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What is speakeasies?

Updated: 8/22/2023
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8y ago

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A speakeasy was an establishment that was used for selling and drinking 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". The origin of the term "speakeasy" predates Prohibition by at least thirty years. Samuel Hudson, a newspaperman in the late 19th century, said he heard the term used in Pittsburgh in the 1880s by an old Irish woman who sold liquor without a license. She told her clients to "speak easy" if they wanted to buy some. The Cassell Dictionary of Slang lists the word as coming into use around 1890. The term spake-aisy was used even a century before this, where it referred to smugglers' hideouts. One former speakeasy, Chumley's, still exists in New York City at 86 Bedford Street. . It was owned by C.Collins and C. Arienti, and remains authentically decorated. There are no signs on the door to indicate that inside lies a bar and restaurant. There is even a secret back door leading out to a passageway on to Barrow Street so that customers could make a quick exit when the police called. Another former speakeasy still exists in Petaluma, California. Volpi's Ristorante used to be a market with a speakeasy and bar in back. The door to the alley still exists above the bar, behind the Italian restaurant, and the bar is still in business and does not look much different than it probably did in Prohibition days. Rumors of underground tunnels that cross the downtown area are still told to this day. There was even a brothel that is now Old Chicago Pizza in this western town, and the rumors are that there were more, where these tunnels run to. 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, and floor shows. 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. Another slang term 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. A modern related term is the smokeasy, a discreet venue that operates in places where smoking tobacco in bars and clubs is prohibited.

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15y ago
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8y ago

bootleggers are men and or women that helped try to stop everyone from drinking they are called bootleggers because they secretly sold alcohol when it was outlawed

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13y ago

Alcohol was illegally sold in a speakeasy during prohibition.

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Related questions

Speakeasies and bootleggers were a product of?

Speakeasies and bootleggers were a product of: Prohibition.


What were secrete illegal nightclubs where alcohol was served called?

Type your answer here... speakeasies


Who was queen of speakeasies?

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Who was queen of the speakeasies?

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What is the difference in speakeasies and bootleggers?

A bootlegger takes alchohol a speakeasies is an illegal alchohol establishment


What were clubs called in the 1920s?

Speakeasies


When did the first speakeasies exist?

1920's


Who banned speakeasies?

"Speakeasies" were illegal because of a combination of the Volstead Act and the Eighteenth Amendment which, in effect, banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States.


What are the release dates for Secrets of New York - 2005 Speakeasies?

Secrets of New York - 2005 Speakeasies was released on: USA: 12 July 2011


How did they smuggle alcohol to the parties in the 1920s?

Places called speakeasies were where alcohol was drunk. Speakeasies were hidden places where the government didn't know where they were. You needed a password to get into speakeasies. People who smuggled alcohol were called bootleggers. They would hide the alcohol in their boots, jackets, bags, etc.


What are some of the key facts about speakeasies?

Speakeasies were bars or other places that served alcohol illegally and secretly during Prohibition in the United States (1920-1933). They were named speakeasies because they would only admit those who quietly and easily whispered at the front door to be let in.


What were illegal bars during prohibition called?

Speakeasies