn leather jacket over a plaid shirt, high-heeled boots with spurs and , of course, a lasso and a revolver hanging from his belt.

But the reality can be quite different from the generally accepted template of a typical cowboy. We present 5 interesting and unexpected facts, which will complement, and maybe even completely change your idea of cowboys.

Cowboys didn't carry guns

In any movie about the Wild West there will be a scene when a crowd pours into a local bar, and each of them has one, or even several revolvers hanging from their belts. Soon, as a result of the conflict, two cowboys leave the bar to duel.

But this scene hardly has anything to do with reality. If only because a cowboy is a peaceful profession and its representatives, unlike the generally accepted opinion, did not have a violent disposition, more suitable for bandits. In addition to the fact that there was no need to carry weapons, it was quite expensive to have a revolver or rifle with you - cartridges in those days cost a lot of money.

The only situation when cowboys took weapons with them (most often issued by the rancher) was when driving cattle between pastures. It was a rather risky activity due to the possibility of meeting bandits, fugitive criminals or aggressive Indians along the way.

Cowboys are not bandits, but ordinary workers

A typical day for a cowboy did not consist of dashing shootouts with the local sheriff and horse racing, but of monotonous work on the ranch, which included driving around the territories, repairing fences and pens, branding young animals, searching for runaway cattle...

The American word “cowboy” itself comes from a combination of two words: “cow” - cow, “boy” - guy/boy, which does not at all characterize a cowboy on the aggressive side.

This is interesting: Among the cowboys it was quite common to meet blacks or Mexicans. According to rough estimates, they occupied 2/3 of total number shepherds

Difficult working conditions and small wage taught cowboys to mutual assistance and collective responsibility. It is indicative that in those days many more crimes were committed in large American cities than in the vastness of the Wild West.

Cowboys' favorite drink is not whiskey

What would a cowboy order when he just walked into a bar to wet his throat after have a hard day? Whiskey? But no! The cowboys' favorite drink was always beer, on which they spent most of the money they earned.

By the way, cowboys earned quite little. They received good money only for driving livestock between pastures, but this work was associated with a risk to their lives.

Cowboys didn't wear wide-brimmed hats.

Contrary to popular belief, a brimmed hat was not an indispensable attribute of any cowboy. Hats were not particularly popular among the shepherds of the Wild West. And if someone wore a headdress, it was almost always a bowler hat, fashionable in those days.

Many cowboys didn't have horses

Can't imagine a cowboy without a horse? But the reality is that virtually none of the shepherds had the means to maintain their own horses, and those who did ride simply rented the animal from the rancher.

In addition, cowboys often had no need for horses. Due to the too hot and dry climate, all the cattle grazed near the owner's ranch most of the year, so all the work for the cowboy was within walking distance.

This is interesting: Considering that cowboys rarely rode horses, it would be quite surprising to meet a cowboy riding... a camel. But such shepherds really existed. In 1855, the US government, as part of a program to develop the Wild West and promote the frontier (a strip of wild land development) to the west, ordered the purchase of several dozen camels so that cowboys could perform their duties even in the heat.

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When we hear the word “saloon,” we are immediately reminded of scenes from some American western: the double revolving doors swing open, and the silhouette of a cowboy appears on the threshold - he’s in big hat and worn leather pants, a revolver in his holster, and a bandolier around his belt. The cowboy looks around the darkened hall with a dull gaze, where the same “cow boys” are sitting, and, jingling his spurs, approaches the bar, where he orders a glass of whiskey... This episode was so often used in westerns that in some the moment became a movie cliche. In the parody film trilogy "Back to the Future 3" main character Marty McFly orders not whiskey at the bar, but a glass of ice water...

History and origin

As you might guess, the word “saloon” comes from the French “salon”, which, in turn, is derived from the word “salle” (“room”).

The first reliable mention of a saloon dates back to 1822. An establishment in Brown Hole, Wyoming that served fur trappers was called a saloon. As settlers moved into uninhabited areas of America, new towns were formed, in which there was no entertainment other than drinking in the evenings. At first, alcohol was sold by nomadic traders who traveled from village to village in covered carts, which were used not only as a means of transportation, but also as improvised trading tents. Their assortment was small: homemade whiskey or moonshine, burnt sugar, smoking and chewing tobacco, and the like.

As new towns grew, permanent saloons began to open in them. Like all buildings, at first they were located in hastily put together huts or even dugouts. There is a known case when a saloon was opened in the hull of an old sailing ship, washed ashore by a storm! The interior of the first saloons was quite ascetic. IN summer time It was hot in them; in winter they were heated by a wood stove.

By the late 1950s, the term "saloon" became common for places where alcoholic beverages and food were sold. However, rough cowboy slang sometimes gave them their own nicknames: “watering trough”, “bughouse”, “shebang”, “cantina” and "gin mill"

As the population of the towns grew, saloons gradually merged with hotels and hotels with saloons.

Often in cowboy towns that did not yet have their own town hall, saloons were the only public place. The townspeople recognized everything in them last news, often managing to acquire colorful details and gossip. In Westerns, you can often see wanted notices posted in saloons for dangerous criminals with the inscription “Wanted.” Politicians of those years often used saloons to buy votes in elections. And in factory towns, saloons were a kind of labor exchange - there you could find work, permanent or casual.

From the simple urban architecture, saloons usually stood out with a wide, massive porch. Above the entrance to the saloon there was a bright sign with some exotic name, like: “Bull’s Head”, “Holy Moses”, “Antler”, “Big Tree” or “Red Dog”.

At the entrance, visitors were greeted by double swing doors, which gave the establishment a unique flavor. In cowboy films, these doors were repeatedly used in scenes of fights and shootouts; The bandits flew through them especially beautifully. Surely you have at least once thought about why saloons have such doors? Without an answer to this question, an article about saloons cannot be complete!

Why do saloons have doors like that?

Due to their shape resembling the wings of a bat, these doors received the nickname “batwing doors”. Sometimes in films they look small and decorative, but in fact, they were quite large and massive - for an adult they reached the shoulder and ended somewhere at the level of the knees.

There is still no information about their functional purpose and where this fashion came from. consensus. There are a lot of versions, and each of them has some truth. Some believe that this form of doors simultaneously protected the saloon from road dust flying from the street and, long before the advent of air conditioners, made it possible to ventilate the room from heat and thick tobacco smoke.

The door, divided in two, opened equally well in both directions. This effect was achieved by a tight spring or double reversible hinges with slots beveled in different directions, which invariably returned the doors to their original state. Therefore, the tipsy visitor did not need to think about which side to open it from - push or pull. This was convenient, because the flow of visitors in the evenings was endless, and an ordinary door would have worn out much faster. So the establishment saved a lot on the carpenter’s services!

The doors opened simply, but at the same time, they were always closed, hiding the debauchery that reigned inside from passers-by and angry wives. Cowboy wives literally hated saloons, where their husbands often squandered their wages to the last cent, and even cheated on them with prostitutes. Always closed door did not allow women to look into the saloon from the street.

Although what was inside was hidden from prying eyes, sounds penetrated well outside, attracting passers-by with music and laughter coming from inside. Often the owners seated musicians right at the entrance so that they could attract the audience with their playing. And in the event of a fight or shootout, it was easier to call for help through such a door.

The most exotic version suggests that the rocking door made it possible to recognize the person who approached it by his hat and boots - be it a sheriff or the bandit One-Eyed Jack - and to prepare - for example, to hide the proceeds or take out a revolver.

Even today such doors look very exotic, and even more so in the 19th century - therefore, the “bat” door itself attracted visitors to saloons. The imagination of their owners was inexhaustible: the doors were often decorated with the most intricate carvings, which was also good advertising.

Another exotic hypothesis connects pendulum doors with the Indians - they did not have doors in their wigwams, and any full-length door allegedly seemed to them like a solid wall. And since they were the main drunkards, doors were installed in the saloons that did not completely cover the opening, so as not to embarrass the “children of nature.” However, this was hardly the case - redskins were rarely allowed into saloons, and were mostly shot at there. And it seems absolutely incredible that someone would come up with doors specifically for Indians!

And of course, the swing door made the bouncers’ job easier: by holding back a person’s fall, it reduced the risk of breaking his head.

But how then were the saloons locked? The answer is simple - before the introduction of restrictions on the opening hours of drinking establishments, most saloons worked around the clock and never closed. There were no latches, no hooks, no latches on the swing doors. However, in states with a cold climate, for example, in Alaska, during the “gold rush”, saloons had the most ordinary doors that retained heat better.

Interior

The appearance of the saloon depended greatly on who owned it - as a rule, its owners were Germans or Irish. However, there was also a lot in common.

The first thing that caught the visitor's eye was a long bar counter and a dozen tables located along the walls, where one could dine or play for money. Popular saloon games included poker, craps and pharaoh. Some establishments also had darts, bowling and billiards.

In Irish saloons the bar was standing, and the main drink was whiskey. Women were not allowed there; they could only buy something from the back door.

German saloons, as a rule, had large, bright windows, the bar counter was seated, and the main drink was beer. The food there was more refined, closer to that of a restaurant, and the rules were less strict. Sometimes they even had a family menu. Other ethnic groups- Scandinavians, Jews, Greeks, Italians preferred smaller establishments and drank less.

NOT movie saloons

Alcohol

The drink was monotonous, mostly of extremely poor quality. In poor saloons, alcohol was mercilessly diluted. Turpentine, ammonia, gunpowder or pepper were added to whiskey. The names of cowboy drinks well reflect both the roughness of the era and their vigorous content: “Tarantula Juice”, “200 Meter Whiskey” (originally “Forty-Rod)” (the name implies that this whiskey is so strong , which kills at pistol shot distance), “Red Eye”, “Coffin Varnish”. The so-called “Cactus wine,” which was made from tequila and the juice of the peyote cactus, was considered a special delicacy.

There were no refrigerators at that time, and beer was rarely colder than room temperature; there was no need to talk about pasteurization. For this incomprehensible word they could have been shot in the saloon!

It was only in 1880 that Adolph Busch began to use refrigeration and pasteurization for his Budweiser beer.

The most popular whiskey among visitors was whiskey (Scotch made from barley or local corn bourbon), which was sometimes diluted with soda, beer, rum and gin. Other drinks were consumed much less frequently and were considered exotic. Whiskey and beer were very cheap and affordable for any visitor. With beer priced at 10¢ and whiskey at 12.5¢ per glass, many cowboys were left with a severe hangover the next morning! However, the salaries were not high - the average herdsman received about 40-50 dollars a month, and some worked for food.

A typical action movie in the Western genre can turn into erroneous opinion that the cowboys did nothing but shoot at each other in duels, hunt redskins, spending the rest of their time in saloons where they had fun drinking, gambling and shooting. In reality, this, of course, was not the case. Shooting in saloons is a popular movie trope, but smokeless gunpowder had not yet been invented, and it would have been impossible to be indoors while shooting.

From morning to evening, cowboys spent in the saddle, driving cattle. With absence railways(and roads in general), the journey could take several weeks. This hard work required great strength (try lassoing a bull or a mustang!) and even greater endurance. That’s why cowboys loved nourishing food that replenished their strength well. The main place in their diet was, of course, meat. The portions were huge by today's standards - for that tiny steak that is served in cowboy restaurants today, a hungry cowboy would shoot the waiter on the spot. But there were no great demands on the quality of the food; it had to be simply edible, no one expected any specialties from the cook.

During the drives, the cowboys ate mainly unleavened biscuits and beef, which, of course, bored them to death. The saloon could “pamper” them with pork, lamb or fried chicken.

The first course was beef tripe stew. As a rule, the side dish was beans or beans. This food was so popular that in cowboy slang the cook was sometimes called a “bean-master.” Due to widespread unsanitary conditions, all food was heavily seasoned with red chili peppers. Instead of bread in the Wild West, they ate corn cakes made from unleavened dough. Tea was expensive; cowboys drank coffee much more often. For dessert there was a pie - fish, chicken or apple.

Entertainment

As entertainment program, the saloon usually offered live music- in the evenings a pianist played there. The battered piano was rarely tuned, which is why the melodies played on it were primitive and monotonous, not requiring more than two octaves. Apparently then the saying was born: “don’t shoot the pianist, he plays as best he can”!

Large establishments had full-time dancers (who often worked part-time as prostitutes). They entertained the audience with the French cancan dance. It is curious that in those days in France this dance was a solo dance, but in England and America it was performed by an ensemble lined up - a corps de ballet. Even small theatrical performances were held in more prestigious places!

A steep wooden staircase led to the second floor. There were residential rooms in which guests spent the night. In some establishments, the second floor was used as a brothel.

As cities grew, so did the number of saloons, which invariably created competition between them. In an effort to attract more visitors, saloons became increasingly sophisticated. If earlier the saloon was a hut, decorated with some kind of hunting trophies, such as a bear skin or a deer head with branched antlers, now you could see paintings, expensive furniture and chandeliers, at that time kerosene, and even tablecloths on the tables.

The bar counter, decorated with carvings, deserved special attention. On the shelves of the bar were Bohemian glasses, figurines, beautiful kegs of beer and all kinds of exotic drinks, including imported ones from Europe. The skill of bartenders also grew - a certain code of what a bartender should look like and what drinks he should be able to prepare appeared. Ice began to be added to glasses - it was specially bought and stored in a deep cellar, where the temperature was very low and the ice did not melt.

The most popular Soviet western, “The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins,” reflects precisely that very period in the history of saloons, when they gradually turned from dirty eateries into places of leisure.

Tied-house system

By 1880, there were saloons in every city. For example, in Leavenworth, Kansas, there were about 150 saloons and 4 drinking houses. As the capacity of American breweries grows, they begin to master the British “tied-house” system, in which the company owns alcohol bars directly, selling their products through them.

The policy of the authorities also greatly contributed to the development of this system - for example, in Chicago, the cost of a license for a saloon was increased from 50 dollars in 1883 to 500 in 1885. Only a small number of owners, including large breweries, could afford such a high price.

Even then, the first franchises appeared, when breweries purchased conveniently located buildings for their bars, which they then rented out along with furniture, bowling alleys, billiard tables and other equipment.

The end of the saloon era

And yet, despite its popularity, the saloon was a hot place. Closely associated with prostitution and gambling, drinking establishments often became breeding grounds for crime. There were regular fights and shootouts, sometimes fatal, and other crimes, because of which local sheriffs, called upon to maintain order, often quarreled with saloon owners.

Saloons did not bring joy to wives and mothers either, because they stimulated alcoholism, extracting the last money from their husbands and sons, leaving their family “in the dust.” As a result, many people saw saloons as the root of all evil.

In 1893, the Anti-Saloon League was formed in Oberlin, Ohio, which helped close many establishments. The League insisted on a ban on the production and import of alcohol, promoting its ideas at all levels of government. If a saloon operated longer than permitted hours or used the labor of women and minors, it was immediately brought to the attention of the police. The League's triumph was amendment to the Constitution No. 18 of 1920, which banned saloons, although it was repealed in 1933.