Was Alcohol Available After the Pubs Closed?

[c.d.]

Not quite sure yet where I am going with this but does anyone know if there were places that someone could go at any time to get a drink after the pubs closed? I am thinking along the lines of individuals who were know to sell liquor. Or is it more of a case that when the pubs closed you were out of luck?

c.d.

[lynn cates]

sources

Hello CD. Perhaps there were establishments/individuals who dealt in contraband?

You may be posing this as a solution to the Schwartz tale where BS man was tipsy after the pubs had closed. I have often wondered how/where he could have obtained alcohol at that late hour--even given IS's veracity.

Cheers.
LC

[c.d.]

Hi Lynn,

Actually I was thinking of Liz, Kate and Mary. We tend to focus on soliciting but what if the inducement was "hey, I know a place where we can get a drink. Come with me."

c.d.

[lynn cates]

hair of teh dog

Hello CD. Ah, I see where you are heading. Might not be important to Liz as there seems no evidence of her being intoxicated. For Kate and MJ, perhaps "a hair of the dog that bit me"?

Cheers.
LC

[c.d.]

Precisely, Lynn. As for Liz, she might not have had time to even take the first sip before she was killed.

Jack might also have said that he had alcohol on him and how about a little **** somewhere secluded as a thank you.

c.d.

[lynn cates]

chaser

Hello CD. Or she had a sip and needed a cachous chaser? (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Or how about a sip of absinthe with a grapes chaser, Lynn? ;-)

Lynn, Schwartz didn't say anything about BS appearing tipsy. Are you referring to a source?
By the by, what time did the pubs close again in Victorian Whitechapel? At midnight?

[lynn cates]

replies

Hello Maria. Well absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

Most pubs closed around then, as you say.

BS walked as if tipsy. If I recall properly, Christer wished to account for possible inebriation.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Well absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

LOL. Have never tried it, but my boss claims they used to serve it at the Flore when he visited Paris as a student in the 60's. I suspect he's exaggerating.

BS walked as if tipsy. If I recall properly, Christer wished to account for possible inebriation.

Oh, OK. Christer's theory of the secret lover.
By the by, BS's physical description actually fits mine, as I'm very often injured and walk with a slight limp. :-)

PS.: Lynn, if you wish to send me one or two of the problematic pages, I'd be interested in seeing them.

[lynn cates]

broad shoulders

Hello Maria. Hope you don't have broad shoulders too! (heh-heh) (Nothing wrong with them, just might put some of us at a disadvantage.)

I'll send a scan soon.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Thanks so much, Lynn.

Hello Maria. Hope you don't have broad shoulders too! (heh-heh) (Nothing wrong with them, just might put some of us at a disadvantage.)

Precisely so (like all female shortboard surfers). ;-)

[Wickerman]

Not quite sure yet where I am going with this but does anyone know if there were places that someone could go at any time to get a drink after the pubs closed? I am thinking along the lines of individuals who were know to sell liquor. Or is it more of a case that when the pubs closed you were out of luck?

c.d.

Nothing I have looked up, but, if you recall the Nelson on Berner St. was a beershop, not a pub. The Nelson closed about 9:30 pm, but maybe that was only because it was Saturday night.
Pubs closed at midnight, so either Beershops closed before the pubs or Beershops kept their own hours.
Just something to throw into the pot.

Regards, Jon S.

[The Grave Maurice]

I don't see a problem with obtaining alcohol at any time in the East End in the LVP. Some pubs stayed open til 12:30 or so, others opened at 4:30 or 5:00 to catch the market trade. They also provided a takeaway service (see Blotchy Face and his pail). If someone couldn't last for the few hours that the pubs were shut, he could get a hip flask filled with gin before closing time. I can't see any need for "after hours" suppliers or bootleggers.

[RedBundy13]

The pubs were only closed for 4 hours a day. That was from 2am until 6am and some places stayed open 24 hours a day they just quit selling alcohol for those 4 hours. Im sure it was back then like it is today that if you knew the owner or the manager and they trusted you they would serve you as long as they knew you would never say anything. So I'm sure that there was always a place that you could go at any hour of the day to get a drink if you wanted one.

[Monty]

Some street vendours sold beer, majority home madre stuff.

If I recall correctly Mayhew mentions this in London Poor.

Monty