Hungry minds: the visual and verbal language of taverns and coffee houses in early American periodicals

Abstract

Eighteenth-century American periodicals utilized depictions of taverns and coffee houses to aid subscribers in their navigation of complex political environments. Many eighteenth-century artists and publishers drew upon public knowledge of the significance of small variations in drinking habits, imported beverages, and tavern life as a communication strategy. Public knowledge of, and interest in, tavern and coffee-house culture made this subject matter a particularly legible and engaging vehicle for discussions about politics, class, and identity. Editors and artists built on public knowledge to affirm the status of a socioeconomically and geographically limited readership. As connective spaces for the performance of norms and distribution of knowledge, magazines, coffee houses, and taverns served as hubs for knowledge distribution. Depictions of taverns and coffee houses, in contrast to other popular subject-matter in early American periodicals, worked to reaffirm the status and ideals of subscribers during this tumultuous period in American history.