Speakeasy

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

This article is about Prohibition-era liquor establishments. For other uses, see Speakeasy (disambiguation).

A speakeasy was an establishment that surreptitiously sold alcoholic beverages during the period of United States history known as Prohibition (1920-1933, longer in some states), when the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol was illegal. The term comes from a patron's manner of ordering alcohol without raising suspicion — a bartender would tell a patron to be quiet and "speak easy".

Speakeasies became more popular and numerous as the Prohibition years progressed, and also became more commonly operated by those connected to organized crime. Although police and United States Federal Government agents would raid such establishments and arrest the owners and patrons, the business of running speakeasies was so lucrative that such establishments continued to flourish throughout the nation. In major cities, speakeasies were often elaborate, offering food, live bands,floor shows, and strip joints. The police corruption at this time was notoriously rampant; speakeasy operators commonly bribed police to either leave them alone or at least give them advance notice of any planned raids.

In the United States, there are still 37 standing speakeasies from the 1920s. There are 23 in New York, New York, 13 in Pennsylvania, and one single hush hush bar in the western portion of D.C. Another slang term for an establishment similar to a speakeasy is blind pig. The difference between a speakeasy and a blind pig is that a speakeasy was usually a higher class establishment, where a blind pig was a lower class dive.

References

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 13:16:06 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation