Saloon
by Nina Prommer
Title
Saloon
Artist
Nina Prommer
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
Saloon by Nina Prommer
A Western saloon is a kind of bar particular to the Old West. Saloons served customers such as fur trappers, cowboys, soldiers, prospectors, miners, and gamblers. The first saloon was established at Brown's Hole, Wyoming, in 1822, to serve fur trappers. By the late 1850s the term saloon had begun to appear in directories and common usage as a term for an establishment that specialized in beer and liquor sales by the drink, with food and lodging as secondary concerns in some places.
Saloons in America began to have a close association with breweries in the early 1880s. With a growing overcapacity, breweries began to adopt the British �tied-house� system of control where they owned saloons outright. Brewers purchased hundreds of storefronts, especially on the highly desired corner locations, which they rented to prospective saloon keepers, along with furnishings and recreational equipment such as billiard tables and bowling alleys. Schlitz Brewing Company and a few others built elaborate saloons to attract customers and advertise their beers.
Legislative factors also played a factor in the growth of brewery owned saloons. The Chicago City Council increased the saloon license from $50 to $500 between 1883 and 1885 to pay for an expanded police force made necessary by the barrooms. Relatively few independent proprietors could afford to pay such amounts.
Politicians also frequented local saloons because of the adaptable social nature of their business. In neighborhoods where literacy was low, the bar provided the principal place for the exchange of information about employment and housing. A savvy politician could turn his access to resources into votes. In factory districts, saloons became labor exchanges and union halls, as well as providing a place to cash paychecks.
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August 7th, 2015
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Viewed 753 Times - Last Visitor from Masterton, Wairarapa - New Zealand on 03/28/2024 at 4:06 AM
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Steve Rich
Your work deserves to be featured in our group "The Meandering Photographer" Please consider adding this work to the "Feature History, The Meandering Photographer (Jan-Feb 2024)" active discussion thread. (l/f on 2-27-2024)